CONTENTS. Publisher s preface 7 Chronology 11

Transcription

1 CONTENTS Publisher s preface 7 Chronology The civil war in Spain: Towards socialism or fascism? Introduction The birth of the republic, The tasks of the bourgeois-democratic revolution The coalition government and the return of reaction, The fight against fascism: November 1933 to February The People s Front government and its supporters: February 20 to July 17, The masses struggle against fascism despite the People s Front: February 16 to July 16, Counter-revolution and dual power Revolution and counter-revolution in Spain 1. Why the fascists revolted The bourgeois allies in the People s Front The revolution of July Toward a coalition with the bourgeoisie The politics of the Spanish working class The program of the Caballero coalition government The program of the Catalonian coalition government Revival of the bourgeois state: September 1936 to April

2 9. The counter-revolution and the masses The May days: Barricades in Barcelona The dismissal of Largo Caballero El gobierno de la victoria The conquest of Catalonia The conquest of Aragon The military struggle under Giral and Caballero The military struggle under Negrin-Prieto Only two roads Postscript 325 Publisher s epilogue 329 Glossary 331 Index 333

3 PUBLISHER S PREFACE Decades after Franco s army overcame the final defenses of the Republic, interest in the issues of the Spanish Civil War remains high. In reprinting these two contemporary accounts, which have been out of print in the United States for years, the publishers are once again making available what is still the most incisive descriptive analysis available of the Spanish Civil War and the events leading up to it. Viewed in retrospect, Felix Morrow s work, written as the events themselves unfolded, stands up remarkably well. Its theme throughout is the futility of attempting to defeat Franco through a People s Front coalition with the bourgeoisie. This was the central strategy of both the Stalinists and the Socialists after September In order to keep the bourgeoisie in the coalition, the workers organizations had to agree to forswear the most urgent demands of the Spanish peasants and workers: agrarian reform and workers control of industry. Furthermore, they could not grant Morocco its freedom from Spanish tyranny because this would endanger Spain s relations with the imperialist democracies abroad, who would fear for the stability of their own colonial empires. But the Spanish workers organizations badly miscalculated. The bourgeoisie declared almost unanimously for Franco, leaving behind only its figureheads in the government; and the imperialist democracies England, France, and the U.S. under the guise of nonintervention sabotaged the defense of the legally elected, legitimate Spanish Republican government. The Moroccan people, who might have become the allies of a government that granted them their independence, instead proved to be Franco s strongest base of support; and the Spanish workers and peasants, their hopes 7

4 8 revolution and counter-revolution in spain beaten back by the Republican government, fell prey to demoralization and indifference. All the major political tendencies in Spain, from the Anarchists to the Stalinists, and from the POUM to the Socialist Party, turned their backs on the independent struggle of the working class in favor of an alliance with the bourgeoisie. So the other major theme in Morrow s narrative is the rôle a revolutionary party could have played had one been created in time to defend the genuinely revolutionary aspirations of the workers and peasants against betrayal by their leaders and government. Felix Morrow was a leader of the Socialist Workers Party and was on the editorial board of its weekly newspaper, Socialist Appeal, which carried his extensive coverage of the Spanish Civil War. He was one of the eighteen American Trotskyists convicted in the notorious Minneapolis Labor Trial in 1941, which was the first use of the Smith Act. After World War II he broke with the SWP. The Civil War in Spain: Towards Socialism or Fascism? was completed just two months after Franco s insurrection and was published that year as a pamphlet by Pioneer Publishers. It was designed to provide a political history of the Spanish Republic, from its beginning in 1931 through the fascist insurrection in July The insurrection was met by a huge popular upsurge throughout Spain demanding arms to fight the fascists, as well as by a far-reaching social revolution, with factories and lands, and in some cases even shops and cafes, seized by the workers to ensure an efficient organization of the struggle against Franco. A network of popular militias was established under the control of the workers organizations. By September, when this pamphlet was completed, the People s Front government had effectively regained control of the military struggle and begun to reestablish its authority, with the complicity of the leaders of the workers organizations. Revolution and Counter-Revolution in Spain was completed in November 1937, after the crushing and outlawing of the left wing of the Spanish Republican movement had been accomplished in

5 Publisher s preface 9 Barcelona in May. With the destruction of the left wing, the hopes for a Republican victory quickly dimmed. By the time of the author s postscript in May 1938, the outcome of the Civil War was clear to all who cared to look. For this edition, a brief epilogue has been added about the conclusion of the Civil War, as well as a chronology, glossary, and index.

6 CHRONOLOGY 1930 January Dictator Primo de Rivera resigns; King Alfonso XIII appoints Berenguer to head interim government. December Liberal officers stage unsuccessful (Jaca) coup February Berenguer resigns. April Municipal elections bring sweeping victory to Republicans. Alfonso abdicates; Alcalá Zamora is prime minister. May Clashes between monarchists and workers in Madrid; several churches are burned. June Elections to Cortes give overwhelming majority to pro-republican parties. Alcalá Zamora becomes president of Republic; Azaña is prime minister. July Aug. Strike wave crushed by Republican government artillery January Uprisings in Catalonia organized by the FAI. August Catalan charter of autonomy granted. Unsuccessful coup by monarchist general Sanjurjo January Anarcho-Syndicalist rising in Barcelona is crushed. April Municipal elections show big gains for rightists. September Lerroux replaces Azaña as prime minister. October 29 Falange Española founded in Madrid. November Elections to Cortes give rightists and monarchists control when CNT abstains; Lerroux confirmed as prime minister, begins to repeal reforms. 11

7 12 revolution and counter-revolution in spain 1934 January Catalan elections swing to left; Companys becomes Catalan president. April Barcelona general strike suppressed. June Rural strike movement called by Anarchists. Oct. Nov. Lerroux forms new government, with members of rightwing CEDA of Gil Robles; general strike of Socialists and Anarchists crushed; Lerroux calls in Franco to crush uprising of Asturian miners. Catalan independence is suppressed August Seventh Congress of Comintern proclaims People s Front policy. September Founding of the POUM January Lerroux resigns amid financial scandal; Cortes dissolved. February New elections bring People s Front to power; Azaña is prime minister; Anarchists and POUM support People s Front. April Socialist and Communist youth groups merge. May Azaña becomes president; Casares Quiroga is prime minister. May June Mass strikes in France; French People s Front elected. Leon Blum is prime minister; Daladier is minister of war. July 13 Spanish CP declares full support to government. July Fascist rising begins in Morocco and spreads to Spain. Quiroga replaced by Martínez Barrio and then by Giral. July 21 Antifascist Militias Committee formed in Catalonia. August 15 France and England sign nonintervention pact. September Giral resigns; Largo Caballero becomes prime minister on condition that CP join government. CNT and POUM join Catalan government; Nin becomes minister of justice. October Central government ends independence of militias, creates Popular Army; seige of Madrid begins; government approves formation of International Brigades. Franco becomes

8 Chronology 13 Generalissimo in Nationalist Spain. November Central government, reorganized to include Anarchists, moves to Valencia. International Brigades arrive in Madrid. December 16 POUM expelled from government February Fall of Málaga. April 25 Bombing of Guernica. May Government attempt to seize Barcelona telephone exchange from Anarchists leads to new upsurge; Negrin replaces Caballero as prime minister. June POUM outlawed by central government; leaders arrested; fall of Bilbao. October Central government moves to Barcelona January Heavy bombardment of Barcelona begins. February Fall of Teruel. April June Franco reaches coast and cuts Republican Spain in half. September International Brigades fight final battle in Ebro campaign; Chamberlain and Daladier sign Munich Pact with Hitler. November International Brigades withdraw from Spain January 26 Barcelona surrenders. February 27 France and Britain recognize Franco while Loyalists still hold a third of Spain. Azaña flees Spain. March Formation of National Defense Junta to arrange surrender of central government. CP expelled from People s Front. Madrid and Valencia surrender; active hostilities cease. April United States recognizes Franco. August 23 Stalin-Hitler Pact signed.