s of the low business class (neighbor stores, bars, hand-makers and similar) had been interested in making progress in that direction and have national recognition.
The popular classes, the working class has always rebel and the one that tried and still try to move forward in the social and national issues. The working class symbolized since then our real identity, the people that keeps our music, our culture, and is where our real traditions rest.
One of the best, probably the best, writer that this country ever had was Manuel Llano, a person who knew how to “capture” in the letters the essence of the villages, the daily life and believes of the peasants in the countryside of the beginning of the XX century. He was a left-wing person, with some Christian believes as well and a cultural activist, close to Luciano Malumbres. He wrote articles for many news-paper including “La Region”. He suffer prison with him because his Republican activities . He died only one year after the fascists occupied Cantabria.
It was a quite big cultural develop during the II Spanish Republic, probably the biggest difference with the Monarchy. Many schools were created, without religion influence. Many theatre companies go around the Country (and in the Spanish State as well) where poor peasants were. They were campaigns to teach how to read and write.
The laicism started to be slowly a open part of the public life in a country where since old times many people opposed and dislike the reactionary Catholic Church even they were christian or catholic themselves.
But this few progress it was far from be enough. For example the Catholic Church control most of the schools. It was near in the same level of influence that the administration and still its power inside some structures of the State was as deep as in Monarchy days.
The Revolution of October 1934
With this picture we reach October 1934. The People was still waiting for real changes in their lives, for real social progress and the end of centuries of oppression and exploitation
In October ’34 in some countries of the Spanish State was a workers uprising, a Revolution that unfortunately was defeated. The most powerful of the uprising was in Asturias, our neighbour, with the miners in front of the struggle. But in Cantabria the fight wasn’t small and the revolutionaries and workers fought bravely.
During a period of more than ten days all around the Country many bridges were blow, many sabotages were made, many armed fights with the State forces, many strikes, demos and marches, many head-quarters of right-wing and fascists organizations were attacked, many clubs of rich and healthy people were attacked, in some councils the workers declare the Communism and the Red Flag of Liberty flies in top, many workers died in the barricades and the fights, many workers were wounded, many suffer afterwards trial, and thousand were imprison…
Reinforcements from outside Cantabria were brought to defeat this popular and socialist uprising. State forces, police and army killed many workers…
They take control of the country with brought more suffer to the People after the defeat. Many, most of the working class families had or know someone in prison. In Santander even a ship was made available as a prison, for more than 1500 revolutionaries, because all the prisons and camps were full. The censorship was an open reality as in many stages of the Spanish –capitalist- Republic.
From this point, the left-wing realized that some sort of unity was need, and of course the struggle for amnesty for the political prisoners was a central issue for all the working class and revolutionaries organizations.
This was the picture till the elections of February of 1936, when a big change was going to happen. The Popular Front won the State Elections. This event had influence in the all the State, in all the countries, even in that ones where the right-wing was more powerful and the have more influence in the People than the left.
Many people said that from this point the Army, Church and Fascist started to organized the fasc