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Title: The Spanish Civil War Author: Eddie Conlon Date: 1986 Language: en Topics: Spanish Civil War, Spanish Revolution, Spain, anarcho-syndicalism Source: https://libcom.org/history/1936-1939-the-spanish-civil-war-and-revolution Notes: Taken from Eddie Conlon's pamphlet, "The Spanish Civil War: Anarchism in Action" for the Workers' Solidarity Movement
The war lasted for three years and ended with Franco's victory, aided by
fascist Italy and Nazi Germany. The revolution saw huge swathes of
Spanish industry and agriculture socialised and run collectively by the
workers and peasants.
The fascists launched a coup on July 17th 1936. The initial step was
taken when Franco seized Morocco and issued a "radical manifesto". This
was picked up by a loyal radio operator who passed it on to the Minister
for the Navy. The news of the coup was kept secret until 7pm on the 18th
while they tried to come to terms with the fascists. The cabinet
resigned on the 18th and Barrio, a right wing republican, was made prime
minister.
The coup was only smashed by the activity of the working class. The
fascists made some headway in parts of the country but in Catalonia, and
especially Barcelona, the CNT (Anarcho-Syndicalist union) showed how to
fight. They declared a general strike and took to the streets looking
for arms which the government refused to give them. In the end they
stormed the barracks, and took what they needed.
The workers immediately set up barricades and within hours the rising
had been defeated. Arms were seized and given to workers who were
dispatched to other areas to prevent risings. Madrid was also saved
because of the heroism and initiative of the workers. Hearing of what
had happened in Barcelona they had stormed the main army base in the
city.
The action of the rank and file saved the Spanish Republic. Not just the
CNT but the UGT (Socialist union) and POUM (Anti-Stalinist Communists)
joined in the fighting. For these workers this was not just a war to
defeat the fascists but the beginning of revolution. Workers' militias
were established. Workplaces were taken over and in peasants seized the
land.
The government found itself in a peculiar situation after July 19th. It
remained the government but had no way of exercising authority. Where
the rebellion had been defeated the army was disbanded and workers
armed. Militias were formed and these became units of a revolutionary
army. Ten days after the coup there were 18,000 workers organised in the
militias of Catalonia (mostly from the CNT). Overall there were 150,000
volunteers willing to fight whenever they were needed.
This was no ordinary army. This was a revolutionary army with
revolutionary principles. The basic unit was the group, composed
generally of ten, which elected a delegate. Ten groups formed a century
which also elected a delegate. Any number of centuries formed a column,
which had a war committee responsible for the overall activities of the
column. This was elected and accountable to the workers.
Workers joined columns voluntarily. They understood the need to fight
and the necessity of creating a "popular army". They accepted discipline
because they understood the need to act in a co-ordinated manner. These
were political organisations that understood the link between
revolutionary politics and the war. The militias formed in Barcelona
lost no time in marching on Aragon where the capital, Saragossa, had
been taken by the fascists. The Durruti Column led this march and
gradually liberated village after village.
The Durruti column showed how to fight fascism. As they gained victory
after victory they encouraged peasants to take over the land and
collectivise. The Column provided the defence that allowed this to be
done. The peasants rallied to them and many joined. Indeed Buenaventura
Durutti had to plead with some of them not to join so that the land
would not be depopulated and the task of collectivisation could be
carried through.
As the anarchist militias achieved successes ground was being lost on
other fronts. Saragossa, though, was not taken and a long front
developed. The militia system was blamed for this. The Stalinists said
the workers were undisciplined and would not obey orders. They accused
the anarchists of being unwilling to work with others to defeat the
fascists. Of course this was nonsense. The anarchists continually called
for a united war effort and even for a single command. What they did
demand, though, was that control of the army stayed with the working
class and not a new militarist officer caste.
The major problem facing the militias was a lack of arms. The munitions
industry been cut off and the workers in Barcelona went to great lengths
to improvise. George Orwell (who fought in one of the POUM militias)
described the arms situation on the Aragon front. The infantry "were far
worse armed than an English public school Officers Training Corps, with
worn out Mauser rifles which usually jammed after five shots;
approximately one machine gun to fifty men and one pistol or revolver to
about thirty men. These weapons, so necessary in trench warfare, were
not issued by the government.... A government which sends boys of
fifteen to the front with rifles forty years old and keeps its biggest
men and newest weapons in the rear is manifestly more afraid of the
revolution than the fascists".
And how right he was. Moscow sold arms but when they arrived there was a
systematic refusal to supply the anarchist-controlled Aragon front. The
arms that did arrive were sent only to Stalinist centres. A member of
the war ministry referring to the arms which arrived in September
commented "I noticed that these were not being given out in equal
quantities, but there was a marked preference for the units which made
up the [Stalinist] Fifth Regiment".
It is a common lie that the militias, supposedly undisciplined and
uncontrollable, were responsible for Franco's advance. All who saw the
militias in action had nothing but praise for the heroism they
witnessed. The government made a deliberate choice. It chose to starve
the revolutionary workers of arms, it decided that defeating the
revolution was more important than defeating fascism.
It was in the countryside that the Spanish revolution was most far
reaching. The anarchist philosophy had been absorbed by large layers of
the downtrodden peasants and the outbreak of revolution was the
opportunity to put these ideas into practice.
Collectivisation of the land was extensive. Close on two thirds of all
land in the Republican zone was taken over. In all between five and
seven million peasants were involved. The major areas were Aragon where
there were 450 collectives, the Levant (the area around Valencia) with
900 collectives and Castille (the area surrounding Madrid) with 300
collectives.
Collectivisation was voluntary and thus different from the forced
ācollectivisationā in Russia. Usually a meeting was called and all
present would agree to pool together whatever land, tools and animals
they had. The land was divided into rational units and groups of workers
were assigned to work them. Each group had its delegate who represented
their views at meetings. A management committee was also elected and was
responsible for the overall running of the collective. Each collective
held regular general meetings of all its participants.
If you didn't want to join the collective you were given some land but
only as much as you could work yourself. Not only production was
affected, distribution was on the basis of what people needed. In many
areas money was abolished. If there were shortages rationing would be
introduced to ensure that everyone got their fair share.
Production greatly increased. Technicians and agronomists helped the
peasants to make better use of the land. Scientific methods were
introduced and in some areas yields increased by as much as 50%. Food
was handed over to the supply committees who looked after distribution
in the urban areas.
However, slander was also thrown at the collectives. It was claimed that
each only looked after itself. This was rubbish as in many areas
equalisation funds were set up to redistribute wealth. Machinery and
expertise were shifted to areas most in need. One indicator of the
solidarity is the fact that 1,000 collectivists from the advanced Levant
moved to Castille to help out.
Federations of collectives were established, the most successful being
in Aragon. In June 1937 a plenum of Regional Federations of Peasants was
held. Its aim was the formation of a national federation "for the
co-ordination and extension of the collectivist movement and also to
ensure an equitable distribution of the produce of the land, not only
between the collectives but for the whole country". Unfortunately many
collectives were smashed by the Stalinists before this could be done.
The collectivists also had a deep commitment to education and many
children received an education for the first time. The methods of
Francisco Ferrer, the world famous anarchist educationalist, were
employed. Children were given basic literacy and inquisitive skills were
encouraged.
Although the revolution didn't go as far in the cities as it did in the
country, many achievements are worth noting.
To give some idea of the extent of the collectivisation here is a list
provided by one observer (Burnett Bolloten, The Grand Camouflage. By no
means an anarchist book!). He says:
"railways, traincars and buses, taxicabs and shipping, electric light
and power companies, gasworks and waterworks, engineering and automobile
assembly plants, mines and cement works, textile mills and paper
factories, electrical and chemical concerns, glass bottle factories and
perfumeries, food processing plants and breweries were confiscated and
controlled by workmens's committees, either term possessing for the
owners almost equal significance". He goes on "motion picture theatres
and legitimate theatres, newspapers and printing, shops, department
stores and hotels, de-lux restaurants and bars were likewise
sequestered".
In each workplace the assembly of all the workers was the basic unit.
Within the factory workers would elect delegates to represent them on
day-to-day issues. Anything of overall importance had to go to the
assembly. This would elect a committee of between five and fifteen
worker, which would elect a manager to oversee the day-to-day running of
the workplace. Within each industry there was an Industrial Council
which had representatives of the two main unions (CNT and UGT) and
representatives from the committees.
Within workplaces wages were equalised and conditions greatly improved.
Take for example the tramways. Out of the 7,000 workers, 6,500 were
members of the CNT. Street battles had brought all transport to a halt.
The transport syndicate 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, 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. Also, free
medical care was provided for the work force.
In 1937 the central government admitted that the war industry of
Catalonia produced ten times more than the rest of Spanish industry put
together and that this output could have been quadrupled if Catalonia
had the access to necessary means of purchasing raw materials.
The behaviour of the Spanish Communist Party and the United Socialist
Party of a Catalonia (PSUC) had more to do with what was in Stalinās
best interests than the Spanish working classā. They went out of their
way to deny that a revolution had taken place then did all they could to
repress this revolution they pretended had not happened. As far as they
were concerned the Civil War was only about restoring democracy to
Spain.
To prevent the British and French settling their differences with Hitler
at the expense of the Soviets, in order to guarantee that the
Franco-Soviet Pact would not fall by the wayside and in order to
conclude similar pacts with the governments of other countries, notably
Britain, it was essential that governments hostile to German aims in
Eastern Europe should be brought to power. It was to this end that the
Popular Front line was adopted at the 7th World Congress of the
Comintern in August 1935. This body collected together all the Communist
Parties under Russian leadership.
This was a class collaborationist anti-fascist peopleās front in which
the Communist Parties were to play down revolutionary politics. This was
to be a struggle to preserve bourgeois democracy.
The policy of wooing the British and French ruling classes was from the
beginning doomed to failure. Not only because of their military
unpreparedness but because of their belief that if they became involved
at this stage in a war with Hitler, both they and the Nazis would be
weakened and thus the position of Russia would be enhanced. At all times
right up to the outbreak of WW2 the British sought to come to terms with
Hitler which would leave him free to attack Russia in the East.
The point about the Communist Party is that they directed the
counter-revolution. They called the shots. They were the only people who
were clear about the 'necessity' for the counter-revolution and had the
determination to carry it through. Their ability to do this was derived
from the prestige that came with the fact that Russia was the only
country supplying major quantities of arms to the Republic. The Russians
not only supplied arms but also military advisors and technicians who
gradually took over the running of the war.
Because of this control of arms the Communists, supported by the others,
enforced militarisation. The militia system was broken up. A regular
army was rebuilt with the militias who refused to come under the command
of the War Ministry (and many CNT and POUM militias did refuse) were
starved of arms. They were left with no choice.
The police were also rebuilt, especially the hated Civil Guards, who had
been a bulwark of repression against the CNT. They were now to be called
the National Republican Guard. The Assault Guards were re- established
and had 28,000 recruits by the beginning of December. The Carabineros,
who were the border police in charge of customs and under the control of
Minister of Finance Negrin (a known Communist sympathiser) grew to
40,000 members.
The state was giving itself a monopoly of force. The workers' patrols
which had sprung up in July were disbanded. Workers were ordered to hand
in their arms and those who declined to do so were considered
'fascists'. It was said that these arms were needed at the front. While
it is true that arms were needed at the front this argument was only put
forward as a means of disarming revolutionary workers. There were plenty
of arms under the control of the police. George Orwell observed after
the May Days in Barcelona "the Anarchists were well aware that even if
they surrendered their arms, the PSUC would retain theirs, and this is
in fact what happened after the fighting was over. Meanwhile actually
visible on the streets, there were quantities of arms which would have
been very welcome at the front, but which were being retained for the
'non-political' police forces in the rear". (Homage to Catalonia p.151).
On May 3rd 1937, three lorry loads of police led by the Stalinist Salas,
Commissar of Public Order, attempted to take over the telephone exchange
in Barcelona which had been controlled by a joint CNT-UGT committee
since the outbreak of the war.
The police captured the first floor because of the surprise nature of
their attack but got no further. Firing started. Word spread and within
hours the local defence committees of the CNT-FAI went into action
arming themselves and building barricades. Soon the workers were in
control of most of the city.
In other areas of Catalonia action was also taken. Civil Guards were
disarmed and offices of the PSUC were seized as a "preventive measure".
There was no firing on the first night and by the second day the workers
were spreading the barricades further into the suburbs.
The negotiations which went on, led to nothing as regards control of the
telephone phone exchange. The workers were ordered off the barricades
and unfortunately they went. On Thursday (May 6th) the building was
vacated and the PSUC took it over. On the same day the railway station
was taken over by the PSUC. The CNT had also controlled that. This
happened throughout Catalonia.
On Friday 5,000 Assault Guards arrived from Valencia. The repression
that followed was severe. The May Days left 500 dead and 1,100 wounded.
Hundreds more were killed during the "mopping up" of the next few weeks.
The counter-revolution broke out in earnest after May with decree after
decree undermining the revolutionary committees. This was now possible
as the backbone of the revolution, the Catalan workers, had been
crushed.
The Friends of Durruti was an expression of opposition to the
collaborationism of the CNT. Not only in their paper, The Friends of the
People, but in countless local publications of the CNT, and indeed of
the UGT, POUM and Libertarian Youth you can find such opposition.
However it must be said this was only given a clear expression when it
was too late. The FoD did not have enough time to win the masses to
their position. They understood the need for a regroupment to take on
the leadership of the CNT.
Here we see a recognition of the need for a revolutionary minority to
organise itself to provide leadership of ideas. An understanding of what
has gone wrong and what needs to be done. That the FoD did not set
themselves up as "all-knowing leaders' was clear in their proposal.
The Spanish Revolution does not negate anarchism. If anything, long
before Poland, Czechoslovakia or Hungary it showed the bankruptcy of
Stalinism and the State Capitalism of Russia. The activities of the
Stalinists were far from what real socialists would have done.
On the other hand the anarchist masses threw themselves into a fight
against fascism, and its cause, capitalism. Unfortunately the revolution
was not complete, the CNT leaders held it back. Indeed their behaviour
highlights the effect that power can have on even those who lay claim to
anarchism. Spain provided important lessons for anarchists. It showed
the inadequacy of syndicalism, the need for political anarchism and the
need for an anarchist political organisation. We have to understand that
the state and political power does not 'die'; it has to be smashed.
Above all, Spain showed what ordinary people can do given the right
conditions. The next time somebody says workers are stupid and could not
take over the running of society, point to Spain. Show them what the
workers and peasants (most of whom were illiterate) did. Tell them
Anarchism is possible.