To some, our vision of anarchist communism sounds crazy. Even if they agree with our criticisms of capitalism, or think that communism sounds nice in theory, they just can't imagine it working in practice.
Workers running society? No bosses or politicians? No poverty? No need to force people to do the difficult jobs? It just doesn't sound plausible. Look at Russia and China. That's how communism always turns out.Well, yes - if you think we'll get there by giving power to a government. But as anarchists, we don't look to the state to create socialism: we look to our fellow workers.
And here's the truth: anarchy works.
How do we know? Because 90 years ago the workers and peasants of Spain rose up against a fascist, military coup, and they built it.
The Spanish anarchists
The Spanish Revolution didn't come from nowhere. It was the result of decades of working class organisation.
Anarchism was a major force in Spain because it was at the heart of the labour movement. It was the anarchists who, in 1910, formed the most important union federation in the country: the CNT. By 1936, it had almost 800,000 members and enormous power.
The CNT was controlled from below by its members. Decisions were made by mass meetings of workers in their workplaces and through democratic delegate structures. The movement had its own newspapers, clubs, armed groups, and even its own schools.
The workers rejected arbitration and backroom negotiations. Their weapon was industrial action, even if walking off the job meant breaking the law. And members didn't just strike over workplace issues. They knew that strikes were more powerful than elections or protests. Class power meant political power, and could be used to fight things like military conscription and rising rents.
July 17-18
All of this terrified the ruling class. In response, the Spanish military, led by General Francisco Franco, launched an uprising to crush the workers' movement. The coup was backed by the bosses, the landowners, the Catholic Church, and various far-right political groups.
The next day, workers launched a general strike and the CNT took the lead in distributing arms. By acting quickly, they defeated the military in most major cities.
But they didn't stop at putting down the coup. Roughly two million workers kicked out their bosses and took control of the economy.
It was a social revolution. Decisions were made by assemblies of workers in their workplaces and executed by committees elected from the shopfloor.
Mansions were turned into communal dining halls, schools, warehouses, and free medical centres. Thousands of useless capitalist jobs were abolished. Unemployed workers helped share the workload in necessary industries. In some cases, this meant the work day could be shortened.
Anarchy in industry
So, what did anarchist communism look like in practice?
Inefficient or unsafe workshops were closed. Workers came together in large, comfortable facilities to pool resources and make decisions together.
Tram workers modernised the network with new safety and signalling systems. They installed showers and sanitation areas in their sheds for the first time. Entire routes were rebuilt in the interests of drivers and passengers. 100 new tram cars were put in use, leading to an increase of 50 million trips in one year.
Gas, water, and energy workers started eliminating costs for consumers. They produced 10,000 extra cubic metres of clean drinking water. The electrical grid was rationalised and a new power station constructed, boosting output by over 50,000 kw-enough to power tens of thousands of homes.
Healthcare workers united in a single industrial council, extending coverage to the most remote areas. In Barcelona alone, workers built six new hospitals and dozens of other clinics, offering free surgery and dental treatment. Women's health care was greatly expanded too. Gynaecological treatment, birth control, and abortion became widely available for the first time.
Anarchy in agriculture
The revolution extended to the countryside as well. Rural workers took over 5 and œ million hectares of land. 1,800 collectives were established, involving 800,000 farm workers and their families: around 3 million people in total. In some collectives output increased by between 30-50%.
Some villages paid a guaranteed family salary, regardless of employment. Others abolished money entirely, using ration booklets to fairly distribute goods.
Work no longer dictated a person's ability to live. Where there was abundance, goods were free. Where there wasn't, they were divided based on need.
If it works so well, where is it?!
In 1939, Franco's army won and established a dictatorship. When he died, Spain transitioned back to an ordinary parliamentary system.
But the Spanish Revolution wasn't defeated because 'communism doesn't work'. It was destroyed by international isolation and counter-revolutionary politics. The moderate socialists opposed revolution and capitalists around the world preferred fascism to anarchism. This scared CNT leaders into convincing workers to stop the revolution half way, leaving some power in the hands of the old capitalists and government.
Meanwhile, the Liberals and the Stalinists sabotaged the revolution. They centralised control, arrested and murdered anarchists, and then lost the war after taking power.
The anarchists had been well organised industrially. But they needed better political organisation to keep the movement on a revolutionary path. They also needed to support anti-colonial struggles in Morocco, where Franco was getting troops.
Still, 90 years on, the Spanish Revolution stands as one of the most inspiring moments in history. It's proof that workers can run society, without bosses or government control. The real lesson is that, next time, we can't stop half way.
https://ancomfed.org/2026/06/the-spanish-revolution-90-years-on/
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Source: A-infos-en@ainfos.ca
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