Everyone knows that in 1936, now 90 years ago, a civil war broke out in Spain. But what is often overlooked is that, while the working class fought against the coup plotters, it was embarking on a social revolution, perhaps the most radical in history, with magnificent achievements of self-management. ---- The coup d'état carried out by a significant part of the army, with the support of the landowners, the bourgeoisie and the clergy, was in reality an attempt at a preventive counterrevolution.
In a country of twenty-one million people, the number of illiterates is high. More than half the population works in agriculture. Rural life still exists according to archaic social structures: while 50,000 landowners (including the Catholic Church) own half of the cultivated land, two million farmers share ten percent of that land.Industry, concentrated mainly in Catalonia and the Basque Country, employs two million workers. The main sectors of this sector are controlled by foreign capital (American, German, British, Belgian, and French).
The Church has 80,000 members, including priests, friars, and nuns. It controls education and important sectors of economic and social life.
The Army is a pillar of Spanish society. It employs 15,000 officers, who live off the national budget, as do the 64,000 police and Civil Guard officers responsible for maintaining social order.
To combat this social system, the most conscious workers unite in various organizations: the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE), with its central union, the General Workers' Union (UGT), which has 1,400,000 members; the Spanish Communist Party (PCE), with approximately 13,000 members; the Trotskyist-leaning Workers' Party for Marxist Unification (POUM); and the libertarian movement, made up of the Iberian Anarchist Federation (FAI), the Libertarian Youths, Free Women, and the central union, the National Labor Confederation (CNT), with approximately 1,500,000 members.
In 1931, King Alfonso XIII was deposed without bloodshed and the Republic was proclaimed, welcomed with enthusiasm. But the new regime failed to satisfy the people's aspirations. There was no redistribution of land, and the repression of the working class was as bloody as under the monarchy. For example, in 1934, a workers' rebellion in Asturias (from the CNT and UGT) was repressed with fire and blood, resulting in a horrific toll: 3,000 dead, 7,000 wounded, and tens of thousands imprisoned.
In February 1936, general elections were held, won by a coalition of left-wing parties, the Popular Front. The new government granted an amnesty, but politicians continued with their usual maneuvers. In May of the same year, the CNT held a congress at which, among other things, the foundations for social reorganization were laid in preparation for the revolution that was looming on the horizon.
In July of the same year, a series of army generals, the Falange (Spanish fascism), the Catholic right, and fundamentalists attempted a coup d'état, which failed in much of Spain thanks to popular intervention, which launched a revolutionary general strike. In Catalonia, where anarchism was dominant among the working class, the coup was also foiled, but the republican legal structure was maintained, although a Committee of Anti-Fascist Militias was created to lead the regional government. Similar situations occurred in other areas.
Militias were quickly organized to fight the fascists and try to liberate the populations that had fallen under their yoke. Within the libertarian camp, a series of columns emerged that, without falling into militarism, would fight on the battlefields. These CNT-FAI militias fought, above all, to overthrow the old world of aristocrats, capitalists, soldiers, and priests, and to open the doors to social revolution, to anarchist communism.
Industrial collectivization
A new life is being born behind the scenes. The social revolution underway in Spain puts into practice the great principle of the First International: "The emancipation of workers must be the work of the workers themselves." Libertarian principles prevail; decisions come from the grassroots. It is the unions that, within the companies, appropriate the means of production and decide on their new use.
Production must continue. The workers' assembly decides on the new organization of the factory. The owners, and most of the engineers and technicians, generally close to the fascists, have fled. A works council is elected from among the production workers, and everyone commits to improving collective life: reduced working hours, increased wages, healthcare, and pension security, all without neglecting improved working conditions and hygiene. They even worry about the future, establishing research laboratories.
The variety of situations leads to different experiences. In some sectors where the CNT is particularly strong, workers manage an entire industrial branch, from raw materials to the sale of the finished product; this is therefore a form of socialization. Sometimes, workers manage just one company in the sector: in this case, it is called collectivization.
The conditions imposed by the civil war hindered the development of collectivized industry due to the lack of raw materials, capital, and technicians. However, this industry, in the hands of workers, kept the country afloat. Based on libertarian ideas, workers were able to produce without bosses or military discipline; they took their destiny into their own hands by voting on important decisions in general assemblies and worked, not to enrich a single boss, but for the good of all.
In cities like Barcelona, transportation is managed by workers: trams, buses, the subway, taxis, and the railways. Even workshops and warehouses are managed by workers. Wages are raised, attempting to equalize them, and a 40-hour work week is introduced.
Due to the war, supplies to the main cities will be difficult. Large food companies will be seized and, in most cases, transformed into low-cost restaurants.
In the food industry, companies were collectivized, emphasizing product quality and moving away from capitalist profit. All these improvements cost the socialized industries a lot of money, money that was only possible thanks to the commitment and will of the workers.
It was also decided to support militias and other communities affected by the lack of raw materials.
Agricultural collectivization
In the countryside, life could not stop in July 1936; harvest was imminent, and the former landowners' lands needed to be tended. Abandoned lands were confiscated, and farmers voluntarily contributed to the collective effort by providing their machinery and livestock, and work was organized collectively. Living conditions for everyone improved immediately. Production increased thanks to the acquisition of large estates or hunting reserves and a more rational use of the countryside. Collective management of profits made it possible to purchase machinery and build essential projects such as hospitals, schools, irrigation canals, and so on. Hundreds of thousands of men and women took their destinies into their own hands.
350 collectivities were created in Catalonia, 500 in the Levant, 450 in Aragon (where 75% of the land was collectivized), and 240 in New Castile. Others also existed in Andalusia and Extremadura. Each had its own characteristics, as decisions were made in the collectivists' general assemblies.
Regarding exports outside the collectivist system, it was immediately clear that federations were needed, with a compensation fund to ensure a balance between rich and poor communities. Food distribution was also organized so that it passed directly from producer to distributor, without any speculation from middlemen.
Healthcare
In 1936, the health situation in Spain was catastrophic. Infant mortality in particular was very high, and the consequences of the war would exacerbate the problems. There was no national health system, but there were many mutual health insurance companies created by the unions. Efforts were made to unify all of this, though it was a complex undertaking.
In a year of revolution, numerous new hospitals were built. The fees for medical visits and surgeries were controlled by the Health Union. Sometimes, convents and other religious buildings were used to set up hospitals. The goal was to ensure healthcare for all segments of the population, particularly the working class, which had been neglected. In Barcelona, the Louise Michel Institute for Childcare and Maternity was established, which cared for children from 2 months to 4 years of age, both medically and psychologically. The same center organized courses for pregnant women and established a childcare school.
Instruction
Anarchism believes that achieving a high level of education is essential for the emancipation of the working class. In Spain, primary education was mostly provided by religious orders, while university access was reserved exclusively for the privileged classes. Since the beginning of the 20th century, numerous rationalist schools had been established, following the model of Francisco Ferrer's Modern School, which provided workers' children (and others) with a scientific, encyclopedic, and gender-neutral education, free from dogmatism. These schools were founded by unions or libertarian neighborhood colleges. At the outbreak of the Revolution, they multiplied and, in some cases, merged with public schools in an attempt to extend education to all children and youth. Secondary education centers were also established, and, in at least one case, a boarding school for agricultural vocational training.
War and counterrevolution
The civil war was actually a struggle of the Spanish people against European fascism. From the July 1936 pronouncement, the coup plotters were aided by Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. But also-and this is not often said-by the American companies Ford (which supplied trucks) and Shell (which supplied fuel). This was in addition to the "non-intervention" decreed by France and the United Kingdom, which actually favored the coup-plotting army.
Only the Soviet Union aided the Republic, but in a completely opportunistic manner and fueling the counterrevolution. The Communist Party selectively channeled Soviet aid, in addition to seizing key positions in the Republican military hierarchy. The corollary of all this led to the events of May 1937, in which anarchists in Barcelona were attacked by Communist militias with the consent of the Republican government. Communist-controlled military units dismantled agricultural collectives in Aragon.
For reasons of anti-fascist unity, the libertarian movement had in many cases renounced its principles, such as accepting the militarization of militias or participating in the administrative and power bodies of the state (let's not forget the CNT ministers). This renunciation of principles was one of the "keys" to the defeat of the republican camp.
The military defeat led to the rise of fascism, under Generalissimo Francisco Franco, and a brutal repression that resulted in hundreds of thousands of exiles, imprisonments, and executions.
The fascist regime lasted until the dictator's death in 1975. A "transition" to democracy followed, agreed upon between the heirs of Francoism and the opposition parties, a pact in which the Catholic Church played a decisive role. No accountability for the crimes and repression of Francoism would be held accountable.
Ninety years after the Revolution, what remains? Well, very little. Its memory is systematically erased, as are its achievements; the war is spoken of only as a conflict between fascists and anti-fascists, and is even trivialized. The unions are bought by the state and at the service of the employers. But the social situation remains dire for the working class, with low wages and high unemployment. And with neo-fascists roaming around as they please. But everything can still change...
Alfredo González
https://umanitanova.org/la-rivoluzione-in-pugno-spagna-1936-antifascismo-rivoluzione-sociale-autogestione/
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Source:A-infos-en@ainfos.ca
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