The War Industries Commission (, CIG) was a body set up by the Generalitat de Catalunya on 7 August 1936 with the aim of organizing and coordinating the efforts of all production facilities to supply armaments to the republican forces during the Spanish Civil War. After reducing its powers in the wake of the May Days, the Commission remained operational in Catalonia until 11 August 1938, when it was completely taken over by the republican government.
In 1936, Catalonia had virtually no war industry. With the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War, some workshops and factories began to autonomously produce weapons. The effort, however, in most cases was inefficient and sterile. To fix this, the CIG was created, headed by the Minister of Finance Josep Tarradellas, with the aim of channeling this push into something effective. The artisanal production of weapons was banned, the production of the converted industries was regulated and new military industrial infrastructure was constructed. On a large scale, the commission was organized into main sections, dedicated directly to the production of weapons or equipment, and auxiliary sections, dedicated to obtaining raw materials, semi-finished products or machinery abroad.
The results of the War Industries Commission varied according to the factories, some achieving very satisfactory productions and others failing to mass-produce. In total, it is estimated that between 50,000 and 80,000 people worked in the CIG as a whole, between direct and auxiliary employment, in about 500 workshops and factories. With the republican appropriation of the industry in 1937, the production decayed noticeably.
History On 17 July 1936, the Spanish Civil War began and republicans defeated the nationalist uprising in Catalonia. But in Catalan territory there were practically no war industries, and many workers, aware of the needs of the front and driven by the revolutionary spirit of the time, decided on their own initiative to start making weapons and equipment for the soldiers. This rapid spontaneity, however, had very low efficiency. In order to make these initiatives effective, the CIG was created on 7 August 1936, which became effective by decree of the Generalitat, on 12 August.
The War Industries Commission of Catalonia was headed by a Council of War Industries, made up of 8 men. The Councilors of War Industries were in charge of different tasks and were appointed by the Councilors of the Generalitat. The distribution was as follows:
General Secretary: Josep Tarradellas. Responsible for the War Industries Commission from inception to cessation. Defense: Ricardo Jiménez de la Beraza and Miguel Ramírez de Cartagena Marcaida. The first was an artillery soldier and was a key part of the organization of the commission, he devoted himself to the intervention of the Republican government. Miguel Ramírez was an aviation commander and was made responsible for the aviation section of the commission until he was arrested in Valencia in June 1937. Economy and Public Services: Francesc Salsas Serra, director of the CROS of Lleida, and Joan Deulofeu i Arquer, engineer and mayor of Barcelona between 1934 and 1936. Finance: Ferran Cuito Canals, engineer and politician, and Josep Quero i Molares, jurist and politician. Governance: Alfred San Juan i Colomer, military pilot and professor of aeronautics.
In addition, the performance of Eugenio Vallejo is very remarkable, forming part of the commission as a representative of the Minister of Economy. A trade unionist for the CNT, he was an important part of resolving conflicts with workers.
The work of the CIG was divided into three sections: aviation, iron and steel and chemistry. Their managers, respectively, were Miguel Ramírez de Cartagena, Eugenio Vallejo and Francesc Salsas Serra (who left the position in February 1937).
This council, where all the political factions of Catalonia were represented, was in constant conflict with the republican government. With the May Events the Council changed in line with political changes and the will of the state to deal with military production increased.
The first maneuver of the Republic was the creation of the Armaments Undersecretariat, which assumed part of the powers of the CIG. This assumption of powers continued in October 1937, when the Republic intervened in all the collectivized factories and workshops that were not owned by the Generalitat. With this, the dense tissue that had formed was torn. In some things the Undersecretariat acted correctly, like in the suspension of the production of the armored trucks, that served little in combat cross-country. But the contempt shown for the production that was carried out was a blow to the workers who did not produce again at the same speed or with the same enthusiasm.
Finally on 11 August 1938, by decree, despite the opposition of the Generalitat and the fact that there was no clear reason, the 15 remaining CIG factories would passed to the jurisdiction and direction of the Undersecretariat of Spanish Armaments and Ammunition.
The factories The CIG organized a dense industrial network of five hundred workshops and factories in addition to laboratories all over the Catalan territory, regardless of which were owned by Spain. The companies under the control of the CIG were expropriated, intervened or coordinated, as the case may be and in agreement with the Workers' Control Committee. The work of the CIG focused mainly on the metallurgical and chemical fields.
Overall, the most successful industrial reconversions were those that went from producing stationery, bicycles and cosmetics to manufacturing cartridges. Many of the factories and workshops in one year reached manufacturing quotas of up to 1 million cartridges per month. The biggest problems the commission had to face were the irregularity of the raw material and the lack of foreign exchange.
The factories involved by the CIG, and the number of workers who worked there, in Barcelona were: Elizalde (400 workers), Foret (440), Fàbrica Riviere (1,200), Maquinista Terrestre i Marítima (1,279), Material para Ferrocarriles and Construction (1,500) and Hispano-Suiza (1,500). In the rest of Catalonia, the Electrochemistry of Flix (650), Pirelli (1,500) and the Ercros of Lleida took part.
The factories and workshops coordinated by the CIG were many more. With more than 200 workers in Barcelona there were: Orfeó Sincrònic (212), Compañía del Gramófono Odeón (223), Altos Hornos de Cataluña (241), Industrias Lacambra (262), Labora Talleres Confederales no. 1 (294) and Metales y Platería Ribera (508). In the rest of Catalonia, with more than 200 workers, the following companies were coordinated: Comité Metalúrgico de Torelló (312), Casa Bacas (332), Casa Serra (385) and Talleres G. de Andreis (631).
The 15 CIG factories The companies directly and totally controlled by the CIG, some created and others confiscated, but all owned by the Generalitat, were the following 15 factories:
Factory number 1 (F-1). The main activity was the manufacture of octanol. Installed in July 1936 in Badalona, it was formed in part by the company Unión Española de Explosivos, at 355 Eduard Maristany Street. One of the main efforts of the War Industry Commission was to be able to manufacture tetraethyllead, a compound needed to ethylate gasoline and make it more suitable for aviation engines. On 7 August 1936, a request was made to the Laboratory of Organic Chemistry of the School of Industrial Engineers of Barcelona to try to get dibromine-1-2-ethane, which they later obtained. Dibromo-1-2-ethane must be mixed with lead tetraethylate and monochloronaphthalene to obtain octanol, also called ethyl fluid, which was consumed by fighter jets of the time as an anti-detonator, improving its performance. 21 workers worked there and the production was good. As of 31 October 1937, 1,293.90 kg of octanol (1,146 liters), 4,342.5 kg of ethyl chloride, and 1,110.175 kg of pure tetraethyllead were produced. Factory number 2 (F-2). Its activity focused on making natamite, gunpowder and wicks. Production began in November 1936, it was on Carrer Parcerisa in Barcelona next to l'Hospitalet. It was difficult to start production, there was a lack of furniture and it was something never made in Catalonia before. In the first month, 3,000 kg of natamite was produced, but it increased month by month, and in October 1937, 38,000 kg were processed. In addition, it also made gunpowder for rifles and corrected gunpowder in poor condition from outside Catalonia. In total there were about 400 workers and they came to produce close to 300,000 kg of natamite, 20,000 kg of gunpowder, 100,000 kg of loads and 800,000 meters of wick. The F-2 was subdivided into 7 sections: Preparation of cotton for nitrating. Nitration of cotton. Refining of gunpowder cotton. Production of different powders, for cannon, rifle, mortar ... Manufacture of natamite. Preparation of loads. Making wicks.
Factory number 3 (F-3). It mainly manufactured trinitrotoluene (TNT). It began operating in August 1936, located on Carrer Niño (now Carrer de Guardiola i Feliu) in Sant Andreu. It worked closely with the F-9; in both cases, due to low protection measures, there were accidents with deaths and injuries.Besses, Montserrat. 2007, min. 15 and 30 seconds. It initially produced 4,000 kg of ammonium trinitrotoluol and tetralite and increased to 56,000 kg in April 1937. Its 150 workers also produced new products such as dinitronaphthalene, mononitronaphthalene, picric acid or trinitrotoluol. Factory number 4 (F-4). Its main activity was the production of cellulose from esparto fiber, cheaper than cotton, to later make trilite or gunpowder. The CIG took control of the company Papelera del Fluvià S.A. at the end of 1936 and began to produce, with 224 workers, after a remodeling. It was installed in Can Porxas, in la Canya in Olot.Besses, Montserrat. 2007, min. 13. Factory number 5 (F-5). Intended for the production of toxic gases, it was an adaptation of a textile dye factory located in the Queralbs forge, in Ripollès. It was run by a chemist, a high school teacher named Francesc Sánchez Mur and employed 199 people. It was the only attempt to collaborate with a factory outside Catalonia, in La Marañosa, near Madrid, which had to stop and move due to its proximity to the front. There were discrepancies between Francesc Sánchez and the director of La Marañosa, as the latter wanted to take the Madrid workers to the F-5 arguing that unskilled workers could not produce the material in time to take part in the war. It failed to produce toxic gases in series. In this case, unlike the others, a certain secrecy was demanded about the nature of what was done inside the factory.Besses, Montserrat. 2007, min. 32. Factory number 6 (F-6). Like the F-5, it sought to produce toxic substances. Newly created, it was located in the Mambla of Orís, Torelló (Osona). Also directed by Sánchez Mur, it was shut down without producing anything. Factory number 7 (F-7). Dedicated to the production of cartridges and artillery pieces (mortars). Located on Carrer Dènia in Sarrià-Sant Gervasi. It was created by the CIG. Together with the F-12, of production capacity and similar characteristics, they were of the fastest and most effective. Its 186 workers produced 9 million cartridges in one month. Factory number 8 (F-8). Initially intended for the production of lighting/ground rockets and aviation signals, later its production was expanded to bombs. Despite the rudimentary facilities, it began operating in December 1936 and in June 1937 also started a line of pumps. It was located in L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, in the neighborhood of La Torrassa. With 25 workers, it produced 8,945 illumination rockets, 1,500 signal rockets and 7,179 bombs until the 31 October 1937.