The Catalan Question During the Second Republic

Abstract

Based on Hungarian diplomatic reports, the article attempts to analyze the issue of Catalan autonomy which was one of the challenges to be solved by the politicians of the Second Spanish Republic. In principle, all the republican parties accepted the right of minor minorities to autonomy, but in terms of their/its content they were divided. For Manuel Azaña the issue of autonomy was not a legal issue, but a means to resolve a very important political issue. But there were very different positions within the coalition government, ranging from supporters of the unity to federalist positions. Furthermore, the Catalan political forces were also divided. The Catalan Statute, adopted in September 1932, was a compromise resulting from a hard struggle. Consequently, the Catalan nationalists had to be satisfied with an autonomous region within the Spanish state instead of the autonomous Catalan state. However, the struggle continued between the central government and the Catalan government. The article tries to show how Hungarian diplomats perceived this complex conflict.