I'm sure there are a lot of folks aware that there are various Marxist and definitely left communist critiques of the anarcho-syndicalists in the Spanish Civil War.
Discussing some of these critiques casually with comrades, I've often had pointed out factual errors about their history, and such but wondering if anyone know if there are any point by point style breakdowns / responses to such criticism from a anarchist or libertarian point of view?
Thanks in advance if you know any.
I am not sure about point by
I am not sure about point by point rebuttals but Rudolph Rocker wrote quite an in depth piece called 'The Tragedy of Spain' in 1937 which gives the Anarchist perspective on the earlier part of the struggle. https://libcom.org/library/the-tragedy-of-spain-rudolf-rocker
I found these in the library
I found these in the library by searching the whole Spanish Civil War tag. Idk if they are sufficient yet either, reading them now.
https://libcom.org/library/trotskyist-lies-on-anarchism-felix-morrow-on-spain
https://libcom.org/library/controversy-anarchists-spanish-revolution-sam-dolgoff
I don't know whether you
I don't know whether you would see Agustin Guillamon as an anarchist, as he often seems to be very close to the views of the communist left, But he has published a very critical article on the position of Bilan on the war:
https://libcom.org/library/theses-spanish-civil-war-revolutionary-situation-created-july-19-1936-balance-agust%C3%ADn-gu
The ICC responded to him in the second of two articles on the war in Spain. You can read it on our website or here on libcom: http://libcom.org/history/war-spain-exposes-anarchism%E2%80%99s-fatal-flaws-part-two-dissident-voices-within-anarchist-mov
He's not, really an
He's not, really an anarchist, but I do think he's important on these issues. Fwiw I'm interested in hearing all sides of the debate. And have been reading a lot of the critical stuff, so trying to find anything that has a different perspective.
A pertinent reply to the
A pertinent reply to the Dolgoff piece I feel:
syndicalistcat
https://libcom.org/files/subv
https://libcom.org/files/subversion-19.pdf
Reader responses from John Crump and AFed (North) to Subversion on Spain, are located in this pdf.
I've heard someone in SolFed
I've heard someone in SolFed wrote a debunking of Michael Seidman on Spain? Anyone have a link?
klas batalo
klas batalo
Subversions response to the replies gives away a rather important weakness in their criticism.
"We admit that the title of the article was poorly chosen. It would have been more accurate to have called it, 'The End of Collectivist Anarchism',or 'The End of Syndicalist Anarchism'."
I've seen this quite a bit, the one group doing something is proof that the movement and ideology in its entirety is bankrupt, line is a really poor one. Especially in this case when other AS's criticised the CNT's decision and even the CNT wasn't unanimous on collaboration with the Republic.
Then theres the bit on page 12
"Mujeres Libres was formed because of the sexism of men in the CNT -FAI. If the attitudes and behaviour of some members of an or-ganisation prevent other members from playing as full a part as possible in the organisation, then in our opinion that organisation is not a revolutionary one."
A very strange statement from a group like subversion, I could be wrong but I thought they believed that class struggle developed revolutionary consciousness. Surely the forming of a group like Mujeres Libres to combat sexism in the overall organisation is a product of that process. Seems like they expect a group to measure up to their standards without having to actually develop itself.
Honestly the reply by Subversion makes me think the point of their article was motivated more by political opportunism rather than a desire to clarify an historical event. That's really disappointing, I quite liked Subversion but now I find myself questioning their analysis if this is an example of their framework.
Found this interesting
Found this interesting article:
https://increasinglyadequate.com/commleft_german.html
None. They were perfect.
None. They were perfect.
klas batalo wrote: Found this
klas batalo
"What cynicism! More than a million people, have already died in the civil war. If one has to die anyway, he might as well die for a worthy cause"