In Spain, I saw the sick and dying, and F.D.R.’s appearance concerned me. Since I’m already depressed I guess this is a good time to talk about Spain.
Spain. How to begin? For generations the landed gentry and the government and Church, which supported them, exploited the people of Spain. Later the moneyed elite joined in this cruel party. Then an idea took fire. Freedom. In it’s optimal form, freedom through anarchism united the people. The goal was for the people to remove the power of the elite, the government, and the Church so that the people could control their own lives. The Confederation Nacional del Trabajo (C.N.T.) gave voice to this goal to eliminate the concept of power:
“…there is no such thing as revolutionary power, for all power is reactionary by nature; power corrupts both those who exercise it and those over whom it is exercised; those who think they can conquer the State in order to destroy it are unaware that the State overcomes all its conquerors; there are no good and bad politicians, only bad ones and worse; the best government is no government at all; the Nation is not the People, nor is the State the same as Society; instead of the government of men; let us have the administration of things; peace to men, and war on institutions; dictatorship of the proletariat is dictatorship without the proletariat and against them; to vote for politicians is to renounce your own personality; your union is yourself.”
This was a different goal, a rejection of the social democrats who saw the people taking over the mechanisms of the state to use it as a force to create a more equitable society and the dictatorship of the proletariat in the Russian experiment to use the state to build a communist society. Political power was the problem – anarchy removed the problem.
The anarchists operated outside the state establishing communes in the rural areas and anarchist syndicates in urban areas. The various autonomous collectives would interact in federations, which culminated in Assemblies to ensure the exchange of information and ideas across the country. It was amazing. People taking control of their lives without creating leaders and organizations that would control them. Pure democracy in action.
The anarchists operated outside the state establishing communes in the rural areas and anarchist syndicates in urban areas. The various autonomous collectives would interact in federations, which culminated in Assemblies to ensure the exchange of information and ideas across the country. It was amazing. People taking control of their lives without creating leaders and organizations that would control them. Pure democracy in action.
Ironically, the anarchist advances became possible because of the Republican, and socialist dominated, government. Or did the democratic Republic become possible because of the infectious freedom demonstrated by the anarchist movement. I’ll leave historians to argue this chicken and egg question. What is important is that in many regions in Spain the land and factories were run by and for the peasants and workers. For a time, the peasants and workers proved that society self-organized under anarchistic principles was possible.
Then the landed and moneyed elite fought back through the fascist Francisco Franco with the rebellion in July 1936. Franco and his forces expected quick success, but were only able to take over half the nation. The popular militias were able to disarm most of the fascist rebels.
The millions of peasants living on collectives produced food for the free portion of the nation and the anarchist factories retooled to contribute to the war effort. Distribution based on need was put into action. Barcelona was the best example of anarchy in Spain. Nearly all of the public services and factories were taken over and run with tremendous success in this large and complex city. Anarchy worked!
However, the during the war, the anarchists with the C.N.T. and the Federation Anarquista Iberica (F.A.I.) broke their fundamental principle and joined the government to defeat Franco. The slogan was “We sacrifice all except victory!” Anarchists took positions in the government institutions that they had previously vehemently denounced. They thought that this compromise would help show the unity of the Spanish Republic to her sister democracies. The Republic was in desperate need of material support from the world’s other democracies in the fight against fascism, but the other democracies refused to help. Instead they called for nonintervention by all nations.
The fascist nations of Italy and Germany officially agreed to the nonintervention policy, while shipping tremendous amounts of weapons, military personnel, and other support to Franco. The democratic nations knew this, but still refused to support the Spanish Republic. However, the freedom minded people of these nations – much like the Spanish anarchists – took it upon themselves to support the threatened Republic and the International Brigades were born [The International Brigades were under the control the Soviet Union’s Comintern -A.S.].
I left the comfort of my home to volunteer with the International Brigades to save the Spanish Republic. Even if my country didn’t, I knew it was the right thing to do, and I was excited to be a part of what I thought was going to be a great adventure.
© 2012 Ron Millar
© 2012 Ron Millar
