DOCSLIB.ORG

La Perception Des Volontaires Britanniques De La Guerre D’Espagne

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text

Load more

Université Paris Sorbonne – Paris IV UFR d’Histoire – UFR d’Anglais La perception des volontaires britanniques de la guerre d’Espagne, de la surveillance à la redécouverte Bertrand LARGEAUD Mémoire présenté en vue de la validation du Master 2 d’Histoire-Anglais Sous la direction de M. Fabrice BENSIMON Professeur de civilisation britannique à Paris Sorbonne – Paris IV M. Jean-Noël LUC Professeur d’histoire contemporaine à Paris Sorbonne – Paris IV Septembre 2013 La perception des volontaires britanniques de la Guerre d’Espagne, de la surveillance à la redécouverte Remerciements Je veux avant tout remercier Messieurs les professeurs Jean-Noël Luc et Fabrice Bensimon pour leurs conseils avisés et leur suivi, sans lesquels ce travail aurait été bien moins complet et pertinent. Je les remercie également, ainsi que l’Université Paris Sorbonne Paris-IV et le département d’Histoire, pour m’avoir donné la possibilité matérielle de me rendre aux Archives Nationales de Kew, étape indispensable pour mener à bien cette recherche. Le personnel de la Bibliothèque de Documentation Internationale Contemporaine de Nanterre, des Archives nationales de Kew et de l’Institut d’Histoire Sociale d’Amsterdam ont été admirables de patience et de gentillesse, et ont su me guider utilement dans les méandres des archives. Je les en remercie. Je tiens à remercier tout particulièrement Anne et Manon pour leur travail inlassable de relecture et d’aide à la mise en page, leur soutien indéfectible, leurs conseils ou critiques pertinents et leur pugnacité dans l’épreuve de la rédaction, et plus spécialement Manon pour sa présence à mes côtés tout au long de cette longue année. Il m’est également indispensable de remercier : Édouard Sill, pour avoir pris le temps de s’intéresser au sujet et avoir fait part de ses conclusions, Mes parents, qui ont su me soutenir, me conseiller et m’aider efficacement, M. Watson, pour ses encouragements répétés, Pour leur présence amicale, leur soutien, leurs avis et les échanges que nous avons eus, Gabriel, Lise et Luca, Loris, Nicolas, Niki, Noémie, Pierre, Romain, Tiphaine et les autres. Liste des abréviations APCF : Anti Parliamentary Communist Federation AIT : Association Internationale des Travailleurs BUF : British Union of Fascists CPGB : Communist Party of Great Britain FAF : Fédération Anarchiste Française FRS : Friends of Republican Spain IBA : International Brigade Association IBMT : International Brigade Memorial Trust ILP : Independent Labour Party MI5 : Military Inteligence Service, Section 5 MI6 : Military Inteligence Service, Section 6 MP : Member of Parliament NKVD : Narodnyy Komissariat Vnutrennikh Del, commissariat populaire des affaires intérieures, police secrète soviétique. POUM : Partido Obrero de Unificación Marxista, parti des Travailleurs d’unification marxiste SIA : Solidarité Internationale Antifasciste SIM : Servicio de Inteligencia Militar, services secrets de la République espagnole. TUC : Trade Union Congress, confédération des syndicats britanniques USM : United Socialist Movement YCL : Young Communist League Sigles utilisés pour les archives BDIC : Bibliothèque de Documentation Internationale Contemporaine (Nanterre) IISH : International Institute of Social History (Amsterdam) TNA : The National Archives (Kew) TNA KV5 117-131 : Fiches tenues par le MI5 sur les personnes suspectées de s’être rendues en Espagne (Kew) WDL : Warwick Digital Library (en ligne) Sommaire Table des annexes.................................................................................. Table des illustrations............................................................................ Introduction.........................................................................................1 Partie I - La surveillance des volontaires.............................................9 CHAPITRE 1 : ÉTAT DE LA SURVEILLANCE ......................................10 A) La mise en place de la surveillance des volontaires...............................12 1) La constitution des Brigadistes comme ennemis intérieurs (1936-1938)................12 a) La surveillance des communistes, une vieille priorité........................................................ 12 b) Historique des services de surveillance............................................................................... 14 c) Les services secrets, instrument des Tories ?...................................................................... 19 d) « Moscou veut dépêcher le plus de volontaires possible » : La surveillance des volontaires (1936-1939) ..................................................................... 20 2) L'archive policière dans son contexte (1947-1953)................................................24 a) Britanniques, guerre froide et défense de l’Ouest (1947-1953)........................................ 24 b) La pénétration du parti communiste par les services secrets ............................................. 28 c- Les chiffres réels du fichage (1952-1954)........................................................................... 29 d) Soutiens, visiteurs, combattants........................................................................................... 30 B) Quels moyens de fichage ? La collecte des renseignements ..................32 1) L'implication de différents services.......................................................................33 a) La mise à contribution des polices locales .......................................................................... 33 b) La présence policière dans des secteurs-clés ...................................................................... 36 c) La mise à contribution du personnel.................................................................................... 37 d) Le rôle de la police française ............................................................................................... 38 2) Méthodes d'enquête et techniques de surveillance.................................................39 a) « Ils vont à nos réunions […] Il y a des espions partout ! » : Le travail de terrain.......... 40 b) Sources écrites, interceptions, écoutes ................................................................................ 41 c) Des recoupements ultérieurs ................................................................................................ 44 CHAPITRE 2 : LES VOLONTAIRES VUS PAR LE MI5..........................46 A) Une archive inégale...............................................................................46 1) Faiblesses, inexactitudes et incertitudes de l'évaluation policière..........................46 a) Une vision déformée ? Le poids de l’effet de source ......................................................... 46 b) Une archive incomplète voire censurée .............................................................................. 48 2) Des informations fiables .......................................................................................50 a) État civil ................................................................................................................................ 50 b) Signalements anthropométriques......................................................................................... 53 c) Appartenance géographique................................................................................................. 55 d) L’Espagne ............................................................................................................................. 56 B) Des éléments d'inquiétude.....................................................................57 1) Des trajectoires problématiques ............................................................................57 a) Degré de politisation............................................................................................................. 57 b) Expériences militaires .......................................................................................................... 60 c) Les volontaires et la justice .................................................................................................. 61 2) Clandestinité et soupçons......................................................................................62 a) Les pseudonymes.................................................................................................................. 62 b) L’évaluation de la dangerosité............................................................................................. 63 c) Degrés de suspicion .............................................................................................................. 64 3) L'aspect international (1936-1953)........................................................................66 a) Les étrangers ......................................................................................................................... 66 b) Agents et espions.................................................................................................................. 71 C) Une dangerosité relative........................................................................73 1) L’importance relative des combattants..................................................................73 2) Désertions et démotivation....................................................................................75 a) Désertions.............................................................................................................................. 75 b) Démotivations......................................................................................................................
Recommended publications
  • The Empire Exhibition of 1938: the Last Durbar, Edinburgh, 1988

    The Empire Exhibition of 1938: the Last Durbar, Edinburgh, 1988

    A COLLECTION OF WORDS IBROX WRITERS GROUP AT HOUSE FOR AN ART LOVER Exhibition open daily 14/04/17-26/4/17, 10am-4pm This exhibition marks the end of a project between the Ibrox Writers Group and House for an Art Lover which has taken place as part of our Heritage Programme. This project has taken place between January - April 2017. The writers responded to the content of the Heritage Centre which is in the former stables and dovecot buildings of Ibroxhill House and now situated at ART PARK House for an Art Lover. The Heritage Centre facility showcases the history of the local area including the 1938 Empire Exhibition, shipbuilding and much more. Each writer has responded to the content of the Heritage Centre in their own way. They were inspired through group meetings, talks and personal research. The exhibition showcases a selection of works created during the project to read and listen to and includes a publication of works. In addition to this exhibition you can join the writers for a coffee morning and readings at Ibrox Library on Friday 28/04/17, 10:30am-12pm. Grant aided by Glasgow City Heritage Trust. IBROX WRITERS Ibrox Writers Group are a creative writing group who meet on Fridays, 10am - 12pm at Ibrox Library. They write, read, support and advise, drink tea and visit inspiring places. Open to all abilities, they are always happy to welcome new members. If you are interested in joining, send a letter including your contact details to: FAO Ibrox Writers Group, Ibrox Library, 1 Midlock Street, Glasgow, G51 1SL Search Ibrox Writers to follow them on Facebook.
  • IIIS Discussion Paper No. 211 the British Joint Intelligence Committee

    IIIS Discussion Paper No. 211 the British Joint Intelligence Committee

    Institute for International Integration Studies IIIS Discussion Paper No.211 / March 2007 The British Joint Intelligence Committee and Ireland, 1965-1972 Eunan O’Halpin Centre for Contemporary Irish History Trinity College Dublin IIIS Discussion Paper No. 211 The British Joint Intelligence Committee and Ireland, 1965-1972 Eunan O’Halpin Disclaimer Any opinions expressed here are those of the author(s) and not those of the IIIS. All works posted here are owned and copyrighted by the author(s). Papers may only be downloaded for personal use only. IIIS Discussion Paper No. 211 The British Joint Intelligence Committee and Ireland, 1965-1972 Eunan O’Halpin Disclaimer Any opinions expressed here are those of the author(s) and not those of the IIIS. All works posted here are owned and copyrighted by the author(s). Papers may only be downloaded for personal use only. The British Joint Intelligence Committee and Ireland, 1965-1972 Eunan O’Halpin Centre for Contemporary Irish History Trinity College Dublin 3/8/2007\\Iiissan\iiismanagement\Discussion Paper Series B\Eunan O' Halpin\211\JICpaperIIIS.doc10:36 AM 2 This paper discusses the performance of the British Joint Intelligence Committee (JIC) in anticipating and assessing the dangers posed to British interests by instability in Ireland between 1965 and 1972, and in setting the parameters within which intelligence operations to counter terrorism were mounted. It concentrates on the performance of the central intelligence assessment machinery of British government, not on the politics of Anglo-Irish relations.1 It explores the performance of the JIC, at least as revealed by the redacted material available in the public archives, in terms of intelligence organization and intelligence failure.
  • SPYCATCHER by PETER WRIGHT with Paul Greengrass WILLIAM

    SPYCATCHER by PETER WRIGHT with Paul Greengrass WILLIAM

    SPYCATCHER by PETER WRIGHT with Paul Greengrass WILLIAM HEINEMANN: AUSTRALIA First published in 1987 by HEINEMANN PUBLISHERS AUSTRALIA (A division of Octopus Publishing Group/Australia Pty Ltd) 85 Abinger Street, Richmond, Victoria, 3121. Copyright (c) 1987 by Peter Wright ISBN 0-85561-166-9 All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the publisher. TO MY WIFE LOIS Prologue For years I had wondered what the last day would be like. In January 1976 after two decades in the top echelons of the British Security Service, MI5, it was time to rejoin the real world. I emerged for the final time from Euston Road tube station. The winter sun shone brightly as I made my way down Gower Street toward Trafalgar Square. Fifty yards on I turned into the unmarked entrance to an anonymous office block. Tucked between an art college and a hospital stood the unlikely headquarters of British Counterespionage. I showed my pass to the policeman standing discreetly in the reception alcove and took one of the specially programmed lifts which carry senior officers to the sixth-floor inner sanctum. I walked silently down the corridor to my room next to the Director-General's suite. The offices were quiet. Far below I could hear the rumble of tube trains carrying commuters to the West End. I unlocked my door. In front of me stood the essential tools of the intelligence officer’s trade - a desk, two telephones, one scrambled for outside calls, and to one side a large green metal safe with an oversized combination lock on the front.
  • What's Behind This?

    What's Behind This?

    'It lies in our power alone• Only the victims of in­ In this Issue ; justice can abolish injustice• Only the oppressed can end The Kinsey Report - - p. 2 oppression. Only those who have been under shell-fire The American Way - p .4 can bring the shell factories Negroes in Britain - - p. 6 to a standstill• Why should those who profit by torture Politics and Hanging- p. 8 want to bring it to an end?** ANARCHIST FORTNIGHTLY ARNOLD ZWEIG. Vol. 9 No. 9 May 1st, 1948 Threepence THE MAT-DAY SPIRIT Working Class Unity, Freedom & Solidarity AY DAY is traditionally Labour’s Day. But, like many other traditions, the idea it enshrines M are to-day very different from those which originally inspired it. Sixty years ago, the advanced sections of the revolutionary labour movement in America, and especially the Chicago anarchists, conceived the idea of an international demonstration to take place on every succeeding May 1st. The workers in every country on that day were to down tools and make a demonstration of the unity and solidarity of their class. It was to be, in effect, a one day general strike on an international scale. The revolutionary workers at the end of the last century, of course, did not look upon such a demonstration as becoming in any way a tradition; they regarded it as a step which, if effectively carried out, would complete the revolutionary education of the workers and provide such a demon­ stration of working-class strength as would convince the timorous that by acting in solidarity the workers could bring to an end the era of capitalism and privilege and usher in instead the era of equality and justice— the social revolution.
  • Stradling, R. A., "Battleground of Reputations: Ireland And

    Stradling, R. A., "Battleground of Reputations: Ireland And

    Chapter Title: Battleground of Reputations: Ireland and the Spanish Civil War Book Title: The Republic Besieged Book Subtitle: Civil War in Spain 1936-1939 Book Editor(s): PAUL PRESTON and ANN L. MACKENZIE Published by: Edinburgh University Press Stable URL: http://www.jstor.com/stable/10.3366/j.ctvxcrrgf.9 JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at https://about.jstor.org/terms Edinburgh University Press is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to The Republic Besieged This content downloaded from 95.183.184.51 on Fri, 07 Aug 2020 09:51:29 UTC All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms 5 Battleground of Reputations: Ireland and the Spanish Civil War R. A. STRADLING I Representation In a recent feature-film set in the Spanish War, a young scouser, Dave Carr — a generic working-class hero who embodies the wish-fulfilment of so many leftist writers — arrives at the Aragon front with a batch of new POUM recruits. Moving in single file up a hillside towards their trenches, they disturb a couple taking advantage of the fleeting absence of war in order to make love under a tree. The male section of this partnership turns out to be the leader of Dave's platoon — Pat Coogan, ex-IRA, dedicated enemy of Fascism and British Imperialism, as reckless in the passions of love as in those excited by political commitment and the heat of battle.
  • Hull Art Students Find Inspiration in the Volunteers

    Hull Art Students Find Inspiration in the Volunteers

    RNA IONALE TE S IN D E S L O A I L R I A B T E N R U T L 1936 1939 A D O V ¡NO PASARÁN! International Brigade Memorial Trust l 1-2020 l £5 Hull art students find inspiration in the volunteers Jimmy Rutherford banner, made by Edinburgh East Communist Party and now held by the People’s Story Museum, City of Edinburgh Museums & Galleries. From Edinburgh’s Newhaven district, Rutherford was only 20 when he was executed by the fascists. Captured at Jarama in February 1937, he was released in a prisoner exchange on condition he did not return to Spain. He was captured again, however, this time in Aragón and on 24 May 1938 he faced the firing squad. Before returning to Spain he had told his father: ‘If all the young men had seen what I saw out there, they would be doing what I am doing.’ 21 March 2020 IBMT’s annual Len Crome Memorial Conference SCOTLAND AND THE SPANISH CIVIL WAR INSIGHTS INTO THE CONTRIBUTION OF A NATION AND ITS PEOPLE George Square Lecture Theatre, University of Edinburgh, RNA IONALE TE S Edinburgh EH8 9LD, 10.30am to 3.30pm IN D E S L O A I L R Fraser Raeburn Historian and author of Tour Guided walk through James Connolly’s I A B T E N the upcoming ‘Scots and the Spanish Civil Edinburgh. R U T L 1936 1939 A D War’. O V Tickets Details to be announced early in Daniel Gray Writer, researcher, TV presenter 2020.
  • Legitimacy by Proxy: Searching for a Usable Past Through the International Brigades in Spain's Post-Franco Democracy, 1975-201

    Legitimacy by Proxy: Searching for a Usable Past Through the International Brigades in Spain's Post-Franco Democracy, 1975-201

    This is a repository copy of Legitimacy by Proxy: searching for a usable past through the International Brigades in Spain’s post-Franco democracy, 1975-2015. White Rose Research Online URL for this paper: http://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/93332/ Version: Accepted Version Article: Marco, J and Anderson, PP (2016) Legitimacy by Proxy: searching for a usable past through the International Brigades in Spain’s post-Franco democracy, 1975-2015. Journal of Modern European History, 14 (3). pp. 391-410. ISSN 1611-8944 10.17104/1611-8944-2016-3-391 (c) 2016, Verlag C.H. Beck. This is an author produced version of a paper published in the Journal of Modern European History. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. Reuse Items deposited in White Rose Research Online are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved unless indicated otherwise. They may be downloaded and/or printed for private study, or other acts as permitted by national copyright laws. The publisher or other rights holders may allow further reproduction and re-use of the full text version. This is indicated by the licence information on the White Rose Research Online record for the item. Takedown If you consider content in White Rose Research Online to be in breach of UK law, please notify us by emailing [email protected] including the URL of the record and the reason for the withdrawal request. [email protected] https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/ Legitimacy by Proxy: searching for a usable past through the International Brigades in Spain’s post-Franco democracy, 1975-2015 INTRODUCTION The 23 October 2011 marked the 75th anniversary of the official creation of the International Brigades.
  • (Iowa City, Iowa), 1944-09-29

    (Iowa City, Iowa), 1944-09-29

    [BER 20. 1944 • ATlON CALI!NDA. MEATS. I' A'I'H . R •• ,Iomp. !IS l~r."I" 11;8 ODd &5 'br.Dlb 03 I... Ift~.JlftlL.h : l'a.oOtlS8lt~ rOODS, Cloudy BI •• "amp. AI 'hullJh Z8 I'D. Ali Ihr.\reb U, I'.' 'D.,'lnlioly; SUGAR, ,lamp. 80, 81, 32 OD' !Ii .a.b I ••d I.r .Ive pound. of ca.ainl IUJ" n., •• ,. Fflbrua", IOWA: lDtre In.- Cloudln &l1li •• 1& , ••rl GASOLINI I\... IS, f.ur ... nOft. eaC!b, 10041 Warmrr. eld ,hrou,1t Dec. XI ; FUEL 0".,. Iterl •• 4 ••ct 'G lIIoapOD" DAILY IOWAN ,.04 tbr •• .,h Sept. 38. New ptrJod ODe eo.poal DOW THE lood i 8H018. airplane _tam,. 1 aDd 2, ,0041 Indellnllely, Iowa City's Morning Newspaper the University Is per. ;1VE~C~EN~TS~;:;:;:=;:;;:;:=;;:;:====nr~I=AHOmA=====TD==~====~========~==~IO~VV~A~C=ITY~,~IO~W=~~====~F=R=ID~A~Y=.=S=EP~T=~===ER==2=9=.=1=94=4;:;:==;::;:;:;;:;::;;:;:n=.;:u=~;:=n==D=~==='===========V==O=LUME==;:XL==V===NUME~;:=ER~5 === Navy Planes Turn Away War Criminals- Soviet Heroine Destroy 8S U. s. Warns Neutrals British Forces Pin Germans WASHINGTON (AP) - secre:-~at most other countries are tary Hul1l'enewed and emphasized merely reluctant to take a !lat­ Yesterday th is nation's warning footed posltion. Jap Vessels aga inst any n e u t t· a I granting Russia took it own turn on the asylum to axis war ct'iminals. but. screws with a statement spon· there is little disposition here to sored by the embassy here that Against Sea in Holland · bclieve any country will actually Soviet influence in past-war Churchill Warns .
  • Amalgamated Union of Foundry Workers

    Amalgamated Union of Foundry Workers

    ID Heading Subject Organisation Person Industry Country Date Location 74 JIM GARDNER (null) AMALGAMATED UNION OF FOUNDRY WORKERS JIM GARDNER (null) (null) 1954-1955 1/074 303 TRADE UNIONS TRADE UNIONS TRADES UNION CONGRESS (null) (null) (null) 1958-1959 5/303 360 ASSOCIATION OF SUPERVISORY STAFFS EXECUTIVES AND TECHNICIANS NON MANUAL WORKERS ASSOCIATION OF SUPERVISORY STAFFS EXECUTIVES AND TECHNICIANS (null) (null) (null) 1942-1966 7/360 361 ASSOCIATION OF SUPERVISORY STAFFS EXECUTIVES AND TECHNICIANS NOW ASSOCIATIONON MANUAL WORKERS ASSOCIATION OF SUPERVISORY STAFFS EXECUTIVES AND TECHNICIANS N(null) (null) (null) 1967 TO 7/361 362 ASSOCIATION OF SUPERVISORY STAFFS EXECUTIVES AND TECHNICIANS CONFERENCES NONON MANUAL WORKERS ASSOCIATION OF SUPERVISORY STAFFS EXECUTIVES AND TECHNICIANS N(null) (null) (null) 1955-1966 7/362 363 ASSOCIATION OF TEACHERS IN TECHNICAL INSTITUTIONS APPRENTICES ASSOCIATION OF TEACHERS IN TECHNICAL INSTITUTIONS (null) EDUCATION (null) 1964 7/363 364 BRITISH ACTORS EQUITY ASSOCIATION (null) BRITISH ACTORS EQUITY ASSOCIATION (null) ENTERTAINMENT (null) 1929-1935 7/364 365 BRITISH ACTORS EQUITY ASSOCIATION (null) BRITISH ACTORS EQUITY ASSOCIATION (null) ENTERTAINMENT (null) 1935-1962 7/365 366 BRITISH ACTORS EQUITY ASSOCIATION (null) BRITISH ACTORS EQUITY ASSOCIATION (null) ENTERTAINMENT (null) 1963-1970 7/366 367 BRITISH AIR LINE PILOTS ASSOCIATION (null) BRITISH AIR LINE PILOTS ASSOCIATION (null) TRANSPORT CIVIL AVIATION (null) 1969-1970 7/367 368 CHEMICAL WORKERS UNION CONFERENCES INCOMES POLICY RADIATION HAZARD
  • Shaping the Inheritance of the Spanish Civil War on the British Left, 1939-1945 a Thesis Submitted to the University of Manches

    Shaping the Inheritance of the Spanish Civil War on the British Left, 1939-1945 a Thesis Submitted to the University of Manches

    Shaping the Inheritance of the Spanish Civil War on the British Left, 1939-1945 A thesis submitted to the University of Manchester for the degree of Master of Philosophy in the Faculty of Humanities 2017 David W. Mottram School of Arts, Languages and Cultures Table of contents Abstract p.4 Declaration p.5 Copyright statement p.5 Acknowledgements p.6 Introduction p.7 Terminology, sources and methods p.10 Structure of the thesis p.14 Chapter One The Lost War p.16 1.1 The place of ‘Spain’ in British politics p.17 1.2 Viewing ‘Spain’ through external perspectives p.21 1.3 The dispersal, 1939 p.26 Conclusion p.31 Chapter Two Adjustments to the Lost War p.33 2.1 The Communist Party and the International Brigaders: debt of honour p.34 2.2 Labour’s response: ‘The Spanish agitation had become history’ p.43 2.3 Decline in public and political discourse p.48 2.4 The political parties: three Spanish threads p.53 2.5 The personal price of the lost war p.59 Conclusion p.67 2 Chapter Three The lessons of ‘Spain’: Tom Wintringham, guerrilla fighting, and the British war effort p.69 3.1 Wintringham’s opportunity, 1937-1940 p.71 3.2 ‘The British Left’s best-known military expert’ p.75 3.3 Platform for influence p.79 3.4 Defending Britain, 1940-41 p.82 3.5 India, 1942 p.94 3.6 European liberation, 1941-1944 p.98 Conclusion p.104 Chapter Four The political and humanitarian response of Clement Attlee p.105 4.1 Attlee and policy on Spain p.107 4.2 Attlee and the Spanish Republican diaspora p.113 4.3 The signal was Greece p.119 Conclusion p.125 Conclusion p.127 Bibliography p.133 49,910 words 3 Abstract Complexities and divisions over British left-wing responses to the Spanish Civil War between 1936 and 1939 have been well-documented and much studied.
  • CHAPTER FOUR Spain to China

    CHAPTER FOUR Spain to China

    HAMPSTEAD HEATH TO TIAN AN MEN (AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF DAVID CROOK, CHINA) CHAPTER FOUR Spain to China - Agent to Educator (1938-41) I reached Barcelona a week before street fighting broke out within the Republican ranks. The city was in a state of tension. I arrived on the night of April 27. I can picture a dimly-lit room in a hotel on the fashionable Paseo de Gracia, with half a dozen shadowy figures discussing in three languages (Russian, Spanish and English) what I was to do. My ultimate KGB orders were to spy on one of the opposing sides in the impending conflict: the POUM (an anti-Stalinist left wing political party) and their allies. These included the Spanish anarchists and, of special interest to me, the British Independent Labour Party (ILP), with whom George Orwell was aligned, My contact was to be one "Sean O'Brien", a pleasant enough character, though less genial than his name suggests. The fighting broke out on May 3, when the Republican Government tried to seize the main telephone exchange. Until that day the Telefonica had been controlled by the anarchists, who were in a position to listen to and interrupt phone calls by top government and Communist Party officials I was instructed to write a brief political autobiographical sketch. I had provided one orally in Madrid. Now more details were to be told. I complied conscientiously, including the fact that I was of Jewish family background, naively believing that this would attest to my anti-fascism, never dreaming that anti-Semitism might exist in Soviet society still less in a Communist intelligence organization.
  • Read the Excellent Thesis Here

    Read the Excellent Thesis Here

    "You fight your own wars. Irish defence of the Spanish Republic at war. 1936-1939." Ms Aude Duche Univeriste de Haute Bretagne Rennes, France Masters thesis, 2004 Thanks to Aude for her permission to add this thesis to the site. http://www.geocities.com/irelandscw/pdf-FrenchThesis.pdf The conversation to a pdf format has altered the layout of her excellent piece of work. Ciaran Crossey, Belfast, Added online, 28th January 2007 INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................................... 3 PART I – THE IRISH LEFT AND THE SPANISH CIVIL WAR.......................................................... 5 THE IRISH LEFT IN THE 1930S................................................................................................................ 5 . Origins............................................................................................................................................ 5 1926-1936: the revival of the left..................................................................................................... 8 … remaining marginal.................................................................................................................. 11 THE SPANISH CIVIL WAR.................................................................................................................... 13 The Spanish Republic .................................................................................................................... 13 Enemies of the Republic