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.)

April 1937: Confidential Letter from an Agent of Negrín, 15 April 1937
April 1937: Confidential letter from an agent of Negrín, 15 April 1937 “…I had no wish to see them succeed in their endeavor. I think I ought to explain why. The arguments put to me by Roldán Cortada by way of justifying his intended purchase of arms struck me as most unconvincing. His sole theme was that battle had to be joined with the FAI and that the membership of the FAI are armed. Supposing that it really were necessary to take on the FAI and that the FAI membership are armed, it behooves the government and not the militants of other parties to join that battle, as well as to disarm those FAI members who may bear arms. I put this argument to comrade Roldán Cortada, but to no avail. All I achieved was ... (From : TheAnarchistLibrary.org.)

Background Briefs
Background Briefs Summer 1936: Why did we fail to take Zaragoza? By Eduardo Pons Prades, Nueva Historia No 26, March 1979 (Translated by Paul Sharkey ) As we approach the 60th anniversary of the international civil war in Spain (1936–1939), many of the essential aspects of the conflict are now clearly defined. Yet there is still a rather obscure period, essentially the time occupied by the initial phase of the war, between July and November 1936. It had two telling features: the republicans’ inability to capture even one of the three major cities of Aragon and the resounding failure of Franco’s push against Madrid. These setbacks were to have a substantial impact upon the prolonging of the war on Iberian soil. Today we sha... (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.)

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.)

November 1936
November 1936 ON 30 OCTOBER, an optimistic editorial in Solidaridad Obrera noted: ‘The Generalidad Council has embarked upon a series of measures that will, incontrovertibly, have an impact upon the course of events. Mobilization has been decreed for all citizens who are of an age for military service. And, as expeditiously as the present situation requires, the classes of 1932, 1933, 1934 and 1935 have just been called up. In addition, the Council, whose jurisdiction covers Catalonia, has seen fit to invest these formations in the antifascist zone with military overtones. The militarization of combatants may be distasteful to those idealists whose opinions are consonant with their ideas about the noxiousness of units that act in acco... (From : TheAnarchistLibrary.org.)