“Catastrophic Revolution” by Brandt

“I want to refresh the memory of those who are preaching 100 percent revolution regardless of any consideration, by pointing out to them the Bilbao catastrophe, which opens the way to a complete fascist conquest of Spain. To be sure, comrade Besnard, very nice to place the revolution above the war; but it is the war that is imposing itself upon us in taking precedence over the revolution. The war got hold of us and we have to fight it out whether we like it or not. We can temporarily suspend the struggle against our Spanish capitalism, but we cannot, for a single instant, stop the fight against fascism. The revolution depends on our volition, but the war is imposed upon us. We cannot devote ourselves to the revolution if we have not first liquidated the war …

Whether we like it or not, we are forced to remain tied to this coalition of anti-anarchist ‘friends’ in the common struggle against fascism, even at the risk of being stabbed in the very heart of the revolution. It is a danger one is always exposed to when, in order to fight a common enemy, it is necessary to associate with other parties. In order to save yourself from death at the front, you risk being knifed in the rear …

The fact is that this line of compromise made possible the maintenance of an anti-fascist unity, and made possible the creation, out of nothing, of a military force that was capable of holding up the fascist armies, while a fight carried on in the rear would have paralyzed this effort.

If the CNT-FAI followed the line of compromise, it did not do so by choice but because it was compelled. They would have much preferred to carry on the straight fight for the social revolution…

To those who are ceaselessly demanding that the anarchists fight in the rear as well as on the front, we are now posing, somewhat bluntly, the following question: What are you revolutionists of foreign countries doing towards stopping this fascist invasion that is strangling the revolution? You make collections, you are loudly protesting, you are writing fiery articles. Excuse us for our impertinence when we say that fascism will not be destroyed by collections and fiery articles. Moral decency and human sensibility demand that you do more than that… Your duty, the duty of the world revolutionary proletariat, is to prevent your democratic governments from blockading our sea coasts, our frontiers, while allowing the fascist invasion. And your duty at this moment is to prevent your governments from maintaining that control that is strangling us. But to do that it requires revolutionary action on your part, and fighting on the streets; but you also find yourselves unable to do that because, like us, you are surrounded by fascists and counter-revolutionaries ...

The anarchists of the CNT-FAI preferred to run the risk of Bolshevism rather than the certainty of extermination by fascism. Revolution had to choose between a probable death and a certain death.

Today, we find ourselves in the same tragic dilemma, fascism is about to defeat us. Who can even consider starting a conflict in the rear, now? Counter-revolution may fear a triumph of an anarchist revolution more than a triumph of fascism; while we, we are determined to entirely destroy fascism so that we may have the possibility of carrying on the social revolution.

With tears in their eyes — like many of those who were compelled, on 7 May, to give up their arms — with rage in their hearts, the anarchists found it necessary to be tolerant, to show a measure of tolerance to counter-revolution, until the day when, perhaps unable to bear up to the continual provocation, they will react, and that may bring about the catastrophe at the hands of the fascists. And who knows? Perhaps that is exactly what the counter-revolution desires.

The two jaws of the pincers are holding anarchism in Spain by the throat: fascism on one side, imperialist, democratic, Bolshevik-bourgeois counter-revolution on the other side. What will the revolutionists of the world do to save Spanish anarchism, and with it the revolution?’

Brandt.