Spanish civil war

A critical look at the Spanish revolution - Ricardo Fuego

Submitted by Alias Recluse on Nov 28 2013 19:15

A 2010 essay in which the author attributes the defeat of the Spanish Revolution not to its betrayal at the hands of a naïve and incompetent leadership, but to the fact that “If the Spanish proletariat valued acronyms and leaders more than their own interests this was because objective and subjective difficulties stood in the way of their potential to attain a level of class autonomy sufficient to do without such mediations”.

Response to Agustín Guillamón’s critique of "Critical notes on the text, 'Spain 1936. The exorcism of the ghost of the revolution' by A. Devesa" - Roi Ferreiro

Submitted by Alias Recluse on Nov 28 2013 15:35

Ferreiro’s reply to Guillamón’s critique of his essay on Spain, in which he accuses Guillamón of being prejudiced and incapable of understanding Ferreiro’s perspective, reiterates his position on the subjective deficiencies of the Spanish proletariat in the context of a culturally and economically backward capitalist regime, and maintains that “It is not the defeats of the past that will lead us … to victory in the future. It will be the historical development of the subjectivity of the masses of individuals … determined by the class struggle and the conditions of life, both in its dimension as a socio-political process as well as in its psycho-mental dimension”.

The theorization of historical experiences - Agustín Guillamón

Submitted by Alias Recluse on Nov 28 2013 15:22

A critique of Roi Ferreiro’s critique of Andrés Devesa’s essay on the Spanish civil war and revolution, in which Guillamon derides Ferreiro for idealism and the use of elitist jargon, and for his failure to “perceive that the battle for revolutionary history is not just a bookish, theoretical and abstract question, but another battlefield in the class war between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat”.

Critical notes on the text, "Spain, 1936. The exorcism of the ghost of the revolution", by Andrés Devesa - Roi Ferreiro

Submitted by Alias Recluse on Nov 28 2013 15:00

A critique of Andrés Devesa’s essay on the “domestication of memory” with respect to the events of the Spanish civil war and revolution, which is faulted for having placed too much emphasis on the failure of leadership of the CNT-FAI as the reason for the failure of the revolution, which Ferreiro traces to the subjective disposition of the rank and file of anarchosyndicalism, who were too dependent on “their organization”, with which they strongly identified, to break free of its tutelage and their “conformist and passive attitude” towards its collaboration.

The exorcism of the ghost of the revolution - Andrés Devesa

Submitted by Alias Recluse on Nov 28 2013 14:37

A brief 2006 essay on the topic of the “domestication of memory” perpetrated by the mainstream Spanish historians with regard to the Spanish Civil War, with particular emphasis on the whitewashing of the role of the Stalinists in the counterrevolution.

No more compromise - Pierre Besnard

An article by former IWA secretariat Pierre Besnard about avoiding the mistakes of the CNT during the Spanish Civil War.

Theses on the Spanish Civil War and the revolutionary situation created on July 19, 1936 - BALANCE (Agustín Guillamón)

A 2001 text summarizing the results of the research carried out by Agustín Guillamón for the Spanish journal, BALANCE, concerning the lessons of the Spanish Civil War in Catalonia, denying the existence of “dual power” in Catalonia in 1936, discussing the struggles of the CNT rank and file against militarization and in favor of socialization, emphasizing the revolutionary potential of the ubiquitous committees and their neutralization and eventual destruction due to a lack of coordination and centralization, and claiming that the proletarian revolution requires the destruction of the capitalist state and the creation of a centralized workers power based on workers councils.

IWW members who fought in the Spanish Civil War

Submitted by Juan Conatz on Nov 8 2013 06:22
The 15th International Brigade in 1937. Pat Read appears third from left.

Originally appearing in the Industrial Worker, a short piece by Matt White on some of the IWW members who died during the Spanish Civil War.

An interview with Noam Chomsky on the Spanish revolution - Jorell A. Meléndez Badillo (2009)

In this 2009 interview originally published in Spanish, Noam Chomsky answers questions about military options and international factors in the Spanish Civil War, the role of the Stalinists in suppressing the revolution in Spain, the attitudes of intellectuals with regard to the revolution and their historical role more generally, and the chances for another libertarian revolution.

Revolution and counterrevolution in Spain - Groep van Internationale Communisten

In this article published in June 1937 in the journal, Rätekorrespondenz, the Group of International Communists of Holland harshly criticize the CNT and FAI in the wake of the May Events in Barcelona, condemning the anarchosyndicalist leadership for its collaboration with the government, ideological confusions regarding trade union control of the economy, illusions regarding antifascist unity and the pact with the UGT.