Totalitarian Movements and Political Religions 'Cease Fire

This article was downloaded by: [McMaster University] On: 22 December 2014, At: 10:46 Publisher: Routledge Informa Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registered office: Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK Totalitarian Movements and Political Religions Publication details, including instructions for authors and subscription information: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/ftmp20 ‘Cease Fire, Comrades!’ Anarcho‐syndicalist Revolutionary Prophesy, Anti‐Fascism and the Origins of the Spanish Civil War a Jordi Getman‐Eraso a New York Published online: 18 Mar 2008. To cite this article: Jordi Getman‐Eraso (2008) ‘Cease Fire, Comrades!’ Anarcho‐syndicalist Revolutionary Prophesy, Anti‐Fascism and the Origins of the Spanish Civil War, Totalitarian Movements and Political Religions, 9:1, 93-114 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14690760701856416 PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE Taylor & Francis makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of all the information (the “Content”) contained in the publications on our platform. However, Taylor & Francis, our agents, and our licensors make no representations or warranties whatsoever as to the accuracy, completeness, or suitability for any purpose of the Content. Any opinions and views expressed in this publication are the opinions and views of the authors, and are not the views of or endorsed by Taylor & Francis. The accuracy of the Content should not be relied upon and should be independently verified with primary sources of information. 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Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at http://www.tandfonline.com/page/terms- and-conditions Totalitarian Movements and Political Religions, Vol. 9, No. 1, 93–114, March 2008 ‘Cease Fire, Comrades!’ Anarcho-syndicalist Revolutionary Prophesy, Anti-Fascism and the Origins of the Spanish Civil War JORDI GETMAN-ERASO New York TaylorFTMP_A_285805.sgm10.1080/14690760701856416Totalitarian1469-0764Original200891000000MarchJordiGetman-Erasojordi.getman@bcc.cuny.edu and& Article Francis (print)/1743-9647Francis Movements 2008 and Political (online) Religions ABSTRACT This article challenges the traditionally accepted claims that in the early months of 1936, the anarcho-syndicalist labour union Confederación Nacional del Trabajo [National Confederation of Labour], or CNT, posed a revolutionary threat to the Spanish Second Republic. This argument has been used to explain the collapse of the Republican regime, and consequently the military coup that sparked the Spanish Civil War in July 1936. Though revolutionary insurrectionism was inherently characteristic of the CNT and the anarcho-syndicalist movement, in 1936, the organisation was neither prepared nor willing to incite a social revolution. This article analyses the reasons for the anarcho-syndicalists’ turn to moderation, paying special attention to the emergence of a perceived ‘fascist threat’ that heavily influenced the change in anarcho-syndicalist insurrectionary tactics which lasted into the Spanish Civil War. It also evaluates the impact of these findings on Civil War historiography, and proposes a reconsideration of the assess- ment of blame for beginning the conflict. The last decade has produced a flurry of revisionist studies about the causes of the Spanish Civil War (1936–39).1 The main objective of these recent studies has been to question the historical narrative dominant during the post-Franco period, a narrative that placed blame for the Civil War almost entirely on the shoulders of Spain’s reactionary conservative political elements.2 This argument is rejected by Downloaded by [McMaster University] at 10:46 22 December 2014 new studies which assert, instead, that the political Left and even the centre played as great a role, if not greater, than the Right in provoking the fratricidal conflict. Pio Moa, one of the most vocal members of this revisionist trend, has argued that the political Left forced the hand of the July coup’s conspirators by pushing Spain down the road to revolution. According to Moa, ‘[Spain’s] conservative mass rose up in 1936 against a real and advanced revolutionary threat’, one that had ‘intensified since February of 1936’.3 The military coup, then, is inter- preted as a ‘desperate’ reaction against a ‘revolutionary tide [which] was about to drown [the right]’.4 This revolutionary threat, Moa has affirmed, was largely the responsibility of two leftist trade unions: namely, the socialist UGT [General Worker’s Union] and the anarcho-syndicalist CNT [Confederación Nacional del Trabajo, or National Confederation of Labour].5 Correspondence Address: 80 John Street # 11F; New York, NY 10038, USA. Email: jordi.getman @bcc.cuny.edu ISSN 1469-0764 Print/ISSN 1743-9647 Online/08/010093-22 © 2008 Taylor & Francis DOI: 10.1080/14690760701856416 94 J. Getman-Eraso Although Moa’s claims have been criticised aggressively for being ideologically tainted, they have forced Spanish historiography to revisit and reconsider the origins of the greatest social conflict of modern Spanish history. The passionate academic debate that has ensued has been dominated by the question of socialist responsibility for the worsening political and social climate of early 1936.6 Many historians continue to reject a socialist conspiracy to overthrow the Second Republic. They insist that in those critical months the socialists remained commit- ted to constitutional democracy and the legal process.7 Even so, there is a growing tendency to redirect blame for this most bitter of all civil conflicts to include – at least partially – leftist organisations, particularly the socialist UGT.8 However, this renewed and passionate discussion of the Civil War’s causes has, for the most part, overlooked the role played by the CNT and the anarcho-syndicalist movement. This is perhaps due to the fact that, contrary to the criticism of socialists, Moa’s views on the CNT’s contribution to the breakdown of the Republic do not challenge in any substance the previously accepted historiography. The prevail- ing notion, even among leftist historians, has traditionally been and continues to be that anarcho-syndicalists were crucial contributors to the breakdown of the Second Republic, and the outbreak of war.9 Even partisan studies of the CNT have attributed to anarcho-syndicalist elements in Spain the responsibility for the political polarisation that occurred in the spring and summer of 1936.10 This has been an easy argument to make, especially in the context of the CNT’s long-standing reputation as a radical revolutionary organisation. For years, the CNT had preached the overthrow of the capitalist system and the establishment of ‘libertarian communism’.11 The revolutionary prophesy identified and united an anarcho-syndicalist movement that had increasingly assumed an aura of sacredness for many of its followers. Heavily influenced by these sacrosanct ideo- logical beliefs, the CNT refused to participate in the political process and expelled any members who joined political parties. Between 1932 and 1933, CNT syndi- cates rose up against the Republic on three occasions and with the express hope of inciting popular revolt. In October 1934, the socialist-led uprising in the province of Asturias received active CNT support. Although all these insurrectionary attempts failed and the CNT was severely repressed by the state authorities after each incident, new threats of insurgency continued to appear in the anarcho- syndicalist press. Finally, the anarcho-syndicalists were the principal instigators of the revolutionary events which followed the July 1936 coup. The rapidity with which CNT militants and workers in the city of Barcelona took control of the Downloaded by [McMaster University] at 10:46 22 December 2014 means of production, and established an alternate power structure in late July and early August – so famously recounted by George Orwell in his Homage to Catalonia12 – has convinced historians of all tendencies of an imminently revolutionary situation, at least in the Catalan capital. While these conclusions are by and large true, in the spring and early summer of 1936, as the Civil War neared, the CNT was neither prepared nor willing to incite a social revolution. A careful examination of CNT periodicals and syndicate meeting notes reveals that nearly three years earlier syndicate leaders had turned away from the spontaneous insurrectionist tactics of the early Republican years, in favour of a more moderate policy of syndical consolidation and reinforcement that prioritised labour-related concerns. A small number of studies have identified this trend, but its significance has been reduced to that of a temporary need for reorganisation, which, it is argued, did not appreciably alter the CNT’s revolutionary aims and which ended with the Popular Front electoral victory in ‘Cease Fire, Comrades!’ 95 February 1936.13 This article, however, suggests that the turn to moderation ran deeper within the organisation. It not only

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