The Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) was a significant conflict in Spain's history, marked by political turmoil, economic hardship, and ideological divisions between the Republicans, led by President Manuel Azaña, and the Nationalists, led by General Francisco Franco. Catalonia, with its distinct identity, supported the Republicans. However, Franco's victory led to the temporary dissolution of Catalonia's autonomy and the assassination of its president, Lluís Companys (image above).

The war had terrible consequences, resulting in a high death toll and widespread destruction. Franco's authoritarian rule endured until his death in 1975. This conflict remains relevant in history as an example of the devastating impact of political extremism and fascism, and the significance of regional identity and autonomy within a nation.

The people who were there were Valery Alekseyevich Legasov, a Soviet scientist, Anatoly Dyatlow, an engineer and Viktor Bryukhanov. They took control of the situation, but they didn't had enough knowledge of the radiation center to stop it.

The disaster was caused by a combination of design flaws in one reactor, inadequate safety measures and human errors. During a safety test, an uncontrolled increase in reactor power caused the explosion and the rupture of the reactor.

The consequences were devastating, immediate effects included the deaths of plant workers and radiation sickness. The mayor had an important role because lots of people had to leave their house and he had to distribute them. The government was devastated and it led to economic problems and difficulties in life.

After that, there were more developments in the technology and the consequences lasted until now.

His mission was to study Jupiter's atmosphere, magnetosphere, and satellites, as well as solar wind parameters and dust distribution.

They obtained knowledge about Jupiter chacteristics.

Marie continued her analysis of the bismuth fractions, she found that every time she managed to take away an amount of bismuth, a residue with greater activity was left.

At the end of June 1898, they had a substance that was about 300 times more strongly active than uranium.

It lasted a couple of months when the Curies informed the l’Académie des Sciences,on December 26, 1898, that they had demonstrated strong grounds for having come upon an additional very active substance that behaved chemically almost like pure barium.

They suggested the name ''radium'' and their knowledge was incredible.

In 1903, Marie and Pierre Curie were awarded half the Nobel Prize of Pyshics.

Causes: German dissatisfaction with the Treaty of Versailles (They had this dissatisfaction long before this war began). And the rise of Hitler and Nazism to power, and their alliance with other equally expansionist totalitarian powers (Italy and Japan)

Consequences: Collapse of Nazi Germany.

Fall of the Japanese and Italian Empires.

Creation of the United Nations.

Emergence of the United States and the Soviet Union.

Korean Division...

Date: 1939 from 1945

Mortals: 73,000,000

Tipe: world war and historical period

Black people earned the right to vote in March 24, 1837, but long before, they had to do a lot of protests so eventually the government gave them their freedom.

After the World War I, white people took control of black people, so they had to fight for their rights. Fortunately, nowadays there is equality, and the knowledge has given us the tools to don't discriminate.

This is so important for history because there is a lot of population that didn't vote before and now have the right thet they deserve.

The causes were: The protests that the black people had done and the poverty of the country.

The consequences have been: A fair election of the president since then and that the major of the population can vote now.

-And the 1943 Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.

Moreover our grandparents were really controled and with out freedom of speech

With strict discipline and social inequality. Catalonia’s identity was erased until the final years of the regime when he died.

During Franco’s rule, women could not vote. They could not work without asking their husband or father. They could not have a bank account on their own. Republican women were often punished, put in jail, or treated badly.

In Catalonia, the Catalan language was banned in schools and official papers. Women who spoke Catalan could get into trouble.

Many women lost their freedom and could not make their own choices. Some women were even taken away from their children if the government thought they were “bad mothers” for being Republicans.

During the dictatorship of Francisco Franco (1939–1975), Franco taken control of Spain and created a very conservative government. This led to women having very few freedoms and a very limited role in society. According to Franco, women had to be mostly mothers, wives, and housekeepers(mestressa de casa).The law restricted many things: a woman needed permission from her husband or father to work, open a bank account, or travel. When she got married, she lost much of her freedom because she was legally under her husband’s control.Girls’ education focused on teaching knowledge for the home: cooking, sewing, and taking care of children. The goal was that women would spend the major part of their lives in the family, not in a professional career(carrera universitaria) or higher studies. The government and the Catholic Church(Església Catòlica) promoted the idea of the woman as an “angel of the home”, fully dedicated to the family.In summary, during Franco’s dictatorship, he taken control of society and this led to women losing freedom(pèrdua de llibertat) and having very few rights, limiting their chance to grow personally and professionally and to gain knowledge beyond the home.

After Franco’s forces won the Spanish Civil War, Companys fled but was arrested in France by the Gestapo in 1940.

He was handed over to Francoist Spain, tried in a military tribunal that lasted less than one hour and lacked legal guarantees.

On 15 October 1940, Companys was executed by firing squad at Montjuïc Castle in Barcelona. According to accounts, he refused to wear a blindfold, shouted “Per Catalunya!” (“For Catalonia!”) as they fired.

He remains the only democratically elected president in Europe to have been executed by a fascist regime.

Food restrictions under Franco were especially severe during the 1940s, known as the years of hunger. Due to the war, economic isolation, and poor production, Spain faced major shortages. The regime introduced a strict rationing system (1939–1952), where basic foods like bread, oil, sugar, and meat were distributed in limited amounts. Black markets grew because official rations were insufficient. Malnutrition was widespread, and many families depended on illegal trade or rural relatives to survive. Rationing slowly eased as the economy improved in the 1950s and eventually disappeared when food availability stabilized.

I think stop people of speak Catalan was very wrong, because tried to disappear the language and made people fel sad and scared.

- At school, teachers had to teach only in Spanish. Catalan couldn’t  be spoken. If the soldiers listen you speaking catalan, they will kill you

- All the school books were in Spanish, and they only showed the ideas of Franco’s government and if a teacher catch you speaking catalan you will be punnished

-The Catalan language was lost in school and also in the street.

- People were afraid to speak Catalan in public.

During Franco's dictatorship, the Catalan lenguage was banned in some places:

-schools (1939), if teachers teach in Catalan they could be punished.

-The goal was to make more Spanish new generation and erase Catalan identity.

-Catalan couldn't be used in courts or major events or documents.
All events had to be in Spanish.

Also TV, radio or newspapers had to be in Spanish

-Books, songs or Catalan culture was banned an special example was the song Els Segadors that was banned.

If some people celebrate an Catalan Culture could be arrest.

Also in 1960 The Events of the Palau de la Música had banned the singing of El Cant de la Senyera.

Other Franco's dictatorship rules:

-In laboral conditions you must work it was The Fuero del Trabajo and also banned trade unions.

-Gender roles: Women were legally subordinate to men

-Cult of Franco: Official documents, including letters, were required to include honorific mentions of the "Generalísimo."

--> Beethoven grew up in a difficult family environment, but showed an exceptional musical talent from a very young age.

--> As an adult, he moved to Vienna, where he composed symphonies, sonatas and concertos that changed music forever.

--> Despite losing his hearing gradually, he continued composing masterpieces, such as the 5th Symphony and the Ode to Joy.

- I think Beethoven’s birth marks the beginning of a life that proves how powerful human creativity can be. Even with huge obstacles like deafness, he transformed music and left a legacy that still inspires millions today. His story shows that passion and determination can overcome almost anything

On April 26, 1937, Gernika was bombed by German and Italian planes helping Franco. The town was destroyed and many civilians died. It became a symbol of the horrors of war, especially because of Picasso’s painting Guernica.

The Battle of the Ebro took place from July to November 1938. The Republican Army crossed the Ebro River to try to stop Franco’s army. However, the Republicans were tired, had fewer resources, and finally lost. After this battle, the Republic was very weak and Franco’s victory became almost certain.

Even with this repression, many families and cultural groups kept the language alive at home and in secret cultural activities. In the 1960s, some publications in Catalan were allowed again, but always under strict censorship.

Consequences

• Break in language transmission between generations

• Stigmatization of Catalan as a “forbidden” or “less important” language

• Institutional weakness, effects that can still be felt today

My point of view

I believe the ban on Catalan was a serious cultural attack that tried to erase a community’s identity. However, the perseverance of Catalan speakers shows how strong a language can be, even under dictatorship.

Consequences

Many children grew up without learning Catalan at school.
Catalan culture, books, and traditions were censored or hidden.
People felt fear or shame about using their own language.
The language lost status and almost disappeared from public life.

My opinion:

I think banning a language is very unfair because it attacks people’s identity and culture. The repression of Catalan shows how dictatorships try to control everything, even how people speak. Protecting languages today is important to defend freedom and diversity.

Freedom of association was denied to women. Feminist groups and associations began to emerge in 1960.

After Franco's death, women and feminists followed the process of drafting a new Spanish constitution with great interest. After being an extremely stigmatized and repressed group, they were completely excluded from the process of creating a new Spanish constitution.

I find what women suffered during those years very unjust and cruel, and many continue to suffer in these situations in various  countries and regions.

Girls were taught that their main job was to be good wives and mothers. It was very hard for women to study what they wanted or have important jobs. The government thought men should make all the important decisions.

Today things are very different, and women have many more rights and freedoms. When I learn about how it was back then, it makes me realize how important it is that everyone is treated fairly.

The childhood of Franco was terrible, his dad was an alcoholic and he abuse of Franco, also, he was trained to be a militar, and the boss of the State.

In the 28 of september of 1936 was declarated dictator of the Spain, well, it was a part of it, because all this happened in the civil war of Spain. That made Adolf Hitler and Mussolini help him to the civil war ended in the 1939, with the win of National. Franco dictated Spain a lot of years until his death. In that time, he done bad things. One of them was ban to catalans the politic parties, the freedom of speech, and the catalans were forced to speak only in spanish. His cause of death was heart failure.

Well, after that, I think he was one of the worst people in general. A lot of families were broken by him, at least now we can live in piece without a dictature.

He banned everything Catalan, the culture the lenguage, the music... for example if you speak catalan, you'll be killed by the governoment, but why? Because to unify Spain around a single culture and language, Spanish, with the belief that linguistic plurality was a threat to the feeling of nation.

This is how women's rights were annulled during Franco's regime. The dictatorship reinsted and approved laws that subordinated women to their husbands, banned abortion and contraceptives, and limited access to education and work.

All of spanish womens when they were little, needed all the time the aprovement of one man, her father, brother, aunt or others but ever a man.

According to Carme Molinero, women's in the regime, were considered "individuals with half capacity"

During the marriage with a man the women's can't separe of them even though, they could hit them and they could abuse of them. And if the man want's the money of the work of her wife, he could take them because he was the man of the house.

Finally in the 1960s all this things started to change because the need of labor grew up so many women's started to went to universities, so they slowly started to have more rights.

During Franco’s dictatorship, marriage became a strict tool of control. Civil marriage and divorce, which had been legal during the Republic, were completely banned after 1939, forcing everyone to follow the Catholic model. Many Republican marriages were cancelled, and their children were considered illegitimate. Women lost almost all legal independence: they needed their husband’s permission to work, travel, or open a bank account, and adultery laws punished women much more harshly than men. For many couples trapped in violent or unhappy relationships, there was no escape, since only the Church could grant an annulment, and this was expensive and . These marriage rules formed part of a wider system of repression that limited freedom and punished anyone who didn’t follow the regime’s ideology.

My point of view: Franco’s marriage laws were not just private restrictions, they were a way to control society, especially women and anyone linked to the Republican side. They took away basic rights, destroyed families, and shaped daily life with fear and inequality. Remembering this helps us understand why protecting personal freedom today is important.

The State wanted women to stay at home as “mothers and wives.” Girls were taught to sew, to be religious, to obey, and to take care of the house. They even had to take special home-care classes to get a work or university diploma. Abortion, divorce, and birth control were all completely illegal. Women could not choose where to live, accept a job, or do legal things without their husband saying yes.

The Franco regime also said what a “good woman” should be like. She had to obey her husband because “the husband is the head of the family.” She had to be a devoted mother, Catholic, and very moral. She was expected to stay at home, cook, sew, and look after the house. She had to dress and behave modestly and stay away from politics and public life.

Consequences:

• People lived in constant fear of speaking freely.

• Many activists ended up in prison or exile.

• The building became a symbol of repression against Catalan identity and democracy.

My point of view

The Via Laietana station shows how Franco’s regime used fear to control society. Torture wasn’t an accident — it was a tool to silence political and cultural opposition. Remembering these places is essential so that repression is never normalized again.

Consequences:

This situation had serious consequences: women had very little freedom, few job opportunities, and no legal independence. Franco’s repression shows how the dictatorship controlled women’s lives and prevented gender equality for many years.

This is how women's rights were annulled during Franco's regime. The dictatorship reinsted and approved laws that subordinated women to their husbands, banned abortion and contraceptives, and limited access to education and work.

All of spanish womens when they were little, needed all the time the aprovement of one man, her father, brother, uncle or others but ever a man.

According to Carme Molinero, women's in the regime, were considered "individuals with half capacity"

During the marriage with a man the women's can't separe of them even though, they could hit them and they could abuse of them. And if the man want's the money of the work of her wife, he could take them because he was the man of the house.

Finally in the 1960s all this things started to change because the need of labor grew up so many women's started to went to universities, so they slowly started to have more rights.

--------------What citizens couldn’t do:

Speak freely: Criticizing Franco or the Church could lead to prison or torture for example Via Laietana

Join political groups: All parties and unions were banned except the regims

Use Catalan publicly: It was forbidden in schools, government, and the press

Meet or protest: Public gatherings needed permission, but they were usually denied

Live freely: Women needed their husband’s permission to work or travel and the divorce was illegal.

-------------------Consequences:

Fear, silence, and censorship.

Thousands imprisoned

Catalan culture pushed out of public life

A whole generation grew up without basic freedoms.

The tenth is that you have to know that he have a lot of work, so put in hiself. And the last one says that you can´t complain.

In my point of view I think that is very bad for women. In the view of a men you have to know that is your wife and not your maid.

• National Catholicism: The Catholic Church controlled moral and religious teaching.

• Indoctrination: Education served to instill the principles of the Movimiento Nacional, promoting fervent Spanish nationalism and loyalty to Franco.

• Sex Segregation: Boys and girls were taught in separate schools or classrooms.

• Gender-Specific Roles: Boys were prepared for public life, while girls received instruction for be a mothers.

  
  

• Linguistic Unification: Spanish was the only one language of instruction. Regional languages were suppressed in the classroom.

• Consequences:

1. Catalan was banned at the hambit of education and culture.

2. At the public and administrative hambit like ceremonies, justice or public places they only could speak Spanish.

3. The catalan names were banned

4. The name of the places were in Spanish.

5. In catalan, the name of "Catalunya" was replaced by "Cataluña".

6. You only could speak Catalan at your houses when nobody listened to you.

Life in the camps was very bad: little food, cold, violence, and punishment. Many prisoners had to work as forced labour building roads, buildings, or working in mines. Most people had no fair trial, and many families were separated. A lot of prisoners died because of hunger, illness, or mistreatment.

Some of the most famous camps were Miranda de Ebro, Los Merinales, Figueres, and Albatera. These camps were used to control, punish, and break Republican and Catalan citizens.

I think Franco’s concentration camps were very cruel and very unfair.
Many innocent people suffered only because they had different ideas or wanted freedom. It is important to remember this history so it never happens again and to give respect and justice to all the victims.

After the Spanish Civil War, people lived through a very hard time because there was almost no food. Franco’s government created a rationing system: every family received a small card that said how much food they were allowed to buy, and it was usually very little. Many people, especially children, were hungry because there just wasn’t enough food for everyone.

This happened because the country was destroyed after the war, farms and factories couldn’t produce enough, and the government didn’t want to buy food from other countries. Franco’s regime also used rationing to control the population. Since there wasn’t enough food, a secret black market appeared, where people sold food illegally, but it was very expensive and most families couldn’t afford it. Families in the cities suffered a lot, and many children grew up weaker or got sick because they didn’t eat enough.

This part of history shows us that a government must take care of its people and make sure everyone has the basic things they need to live, like food. In my opinion, these rules were very unfair and caused a lot of suffering that could have been avoided.

Consequences:

People were afrid to became into that camps if they found them, so they still hidden

My point view

In my opinion, the concentration camps were places very horrible and discriminatorian places, becaus most of people were Republicans, catalans, jewish, moroccans, and others

First of all, Catalan was connected to the Second Spanish Republic and to ideas of autonomy and democracy. Franco thought that this was dangerous for the unity of Spain, so Catalan was seen as a threat.

Also, the regime defended an extreme Spanish nationalism. It did not accept cultural diversity and believed that having only one language would help control the country.

Another reason was political control. Schools, public administration and the media were used to spread the regime’s ideology, and Catalan did not fit in this system

What happened to the Catalan language?

Catalan was banned in:

• Schools (all classes were in Spanish)

• Public administration and courts

• Media, books, films and songs

Consequences

1. Loss of prestige
   Catalan became a second-class language.

2. Educational problems
   Many people never learned to read or write in Catalan.

3. Fear and silence
   People were afraid to speak Catalan in public.

   
   

The Republican ones were annulled after the nationalists took control.

Franco didn't wait until the end of the war to change the legal system.

One of the first changes happened in 1938, when the civil marriage became illegal. Later, in 1939, the regime also banned divorce, that means that couples couldn't legally separate.

In 1941, the government wanted to increase birth rates. Abortion became a crime, and promoting contraceptives was forbidden.

Then in 1942, even more strict family laws appeared. New crimes such as abandoning the family, adultery or child abandonment were introduced. These laws controlled personal and private life, especially for women.

If we talk about women, they were expected to follow a very traditional role based on Catholic values. They had to be good wives and mothers. Women were seen as dependent on men and many rights were taken away from them.

All together, these legal changes created a system based on national-Catholic values, whch became one of the main pillars of Franco's dictatorship.

In conclusion, Franco's regime used the law to control family life and enforce Catholic morality. Divorce, abortion, and contraception were banned, and private behaviors became crimes. These rules had strong impact on families and especially on women in Spain for many years.

After the war, Franco said Catalan was not allowed. People could not speak Catalan in school, on TV, or in government offices. Only Spanish was allowed. If you spoke Catalan, you could have problems.

What happened because of this:

- Children learned only Spanish at school.

- Some families stopped speaking Catalan at home.

- Many people forgot how to write or read in Catalan.

- Catalan culture became weaker.

My Opinion:

This was a very bad thing. It is not fair to tell people they cannot speak their own language. A language is part of who you are. Forbidding Catalan hurt many people and families for many years. Today, Catalan is free again, but we must remember this history so that it never happens again.

Women lost their freedom and only had one role in society, which was to care for their children and their husband.

Abortion was completely illegal during the dictatorship. Any attempt to have an abortion was a crime and could lead to prison, and the people who helped them could be punished too.

Because of this, many women had to find secret and dangerous ways to have an abortion.

It is estimated that about 300,000 clandestine abortions happened in Spain during this period. Most of them were done in bad conditions and put their lives in danger. 

For this reason, they started organizing trips to other countries to access safe abortions.

Lluís Companys, the President of Catalonia, was arrested in France by the Nazis, handed over to Franco’s regime, and executed at Montjuïc in 1940, showing the harsh repression against Catalan and Republican people. During Franco’s dictatorship, the Catalan language was banned because the regime wanted everyone to speak only Spanish and tried to erase other cultures. This made Catalan much weaker and it couldn’t be used in schools or in public. Education was controlled so people would obey: boys and girls studied separately, Catalan was forbidden, and most lessons focused on religion and the regime’s ideas without allowing free thinking. Women had very few rights, and the “Guide for the Good Wife” said they had to take care of the house, obey their husbands, and couldn’t work or sign documents without permission. In general, people had very little freedom: they couldn’t criticize Franco, there were no elections, and Catalan couldn’t be spoken in official places. You could only live peacefully if you obeyed everything the regime said, and although people could speak Catalan at home, if they were caught, they risked being executed.

The consequences were very bad: less use of the language, cultural censorship, and people were judged for speaking Catalan. It also hurt identity and freedom.

My opinion:
Trying to erase a language is like trying to erase a people. But Catalan survived because people kept it alive.

Co-official languages were forbidden at school and only Spanish was taught. Education was separated by sex: boys received patriotic and work training, while girls were prepared for the home and motherhood, influenced by the Sección Femenina.

There was also little investment and high illiteracy, especially in rural areas. In the 1960s, some reforms were made to modernize the system, but the ideological control stayed strong until the end of the regime.

My opinion:

education in Franco’s time was very strict and not free. Everyone had to think the same, only Spanish could be used, and boys and girls learned different things. I think it did not help people learn well or think for themselves.

Under Franco (1939–1975), abortion was completely illegal. The dictatorship followed strict Catholic rules and punished both women and doctors for any abortion.

Effects on Republican and Catalan women

Many Republican women — including Catalan women — were imprisoned. Pregnant prisoners lived in terrible conditions, suffered abuse, and had to give birth in unsafe prisons.

Consequences

The ban caused high health risks, secret abortions, and long-term trauma. Social stigma and the control of women’s bodies continued even after Franco died.

My point of view

I think these policies were unfair and used to control women and punish political opponents. Studying this helps us understand why protecting reproductive rights and personal freedom is important today.