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Russia
"We say to the Russian workers, peasants, soldiers,
revolutionists: above all continue the revolution.
Continue to organise yourselves solidly and unite
your new organisations: your communes, your
committees, your soviets. Continue, with firmness
and perseverance, always and everywhere to
participate more extensively and more and more
effectively in the economic life of the country,
continue to take into your hands, that is into the
hands of your organisations, all the raw materials
and all the instruments indispensable to your
labour. Continue the revolution. Do not hesitate to
face the solution of the burning questions of the
present. Create everywhere the necessary
organisations to achieve these solutions. Peasants,
take the land and put it at the disposal of your
committees. Workers, proceed to put in the hands
of and at the disposal of your own social
organisations - everywhere on the spot - the mines
and the subsoil, the enterprises and the
establishments of all sorts, the works and the
factories, the workshops and the machines". Golos
Truda Russian Anarchist-Syndicalist paper August
25th 1917
The Russian Revolution was truly a turning point in
modern history. For the first time workers took
control and asserted their right to run society. At
the time of the revolution there were about 10,000
active Anarchists in Russia, not including the
movement in the Ukraine led by Nestor Makhno.
There were at least four Anarchists on the Bolshevik
dominated Military Revolutionary Committee
which engineered the seizure of power in October.
More importantly, Anarchists were involved in the
Factory Committees which had sprung up after the
February Revolution. These were based in
workplaces, elected by mass assemblies of the
workers and given the role of overseeing the
running of the factory and co-ordinating with other
workplaces in the same industry or region.
Anarchists were particularly influential among the
miners, dockers, postal workers, bakers and played
an important part in the All-Russian Conference of
Factory Committees which met in Petrograd on the
eve of the October Revolution.
It was to these factory committees that the
Anarchists looked as the basis for a new self--
management which would be ushered in after the
revolution. They resisted all efforts to undermine
the Committees and take away their power.
The Anarchists had co-operated with the Bolsheviks
in seizing power from the ruling class, believing
that once captured power could be diffused. It was
not long before they saw that the real intention of
the Bolsheviks was to take power and keep it. Their
concept of socialism did not allow them to trust in
the ability of ordinary people to run society in their
own interests. Power was wrested away from the
Factory Committees and placed in the hands of
bodies controlled by the Bolsheviks. Firstly they
were subjected to control by Bolshevik dominated
trade unions. These unions were then put under the
thumb of the state, which was totally dominated by
the Bolsheviks. Once the Anarchists' usefulness to
them had ended the Bolsheviks ensured they were
suppressed. Their papers were closed down and
many of the activists arrested.
Ukraine
Anarchist influence here was dominant right up to
1921. An insurgent army led by Nestor Makhno
played a central role in defeating the local counter-
revolutionary forces and the numerous armies of
foreign intervention. The Red Army led by Trotsky
signed a treaty of co-operation and Lenin talked of
giving the Ukraine over as an experiment in
building an anarchist society. The Makhnovists
were hailed as heroes of the revolution by the
Bolshevik press.
However as soon as the threat of invasion had been
overcome the Bolshevik leadership tore up the
treaty and declared war on the Anarchists as if they
were an army of reaction. This stab in the back led
to the destruction of the Makhnovist forces at the
hands of the same Red Army which attacked the
naval base at Kronstadt and murdered the
revolutionaries who had been in the forefront of the
struggle against the Tsar and the Provisional
Government. Their "crime" was to resist the new
elite and demand workers power and freedom for
all revolutionary organisations.
Collectivisation
The achievements of the Makhnovists were not only
military. As their army moved through the Ukraine
they encouraged and helped the setting up of
collectives among the peasantry and farm labourers.
Often this had to take second place to the need to
fight and defeat the varied foreign armies of
occupation. What was important was that it was
proved, even in the conditions of war and invasion,
that production could be organised to benefit all
rather than to line the pockets of a few.
The Russian experience also shows that the fake
socialists and their parties cannot be trusted. If
socialism is to triumph power must stay with those
who produce society's wealth. No party, no matter
how well intentioned, can deliver socialism on a
plate. Workers must take power and build the new
order themselves.
Spain
Of all the western countries Spain is where the
Anarchist influence predominated. Introduced in
the last century it rapidly spread throughout the
country. This led to the formation of the Anarchist
Union C.N.T. (National Confederation of Labour)
in 1911. In the years up to the beginning of the
Spanish Civil War in 1936 the CNT had over two
million members. It was the major union in the
most industrialised areas, especially Catalonia and
its capital Barcelona. It also had a large base among
day labourers and small peasants in most provinces.
The CNT was a revolutionary union of workers
(usually described as Syndicalist or anarcho-
syndicaIist). Its role was twofold. Firstly to fight to
improve conditions for workers and secondly to
organise for the overthrow of capitalism. Its beliefs
were translated into action at every opportunity and
this militant tradition attracted workers in their
hundreds of thousands.
The CNT organised itself from the place of work.
Each workplace joined in a federation with other
workplaces in their region to form a regional
committee. These regional committees were then
federated on a national basis and formed a national
committee. Within each particular industry there
was also a regional and national federation.
Assemblies of workers were the core of the CNT.
These made the decisions and elected delegates to
regional and national level. All delegates could be
recalled and replaced by the assembly if the
members were not satisfied with their conduct.
Thus no decisions could be made without
consulting the rank and file membership. There
were no full-time union bureaucrats beyond the
control of the workers.
The number of full-time officials was minimal.
They were elected for specified periods after which
they had to stand down and return to their previous
job. At all times they were subject to control by the
rank and file. The experience and organisation of
the CNT shows that contrary to popular belief
Anarchists are not anti-organisation. In reality
Anarchism is highly organised and allows for the
participation of all. Nor are we against
centralisation. What is important is that those at the
centre are recallable and directly responsible to
those they are elected to represent.
The Civil War
The Civil War started with an attempted fascist
coup following the victory of the Popular Front (an
alliance of liberal, republic, socialist, and Stalinist
parties) in the 1936 elections. In response to the
coup the workers mobilised to defeat fascism.
popular militias were formed by the unions and
workers seized factories. Peasants took over land
which had been abandoned by the landlords. This
marked the beginning of the revolution for the
Anarchists. They believed that the Civil War had to
be not just a fight against fascism but also against
the capitalist system which had spawned fascism in
the first place. Thus they set about seizing factories
and ranches and turning them over to workers
control.
In the zones controlled by the Anarchists workers
self-management became a reality. In Catalonia
there were at least 2,000 industrial and commercial
collectives. At least 60% of "republican" Spain's
agriculture (that part controlled by anti-fascist
forces including the Anarchists) was collectivised.
In the workplaces councils or "comite" elected by
assemblies of workers and representing all sectors
of the enterprise, were given the task of
administering the collectivised factory.
Collectivised enterprises in each sector of industry
were represented in an Economic Federation. This
in turn was topped by a General Industrial Council
which would closely control the whole industry.
Here is a description of the organisation of gas,
electricity and water in Barcelona. "Each type of job
(e.g. fitters )set up a section consisting of at least
fifteen workers Where they were not the numbers to
do this workers from different trades got together to
constitute a general section . Each section
nominates two delegates which are chosen by
assemblies of the workers. One of the delegates will
be of a technical calibre and will participate in the
"comite" of the workplace. The other will be
entrusted with the management of work in the
section.
The "comite" of the building or plant comes next. It
is nominated by the delegates of the sections and
consists of a technician, a manual worker and an
administrator. The manual worker has to solve
difficulties which might arise between different
sections. He or she receives suggestions from
workers in the different trades and the sections give
him or her daily reports on the progress of work.
Periodically the delegate calls the sections to general
meetings. At these proposals and initiatives which
are likely to improve production and productivity
are studied as well as ones to improve the workers'
situation. A copy of the deliberation is sent to the
Council for Industry
The delegates with administrative functions
supervises the arrival and warehousing of materials,
records requirements details with book-keeping for
supplies and reserves, and keeps an eye on the state
of income and expenditure. S/He also deals with
correspondence and it is his/her responsibility to
see that balance sheets and reports addressed to the
Council for Industry are prepared.
The delegate with technical functions supervises the
activities of his section, and uses every endeavour to
increase productivity. to lighten the workers'
burden by introducing new methods. S/He checks
on production at the power stations, the state of the
network, prepares statistics and charts indicating
how production is developing. At the summit there
are the Councils of Industry. One each for gas,
electricity and water, Each is composed of eight
delegates, four from the U. G. T. (the socialist
trade union) and four from the C.N.T. These are
capped by the General Council of the three
industries, which is also made up by eight delegates
drawn equally from the two unions.
This Council co-ordinates activities of the three
industries; attunes the production and distribution
of raw materials from a regional, national and
international point of view; modifies prices;
organises general administration; indeed takes and
uses all initiatives useful to production and the
workers' needs. Meanwhile it is obliged at all times
to submit its' activities to the scrutiny of local and
regional union assemblies"
This account is taken from "Collectives in the
Spanish Revolution" by Gaston Leval.
On the Trams
The achievements of collectivisation in Barcelona
were many. Take for example the tramways. Out
of the 7,000 workers 6,500 were members of the
CNT. Because of the street battles all transport had
been brought to a halt. The transport syndicate (as
unions of the CNT were known) appointed a
commission of seven to occupy the administrative
offices while others inspected the tracks and drew
up a plan of repair work that needed to be done.
Five days after the fighting stopped 700 tramcars,
instead of the usual 600, all painted in the black and
red colours of the CNT, were operating on the
streets of Barcelona.
With the profit motive gone, the trams had
belonged to a Belgian company before the workers
took over, safety became more important and the
number of accidents was reduced. Fares were
lowered and services improved. In 1936,
183,543,516 passengers were carried. In 1937 this
had gone up by 50 million. The trams were running
so efficiently that the workers were able to give
money to other sections of urban transport. Wages
were equalised for all workers and increased over
the previous rates. For the first time free medical
care was provided for the workforce.
As well as giving a more efficient service the
workers found time to produce rockets and
howitzers for the war effort. They worked overtime
and Sundays to do their share for the anti-fascist
struggle. To further underline the fact that getting
rid of the bosses and rulers would not lead to a
breakdown of order it can be pointed out that in the
three years of collectivisation there were only six
cases of workers stealing from the workshops.
On the Land
The countryside also saw collectivisation. In
Aragon which was near the war front-line
collectivisation took root and spread like wildfire.
In February 1937 there were 275 collectives totalling
80,000 members. Three months later there were 450
collectives with 180,000 members. Often the
peasants and farm labourers went further than their
counterparts in the towns and cities. Not only was
production collectivised but in rural areas
consumption too. In many of these areas money
was abolished.
Large estates were taken over by landless labourers,
small holders put their land together so that it could
be worked more efficiently by the use of machinery.
Collectives were based around the villages and
federated on a regional basis.
Usually the decision to collectivise was made at an
assembly (a meeting of all the village). It meant
handing over land, livestock, tools, seed, stocks of
wheat and other produce. The land was then
divided into sectors, each of which was assigned to
a work group of about a dozen who elected their
own delegate. Produce went into the "pile" for
communal consumption. Each would produce
according to their ability, each would consume
according to their needs.
Collectivisation did not only apply to the land. In
the villages workshops were set up where all the
local trades people would produce tools, furniture,
etc. for the village and also carry out repairs to the
collectivists houses. Bakers, butchers, barbers and
so on were also collectivised.
The lot of rural workers and peasants was improved
by the introduction of machinery. Living standards
rose, in the words of one collectivist "those who had
less now ate more and better - no one went short".
Education became a central concern and young
children who had never been to school were given
the education denied to them by the landlords and
their system.
Women's' Action
Gains were also made by women. In relation to
their role during the Civil War observers have
pointed out that they played a full part in the anti-
fascist resistance. They were present everywhere -
on committees, in the militias, in the front line. In
the early battles of the war women fought alongside
men as a matter of course. It was not merely a case
of women filling in for men who were away at the
front. (Which is usually the case in wartime. When
the war is over and women are no longer needed in
the labour force, they are pushed back into the
home).
They were in the militias and fought alongside the
men as equals. They were organising the collectives
and taking up the fight for against the sexist
attitudes of the past which have no place in any real
revolution.
The Anarchist women's organisation, Mujeres
Libres (Free Women), had 30,000 members. It had
been active before the Civil War organising women
workers and distributing information on
contraception. During the war abortion was
legalised in the "republican zone". Centres were
opened for women, including unmarried mothers
and prostitutes.
>From all accounts there truly were changes in
attitudes towards women. One woman participant
in the Civil War has said "It was like being brothers
and sisters. It had always annoyed me that men in
this country didn't consider women as beings with
full human rights. But now there was this big
change. I believe it arose spontaneously out of the
revolutionary movement" Margorita Balaguer
quoted in "Blood of Spain" ed. Ronald Fraser. page
287
This sort of thing is common to most revolutionary
situations. When people begin to throw off the old
ideas and start creating a new society their views on
many things change. This is not inevitable though
and does not negate the need for propaganda and
activity against sexism, not only in society as a
whole but also within the revolutionary movement
itself.
Not all Roses ...
This account of the collectivisation is, of necessity,
brief. The main point is that given the right
conditions mutual aid and co-operation will flourish
- Problems did arise in Spain as is inevitable. The
Anarchists made mistakes. In our opinion they
hesitated in carrying out their programme - Instead
of seizing power and making a direct appeal to the
workers to take control of economic and social
affairs, they collaborated with the Popular Front
and ended up joining the government.
They were also attacked by the Communist party
who preferred defeat by the fascists then the
victory of anarchism. The Communists were tied to
the needs of Stalin's foreign policy which meant not
upsetting the Western powers. To them the
restoration of the capitalist order was preferable to
seeing the working class take power. And that
should come as no surprise as the Stalinist system in
Russia is no more than another form of capitalism.
The Lessons
History is not neutral. What we learn in school is
the necessity for government, rulers and capitalism.
What we do not learn is that many times it has been
shown that this government is not necessary.
People are not inherently bad. Given the right
conditions a spirit of mutual aid and co-operation
can grow. People are not naturally evil and greedy.
We only have to look at the response from ordinary
people to the appeal for aid for Ethiopia to see this.
Economic conditions determine peoples' behaviour.
How we act is related to the structure of society and
the dominant value system within it. When
structures are changed and oppression and
exploitation is done away with the "goodness" that
is in most of us come through and flourishes as it
did when the workers held the reigns in Russia and
Spain. The experience of self-management is not
limited to these countries but is something that has
been seen in most countries at some stage. In the
early 1920's creameries, farms, Cork Harbour and
Kilkenny gasworks were taken over and run as
Soviets (the Russian word for workers councils).
What Anarchists are saying are not just' `nice ideas.
History shows us that these ideas can work. A new
society can be created with the workers in control.
But it won't happen spontaneously - We must
organise for it.
That is why we need revolutionary organisation.
An organisation that draws together all those
fighting for workers control. An organisation that
gives us the chance to exchange ideas and
experiences, and to learn from the lessons of history.
An organisation that allows us to struggle together
for a new society.
We do not need a group of leaders and their passive
followers. We do need an organisation working
towards mobilising the mass of ordinary people in
the process of making the revolution. The Workers
Solidarity Movement is such an organisation. If you
like what you have just read, you should join us.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The Workers Solidarity Movement can be contacted at
PO Box 1528, Dublin 8, Ireland
Some of our material is available via the Spunk press electronic archive
by FTP to etext.archive.umich.edu or 141.211.164.18
or by gopher ("gopher etext.archive.umich.edu")
in the directory /pub/Politics/Spunk/texts/groups/WSM
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