The Great Inquisition did nothing for the Church, it led to Protestantism, to separation between Church and State and to a work ethic celebrating reconciliation and collaboration that became the precursor of modern western society and all its wealth. Japan’s infliction of terrible horrors led not only to its inevitable defeat, but indirectly to its ultimate wealth. (America wrote its Constitution!) Germany’s idiotic pre-war dreams about domination led not only directly to its defeat but to wealth attributable as much to production as to enforced tolerance. (America wrote its Constitution!) Franco’s cruel Spain did everything wrong, creating a nation the exact opposite of what he … [Read more...] about Amar y Vivir
spain history
Mission: Impossible, the Valley of the Fallen
Here’s a question: is the Valley of the Fallen (Valle de los Caídos) a religious shrine: a Benedictine monastery and Roman Catholic basilica that includes a memorial to the dead in the Spanish Civil War, along with the tomb of General Francisco Franco? Or is it a grotesque monument to hate, an enduring reminder, built by its victims, of a military dictatorship that murdered and imprisoned hundreds of thousands of people whose only crime was to have defended democracy? Coming up with an answer will be the task of a newly appointed 13-member commission. It’s been given five months to decide, once and for all, what to do with the Valley of the Fallen. (What do you think should be … [Read more...] about Mission: Impossible, the Valley of the Fallen
Valley of the Fallen: “A symbol of the Franco dictatorship or a religious site?”
The Spanish holocaust
Even to this day, when asked about the slaughter and repression carried about by General Francisco Franco during the Spanish Civil War and in the years that followed, the standard reply from many Spaniards is that atrocities were committed on both sides. But in this relentlessly harrowing read, British historian Paul Preston provides, page after page, factual, documentary accounts of the systematic policy introduced by Franco early on in the war to rid the country of the red menace and to install a reign of terror among the few that might still contemplate resistance. This was accomplished through disappearances, and in many cases, the murders of entire families, along with theft of young … [Read more...] about The Spanish holocaust