Spain 1909

Synopsis

La Semana Trágica, or the Tragic Week, was a momentous episode in Spanish labor history. In 1909 a general strike was called to protest the sending of conscripted troops to Morocco. This erupted into a week-long insurgency remembered as la Semana Trágica. The largely spontaneous violence that followed ended in violent repression. Tortures of anarchists in the fortress of Montjuïc and the execution of Francisco Ferrer y Guardia, an internationally celebrated advocate of rational education, led to worldwide protests and the resignation of the conservative government of Antonio Maura in Madrid. These events also led to a congress of Spanish trade unionists at Seville in 1910, which founded the Confederación Nacional del Trabajo (CNT) (National Confederation of Labor).

Timeline

• 1889: Flooding in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, kills thousands.
• 1893: Wall Street stock prices plummet on 5 May, precipitating a market collapse on 27 June...