Catalonia's autonomous government, led by Lluís Companys (pictured), declared a general strike, an armed insurgency, and the establishment of the Catalan State in reaction to the inclusion of conservatives in the Spanish republican regime.

Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a nationality by its Statute of Autonomy. Its territory is situated on the northeast of the Iberian Peninsula, to the south of the Pyrenees mountain range. Catalonia is administratively divided into four provinces or eight vegueries (regions), which are in turn divided into 43 comarques. The capital and largest city, Barcelona, is the second-most populous municipality in Spain and the fifth-most populous urban area in the European Union.