Four separate parties sat down in Barcelona on July 23, 1936—socialists, communi

1936 Event

Catalonia Unites Left: Socialists and Communists Merge

Four separate parties sat down in Barcelona on July 23, 1936—socialists, communists, worker unionists, Catalan separatists—and walked out as one. The Partit Socialista Unificat de Catalunya formed exactly one week after Franco's coup began. Timing wasn't coincidence. They'd been negotiating for months, getting nowhere. Then fascist troops landed in Andalusia and suddenly ideology mattered less than survival. Within weeks, the PSUC controlled Catalonia's militias, factories, and food supply. The crisis that forced unity also guaranteed they'd fight each other once the crisis passed.

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July 23, 1936

90 years ago

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Catalonia Unites Left: Socialists and Communists Merge

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