Pierre Besnard’s reply to ‘Catastrophic Revolution′

“We have never been unaware of the difficult tasks that confronted our CNT comrades. But we do not agree with comrade Brandt concerning the character of the armed force charged with the defense of the revolution. Basing ourselves on the lessons offered by history, we stated long before the outbreak, of the Spanish revolution that a government force is essentially a counter-revolutionary force which will strangle the revolution the instant the masters of the State deem it favorable, even if the revolution is in its descending phase. We never ceased telling our Spanish comrades that a confederal militia, on the contrary, constitutes the essential instrument of defense of the revolution.

Brandt claims that in order to win it was necessary to accept the militarization of the popular militia columns. We do not agree with him.

In spite of the assurances he gives — and which we have known before — we continue to believe that it would have been possible: a) to organize the united command; b) to realize the unity of armaments; c) to obtain the unity of provisioning, by establishing a technical organism functioning in accordance with syndicalist principles and under the permanent control of the labor unions.

Like all the others, this problem was essentially a problem of organization, and the CNT — or the CNT and UGT — were perfectly qualified to resolve it.

As for discipline, ‘the principle force of the army’ as they say in the French barracks, it was just as easy to obtain it from the fighters of the front and of the rear. And we add that, having the consent of the men who would have to apply it, the discipline would have been infinitely superior to that imposed on the men by the constraining order of the State.

Meanwhile, we are aware that Brandt, who was not there at the initial phase of the revolution (the ascending phase), could not be convinced by our arguments unless we bring this discussion back to its original framework; therefore, let us try to do this so that the debate develops in all its clarity ...

They (the CNT and FAI) were absolute masters of the situation on the front as well as in the rear. The followers of the CNT-FAI represented 85 percent of the effectives in Catalonia; they were in the majority in other regions of free Spain, with the exception of Madrid.

Was it not possible, then, for the CNT-FAI, the inspirators and initiators of the movement against the fascist forces and enjoying, in this two-fold capacity, the full confidence of the masses, to definitely and for all time rid themselves of the politicians and of the governments, to decree the mobilization of all the wealth, as was demanded, even by Durruti himself?

And was it not possible, with the product of this mobilization, to acquire the necessary arms with which to take Huesca and Zaragoza — these two keys to the war — from the fascists and to open up the road to Madrid where the frozen and immobilized gold was waiting to be put to use?

And, further, was it not possible to cut off supplying Madrid with foodstuff from Catalonia and the Levant if Caballero persisted in not understanding that his duty was to give aid to the rest of Spain in arming and reconstructing.

And was it not possible to have tried a Moroccan diversion that would have chased Franco out of there, with no hope of ever returning?

Finally, was it not possible to combine this action in Morocco with the starting of a revolution in Portugal, where the COT (General Confederation of Labor) was only waiting the word to begin this revolution, being assured in advance of 80 percent support from the army and the navy, and of 100 percent support from the population? …

These are, it seems to us, something totally different from mere collections and fiery speeches. The National Committee of the CNT, possessing, as it does, all this data in its files, knows the truth of them better than anyone else … ask of the outstanding militants of the CNT and FAI … of the comrades of Catalonia, Aragón, Levant and of the Center whether the authors of the plans had not come there themselves, in person, to aid and supervise the application in detail of these plans? …

Let us now come to the question of fascism itself. Do you believe that the problem is as simple as you present it? No, it is altogether different. You will allow us to state that if there are antifascist counter-revolutionary forces today, it is because they were allowed to come to life, to organize themselves and to conquer for themselves a position not at all justified by conditions in July 19, 1936.

Had the CNT-FAI been aware of their strength, and had they acted in such a manner as to attract into their orbits all the elements that today are composing the counter-revolutionary anti-fascism, this thing would have been reduced to its simple expression.

Having failed to act in the right manner, the CNT-FAI allowed these forces to develop by their side in their own protecting shadow. At the beginning, these politicianist forces — who were working entirely under orders from Moscow — “represented nothing”, as the saying was then. In a word, they did not exist. Today, and for some time now, they are the absolute masters of the situation: masters of the governmental apparatus, of the army, of the general administration of the country. Why? After the foregoing, asking the question is answering it.

That is where the underestimation of the peril, that the foreign comrades have ceaselessly been pointing out, led to. These forces should not only not have been allowed to grow, but they should have been wiped out and the struggle, in accordance with our principles, in all its strictness, should have continued.

That they were able to impose their will, it was first of all necessary for them not to encounter that active resistance which such behavior, on their part, should have provoked at the beginning of the events in Barcelona.

It is natural that there should now be difficulty in fighting against them and, on account of that difficulty, that the revolutionary efforts should be diminished by that much; it is also natural that the situation should now be deemed insurmountable because of the way the fight against the counter-revolutionary anti-fascist elements have been conducted, at the time when the CNT was the only force.

But it is an enormity that you should believe, comrade Brandt, that a revolutionary objective to the war be abandoned; that you should think we would agree to follow the path of least resistance, without any attempt to react; that you should subordinate everything to the winning of the war — the objective of which is the restoration of the democratic republic.

Our opinion is that efforts should be made to re-create, by actions conformable to our strength, the conditions that evoked the enthusiasm of the beginning, which brought about the veritable revolutionary realizations on the morrow of 19 July 1936, of the 19 July that re-appeared again on 6 May 1937, and was passed up in order to avoid responding to the provocations.

Today, it is from the interior of Spain that the revolution is receiving its greatest support. This support is not coming from the outside, except when there are successes in the interior which permits the broadening of the revolution. Never has a revolution followed a different course from 1789 to our own day. It is often only after long lapses of time that a victorious revolution finds an echo in other countries. Our international movement, numerically feeble, has done everything it was possible for it to do; there is no sense in saying or writing that it has not done its duty. Its weakness does not prevent it from having a clear vision, and we are convinced that after all is said and done, the revolutionary masses will act in the sense they always indicated: against fascists and against the counter-revolutionary antifascists; that is, against all the combined forces of capitalism, among which the workers, with good reason, will not differentiate …

And, in conclusion, allow us to state that we are just as much realists, and less ‘catastrophical’ than you.

Pierre Besnard.