12. ‘El Gobierno de la Victoria’¶
Core Argument¶
Chapter 12: ‘El Gobierno de la Victoria’¶
La Pasionaria christened the Negrín cabinet ‘the government of victory’, promising a swift end to the war. In practice, this government enacted a ruthless repression of workers and peasants, dictated by the Anglo-French rulers whose support it sought. Le Temps had stated the government must choose between democracy and proletarian dictatorship; the new regime chose the former, dismantling popular tribunals and replacing left-wing attorneys with former judges reluctant to convict fascists. Irujo’s Ministry of Justice released fascists and reactionaries. A June 23 decree created special courts for ‘sedition’, with secret trials, punishment for uncommitted acts, and a confession clause copied from Stalin’s laws; it was an ex post facto law used against POUM members arrested before its passage. An August 12 decree outlawed denouncing anyone as fascist without a court sentence, protecting the priesthood. Press censorship forced newspapers to hide deletions, and criticism of the USSR was banned. The government dissolved Security Councils and purged workers from the police. In agriculture, Uribe’s Ministry attacked collectives, supporting former caciques and landowners who joined the Communist party. Factories were militarised, ending workers’ control and preparing for return to former owners.
The Cortes session symbolised the government’s character. Portela Valladares, former premier of the bienio negro and Governor-General of Catalonia under Lerroux, appeared after fleeing Spain in July 1936. He declared the parliament the Republic’s raison d’être and legitimate title to life, expressing satisfaction at contributing to Spain’s transition toward ‘serious and profound reconstruction’. He and Negrín embraced afterwards; Valladares praised the atmosphere in Spain to the press before returning to Paris. The Stalinist press claimed his and Maura’s presence gave the government a statistical electoral majority, based on February 1936 figures. However, the fascist Diario Vasco reproduced a letter from Valladares to Franco, dated 8 October 1936, offering his services to the ‘national cause’. La Pasionaria briefly noted the unwelcome presence of another reactionary deputy, Guerra del Rio, who was given the floor and effectively stated that if the government rested on the Cortes, he was there. CNT attacks on Maura and Valladares were censored. The text asks whether this was what the masses had shed blood for, before noting that the story of the government’s conquest of Catalonia and Aragon remains to be told.