Editing Lluís Companys (section)

==Civil War==
{{Main|Revolutionary Catalonia}}

[[Image:Comité_Central_de_Milícies_Antifeixistes.jpg|thumb|Organization chart of the Central Committee of Antifascist Militias, 1936. As president of Catalonia, Companys governed a large number of competing and fractious political groups, while nurturing Catalan autonomy.]]
When the Spanish Civil War began, Companys sided with the [[Second Spanish Republic|Spanish Republic]] against the [[Nationalist_faction_(Spanish_Civil_War)|Nationalist faction]]. Responding to the coup attempt in Barcelona, several Catalan political and workers parties independently fought to defeat the local Nationalist forces, subsequently causing tensions in political power.  As a consequence of the independently organized resistance, by the end of the fighting on 21 July some of the political parties wielded considerably more power than the government.  These parties included: the [[Confederación Nacional del Trabajo]] (CNT), an anarchist [[syndicalist]] trade union; the [[Iberian Anarchist Federation]] (FAI), a Spanish anarchist organization; the [[POUM|Workers' Party of Marxist Unification]] (POUM), a revolutionary [[anti-Stalinist left|anti-Stalinist]] communist party; and others.<ref>Preston, Paul. ''The Spanish Civil War. Reaction, revolution & revenge.'' Harper Perennial. London. 2006. pp. 253–254</ref>  Companys was instrumental in organizing an umbrella collaboration between these diverse groups called the [[Central Committee of Anti-Fascist Militias]] (CCMA). CCMA was formed on 21 July and sponsored by his [[Catalan government]] to reconcile the political tensions, recover the control of the situation, and organize the war effort.

[[Image:Bitllet de 5 pessetes realitzat per la Generalitat de Catalunya durant la Guerra Civil Espanyola, 1936 Moneda republicana.jpg|thumb|Bank note from the [[Generalitat de Catalunya]], 1936]]
In November 1936, the Generalitat government was the target of a [[1936 Catalan coup d'état attempt|planned coup]] by members of the pro-independence party [[Estat Català]], a break-away political party from Companys' ERC. Primarily objecting to Companys conciliation with anarchist groups, the conspirators intended to replace him with Prime Minister [[:ca:Joan Casanovas i Maristany|Joan Casanovas]]. The plot was exposed and some of its leaders jailed.<ref>Enric Ucelay-Da Cal, Arnau González i Vilalta (ed.), ''Contra Companys, 1936. La frustración nacionalista ante la revolución'', Valencia 2012, {{ISBN|978-8437089157}}</ref> Companys continued to try to maintain the unity of his fragile political coalition, but after the [[Soviet Union]]'s consul, [[Vladimir Antonov-Ovseenko]], threatened to cut off Russian aid to Catalonia for his continued collaboration with the anti-Stalinist POUM, he sacked POUM leader [[Andreu Nin]] from his post as Minister of Justice in December 1936. After [[May Days]], a series of clashes between Republican factions in early May 1937 which saw the removal of the central role played by the anarchist CNT-FAI, control of public order, defense, borders and war industries (in the hands of the Generalitat since the beginning of the war) was assumed by the Spanish Republican government. Companys could only protest, and political tensions with the Spanish Republican forces increased.  As a consequence of Soviet/[[Communist International|COMINTERN]] and [[Communist Party of Spain|Spanish Communist Party]] (PCE) pressures, POUM was declared illegal on 16 June 1937; Nin disappeared soon thereafter, widely viewed as having been assassinated by Soviet agents.

With the [[Fall of Barcelona (1939)|fall of Barcelona]] to the Nationalists in January 1939, Companys feared for his life and left the city, departing on 24 January, 2 days prior to the Nationalist takeover. Ten days later he joined the half-million Republican soldiers and civilians in [[La Retirada]] escaping the Nationalists of [[Francisco Franco]] by crossing the [[Pyrenees]] of Catalonia to France.  Companys crossed the French border at Coll de Lli, La Vajol with the [[Basque Country (autonomous community)|Basque]] [[lehendakari]] (president) [[José Antonio Aguirre (politician)|José Antonio Aguirre]] on 5 February 1939, thus beginning his exile.