Hello
and welcome to the history page. This week we will take up the final leg of our
war chronicle with the permanent arrival of National forces in Ibiza and Formentera.
As recounted last week, the definitive capture of the Pitiuses occurred on 20th
September, 1936 when a mixed bag of anti-republican companies sailed unimpeded
into Ibiza harbour on the civilian vessel, Ciudad de Palma. The expedition
was comprised predominately of Falangists but also included the notorious Italian
death squad (known locally as Dragons of Death), a fascist platoon sent to Majorca
by Mussolini himself and headed up by the nefarious Count Rossi, already regarded
as one of the most violent players in the Mediterranean theatre of war. Military
Rule: The New State Due to the absolute vacuum of power
on both Pitiusae, the reestablishment of law and order by National forces took
place quickly and effectively on the smouldering ashes of Republican rule. The
first Military Commandant assigned to Ibiza was Antoni Montis, whose troops, together
with the Italian and Falangist squads, would play a leading role in the initial
and bloodiest wave of anti-Republican repression. Montiss first move was
to restore the islands six former rightwing mayors to their respective Town
Halls (five in Ibiza and one in Formentera). In accordance with Francos
concept of the New State, each mayor was directly incumbent to the provincial
governor in Majorca, while the municipality itself was exalted as the fundamental
unit of polity. As such the Town Halls perpetrated acts of repression as dictated
by the military authorities, organized a selective network of social aid, and
were the principal broadcasters of propaganda for the nascent regime. As part
of their programme, several monuments and public works such as roads and promenades
were built, one of the most outstanding being the Paseo de sAlamera
in Santa Eulália, originally inaugurated in 1937 as the Paseo del Generalísimo
in honour of Francos visit to Ibiza in 1935 when he was the Military Commandant
of the Balearic Islands. It was the Army, however, that
formed the central axis of power around which all other governmental organisms
revolved. By sheer dint of having staged the military coup that overthrew the
Second Republic, the Army felt itself entitled to assume a primary role in the
running of government, a danger (as readers will remember) that Azaña,
in his day, tried to prevent by curtailing the extraordinary immunities and privileges
enjoyed by the Spanish military. With Azañas destitution, the Army
re-emerged from its lessened status with a vengeance, claiming the right to enforce,
at its random discretion, the rulings issued by the civilian branch of government
it had set up. In Ibiza this liberty degenerated into
libertinism, for Commandant Montis had to be removed from power within the space
of a month. Apparently, his iron-handed ways shocked even the most conservative
elements of Ibicenco society for which reason he was replaced on 13th October
by the Commandant of Infantry, Gonzalo Arnica Ferrer
who was in turn replaced
six months later by Lieutenant Colonel Joan Coll i Fuster, who managed to remain
in his post until June of 1938, when he has superseded by Lieutenant Colonel Mateu
Llobera i Balaguer. Falangists Move into Starring Role The
Falange stole the political show in Spain from the earliest moments of the Civil
War, rising from electoral oblivion to become, in essence, the only official party
in Francos Spain. In Ibiza and Formentera, for example, prior to the outbreak
of war, the Falangists were hardly more than a tiny club, comprised by some twenty-five
active members between the two islands. In an effort to unify the disjointed fragments
of his political following, Franco decreed a merger in 1937 between the Traditionalistas
(Carlist monarchists) and the Falangists, thus creating an entity that would later
be renamed Movimiento National. So powerful was the influence of this
new party that the leader of each of its municipal chapters automatically became
the mayor of the corresponding Town Hall, thus ensuring the strictest adherence
to party policy. In Ibiza, the politically conservative
oligarchy quickly banded with the new power structure in order to maintain their
say in island affairs. Consequently, the Falangist-Traditionalist party (known
as FET-JONS) encompassed a relatively wide range of rightist ideologies, the crux
of which was adherence to Francos uprising and the desire to restore the
social climate that, in Ibiza, had been so satisfactory before the proclamation
of the Second Republic. Two of the more illustrious members of this party in Ibiza
were Bartomeu de Roselló (whose avenue leads into Isidoro Machabich in
Ibiza Town) and Cèsar Puget. Inevitably, however, the party also became
a catch-all for social climbers with little or no political definition. In the
frank words of Artur Parron: [It] became the
refuge of many citizens who found therein security, social prestige, access to
jobs, or simply political connections that enabled them to grow rich in the shadow
of corruption or gain entry to any type of public career. Hence, the islands
bureaucracy was replete with Falangists and the Blue Shirt became a daily symbol
of power
Closing Before
closing this week, I would like to include a few thoughts on the impact this series
may be having on some of the local Ibicencos who read this page. Although there
are few people still alive in Ibiza who personally lived through the Civil War,
most islanders over the age of, say, thirty have been weaned on stories of the
war and are quite sensitive to the subject begin discussed by foreigners whom,
they claim, invariably lump all those who supported Franco into the same camp
as German Nazis and Italian Fascists. Antonio Ribas Bamberger, our much-loved
webmaster at Ibiza History Culture, raised this subject with me recently, asking me politely
but pointedly what made me think I possessed the proper understanding to buy up
the rights and wrongs of Spanish government and society in general (and Ibicenco
government and society in particular). Quite correctly he observed that I could
only view these events from an outsiders limited point of view. His point
is well-taken and I would therefore like to apologize for any misconstructions
I may have committed in the name of political correctness as defined
by todays standards. I am pressing to finish this
series by Christmas but, time permitting, would very much like to include some
of the interesting personal stories told to me about the war by my Ibicenco friends,
as many of these stories highlight the valour and integrity of the staunchly conservative
Ibicenco populace in the face of marauding anarchists and so-called Republicans.
In the meantime, join us next week when we will carry on with the political evolution
of the Falangist party as it confronted the Axis defeat of Germany and Italy in
World War II. Until then, Emily
Kaufman emilykaufman@ibizahistoryculture.com
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