ANARCHIST ORGANISATION THE HISTORY OF THE F.A.I. JUAN GOMEZ CASAS translated by ABE BLUESTEIN BLACK ROSE BOOKS Montreal·Buffalo Copyright 1986 © BLACK ROSE BOOKS INC. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form by means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and re­ cording, or by any information storage or retrieval system, without written permission from the author or publisher, except for brief passages quoted by a reviewer in a newspaper or magazine. Black Rose Books No. K 72 ISBN Hardcover 0-920057-40-3 ISBN Paperback 0-920057-38-1 Canadian Cataloguing in Publication Data Gomez Casas, Juan Anarchist organisation: the history of the F.A.I. Translation of: Historia de la F.A.I. Bibliography: p. ISBN 0-920057-40-3 (bound). - ISBN 0-920057-38- 1 (pbk.). 1. Federaci6n Anarquista Iberica. 2. Anarchism-Spain-History. I. Title. HX925.G6413 1986 335' .83'0946 C86-090224-2 Cover design: Cliff Harper Black Rose Books 3981 boul. St. Laurent University of Toronto Press Monrreal, Que. H2W 1Y5 33 East Tupper St. Canada Buffalo, N.Y. 14230, USA Printed and bound in Quebec, Canada TABLE OF CONTENTS TRANSLATOR'S NOTE . 9 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. 11 INTRODUCTION . 13 Chapter One: ANTECEDENTS OF THE ALLIANCE OF SOCIAL DEMOCRACY IN SPAIN . 21 Fanelli in Madrid and Barcelona . 26 The Founding Nucleus in Madrid . 27 The Marxist "Alliance" . 32 Thomas Gonzalez Morago and the Local Federation of the International in Madrid . 36 Chapter Two : THE C.N.T. AND ANARCHISM UP TO THE PRIMO DE RIVERA DICTATORSHIP . 47 Creation of the C.N.T. 50 Anarchosyndicalism and Anarchism . 54 The Congress at the Comedia Theatre and the Start of Terrorism . 58 Creation of the National Federation of Anarchist Groups . 63 Chapter Three: ANARCHISM AND ANARCHOSYNDICAL­ ISM DURING THE PRIMO DE RIVERA DICTATOR- SHIP AND UP TO THE SECOND REPUBLIC . 69 Existence Underground, Crisis, and Theoretical/Tactical Debates . 75 Arango and Santillan and La Protesta . 79 New Theoretical Debates. Attack by Maurin and Oscar Perez Solis . 86 Organizational Activity up to the Establishment of the F.A.I. 90 From the National Plenum in March to the Valencia Conference . 97 Analysis of The Platform . 10 1 Chapter Four: THE IBERIAN ANARCHIST FEDERATION 107 The Valencia Conference . 113 Response to the F.A.1.-Los Solidarios . 116 Fall of the Dictatorship . 118 The Confederal (C.N. T.) Congress at the Madrid Conservatory 120 Reappearance of the Los Solidarios . 122 Radicalization of Anarchosyndicalism . 125 Anarchism and Treintismo . 125 The Myth of the F.A.I. 132 The F.A.I. and the Cycle of Insurrections . 135 National Plenum of Regions . 138 Revolutionary Strategy and Theory . 148 The Problem of Libertarian Communism . 156 National Plenum of F.A.I. Regions, January-February 1936 163 Brief Comments on the F.A.I. National Plenum . 177 The F.A.I. and the Saragossa Congress . 179 Chapter Five: THE CIVIL WAR . 183 The C.N.T. - F.A.I. Connection . 183 Central Committee of Anti-Fascist Militias . 187 C.N.T.-F.A.I. and Government Collaboration . 192 Facing International Anarchism and Anarchosyndicalism : Dif- ficult Justifications . 200 Theory and Practice To May 1937 . 205 Theory and Practice AfterMay 1937 . 209 Councils on Political Affairs and the Peninsular Plenum of the F.A.1. Change of Structure . 215 Late and Incomplete Reaction of the F.A.I. Military Defeat and Collapse of the Republic . 226 Disagreement Between the C.N.T. and the F.A.I......... 229 Predicaments forthe F.A.I. 234 Fall of Catalonia. The F.A.I. and the Libertarian Movement in the Centre-South Zone . 245 The F.A.I. Today . 250 BIBLIOGRAPHY. 255 BIBLIOGRAPHY OF BOOKS IN ENGLISH . 259 THE AUTHOR. ............................. ....... 261 TRANSLATOR'S NOTE The Anarchist Federation oflberia (F.A.I.) was an unusual organization. Born in 1927 during the Primo de Rivera dictatorship in spite of the watchful eyes of the police and security forces, it appeared strong, vigorous, and ready foraction when the dictatorship fell in 1930-3 1. With a membership estimated at five to thirty thousand during the Republic and the Revolution and Civil War, the F.A.I. exercised great influence in the National Confederation of Labour (C.N.T. ), which had a membership of a half-million in 193 1 and a million and a half at the start of the Civil War. Opponents of the F.A.I. accused it of "seizing power" in the C.N. T. , although there was no central power to seize. The C. N. T. was so decentralized that all resolutions and policies had to start in the local unions and work their way up through local, provincial, regional, and national federations. It did not seem to matter that on occasion some anarchist spokesman spoke in the name of the F.A.I. even though he did not belong to it, or that some members of the F.A.I. preferred to work in the C.N.T. rather than in their ideological-specific organization. Nor did the C.N.T. , with its far greater membership, mind sharing equal "billing" with the much smaller F.A.I. The anarchist militants in the C.N.T. and those in the F.A.I. found themselves agreeing on most issues-including the precedent-breaking collaboration with the Republican government, due to the exceptional circumstances of the Civil War-in spite of severe criticism by the Libertarian Youth, a minority of anarchists in the C.N.T. and the F.A.I., and anarchists abroad. The F.A.I. was an expression of spirit and dedication to the goal oflibertarian communism, and all who fought for this ideal felt at one with the F.A.I., even if they did not hold an F.A.I. membership card or belong to one of its groups. I personally witnessed the fundamentally free democratic spirit of the Spanish libertarian movement when I was in Barcelona during the 9 Revolution and Civil War in 1937 after the May Days, a week of fighting against the communists, who were trying to destroy the Rev­ olution. At a conference of local unions in Barcelona, the leadership sought and obtained the support of the unions to continue to collaborate with the government of Catalonia after the May Days. However, the unions refused to withhold financial support forthe Libertarian Youth, who opposed the policy of collaboration vigorously in their publications. And the unions also refused to call upon the transit workers not to distribute these opposition publications in the public transit system, or the milk drivers to stop distributing the Libertarian Youth papers together with the daily milk. And then I saw a Libertarian Youth conference which was prepared to vote almost unanimously to condemn without debate the policy of government collaboration. However, the chairman insisted that supporters of collaboration be given a chance to speak and be heard. I saw six young men go to the platform and argue earnestly and eloquently for their viewpoint. There were no interruptions, no booing. The vote remained almost unanimous in favour of opposing collaboration. Approximately one thousand representatives attended each conference. In this book, Juan Gomez Casas tells the story of an anarchist organization which left its mark on the history of Spain in the twelve short years of its existence, from 1927 to 1939. In the post-Franco years, the C.N.T. and other libertarian organizations have resumed their activities. Although they have reaffirmed their adherence to classical anarchism, namely anti-statism and anti-government, they have not come to a clear conclusion that collaboration with government under the exceptional circumstance of revolution and civil war was a mistake that should never again be repeated. I believe that this work will be of great interest to all who want to strengthen the foundations of freedom everywhere. With this translation of Juan Gomez Casas' work, I hope that I have contributed somewhat to the cause of libertarian communism in the English-speaking world. I cannot close without expressing my sincere appreciation to my friend Louis Frank for making available to me his English translation of Casas' book. We met in Spain during the Revolution and Civil War. We both worked for the C.N.T.-F.A.I. at that time, and I was not surprised to learn in 1984 that we were both still supporting the same movement and the same ideals. Abe Bluestein 10 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I thank my friends for their help in responding to my questions, among them Jose Peirats, Marcos Alcon, Abad de Santillan, and Tomas and Benjamin Cano Ruiz. In addition, Juan Garcia Oliver, Juan Manuel Molina, and Antonio Moreno Toledano answered many of my questions and provided clarifying data. I am also in debt to authors of valuable documental works that were most usefulin the preparation of this book, even though I felt compelled to disagree with them. My profound thanks to all. Juan Gomez Casas Black Rose Books gratefully acknowledges the work of Abe Bluestein, whose unique skills have contributed immeasurably to the quality of this project. Without his infinite patience, his care, his long hours of labour, and not least his dedication to the ideals expressed herein, publication of this English-language edition would not have been possible. 11 INTRODUCTION I do not intend to present a definitive history of an organization as famous and as controversial as was the Iberian Anarchist Federation (F.A.I.) from the moment of its founding in 1927 until its disappearance from Spanish public life in 1939 at the end of the Civil War. Such a history would have to cover, at least in summary form, the F.A.I.