jan 11, 1932 - Casa VIejas Incident

Description:

Anarchism was spreading throughout the early 20th century. This ideology spread to agricultural workers in Spain who joined unions such as the Confederación Nacional del Trabajo (also known as CNT). Workers who were apart of the CNT attempted to show their desire for a revolution by marching in the streets. The government attempted to stop the spreading of this revolutionary mindset, and on January 11, members of the Assault Guard and Civil Guard arrived to the town of Casas Viejas. This caused many villagers to run away but some anarchists stayed and barricaded themselves in the house of an anarchists named Francisco Cruz Gutiérrez. This was not a good idea as the guards soon set the house on fire w/ the anarchists in them, and killed any villagers who had a gun in their possession. The massacre outraged the country and caused the left to weaken in power and caused people to believe that the President of the Second Spanish Republic, Niceto Alcalá-Zamora ordered the killing which many believe helped him lose the following election.