#1714

[dailysmilingnatsume]

[useless-catalanfacts]

El Canyeret neighbourhood in the city of Lleida (capital city of Ponent, Catalonia) devastated after being bombed by Mussolini’s Italian fascist aviation, who was helping Franco and his fascist side in the Spanish Civil War.

Photo source: Arxiu Comarcal del Segrià.

Lleida was bombed many times by the fascist air-force in the Spanish Civil War, most heavily during the days known as “the Battle of Lleida”, between March 27th and April 3rd 1938, which ended in a victory of the fascist side. Lleida was not a big city nor very strategically important -the fascists’ aim was not factories or weapons, but civilians. Lleida’s importance was as a symbol: the rest of Catalonia still resisted as an antifascist stronghold, thanks to the militia organizations that many civilians had joined; but Lleida, as Catalonia’s Westernmost city (and thus the one closest to Spain where Franco’s army already controlled most territory), was the first city in Catalonia that was occupied by the fascist troops. (Remember that one of the main pillars of Spanish fascism are Catalanophobia and Spanish supremacy, and hatred of leftists and atheists, who were also identified with Catalonia because workers’ leftist movements were very strong here.)

The alliance between the Italian aviation, Franco’s Spanish troops and Moroccan troops occupied Lleida for the fascists, and most of the city’s population was either killed or fled as refugees to other parts of Catalonia still under control of the Republic. Out of the 38,000 inhabitants that the city had before the Battle of Lleida, less than 2,000 were left in the city on the day that the fascists considered they had bombed it enough and occupied it by land.

As soon as the fascists took control of the city, they went to erase the official registres of the victims of war, trying to erase responsibility for their massacre. They went to the Civil Registre to take the books of deaths, where the names and dates of the people who died in the city showed how many had been killed by the fascist bombs. The fascists always tried to obfuscate their crimes, they never had any honour even to face their own deeds.

By the way, the neighbourhood shown in the photo (El Canyeret) was home to the descendants of the families that Spanish troops had already destroyed 200 years ago. When Castilla (Spain) first occupied Catalonia, in the year 1714 as the end of the War of the Spanish Succession, the Spanish King Philip V militarized Catalonia, destroying whole neighbourhoods and even whole cities. In the main important cities, including Lleida, the Spanish government destroyed neighbourhoods and built military citadels on its place, that had the cannons always pointing at the population. In Lleida, people were expelled from the slopes of the Seu Vella hill, and the newly-homeless families built shanty towns further down. This was the creation of El Canyeret.

[dimity-lawn]

From the Trial Account of John Rawlins and Benjamin Egars for Conspiracy, 22nd October 1788. (Old Bailey Reference Number: t17881022-85) *

*Although the sentence shared by Brothers Dunnikin, Doorkeeper, Watchtower, and Plasterer comes from the sentence passed on Joyce Hodgkis in 1714 for the murder of her husband.

[bishopsbox]

source: @saintinnocent

Jupiter and Antiope, by Watteau, circa 1714-1719. Louvre Museum, Paris.

[thewertsearch]

I love this gif. Look at John just tip-tapping away.

TT: she's not here right now, she's asleep! TT: but ok, see you. GA: Is This GA: Your Human Sarcasm That Ive Heard About [...] TT: umm... no? GA: I Thought That Was The Thing You Did GA: The Rose Human Specifically

We’re right at the start of Project Trolling, but someone’s been observing Rose already. Did CG talk to the humans alone for a while before showing them to the others?

TT: can we just cut to the chase and be friends already?? TT: these cat and mouse games are so dumb, you know we're just going to all be friends at some point anyway.

No wonder GA was so thrown off earlier. John’s completely blunt here, and his attempt at ‘sarcasm’ is laughable. Going from this to Rose Lalonde must have felt like switching from apple juice to absinthe. 

GA: I Should Figure Out How The Viewport Feature Of This Application Works GA: So I Can See What Such A Primitive Creature Looks Like

I noticed this with CG earlier. The trolls can see anyone they're taking to, as though through an upgraded version of Sburb's client. GC also seems to be able to see their messages, so I think this is all the hacker’s doing. 

TT: you look kind of like... TT: howie mandel from little monsters. [...] TT: and fred savage was like his child prankster sidekick. GA: Is This An Adversary You Have Encountered On Your Quest

Ahahaha! This is even better than I thought!

Based on the Rose/GA conversations we’ve seen before, they both default to sophisticated, witty banter. Rose is able to tone it down when talking to John, but GA, it seems, is too discombobulated to adjust. 

TT: yeah, i got him this really cool bunny for his birthday, and it's really nicely knitted and everything. TT: because i am basically in love with him, you are right. GA: Uh Okay TT: heh, just kidding. i'm sure john knows it's cause i am really thoughtful and i bet he really appreciates the present, and would say thank you if he were here! GA: Okay Human Courtship Is Definitely A Strange Thing And Its Sort Of Blowing My Mind Listening To This

No no no, it's literally just John! That's the best part! He's just like this!

GA: Considering That Youre Obviously Not That Smart GA: And Basically Understand Whipping Bugwinged Fuckall About Even The Most Elementary Temporal Mechanics GA: I Am A Bit Perplexed As To Why I Find Myself So Vehemently Fondling The Short End Of The Antagonism Stick Here

When it comes to trolling, GA’s achilles' heel is sincerity. John is the perfect counter. 

[tippysattic]

Check out this listing I just added to my Poshmark closet: Vintage Stafford Navy Blue solid silk necktie.

[pupgrandma2]

Check out this listing I just added to my Poshmark closet: Medium Long Sleeve Dress. .

[boxicon]

Nimab och Riksbyggen presenterar stilrena och vita fastighetsboxar från Boxicon i en modern fastighet. Dessa vita liggande 4x9 boxar omgivna av en träram skapar en elegant och funktionell lösning för posthantering. Här ser vi hur en kombination av design och kvalitet kan förvandla en vardaglig del till något vackert och inspirerande.

[russellolsonart]

2022 Daily drawing no.:253 Daily drawing no. to date.: 1,714 . . . . . . #day253of2022 #day1714 #1714 #september #september2022 #procreate #character #random #onedrawingadaychallenge #onedrawingaday #dailydrawing #drawing #illustration #russellolsonart https://www.instagram.com/p/CiXDJaVOoOK/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[cordebra]

Complete finished iStitch Designs Denim Band Sampler 2022 SAL, linen band, silk threads AVAS #1714, 1/1. #istitchdesigns #denimbandsamplersal #denimbandsampler2022 #denimsampler #carolridyard https://www.instagram.com/p/ChPotUAoKtLX00BGPgfAe4bdbc3SdF_UCoEoRU0/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[useless-catalanfacts]

The growth of Barcelona between the years 1823 and 2010.

The red is the built area, black is water (the Mediterranean sea and the Besòs river), and in different shades of gray they represent elevation (white is the flatter surface, and the darker parts are more elevated, in the Collserola and Montjuïc mountains) as well as the old city walls. GIF from Històries de Barcelona.

Barcelona had had basically the same perimeter since the 14th century until the 1850s (what you can see at the beginning of the video). How is it possible that it remained the same for so many centuries -including the beginning of the Industrial Revolution with its urban population boom!- and then suddenly exploded the way it did? As with many things in this city's history, it has to do with the Spanish army.

This is was Barcelona's surface for all those centuries (for those familiar with the city, what nowadays is Ciutat Vella). As you can see, it's inside the city walls (built in the Middle Ages, reinforced with bastions in the Early Modern period).

But in 1703-1714, we have the War of the Spanish Succession, where Castile (Spain) occupies Catalonia and the Bourbon dynasty become kings, and by right of conquest they abolish Catalonia's independence (as well as the Kingdom of València, Mallorca and Aragon, who suffer the same fate, but I will focus on Catalonia in this post because it's what explains Barcelona's weird growth). Catalonia becomes ruled by a military governor chosen by the king from Castile and a huge repression starts against Catalan people, prohibiting the use of the Catalan language in official settings, banning Catalan people from holding office (only Castilians could), forcing families to host invading soldiers in their homes, forcing every town to dedicate a percentage of their fields to feeding the Spanish army and their horses, and a very long etc.

Oh, and they forced 42% of the city's inhabitants (17% of Barcelona's built surface) to destroy their own homes so that Spain could built a huge military citadel to bomb the city from, right where Barcelona's most economically active and most populated neighbourhood (la Ribera) stood.

Barcelona is Catalonia's capital city, and Barcelonians have always been known for their rebellious spirit. The new Bourbon king made sure to turn Barcelona into a completely militarized city, with a strong presence of the army in every corner of the city. There are 2 military buildings right outside the city that answer our question:

On the North, the huge Citadel. On the South, the Montjuïc castle. Then, the Spanish king made the law that nothing could be built outside of the city walls. The reason? They wanted to be able to bomb any place in the city. They could reach the whole city from these two military points, and they didn't want any building outside that they couldn't easily destroy.

The Citadel was demolished in 1868 after a revolution (that's a story for another day), but the Montjuïc castle still exists, standing on top of the hill that overlooks the city:

Anyway, this decision to not allow Barcelona to grow had horrible consequences for its population. In the late 1700s, Barcelona's population was quickly growing because many people from the countryside were moving in to work in its proto-industry. The city could only grow inwards: all the space was filled (say bye to the fields and vegetable gardens that used to be common in the city), the buildings built more storeys taller in cheap material to accommodate more people quickly, houses were divided to rent every floor or room separately, and housing became much more expensive and became treated like a product to make money off. Many families didn't have sunlight nor good air ventilation, with important repercussions in people's health.

The population continued growing, particularly with the Industrial Revolution, when even more people moved into the cities to work in factories. The situation was absolutely unsustainable, so it's no surprise that riots started throughout the 1800s to tear down the walls. However, every time, the Spanish government answered with a strong repression of the people who were destroying the walls and forced them to build them back.

Barcelonians finally made it in summer 1854, when the cholera epidemic worsened at the same time that the 2-year long progressive government started in Spain, which saw tearing down the walls as the only way to settle the constant social uprisings in Barcelona.

In 1859, the Eixample expansion was started to build outside the old city walls, according to the Cerdà plan (the egalitarian urbanism plan, a story for another day). Finally, the city could grow as much as it needed to make room for its inhabitants in dignified houses. And during the late 1800s and throughout the 1900s, Barcelona has been the destination of many waves of immigration, so it has continued growing. Now, it has reached all its growth: there is no space left, with the Mediterranean sea on the East, the Collserola mountains on the West, and already highly-populated cities at the North and South. Barcelona has reached its full possible expansion.

[do-mkokoro]

A philanthropist

[kirby-the-gorb]

[happystarzarchive]

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[aiastelamonian]

Foggy morning (at Lima PE)