"... everything had changed. but you could tell there was a revolution going on." "And many songs." "There had never been so much singing." "The people of Barcelona celebrated." "revolution had burst out spontaneously in most of republican Spain." "The republican government was helpless." "Later government and revolution would come into confrontation." "A confrontation that would help to seal the fate of the republic. columns of workers militia set out to fight the army rebels. the militias were the only real defence of the republic." "recklessly confident." "But the columns had been thrown together in haste." "each column was linked to one of the different parties or trade unions." "no central command." "anarchists and moderate republicans marched together." "and revolution were to threaten the fighting power and the very existence of the republic." "the ecstasy and hope of revolution dominated men and women." "even in the bullring. and in street clothes raised the clenched fist." "Catalonia was the anarchists stronghold." "more extreme." "anarchists who had seized weapons dominated the city of Barcelona." "It was a moment anarchist militants like Josep Costa had been waiting for. there was such tremendous enthusiasm among the working class." "everywhere." "such vitality. and to examine that situation coldly." "many of us said:" "Now is the time to destroy all that has been oppressing us"." "The Catalan government ruled only in name." "All structures of power collapsed." "Churches and monasteries were burned and looted. the refused it. church or capitalism." "Federica Montseny was a famous anarchist orator. it would have meant betraying a pact of common struggle sealed with the blood and above all anarchists." "and doing in Catalonia what Lenin and Trotsky had done in the Soviet Union with the takeover of power by the Bolsheviks." "and we have been criticized many times for it." "perhaps we should have done it." "Some anarchists now feel that their refusal to take power was the beginning of their undoing. ... to defeat fascism. but against capitalism itself. committees of workers in the towns struggled to construct a new order out of the confusion. people really showed a lot of common sense. despite the religious meaning of the word." "It was a miracle achieved by the ordinary people." "this new revolutionary society began to function." "Much of the Catalan economy was now being run by the workers themselves. were run by their own employees." "The trade unions saw to food supplies." "Union lorries drove out to the villages with goods to exchange for food." "kept Barcelona fed for the first weeks of the civil war." "seen by anarchists was abolished." "Shopping was done with vouchers issued by local committees." "What did these vouchers represent? ... working on the fields." "Everything was calculated in hours of production. ... making all work equal. but they now also bought lunch at the Barcelona Ritz. as this anarchist newsreel proclaimed. anarchist union leaders like Josep Costa." "fought to start production again." "We told the workers to get back to the factory and wait for our instructions." "Immediately we called all the factory owners and executives to a meeting at the town hall." "something big has happened here." "We don't know what's going to happen but the factories have to continue functioning." "We ask you to be at work tomorrow at whatever hour you're supposed to start." "Five o'clock or eight o'clock." "Agreed!" "... agreed!" "labour relations will be very different from now on. had been taken by surprise when the revolution began." "It was anarchist militants who rallied the workers to take over their industries." "they had to take orders from these worker's committees." "000 enterprises were collectivized in Catalonia." "The greatest experiment in worker's self-management" "Western Europe has ever seen." "The workers now set about improving their working conditions." "Free medical care and adequate pensions were introduced." "some of the old employers were hounded as enemies of the people. 10 or 11 industrialists were killed in Terrassa ... they were murdered." "The Catalan bourgeoisie were seized by this general panic." "Everybody thought his head was going to be chopped off ... any minute." "I told my father that we should leave." "We still had time to leave because everything was so chaotic. ... but I'm staying." "Revolutionary terror spread through the republican areas." "The middle classes in most of Spain had supported the army rebellion. had remained largely pro-republican. and turned against the republic." "I didn't belong to this side." "I wasn't an anarchist." "I wasn't a communist." "I was a liberal man who respected other people's way of thinking. totally opposed to my way of thinking. the revolution was threatening to split society." "It also threatened its chances of winning the war." "The Spanish communists took the same view." "But it was not only the killings and the collectives that shocked the middle class." "The revolution had destroyed a traditional way of life." "The power of the church and its moral code disintegrated. it was a time of astonishing liberation." "That revolutionary explosion gave us women absolute freedom." "We couldn't live war as men were living it." "things hadn't changed all that much." "had really changed. ... it was all women." "The revolution brought women instant and radical changes." "Abortion was soon made available on demand." "Initially women went to the front to fight and die in the trenches." "prostitution was a relic of capitalist exploitation to be abolished." "They set up schools to re-educate prostitutes." "Revolutionary vice squads cleaned up the red light district of Barcelona." "But it wasn't easy to change old habits overnight." "At the union there were arguments." "where will people go now?" "or get married"." "they'd say." "another two tomorrow." "so the people could get used to the idea." "The same with the taverns." "What about the waiters?" "What will they do for a living?" "Teach them another trade." "Where? the realists who could see the revolution wasn't easy." "Then there were the moralists." "Those who gave the Spanish revolution the healthy air it had. without any license from church or state. but many mothers were appalled by free love." "Some mothers even came to the union to speak with people they considered apostles of free love my daughter left home without telling me." "She's living somewhere with someone"." "We would say:" ""We are all in favour of it"." "Yes but that boy will leave." "I don't even know his name"." "the union decided this had to legalised somehow." "So they invented what they called "revolutionary weddings"." "Revolutionary weddings took many different forms." "This is what happened in the Barcelona woodworkers union. and one copy each was given to the man and the woman who were told: and you'll be free again"." "That was the official wedding ceremony." "it became necessary to for there wasn't enough time for persuasion and proper education. would take the man aside after the ceremony and tell him:" "what we said about burning the documents isn't quite as easy as you think." "It's something that has to be and properly weighed up." "I'll give you such a kick in the balls you'll remember it for the rest of your days ... right?" "be happy." "Long live the revolution." "These revolutionary changes were taking place throughout republican Spain. the militia columns pushed their way towards the front." "Young labourers rushed to join the militia." "they spread the revolution." "The ancient dream of a collective society without profit or property was made reality in the villages of Aragon." "money itself was abolished. ... run by their workers." "These collectives formed an independent anarchist area within the republic." "The council of Aragon coordinated their activities." "Mas de las Matas was one of the many Aragonese villages collectivized in the summer of 1936." "the experience has now become a well remembered legend." "These three men were among the young local anarchists who abolished private property in Mas de las Matas" "Benigno Castañer was a carpenter. and all the carpenters went to work there." "They appointed a delegate to represent them at the collectivization committee. for every trade." "The tailors also." "all the barbers had joined the collective voluntarily." "weren't they." "and three or four barbers in the village all brought along their tools and their chairs and worked for free." "Most of their work was done when the peasants came back from the fields in the evening." "This caused some problems because some people would say:" "Look at those lazy barbers." "They spend the whole day walking around doing nothing." "So we had to explain to everybody that they worked until 10pm so that everybody could be served." "Some people didn't realise how late the barbers had to work." "This is one of those minor inconveniences." "The anarchist forced all known right-wingers in the village to join the collective as well." "The upheaval of revolution led to terrorism and repression." "armed gangs drove around and the followers of the church. six right-wingers were murdered just outside the village." "the only people allowed to keep their property were those left-wingers who were not anarchists. ... now disappeared." "Money was abolished and we created what we called the family card" with all the members of the family." "And everything that wasn't produced here was allotted according to the numbers in each family. per day." "there were no preferences." "Everybody ate as much as they wanted of the local produce." "So money for use in the village was completely abolished. this was a problem." "and so on." "So this was something that had to be corrected." "That's when we started rationing cigarettes." "but we never denied anybody his cigarettes." "This was a contradiction for us because we were against all vices." "Yet we were well aware that by handing out free cigarettes but we couldn't deny them to anybody. collectivization brought instant benefits." "The profit motive had disappeared." "Everyone now worked only for the community." "and I gave everything." "At home they were nearly crying because I took everything to the collective." "everything ... with such enthusiasm." "And working as much as we did before because the harvest had been delayed." "We worked day and night. the revolution was triumphing in most of republican Spain. ... to win the war." "Everywhere the militias were being held or defeated by the advancing rebel armies." "the republic was divided. revolution must wait until the war was won. the only way to win the war was to defend and extend the revolution." "This argument was soon to tear apart and transform the republic." "within the civil war. the army rebels were winning the war." "General Franco soon became the absolute as his regular soldiers captured town after town. had no unified command." "The revolution had left the republican government helpless." "the new revolutionary leaders did not form a new central government or military command of their own." "Two months after the start of the war" "Franco's troops were approaching Madrid. the politicians in Madrid took action. the socialist union leader Francisco Largo Caballero with socialist and communist ministers." "A strong military command was formed." "Further revolution was discouraged." "The anarchist revolution still controlled much of" "Catalonia and Aragon." "The anarchist leaders refused on principal to join but this Government of Victory and leave the anarchists out in the cold." "The new Madrid government was a triumph for the rapidly expanding Communist Party." "In line with Stalin's policy they stood for an anti-fascist popular front. and responsible enough to win support from western democracies. and impose their discipline." "It was clear that we were entering a civil war and that we needed a real army ourselves." "The starting point for this army was the 5th Regiment." "The discipline of the 5th Regiment was powerful propaganda for the communist approach to the war." "A communist helping to build a new popular army authority." "were anti-militarist." "Opposed on principle to hierarchical discipline." "must be made through popular initiative. we started to lose the war." "This is something the communists have always refused to accept. and the Soviet Union soon became the only country prepared to supply them in large quantities." "increased the influence of the Spanish communists. they were now becoming the strongest political force in the republic." "Soviet military aid arrived just in time to help defend the Spanish capital." "No Pasarán!" "... they shall not pass!" "Franco's troops had encircled Madrid on three sides." "the people of Madrid fought shoulder to shoulder with loyal officers and with the republican militias who had been retreating for the past four months." "The attack on Madrid was beaten back. and it gave the republic fresh hope for victory." "died in the battle for Madrid." "His funeral in Barcelona became an immense anarchist show of faith." "But the movement was already beginning to split under the pressure of its own internal contradictions." "the anarchist leaders had shelved their principles and joined the government." "Four anarchists became ministers in the central government." "Others had already joined the Catalan regional government." "Their followers were shocked and confused. anarchist collectivization was being checked." "The regional government was asserting control of the industries which anarchists had collectivized." "Josep Tarradellas was the Catalan finance counselor." "I was the first counselor and finance counselor the Generalitat." "faced with the CNT's refusal to allow control" "I ordered all the banks not to cash any cheques or hand over money to them without my permission." "So the workers found themselves in a difficult situation." "and at the bank they'd be told:" "I need the Generalitat's permission." "Then they would come to us and we would say:" "unless you allow us to control the collective." "the communists became stronger." "The party attracted many who felt threatened by the revolution." "Middle class moderates who admired communist discipline at the front." "and order and restraint behind the lines." "Revolutionary chaos still reigned in much of republican Spain." "This led to an overwhelming feeling of unease in the country. laying down all the rules necessary for re-establishing the courts of justice." "all these things were welcomed by the population." "But the communist methods of recruitment attracted bitter criticism from other parties in the republic." "the communist party to anybody who wanted to join." "What they wanted was to build up their party by taking advantage of the very special circumstances in Spain at the time." "So that's the way they did it." "They were very smart about it." "It was easy to grow that way. and the professional man a captain." "They cultivated people's ambitions so they became unconditional supporters. became important in military terms." "The communists had been forced to change their line." "At first they had opposed the revolution as a threat to the republic." "they admitted but any further changes would have to wait." "The over-riding aim must be to win the war." "this meant bringing home rule in Catalonia and the Basque country under central control." "One source of friction between the central government and Catalonia was control of the war industry." "The only cartridge factory in our zone was near Toledo. which was the only place where it could function properly." "Tarradellas' visit to Madrid ended in failure. refused his request." "So I left Madrid without the Toledo factory. that Toledo had fallen into the hands of General Franco." "to leave this factory in Franco's hands rather than have it in a place where it could have been useful." "But these squabbles over regional rights were far less ominous than the collision between communists and their political rivals over the whole future of the republic." "José Díaz the communist general secretary asked:" "Who are the enemies of the republic?" "and Trotskyists." "He was following Stalin's policy in the Soviet Union had already been purged." "The Spanish Civil War coincided with the height of Stalin's purges of his political rivals." "Leon Trotsky had been exiled in 1929." "Bolshevik veterans like Zinoviev and Kamenev were executed in 1936." "Trotskyist was the label given to any independent Marxist and the Comintern in Moscow." "Communists in Western Europe justified these purges." "Trotsky was pilloried as a Nazi agent." "Bill Bailey was an American communist fighting with the international brigades." "We had heard that Joe Stalin was trying to and get rid of all the enemies that was trying to constantly tear down the Soviet Union. and we were led to believe that they were enemies of the people." "Enemies of the Russian people." "Consequently enemies of the working class every place." "it proved that he was wrong." "in many cases." "These people that were purged came from the background of fighting for the great ideals of socialism." "The went through all the aches and pains of the terror only to be taken out later as dogs and shot." "The POUM was an independent Spanish Marxist party which largely attacked Stalin's dictatorship." "the Spanish communists and accused it of collaborating with fascism." "Frank Deegan was a Liverpool docker who had volunteered to fight in Spain." "We were informed by our political commissars that our troops on the Aragon front who were mainly composed who were commonly known as ?" "even playing football matches." "the political tension in Barcelona was so acute that the Mayday parade had to be canceled." "The anarchists and the POUM were still powerful in the city. as was the central government with the exception of the anarchist ministers. which was still run by anarchists." "One of the girls on duty that day was Enriqueta Garcia Cervera." "I was at the switchboard near the window." "The anarchist guards were half asleep over their rifles." "At about 3 o'clock I looked out and saw three lorry loads of assault guards pull up outside." "They jumped out and raced into the building." "They started going up the stairs." "I think most of the anarchist guards were on the first floor." "Then I heard shots and I was even more frightened." "The anarchists saw this as the all out challenge they had been expecting." "They raised barricades throughout the city." "Shooting began in the streets." "some anarchist units began to march back to Barcelona." "was defence undersecretary in Catalonia." "I phoned all the commanders of the divisions at the front and told them to stay put and secure their sectors." "That everything was quiet. and that we had more than enough men here." "On the Barcelona streets the anarchists could have used their superior strength before the government reinforcements arrived." "The truth is that in Barcelona we controlled the situation." "I hadn't intervened yet. and we had it surrounded by the people just waiting for my orders to attack." "The anarchist ministers rushed to Barcelona." "appealed to her followers over the radio." "She argued that they could not afford a civil war behind the lines." "I tried to make them understand that they couldn't go on fighting." "That they had to lay down their weapons and end that fighting. and it would all end shamefully in front of the whole world." "This appeal horrified the anarchist militants at the barricades." "had betrayed them." "To lay down their arms would mean the end of their revolution." "At the barricades you heard all the insults you can possibly imagine." "that the ministers had forgotten what it was like to be a worker." "That the revolution had to be carried out not at the ministries." "And they were going to shoot those ministers." "There I heard all those threats from people who were disappointed." "They all remembered what had happened to the anarchists under the Bolsheviks in Russia." "as it did eventually." "That they would be victims of the repression of the communists." "The republic brought in troops to put down the insurrection." "Five days of fighting had left about 500 dead. ... now lay shattered." "and all the hopes that the Spanish people had placed in the transformation." "in the May events. the socialist prime minister of the republic." "for communist taste. but more authoritarian than Largo Caballero who had fought alongside the anarchists in the May events of Barcelona. and an order issued for the arrest of its leaders." "the POUM's general secretary. ... witnessed his arrest." "?" "came up to my office to tell me the police had come to arrest us and take Andrés Nin away. surrounded by policemen. and the terrible tragedy that was being prepared for the death of Andrés Nin." "Nin was never seen again. and later murdered by Stalin's agents." "Other POUM leaders were later put on trial for treason. and restoring order to the republic was high." "for the communists now controlled much of the political police." "This nationalist propaganda film allegedly shows communist torture cells in a Barcelona monastery." "Freezing in refrigerators and disorientation techniques but also on the republics enemies within its own camp." "Aragon was the last area still under anarchist control. marched in to restore the central government's authority." "The communist troops returned land to all those who had been forced to join the anarchist collectives." "with communist support had demolished the anarchist revolution and imposed its discipline." "But at the front the republic was failing." "It's new disciplined popular army continued to be defeated. the republican army launched another offensive in an attempt to take pressure off the north." "The first major battle was at the small town of Belchite." "many republican soldiers gave their lives to capture a town which was strategically unimportant." "It was a battle that American volunteer Bill Bailey will never forget." "What happened was that the fascists were so deeply entrenched that they made every single foot here a costly expense to us." "Our dead was everyplace." "Every street had men laying dead in it." "get them out of the house. then go into the house until finally we was able to take one entire street. we're getting into the basement." "and they're resisting every single place. and that was at a very expensive cost." "Belchite finally fell. ... at very little cost." "The Aragon offensive failed. and had been torn by internal disunity. mounted another offensive." "This time the objective was the provincial capital of Teruel." "Teruel was conquered for an objective of little significance." "These victory celebrations in Barcelona were premature." "But the brave words of Catalan president Lluís Companys could no longer boost republican morale." "Franco's troops and reconquered Teruel. ... had ended in disaster." "The nationalist forces now prepared to push down from Aragon to the Mediterranean. thousands of refugees streamed into Catalonia." "the revolutionary battlecries now fell on deaf ears." "Only young militants like Teresa Pamies kept their faith in a republican victory. that we didn't even notice how ridiculous we looked when we climbed up lampposts and harangued all those poor women and many children queuing up to buy a bit of bread." "We would shout from the lampposts that the fascists would not pass." "That we would win the war and all lead better and happier lives. but at that time we really felt it. the nationalist troops were marching towards the sea." "the revolutionary heartland. the revolutionary spirit of 1936 was now only a memory. and the republic was cut in two. the republic summoned up its remaining energies for a battle to prevent its final collapse."