Commonwealth of Catalonia

The Commonwealth of Catalonia (Catalan: Mancomunitat de Catalunya, IPA: [məŋkumuniˈtad də kətəˈluɲə]) was a federation of the four provinces into which Catalonia had been divided in 1833 and was the first, modest, step towards self-governance. The Commonwealth was the forerunner of the Generalitat de Catalunya established in 1931 and re-established in 1977 and which is the current autonomous government of Catalonia.

The Commonwealth was created in 1914 (symbolically the 200th anniversary of the year of the loss of governing institutions independent of the Spanish central administration) and was disbanded and outlawed in 1925 during Miguel Primo de Rivera's dictatorship.

Although it had only administrative functions and its powers did not go beyond those of the provincial councils, it had great symbolic and practical importance: it represented the first recognition by the Spanish State of the identity and territorial unity of Catalonia since 1714 and was responsible for the creation of many public institutions in health, culture and technical education and science and notably for the support of the Catalan language.

Even so, frustrated with the limited autonomy achieved by the Commonwealth, Catalanism turned to the left, and led inter alia to the founding in 1922 of the first relevant organised Catalan independence party Estat Català by Francesc Macià.