Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-07-04-Speech-2-012"
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"en.20060704.4.2-012"2
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"Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, Spain in 1936 is above all a lesson for us Europeans or, rather, four lessons. The first lesson has to do with the courage, self-sacrifice and extraordinary imagination of a people, the Spanish people, in striving towards freedom and democracy. Who could forget the extraordinary social inventions of free Catalonia? Who could forget everything that the Spanish people attempted during this amazing period?
The second lesson concerns the barbarity of fascism, and, as we have just heard, one of its symbols is Guernica: the symbol of murder, assassination, incarceration; the symbol too of an international Fascist project, since it is clear that Spanish Fascism would never have been able to triumph without the help of National Socialism. In 1936, the Fascist project of European domination was already evident.
The third lesson is harder to take on board because it is the lesson of cowardice: the cowardice of Europeans, the cowardice of the French – even if it was difficult for Léon Blum – the cowardice of the British, the cowardice of all those who thought that if the Spanish people paid the price, then they would not have to. As in Munich in 1938, this attitude turned out to be one of the great errors of that period, affording one of the great lessons that we need to learn from it. As history has shown, anyone who thinks that they can keep a low profile while the storm passes by on the other side is often mistaken. This is an important lesson which, for a very long time, has been very difficult for many Europeans to accept. Sometimes, pacifism paves the way for horror. Sometimes, it is a sign of courage. It is always very difficult to know whether pacifism or its alternative is the right course of action. If, however, it is necessary to speak of cowardice, then the courage shown should also be emphasised: that, for example, of Pierre Cot, a minister under Léon Blum who, as a minister, had arms sent to Spain. Let us recall that Pierre Cot, whose actions in this difficult period were heroic, is the father of one of our fellow Members, Jean-Pierre Cot, whom I thank for having reminded me of his father’s actions.
The fourth lesson, finally, concerns the horrible intolerance of Communist totalitarianism, because we must not forget that there are two great images from the Spanish Civil War. The first is that of the international brigades who wanted to save the Spanish people, but at the same time there is that of the intolerant Communist brigades which murdered Trotskyist members of POUM, as well as anarchists, because they did not have the same political orientation. That, too, is a lesson of the Spanish Civil War. It shows us that liberation does not mean dismissing everybody else’s opinion; rather, it means accepting diversity and democracy.
Ladies and gentlemen, the European Union must profit fully from all of these four lessons. We must recall them when there is barbarity in Bosnia or when there is a duty to show solidarity with oppressed peoples. If these lessons are learned well, then I believe that the future could be a little brighter."@en1
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