France and Catalonia
Catalonia is a country in Western Europe whose capital is Barcelona. Not all the country belongs to Spain, its northern area is under French rule since 1659. Both Spain and France have persecuted Catalan language for imposing the use of Spanish or French. French repression have been the worst.
In 1700, king Louis XIV forbide the use of Catalan in French Catalonia; then nobody spoke French in Catalonia. After French Revolution (1789-1815) things became worse.
French Revolution was completely different from American Revolution (1776-1787). It destroyed the monarchy not for release people but for creating and stronger political power more hard than the one of the ancient kings; Robespierre was a tyrant and the Revolution ended with Napoleon crowining himself as Emperor of France (Could you imagine George Washingon, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson or Madison as "emperor of North America"?)
In this age, the revolutionary governments harshed their repression on Catalan. Someone named abbe Gregoire said that French was the language of freedom and for this reason all languages different from French should be anihilated from France. This lead to the repression of Catalan and for other non-French languages used in France: Occitan -language used in Midi until 1950-, Briton, German in Alsace, Basque in French Basque Country and so on Compare again French Revolution with American Revolution. Recently Abbe Gregoire has been remembered as a great man of France.
In 19th Century, during the III Republic (1870-1940), French government established schools in all France; in theese schools the use of languages diferent from French (Catalan, Occitan, German, Basque) was forbidden; children who speak in this languages were severely punished. The teachers teached to theirs pupils that French was the language of Culture; keeping in speaking Catalan, Occitan, German or Basque meant beeing an ignorant, rude and dirty person. In a town of Catalonia named Aiguatebia you can still read in the wall of the school "Be Clean, Speak French" hence if you speak Catalan you were lumpen, dirty, clumpsy, rotten and so on.
In 1939, Spanish Civil War was over with the victory of fascist General Franco, dictator of Spain (1939-1975). Most Catalans and Spaniards loyals to the Spanish Republic established in 1931 got away to France. French government sent them to towns in the French Catalan Coast (Ribesaltes, Argelers, Canet) in gulags; they were imprisoned, with no food and no hygiene, most of them starved to death.
Currently, in North Catalonia, there is a nationalist mouvement trying to recover Catalan identity. French police spies them. The Prefet -governor, not elected by people but appointed by French Government- Bernard Bonnet (1993-1998) actued against this movement. In Reward for his action, he was appointed prefet in Corse, were there is a nationalist mouvement against France. In Corse, he burned little restaurants in the coast and was processed.
Avui (Today), a newspaper in Catalan edited in Barcelona, printed a map of all Catalonia. Prefet Bonnet and the French Consul in Barcelona became angry because French border, whichs divides Catalonia, was ignored. During the rule of Prefet Bonnet, demonstrations and protest in Perpinyà (Perpignan)-the main city of French Catalonia- were usual.
Well, I spect you to understand why I joined fuckfrance

Vive la Catalunya Libre!
And then Martinique, Guadeloupe and Guyana!

And Corsica! Don't forget Corsica! LONG LIFE FREE CORSICA!!!

But they must keep Clipperton (Hey, we are cinco de mayonnaise day!)

cia:

Introduction Clipperton Island

Background:
This isolated island was named for John CLIPPERTON, a pirate who made it his hideout early in the 18th century. Annexed by France in 1855, it was seized by Mexico in 1897. Arbitration eventually awarded the island to France, which took possession in 1935.

Geography
Location:
Middle America, atoll in the North Pacific Ocean, 1,120 km southwest of Mexico
Geographic coordinates:
10 17 N, 109 13 W

Map references:
Area:
total: 6 sq km
water: 0 sq km
land: 6 sq km

Area - comparative:
about 12 times the size of The Mall in Washington, DC

Yes, how could I forget Clipperton! If I remember correctly, it has a French postal code (9999 ?) but no actual humans there to send or receive mail.

angeletslaterra :


perhaps the begining is true ,i don't know very well the history of "catalogne"

but i want to answer you about prefet bonnet

that true that this prefet burned few little restaurants in a beach of corse but you forget the most important :

these restaurants are completly forbidden by the french law .
(protection of coasts )

but the action of prefet bonnet was illegal too and he was in prison .

French hypocrisy never dies. While France talks about how it does not want to have an evil U.S. marauder crush all local values and distinctions within France or Europe, that is exactly what Paris does in France! Basque, Breton, Catalan, Occitan and other local languages and cultures are vigorously supressed to this day in the "Hexagon." France is an aggressively centralized state; counties in my home state of Maryland have more power over local affairs than do the various "departments" representing regional cultural and linguistic minorities.

About "vigoursly supressing" local culture I frankly don't think the french did it with more vigour than american hero Custer....

Simple french arrête tes conneries. Déjà qu'on est supposé être les méchants, si en plus on passe pour des cons incapable d'aligner trois mots sans faire 20 fautes...

Actually, what was done with native Americans by general Custers was a genocide. You're right. But I'd want you to see the following things:

I said that France has repressed Catalan language in French Catalonia (North Catalonia as we call it) and you have not proved it to be false. Even if the USA actued with the native Americans as Hitler dis with the jews, which is not the case, I don't agree with french behavior in Catalonia.

How many genocides did the French cause in their rotten colonial empire? Have you ever been told about algerians massacred during their independence war (1954-1962) by the Frogs? I talk about this fact because I believe you to be an Arabian or a Muslim.

By the way, if you were from North-Africa. The French help the Arabians governments (Tunis, Algeria, Morocco) to repress the amazights, don't they?

Do you know that now in Vietnam -the former Indochine- French are more hated than Americans are?

"Since then, France have repressed the use of Catalan language in this zone."
Catalàn is teaching at school.My lil niece of 6 learn it since a year.

"And Corsica! Don't forget Corsica! LONG LIFE FREE CORSICA!!!"
ROFL! As if I could speak about Oregon or Texas.Oh yup I can!!Just to type "geography Texas" in Google and I can teach you all you want to know about it!Eaaaa sy!

Why did Prefet Bonnet burn the restaurants?
Acording what you say, Bonnet is the silliest person in the world; since he was the prefet, he could have close theese illegal restaurants by legal means: sending the police to close the restaurant and then asking a judge for permission to jail the guilties and demolishing the buildings.
Prefet Bonnet did things like that in North Catalonia (Pyrenees Orienteles, Departament 66 as you prefer it to be called) to people protesting against OMYA, a big enterprise destroying the environement of Vingrau (Roussillon).
I've been told that Bonnet is not in jail. He's now a prefet hors cadre. That means he's earning his salary for not working.
If you are interested in Prefet Bonnet, I recomend you the book wrote on him by Marc Durand; you can read it both in French or in Catalan as you prefer.

hi angel.

Actually French people love Catalunya and Catalans love us too...

I have many friends in Roses, L'Escala and Barcelona and we all get along like brothers and sisters.

Don't try to drag the shit, it's pointless!

I'm glad you visit Catalonia and you've Catalan friends.
My hate is adressed not to French persons but to France because it's a state opressing Catalonia.
I talked about the repression of Catalan language and culture in North Catalonia. Have you proven my assertions to be false?. Do you believe this repression right or wrong? If France have destroyed languages and cultures because they were'nt Frenc, are you proud of your homeland?
Think about theese things.
You told me to not drag the shit. You're right, the relationship between France and Catalonia is and has been an actual shit.