Some stories of the Cantabrian Nation war of 1936

This is a story of a ship named “Cantabria”

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Cantabria_%281919%29

As we saw, that was not the original name. Strange was that they put that name and not Santander, that was the official name used at that time to refer to Cantabrian territory.

There is tale that says that the sinking by the Spaniards of this ship under the name of “Cantabria”, one that at the time of its sinking was under a brit company and in activity not related with the Spanish war (and the Cantabrian Nation was already under occupation at that stage) have to do with revenge more than anything else.

Revenge for what? Revenge for the sinking by Cantabrian Defence Forces (airplanes, and old one, by the way) of the main battleship of Spanish fascist armada: the España. This was the biggest and more powerful ship in both fascist and left Spanish armadas.

Before continuing, something to have in mind. Here, yet, another cover-up. And the cover-up and the manipulation, erasing of facts and memory starts among the Cantabrian People in the Cantabrian Nation. Some people to know about some historical events, facts, even just anecdotes had been researching years, reading between lines and more.  And then scratching of it all the Spanish propaganda of decades, right and left Spanish propaganda. And this important, left or right, but Spanish. And then when the word had been spread, or at least trying to do so with the means at and, left and right covering again and moving against the source.

Back to the story, Revenge for what?

As here in Mc T N have learned, between 1936 and 1937, the Cantabrian Nation under a de facto independent Cantabrian Republic was trying to survive, resist and keep it alive. The Spanish, apart of bombing by air cities, villages and military positions in the south,  were, as a main part of their policy,  blocking the sea  to avoid that any help (civil and military)and commerce purchased by the Foreign Relations section of the Cantabrian government reach the Cantabrian Nation.

The plant mines in many sectors of the coast. They patrol the coast with small, medium and big boats. From their main battleship and cruiser to armed fishing boats.

The Cantabrian People, were the sea life has a so important place, hate the fascist blockaders. They just not blockade but the medium and big ships often bomb Santander and other coastal locations.

What happened with the España? First the official story, made by the fascist little after the event, and bought from left and right, taking apart really few exceptions, since then.

The ship was travelling near the coast, carrying out a usual patrol. Then it hit a mine. And of course a mine planted by the fascist themselves.  Not long after was gone.

There is a funny facts. They were thousands along a big sectors of coast cheering while the battleship was going down. Why we know: it was a hate ship by most of the Cantabrians. But the question is how?  It was not the first time they saw the ship, it was not the first time it was close to the coast, it was not the first time of watching it in patrol operation. Then, why such a big audience?

The official simple ignore the question and therefore the need of creating an answer.

Now, after scratching the propaganda and going into very different sources, the facts of what happen 

that day, and therefore,  the events that  made the spanish to be so revengeful with a quite small merchant ship not related with them, but with the name of “Cantabria”.

The battleship goes down

The battleship was carrying out blockade operations. But active ones. It was pursuing a merchant ship that was heading to the port of Santander. It was a hot pursuit. We don’t know what was in the merchant, that made it safe to port. The battleship get really close to the coast during the pursuit.

The Cantabrian Defence Forces reacted. They didn’t have any military ship apart of few patrol boats. And in the other hand a few planes were among the means of the Cantabrian Republic’s Army.  

Nearly all of them were pretty old.  Some planes went to attack the battleship. They were among the oldest:  bombs were throw by hand. Anyways between two and three planes start to attack the battleship.  This, as said , as near the coast. AND THIS WAS WHAT ATTRACTED THE ATTENTION OF SO MANY PEOPLE SINCE THE MANY PLACES THAT THE EVENT WAS ABLE TO BE SEEN.

As its seems, the Cantabrian planes hit the ship at least twice. They were not powerful bombs because the restrictions impose by the ways of throwing them: they have to be not very big and heavy to be able to be thrown by hand.  But the quite small impacts occured in sensible parts of the ship. And thereafter water started to come in. The planes, after the hits and having push away the ship, that now was trying to go to high sea approaching the basque coast  returned to base. The natives in the coastline keep watching cheerfully the developments of the ship that was heeling more and more, with the water coming in.

The attack to the ship started near the entrance of Santander bay. The ship turned around when the merchant come into port (there was artillery in the city able to be use against the ship if under the range) and the planes start their attack. All this with the planes coming and going around the ship. After the hits, finally at the height of Galizano, the ship went down.

Therefore, the sink of the was a success of the Cantabrian Forces. This was what made the Spanish rabid. And the fact that thousands of Cantabrian were cheering meanwhile didn’t .

Now, to answer the question of the beginning: why they sank the Cantabria?

This is why.

This is why the Spanish fascist take the trouble to sink a small merchant ship, at one point renamed “Cantabria”… near the brits coast. A ship that has nothing to do at the moment with them, unrelated to their war.

Because if not was a propaganda coup, why was for?

If it was not a case of trying to affect the moral of the Cantabrian People, and more, if it was not the case of making for themselves the point of exacting revenge in the sense of: “ you sank the España  then we sank the Cantabria…then what was the case about?

So much trouble for no reason?  Not an answer…

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The non-fighting myth about the Cantabrian Army in 1937

The Cantabrian did not fight. Or they did not fight much. That, so to speak is the consensus within the so call academics, politicians and others.

The right wing spaniards will say that this was because there was a lot of chaos, no organization at all, decentralization and many other things that prevent to organize properly nothing.

The left wing spaniards will say that this was because  the cantabrian people was more close to the right-wing that to the left, then they didn't feel like to fight much.

Funny enough they will find a kind of common ground, that will go more or less to say that the Cantabrian national mentality (because as they think the Cantabrian race is not a race or a nation but a group of individuals, a mix of farmers, rednecks, cow breeders and low lives),
and more in the old days, generally speaking and with very few exceptions they say, was (and still is the remainders of it) backwards and there more close to right-wing positions. This is a big, colorful and smelly shit. But when you have the left and right parties and so, the official academics, the story books, the education system, and the very System itself promoting  and selling that shit...that shit will be bought by many, or just accepted by many.

Anyway, the facts in pictures:

This seems photo was taken after the battle of Escudu. The big pyramid is a monument to the Italina fascists dead in combat

This is picture of how the combats actually were:

We all know that using flamethrowers, in this case, against the positions defended by the Cantabrian Army is a clear sign of no resistance and non-fight.

And when we see this images of  villages that were on the way to the capital of the Cantabrian Republic, Santander (and where the trap for the main part of the Cantabrian Army was been prepared), means that there was no fight at all:

And finally the very fact that when the so-call Battle of Santander (the invasion of the Cantabrian Nation and the destruction of its de facto independent Republic) was over, they establish this medal for some of the more brave of their soldiers and official, means that it was a really easy job:

This only the Italians, without talking about the spanish units that were among the best they had, with the fact they used the Moors troops, the spanish shock troops.
And in top they used the Condor Legion. In one word, they put all their weight in the campaign against Cantabria.

And still they had the help of some traitors and spanish agents in the Cantabrian side!


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A photo of  a Cantabrian boat with Cantabrian refugees

One of dozens...

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Santander city was bomber by the Condor Legion, a 27 of December

It happened 27 of December of 1936. They used normal bombs and incendiary and fragmentation bombs. They mean to cause harm among the civilian population. Santander was not a front-line city.
More than one hundred people died. Dozens of the victims were kids.

Some planes above Santander:

Some of the consequences

We can only think of the attraction that was  all the planes, between bombers and fighter between 10 and 20, above the heads of the people of Santander maneuvering. Because they did that before attacking. Not many planes that days. And the people did not think that they were going to attack civilian targets. They were watching. And it was Christmas , even it was during war. Then with the fact of the use of incendiary and fragmentation bombs. We can imagine the massacre.And of course should be counted the people with injuries that would be dying days and weeks after.

Still the spanish (left and right, and many cantabrian working for them), in their constant work, since then, of diminishing the fight of the Cantabrian Army, the fact of the Cantabrian Republic and de facto independence, and in top the number of casualties suffered, the scale of repression, in every occasion possible, here they say that the dead that day are nearly 80.