Building Utopia : The Spanish Revolution 1936–1937

Notes
Federico Escofet, De una derrota a una victoria: 6 octobre de 1934 — 19 de julio 1936, Barcelona 1984. B. Bolloten, The Spanish Revolution, N.C., 1979. Diego Abad de Santillán (quoted in Durruti: The People Armed, Abel Paz, Canada, 1976). Juan Gómez Casas, Historia de la FAI, p.217. Ibid. García Oliver, Solidaridad Obrera, 19 July 1936. It is unlikely that García Oliver would have required much convincing, even by the least artful of flatterers. Peirats mentions that García Oliver speaking of ‘taking power’ at a public meeting in the Barcelona Woodworkers Union in ‘January or February 1936’. He had also pressed this case during a restricted meeting of ‘notables’ held just before the CNT regional conference to discuss the February 1936 ele... (From : TheAnarchistLibrary.org.)

Chapter 34 : The POUM: Trotsky and the POUM
The POUM: Trotsky and the POUM The POUM was formed in 1935 by an amalgamation of the Communist Left, a Trotskyist organization led by Nin and Andrade, and the Bloque Obrero y Campesino (BOC — Workers’ and Peasants’ Bloc). In January 1936, the POUM’s decision to sign the Popular Front agreement promoted Trotsky to denounce the POUM in an article on 22 January entitled The Treason of the Workers′ Party for Marxist Unification (POUM). Trotsky’s anathema led to a cooling of relations between the POUM and the supporters of the Fourth (Trotskyist) International and severely damaged the credibility of Spanish Trotskyists. Unable to understand Spanish and with his relationship with Nin broken off, Trotsky had no reliable source of information on what was happening inside Spain. When the revolution came he was one of the few who failed to greet it with the joy felt by the masses of people ev... (From : TheAnarchistLibrary.org.)

Chapter 33 : June: Anarchist Intelligence and Security Services
June: Anarchist Intelligence and Security Services The document outlining the proposed anarchist intelligence service, the Servicio de Información y Coordinación (SIC), is a masterpiece of Leninist demagogery: “Every revolutionary party or organization has, unfailingly, to wage bitter struggles, sometimes against visible enemies, sometimes against others working in the shadows. Thus the triumph of its precepts and the full implementation of its hegemony (these being the aspirations which motivate it and give it meaning) should be the result of the solid and continuing task of annihilating the opposition.” The document explores the need for “disciplined organization” and ‘consistent, steely political conduct’ and “jettisoning archaic norms” so as to face up to “modern methods of political contention”. The draft was approved... (From : TheAnarchistLibrary.org.)

Chapter 32 : Pierre Besnard’s Reply to ‘Catastrophic Revolution′
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 w... (From : TheAnarchistLibrary.org.)

Chapter 31 : “Catastrophic Revolution” by Brandt
“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&rsquo... (From : TheAnarchistLibrary.org.)

What Can We Do? (Camillo Berneri)
What Can We Do? (Camillo Berneri) 1: To believe that, thanks to a policy of nonintervention, one can eliminate the possibility of an international armed conflict is to procrastinate while the problems worsen. It would permit Italy, Germany and Portugal to prepare themselves better for the war and allow the Spanish fascist forces to store up supplies of arms and ammunition. If fascism were victorious, France would be threatened in the south and the balance of forces in the Mediterranean would be permanently upset in favor of Italy and Germany who would emerge from this adventure stronger and more aggressive. Italy is seriously committed in Ethiopia while Germany is in a bad financial situation; do they want war immediately? No. They could go... (From : TheAnarchistLibrary.org.)

Address by Federica Montseny, 3 January 1937
Address by Federica Montseny, 3 January 1937 “Comrades and friends: I have accepted the honor of initiating this series of talks with the pleasure of one who must comply with a self imposed obligation, for anyone who has plotted the position of classical anarchism must today plot also the precise position to which it has been brought by the events through which we are living. We as anarchists have amended nothing of that which was consubstantial with our very selves. That declaration needed to be made. We are anarchists, we remain such and we pursue the same ideals as ever. Events have nothing to do with what the Spanish anarchist movement is and shall continue to be. But a distinction has to be made between the immobile ideal and the... (From : TheAnarchistLibrary.org.)

February 1937
February 1937 On 5 February, the Iron Column convened a meeting in Valencia of all the confederal militia units in the Levante in an attempt to resolve the problem of militarization. Taking part were representatives from the columns Tierra y Libertad, the Durruti Column, the Extremadura Andalusia Column, the Valdepeñas and Manzanares Sectors, the Ascaso, Iberia, Iron, Ortíz, Temple y Rebeldía columns and the CNT 13 Column. The CNT’s National Committee was neither invited nor informed, but a representative turned up all the same. There were two items on the agenda: “(1) The attitude to be adopted by the columns in the face of the mobilization decree and, (2) the effects this will have upon us.” Fernando... (From : TheAnarchistLibrary.org.)

Introduction
INTRODUCTION Within the Spanish anarchist and anarcho-syndicalist movements there were three distinct points of view on the question of war and revolution. The first, probably the majority view, was that the war would be over in a matter of weeks, after all, a few days had been enough to rout the army in Barcelona and other industrial centers, and that the social revolution and Libertarian Communism as debated and adopted by the CNT’s national congress at Zaragoza in February, five months previously, was an inseparable aspect of the struggle against economic and social oppression. Thus, the movement should proceed immediately to socialize the factories, the land and their communities. The second position was that held by members of th... (From : TheAnarchistLibrary.org.)

The Problem of Militarization
The Problem of Militarization January 1937: The Problem of Militarization. To the comrades, to the confederal columns; Statement by Vivaldo Fagundes; Protest before the libertarians of present and future regarding the capitulations of 1937 by an ‘uncontrollable’ from the Iron Column; Address by Federica Montseny, 3 January 1937; Militarization — March 1937: Dissolution of Workers’ and Soldiers’ Councils; February 1937: Memorandum from War Committee of the Iron Column, 16 February 1937; April 1937: An Open Letter to Federica Montseny; April 1937: Confidential letter from an agent of Negrín, 15 April 1937; Unpublished letter to Max Nettlau from Emma Goldman; September 1937: The international debate on war ... (From : TheAnarchistLibrary.org.)