Spain: Controversy around Historical Memory

The article aims to study the acute controversy spreading in presentday Spain around the assessments of the tragic consequences of the civil war and Francoist dictatorship. The author set the following objectives: to reveal the attitude of the Francoist authorities to the victims and persons respons...

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Autor principal: S. M. Khenkin
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RU
Publicado: Ассоциация независимых экспертов «Центр изучения кризисного общества» (in English: Association for independent experts “Center for Crisis Society Studies”) 2019
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spelling oai:doaj.org-article:e3aa54dbdf7e4199bc1d54d3f04479df2021-11-07T14:45:03ZSpain: Controversy around Historical Memory2542-02402587-932410.23932/2542-0240-2019-12-4-72-87https://doaj.org/article/e3aa54dbdf7e4199bc1d54d3f04479df2019-12-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.ogt-journal.com/jour/article/view/503https://doaj.org/toc/2542-0240https://doaj.org/toc/2587-9324The article aims to study the acute controversy spreading in presentday Spain around the assessments of the tragic consequences of the civil war and Francoist dictatorship. The author set the following objectives: to reveal the attitude of the Francoist authorities to the victims and persons responsible for the committed crimes; to analyze “the Pact of Forgetting” in force during the period of the establishment and consolidation of democracy when the issues of the civil war and Francoism were withdrawn from the official discourse; to determine the role of the civil society in overcoming the taboo of the authorities on the attitudes to the historical past; to consider the main stances of the political parties to the problems of historical memory; to show the evaluation of Francoism in the international context. The article concludes that though the governments of the Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party in 2007 and then in 2018 undertook attempts to restore the historical truth and justice, only first steps have been made along this route. Those guilty of Francoist crimes have not been punished, and the victims have not been compensated for the legal and moral damage. The attitude to these problems splits Spanish parties and the society. The abolition of the Amnesty law adopted in October 1977 could be the key to solving the problem. According to the Law amnesty was granted to all political crimes committed before 1977 including mass killings of anti­Francoists at the time of the dictatorship. Present legal situation allows many parties to use in their political struggle the interpretation of convenience of the tragic events of the past. It seems that in the near future Spain is doomed to live with this destabilizing factor, impeding the achievement of genuine national reconciliation.S. M. KhenkinАссоциация независимых экспертов «Центр изучения кризисного общества» (in English: Association for independent experts “Center for Crisis Society Studies”)articlespain, civil warfrancoismdemocracylaw on historical memorynational reconciliationthe “pact of forgetting”spanish socialist workers’ partypopular partyInternational relationsJZ2-6530ENRUКонтуры глобальных трансформаций: политика, экономика, право, Vol 12, Iss 4, Pp 72-87 (2019)
institution DOAJ
collection DOAJ
language EN
RU
topic spain, civil war
francoism
democracy
law on historical memory
national reconciliation
the “pact of forgetting”
spanish socialist workers’ party
popular party
International relations
JZ2-6530
spellingShingle spain, civil war
francoism
democracy
law on historical memory
national reconciliation
the “pact of forgetting”
spanish socialist workers’ party
popular party
International relations
JZ2-6530
S. M. Khenkin
Spain: Controversy around Historical Memory
description The article aims to study the acute controversy spreading in presentday Spain around the assessments of the tragic consequences of the civil war and Francoist dictatorship. The author set the following objectives: to reveal the attitude of the Francoist authorities to the victims and persons responsible for the committed crimes; to analyze “the Pact of Forgetting” in force during the period of the establishment and consolidation of democracy when the issues of the civil war and Francoism were withdrawn from the official discourse; to determine the role of the civil society in overcoming the taboo of the authorities on the attitudes to the historical past; to consider the main stances of the political parties to the problems of historical memory; to show the evaluation of Francoism in the international context. The article concludes that though the governments of the Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party in 2007 and then in 2018 undertook attempts to restore the historical truth and justice, only first steps have been made along this route. Those guilty of Francoist crimes have not been punished, and the victims have not been compensated for the legal and moral damage. The attitude to these problems splits Spanish parties and the society. The abolition of the Amnesty law adopted in October 1977 could be the key to solving the problem. According to the Law amnesty was granted to all political crimes committed before 1977 including mass killings of anti­Francoists at the time of the dictatorship. Present legal situation allows many parties to use in their political struggle the interpretation of convenience of the tragic events of the past. It seems that in the near future Spain is doomed to live with this destabilizing factor, impeding the achievement of genuine national reconciliation.
format article
author S. M. Khenkin
author_facet S. M. Khenkin
author_sort S. M. Khenkin
title Spain: Controversy around Historical Memory
title_short Spain: Controversy around Historical Memory
title_full Spain: Controversy around Historical Memory
title_fullStr Spain: Controversy around Historical Memory
title_full_unstemmed Spain: Controversy around Historical Memory
title_sort spain: controversy around historical memory
publisher Ассоциация независимых экспертов «Центр изучения кризисного общества» (in English: Association for independent experts “Center for Crisis Society Studies”)
publishDate 2019
url https://doaj.org/article/e3aa54dbdf7e4199bc1d54d3f04479df
work_keys_str_mv AT smkhenkin spaincontroversyaroundhistoricalmemory
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