Unite, Proletarian Brothers!
Radicalism and Revolution in the Spanish Second Republic
Matthew Kerry (Author)
Series: New Historical Perspectives
Published in association with: Institute of Historical Research, Royal Historical Society
In October 1934 the northern Spanish region of Asturias was the scene of the most important outburst of revolution in Europe between the early 1920s and the Spanish Civil War. Thousands of left-wing militants took up arms and fought the Spanish army in the streets of Oviedo while in the rear-guard committees proclaimed a revolutionary dawn. After two weeks, however, the insurrection was crushed and the widespread repression was central to the polarization and fragmentation of Spanish politics prior to the Civil War (1936-9).
Weaving together a range of everyday disputes and arenas of conflict, from tenant activism to strikes, boycotts to political violence, Unite, Proletarian Brothers! reveals how local cleavages and conflicts operating within the context of the Spanish Second Republic (1931-6) and interwar Europe explain the origins, development and consequences of the Asturian October. The book sheds new light on the long-debated process of ‘radicalization’ during the Second Republic, as well as the wider questions of protest, revolutionary politics and social and political conflict in inter-war Europe.
“Refreshing and bold…The book’s engagement with the politics of community and, above all, its micro-historical approach to discerning how politics was lived and felt on a local level is to be highly praised.”
–International Journal of Iberian Studies
“Kerry has crafted a nuanced, empathetic, and layered account of the radicalization of the Asturian coalfields that also serves as a model for re-visioning the history of ‘red cities.'”
-Bulletin for Spanish and Portuguese Historical Studies
Introduction
1. Rethinking the Red Valleys
2. Building and Contesting the Republic (1931-2)
3. Anticlericalism, Dissidence and Radicalization (1932-3)
4. Fascism and the Politics of Policing (1933-4)
5. Revolution
6. Repression and the Redefinition of Politics during the Long 1935
7. A Fragile Radicalism: The Popular Front Spring of 1936
Conclusion
PDF: 9781912702534
EPUB: 9781912702510
Read Online: 9781913002275
Hardback: 9781912702497 / 264 pages / 245mm x 163mm
Paperback: 9781912702503 / 264 pages / 234mm x 156mm
Matthew Kerry (Author)
“Refreshing and bold…The book’s engagement with the politics of community and, above all, its micro-historical approach to discerning how politics was lived and felt on a local level is to be highly praised.”
–International Journal of Iberian Studies
“Kerry has crafted a nuanced, empathetic, and layered account of the radicalization of the Asturian coalfields that also serves as a model for re-visioning the history of ‘red cities.'”
-Bulletin for Spanish and Portuguese Historical Studies
Subject: History, Political History
BISAC codes: HIS027090, HIS027100, HIS037070
Thema codes: NHD
Keywords: asutrias, boycott, coalfields, conflict, fascism, insurrection, radicalism, revolution, strike, upheaval
EPUB accessibility:
Accessibility summary
EPUB Accessibility Specification 1.1
Table of contents navigation
Index navigation
Single logical reading order
Short alternative textual descriptions
Print-equivalent page numbering
Use of color is not sole means of conveying information
Next / Previous structural navigation
ARIA roles provided
Appearance of all textual content can be modified
All non-decorative content supports reading without sight
WCAG v2.2
WCAG level AA
Compliance certification by (name)
More books in this subject area
Living with Machines
Ruth Ahnert
Emma Griffin
Jon Lawrence
The Living with Machines Team
12 November 2026
Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1541–1857: The Welsh Dioceses XIV
William H. Campbell
Joyce M. Horn
13 August 2026
Postcards, Translators and Esperanto Pioneers
Guilherme Fians
Bernhard Struck
Claire Taylor
13 November 2025
Atlantic Isles: Travel and Identity in the British and Irish West, 1880–1940
Gareth Roddy
30 October 2025