The Life Trial And Death Of Francisco Ferrer

Francisco Ferrer Guardia, a theoretical anarchist and founder of La Escuela Moderna, was born in 1849 near Barcelona. In 1901, Ferrer opened La Escuela Moderna. The professed goal of the school was to educate the working class in a rational, secular and non-coercive setting, but its high tuition allowed only wealthy middle class students to attend. It was privately hoped that when the time was ripe for revolutionary action, these students would be motivated to lead the working classes. La Escuela Moderna grew rapidly. By 1906, thirty-four schools with over 1,000 students were directly or indirectly influenced by the school and its textbooks. In 1906 an employee of Ferrers publishing firm threw a bomb at King Alphonso XIII's wedding party. Police speculated that Ferrer had encouraged Morral to throw the bomb. Ferrer was arrested, but released a year later, due to insufficient evidence. During Ferrer's incarceration, La Escuela Moderna was shut down and would not open its doors again. Ferrer soon realized, however, that he had lost his ability to influence directly the educational movement in Spain. His old interest in anarcho-syndicalism reemerged, and he began to devote more and more of his time to the Catalan labor movement. In July of 1909, political events in Spain spun out of control. Spontaneous protests broke out in the streets, evolving into a massive general strike. Revolutionary leaders, anxious to seize the moment, were ultimately unprepared and thus lost control of the crowds. The result was five days of mob rule known today as the Tragic Week. On July 28, martial law was declared throughout Spain, and a brutal military suppression continued until September. Anyone deemed dangerous to the government was jailed. Francisco Ferrer was arrested late in September. A hurried trial ensued, in which he was accused of fomenting the insurrection. Ferrer had very little, if anything, to do with the uprising, but false evidence and forced confessions were produced. The government still believed that Ferrer had instigated the assassination attempt on the king in 1906 and wanted revenge. Ferrer was put to death by firing squad on October 13, 1909. Because Ferrer was well known internationally, his execution caused a sensation throughout North America and Western Europe. In Great Britain, George Bernard Shaw, H. G. Wells, and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle protested with Peter Kropotkin and other anarchists. Ferrer was named a martyr for free thought and, by his execution, became one of the most famous of Spanish anarchists.

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1911 edition. Excerpt: ... APPENDIX THE OFFICIAL REPORT OF THE TRIAL NOTE The following pages contain a literal translation of the official documents of Ferrer's trial, as issued by, or with the consent of, the Spanish Government. Large numbers of the pamphlet (printed by the " Impresores de la Real Casa ") are said to have been gratuitously distributed by the Ministry of the Interior. The whole text is given, except a few paragraphs of purely legal argument. Not a word of anything purporting to be evidence is omitted. In the translation, elegance is everywhere subordinated to literal accuracy. I have not been at pains to make the present rendering verbally identical with quotations in the foregoing text, as there seemed to be no harm in giving alternative versions of important passages. I have resisted the temptation to throw into relief the absurdities of the case for the prosecution by the use of italics and other typographical expedients. The italics in the text are those of the original. But I have printed in capitals the words "author and CHIEF of the rebellion" wherever they are applied to Ferrer, in order to make it abundantly clear that it was in this character, and no other, that he was found guilty and executed. ORDINARY PROCESS Conducted Before The Military Tribunals At The Station Of Barcelona AGAINST Francisco Ferrer Guardia CASE FOR THE PROSECUTION BEFORE THE COUNCIL OF WAR Don Jesus Marin Rafales, Captain in the 57th Infantry (Vergara Regiment), acting as Prosecutor in the proceedings against Francisco Ferrer Guardia, before the ordinary Council of War of the station, says--Having been entrusted, for no merit of my own, with the duty of representing the law at this juncture, I come before the Court "In stern, judicial frame of soie aim of studying...

Excerpt from The Life, Trial, and Death of Francisco Ferrer My mind, as before stated, was a blank as regards Ferrer, and I had no predispositions to contend against. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We have not used OCR(Optical Character Recognition), as this leads to bad quality books with introduced typos. (2) In books where there are images such as portraits, maps, sketches etc We have endeavoured to keep the quality of these images, so they represent accurately the original artefact. Although occasionally there may be certain imperfections with these old texts, we feel they deserve to be made available for future generations to enjoy.

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.