Jerez uprising

The Jerez uprising was an 1892 peasant rebellion in Jerez, Spain. While the event itself was unexceptional amid the regional history of rebellions, the disproportionate repression following the uprising resulted in a series of protests and retaliatory bombings throughout the remainder of the decade. The uprising consisted of 500 to 600 fieldworkers who marched into Jerez with their farm equipment and demands of prisoner release and economic relief. They were shut down within hours, leaving three dead. The Spanish Civil Guard detained 315 fieldworkers, anarchists, and labor organizers from the countryside. They focused on quelling anarchism in the region, though the role of anarchism in the uprising itself has been the subject of inconclusive historiographical debate.

After several military tribunals with 54 defendants, four were executed for sedition and murder, 14 received life sentences, and seven received sentences less than 20 years. Independent and liberal newspapers condemned the severity of the response as both disproportionate and insufficient for addressing the desperation that caused the uprising. The anarchist press, which had been targeted in the repression, took an even harder line and portended acts of retribution. Following the executions, there were protests throughout Spain and at Spanish consulates across Europe. Attacks continued throughout the year including bombings attempted and actualized. Anarchist Paulí Pallàs was executed following his 1893 attempted assassination of a military general involved in the repression and executions, leading to a series of retributive bombings throughout the 1890s.