ABSTRACT
This chapter explores two symbolic cornerstones of proletarian revolution: anticlerical violence and iconoclasm. The chapter examines the logic behind the anticlerical collective action of the Civil War. It argues that anticlerical acts after 17-18 July 1936-so often portrayed by historians as 'irrational' and 'nonsensical' were in fact imbued with firm meanings grounded in the reconfiguration of power within communities and the secularisation of public spaces. The chapter focuses on four main aspects of this revolutionary social construction. The 'anticlerical revolution' which unfolded on Republican territory after 17-18 July 1936 was far from homogeneous. In Almeria and Madrid, colossal monuments to the Sacred Heart of Jesus were blown using firecrackers and dynamite. The chapter discusses the symbolic public destruction of the church's contents or the punishing of the priest served as a 'revolutionary rite of passage' in many communities. Across Republican Spain, people who had little or no previous experience of political responsibility took their places on town and neighbourhood committees.
