Revolutionary Catalonia (July 21, 1936 – February 10, 1939) was the part of Catalonia (a region in northeast Spain) controlled by the anarchist and socialist trade unions, parties, and militias during the Spanish Civil War. These included the Confederación Nacional del Trabajo (CNT, National Confederation of Labor) which was the dominant labor union at the time and the closely associated Federación Anarquista Ibérica (FAI, Iberian Anarchist Federation). The Unión General de Trabajadores (General Worker's Union), the POUM and the Unified Socialist Party of Catalonia (which included the Communist Party of Catalonia) were also involved. Though the Catalonian Generalitat was nominally in power, the trade unions were de facto in command of most of the economy and military forces.
Socialist rule of the region was marked by the Spanish Revolution, resulting in worker's control of businesses and factories, collectivization of farmland in the countryside and atrocities against nationalists and the Catholic clergy. The growing influence of the Communist Party of Spain's (PCE) Popular front Government and their desire to nationalize revolutionary committees and militias brought it into conflict with the CNT and POUM resulting in the Barcelona May Days and the eventual replacement of the CNT by the PCE as the major political force in Catalonia.
Read more about Revolutionary Catalonia: Background, Beginning of The War, Atrocities, Anarchists Enter The Government, 1936 Revolution and Worker's Self Management, Rural Collectivization, Revolutionary Militias and The Regular Army, The May Events, Repression of The CNT and POUM, Divisions in The Government and Anarchist Movement, Fall of Catalonia, Criticism, Film, See Also