89 years ago, on July 19, 1936, the beginning was made for the largest
and longest-lasting implementation of anarchist proposals in practice
with the establishment of Libertarian Communism and the
socialization-collectivization of production on a large scale in many
cities and villages of Spain, with typical examples being Barcelona,
Aragon, the Levante, etc. The Social Revolution in Spain constitutes one
of the most important turning points in the history of international
anarchism and the labor movement. Even if we do not share the
historiographical view of the "Spanish exception", which claims that
only in the example of Spain did the anarchist movement manage to have a
strong influence and catalytic role in the history of revolutions and
class and social struggles, we could not help but recognize and
highlight the great legacy with which the Social Revolution in Spain has
provided us today.
A great legacy that concerns both the preparation of the revolution, the
decades of struggles, uprisings, strikes, workers' and anarchist
organization that preceded it, as well as the forms of social
self-management that emerged and were implemented, the solidarity and
self-denial of millions of fighters from the community, in the factory,
the field, the service centers, to the barricades and the military
fronts. And it was, primarily, the workers and peasants organized
through the lines of the CNT-FAI who wrote this brilliant page in the
history of the anarchist and workers' movement.
July 19, 1936 is a landmark date, which also marks the beginning of the
Social Revolution in Spain, centered in Barcelona. On that day, 89 years
ago, the military coup d'état under the fascist general Franco was
prevented in Barcelona by the defense committees and the factory
committees acting in coordination, that is, by the armed people
themselves who erected barricades in Barcelona and defeated the fascist
military rebellion within two days of fighting. The historical
achievement, however, of the workers and peasants of Barcelona does not
lie only in the military victory against fascism, but primarily in the
fact that they did not "gift" this victory, as is unfortunately usual in
the history of bloody popular uprisings and revolutions, to any would-be
usurper who would establish his power over them and at their expense. On
the contrary, the workers themselves placed the most important part of
production and services under their control, collectivized the land and
created community councils and committees within the framework of social
self-management.
All these achievements, as is logical, did not come from one day to the
next or by magic. July 19, 1936 marks a historical turning point, but
before that there were decades when anarchist revolutionary ideas took
root and developed in Spain, there were decades of bloody strikes,
uprisings and struggles by workers and peasants (with the most typical
example being the great strike of 1934 that ended in rebellion), there
were so many fighters who gave their lives and were imprisoned for the
development of this powerful libertarian movement. From 1868, when
Giuseppe Fanelli arrived in Spain as an envoy of the Bakuninist
"alliance" to lay the foundations for Spanish anarchism, to the founding
of the CNT in 1910, its great massification and the prevalence of
anarcho-syndicalist ideas within it, to the founding of the FAI in 1927,
which reflected on the one hand the necessity for unification and
federalization of the multitude of anarchist groups in the Iberian
Peninsula and on the other hand the "vehicle" for an anarchist
revolutionary intervention in the CNT under the risk of its reformist
deviation, there was a long path that led in terms of realism to the
application of the principles of anarchist or libertarian communism.
The main core of this movement and its even temporary success was none
other than the workers and peasants themselves. If the mass unions of
the CNT had not existed, the day after July 19th there would not have
been factory committees and agricultural collectives that would have put
production under workers' control. At the same time, in
pre-revolutionary Spain, the collective libertarian culture was
cultivated for decades through the libertarian centers of the CNT
(Athenian), the libertarian schools, the multitude of anarchist and
libertarian newspapers and magazines that circulated, through the
multitude of anarchist and libertarian groups in every social field
(from Mujeres Libres to Juventud Libertatia -Libertarian Youth-). We
could indeed say that in pre-revolutionary Spain "the new society was
born within the shell of the old".
Thus, after July 19, 1936, a multitude of different sectors were
collectivized, mainly centered in Barcelona. Sectors such as the food
industry, agriculture, transportation and railways, telecommunications,
construction, water and electricity companies, cinema, etc. came under
the control of the workers themselves and operated for the benefit of
real social needs, covering them adequately and creating great
achievements, especially if we take into account that they developed in
the midst of a war period. At the same time, a major reorganization of
health and education took place on the basis of freedom and equality.
New schools and hospitals were created in place of churches and
mansions, access to health became equal for all, new night schools were
created so that workers could attend them.
It is of course impossible to describe even partially in a few lines the
magnitude of the radical revolutionary social and economic
transformation that took place in the territories of Barcelona, Aragon
and other cities and towns of Spain 89 years ago. It is also impossible
to assess in a single statement the omissions and errors, the compromise
of the CNT-FAI leadership, the selling out of the revolution on the
altar of the priority of the "common anti-fascist struggle" or the
counter-revolutionary atrocities of the Stalinists.
What we can say for sure is that the creative abilities of the workers
and peasants and the principles of social self-management have justified
and will continue to justify both the necessity and the feasibility of
the struggle for Anarchy and Libertarian Communism, against every
propagandist-supporter of the "end of history and ideologies", against
every "pragmatist" who denies the possibility of revolutionary change
and against the followers of the "socialist state" who do not believe
that "the cause of the liberation of the working class is the cause of
the working class itself".
89 years later, everything continues.
Long live Black and Red July, Long live Social Revolution, Anarchy and
Libertarian Communism
INITIATIVE OF ANARCHIST SAINTS OF ANARGYROS - KAMATEROS
https://protaanka.espivblogs.net/2025/07/19/anakoinosi-gia-ta-89-chronia-apo-ton-mayrokokkino-ioyli-stin-ispania/
_________________________________________
A - I N F O S N E W S S E R V I C E
By, For, and About Anarchists
Send news reports to A-infos-en mailing list
A-infos-en@ainfos.ca
and longest-lasting implementation of anarchist proposals in practice
with the establishment of Libertarian Communism and the
socialization-collectivization of production on a large scale in many
cities and villages of Spain, with typical examples being Barcelona,
Aragon, the Levante, etc. The Social Revolution in Spain constitutes one
of the most important turning points in the history of international
anarchism and the labor movement. Even if we do not share the
historiographical view of the "Spanish exception", which claims that
only in the example of Spain did the anarchist movement manage to have a
strong influence and catalytic role in the history of revolutions and
class and social struggles, we could not help but recognize and
highlight the great legacy with which the Social Revolution in Spain has
provided us today.
A great legacy that concerns both the preparation of the revolution, the
decades of struggles, uprisings, strikes, workers' and anarchist
organization that preceded it, as well as the forms of social
self-management that emerged and were implemented, the solidarity and
self-denial of millions of fighters from the community, in the factory,
the field, the service centers, to the barricades and the military
fronts. And it was, primarily, the workers and peasants organized
through the lines of the CNT-FAI who wrote this brilliant page in the
history of the anarchist and workers' movement.
July 19, 1936 is a landmark date, which also marks the beginning of the
Social Revolution in Spain, centered in Barcelona. On that day, 89 years
ago, the military coup d'état under the fascist general Franco was
prevented in Barcelona by the defense committees and the factory
committees acting in coordination, that is, by the armed people
themselves who erected barricades in Barcelona and defeated the fascist
military rebellion within two days of fighting. The historical
achievement, however, of the workers and peasants of Barcelona does not
lie only in the military victory against fascism, but primarily in the
fact that they did not "gift" this victory, as is unfortunately usual in
the history of bloody popular uprisings and revolutions, to any would-be
usurper who would establish his power over them and at their expense. On
the contrary, the workers themselves placed the most important part of
production and services under their control, collectivized the land and
created community councils and committees within the framework of social
self-management.
All these achievements, as is logical, did not come from one day to the
next or by magic. July 19, 1936 marks a historical turning point, but
before that there were decades when anarchist revolutionary ideas took
root and developed in Spain, there were decades of bloody strikes,
uprisings and struggles by workers and peasants (with the most typical
example being the great strike of 1934 that ended in rebellion), there
were so many fighters who gave their lives and were imprisoned for the
development of this powerful libertarian movement. From 1868, when
Giuseppe Fanelli arrived in Spain as an envoy of the Bakuninist
"alliance" to lay the foundations for Spanish anarchism, to the founding
of the CNT in 1910, its great massification and the prevalence of
anarcho-syndicalist ideas within it, to the founding of the FAI in 1927,
which reflected on the one hand the necessity for unification and
federalization of the multitude of anarchist groups in the Iberian
Peninsula and on the other hand the "vehicle" for an anarchist
revolutionary intervention in the CNT under the risk of its reformist
deviation, there was a long path that led in terms of realism to the
application of the principles of anarchist or libertarian communism.
The main core of this movement and its even temporary success was none
other than the workers and peasants themselves. If the mass unions of
the CNT had not existed, the day after July 19th there would not have
been factory committees and agricultural collectives that would have put
production under workers' control. At the same time, in
pre-revolutionary Spain, the collective libertarian culture was
cultivated for decades through the libertarian centers of the CNT
(Athenian), the libertarian schools, the multitude of anarchist and
libertarian newspapers and magazines that circulated, through the
multitude of anarchist and libertarian groups in every social field
(from Mujeres Libres to Juventud Libertatia -Libertarian Youth-). We
could indeed say that in pre-revolutionary Spain "the new society was
born within the shell of the old".
Thus, after July 19, 1936, a multitude of different sectors were
collectivized, mainly centered in Barcelona. Sectors such as the food
industry, agriculture, transportation and railways, telecommunications,
construction, water and electricity companies, cinema, etc. came under
the control of the workers themselves and operated for the benefit of
real social needs, covering them adequately and creating great
achievements, especially if we take into account that they developed in
the midst of a war period. At the same time, a major reorganization of
health and education took place on the basis of freedom and equality.
New schools and hospitals were created in place of churches and
mansions, access to health became equal for all, new night schools were
created so that workers could attend them.
It is of course impossible to describe even partially in a few lines the
magnitude of the radical revolutionary social and economic
transformation that took place in the territories of Barcelona, Aragon
and other cities and towns of Spain 89 years ago. It is also impossible
to assess in a single statement the omissions and errors, the compromise
of the CNT-FAI leadership, the selling out of the revolution on the
altar of the priority of the "common anti-fascist struggle" or the
counter-revolutionary atrocities of the Stalinists.
What we can say for sure is that the creative abilities of the workers
and peasants and the principles of social self-management have justified
and will continue to justify both the necessity and the feasibility of
the struggle for Anarchy and Libertarian Communism, against every
propagandist-supporter of the "end of history and ideologies", against
every "pragmatist" who denies the possibility of revolutionary change
and against the followers of the "socialist state" who do not believe
that "the cause of the liberation of the working class is the cause of
the working class itself".
89 years later, everything continues.
Long live Black and Red July, Long live Social Revolution, Anarchy and
Libertarian Communism
INITIATIVE OF ANARCHIST SAINTS OF ANARGYROS - KAMATEROS
https://protaanka.espivblogs.net/2025/07/19/anakoinosi-gia-ta-89-chronia-apo-ton-mayrokokkino-ioyli-stin-ispania/
_________________________________________
A - I N F O S N E W S S E R V I C E
By, For, and About Anarchists
Send news reports to A-infos-en mailing list
A-infos-en@ainfos.ca
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