Read Ebook {PDF EPUB} Story of the Iron Column Militant in the by Abel Paz The Story of the Iron Column. Abel Paz's The Story of the Iron Column charts the struggles of an anarchist militia trying to deal with the dramatic events of the Spanish Civil War in 1936. Inspired not just by the fight against but also by the idea of a truly liberated society, they had to respond to the military coup against the republic and the ensuing civil war and also to the state that was used to strangle the revolution. The Iron Column, which emerged in , was one of the most famous units in the Spanish Civil War and comprised anarchists and ex- prisoners. The military uprising by General Franco provoked a revolution and there was a huge transformation in the way society was organised. Land was collectivised and workers' councils emerged. However, the Communist Party followed Stalin, who feared a social revolution in Spain would upset his allies at the time. The other big force in Spain was the PSOE (social democrats), who wanted to put the war first and deal with the business of revolution later. The anarchists of the Iron Column argued for both. According to Paz "war and revolution were synonymous". So when the anarchist CNT union entered into the government it came as a shock to those fighting in the Iron Column. Paz shows how there was a great deal of anger about this amongst the rank and file of the union and in the militias. Gradually the forces of the state were rebuilt and the so-called "Popular Army" was created. The Iron Column had been led by delegates who would try to persuade their comrades of their "orders" rather than just dictate them. The "Popular Army", however, wished to discipline its ranks through fear to drive home who was in charge. The Iron Column stood firm for a time while militias all around it became regular army units. As an anarchist Paz describes this whole process as something outside of their control. What he cannot see is that the real problem was that anarchism could not provide an alternative to the capitalist state. It becomes a highly moral tale of a brave few fighting against the growing counter- revolution on the front and in the rearguard. Spain shows the ruling class will do everything they can to keep and regain power, even in the midst of a civil war. The first priority for them will be to protect "their" wealth. It is not enough to replace the state they control with local militias and local democracy: it has to be replaced with a workers' state controlled by our side. This is the case when fighting a civil war but still remains true until society ceases to be split into classes. Story of the Iron Column. The world’s #1 eTextbook reader for students. VitalSource is the leading provider of online textbooks and course materials. More than 15 million users have used our Bookshelf platform over the past year to improve their learning experience and outcomes. With anytime, anywhere access and built-in tools like highlighters, flashcards, and study groups, it’s easy to see why so many students are going digital with Bookshelf. titles available from more than 1,000 publishers. customer reviews with an average rating of 9.5. digital pages viewed over the past 12 months. institutions using Bookshelf across 241 countries. Story of the Iron Column Militant Anarchism in the Spanish Civil War by Abel Paz and Publisher AK Press. Save up to 80% by choosing the eTextbook option for ISBN: 9781849350655, 1849350655. The print version of this textbook is ISBN: 9781849350648, 1849350647. Story of the Iron Column Militant Anarchism in the Spanish Civil War by Abel Paz and Publisher AK Press. Save up to 80% by choosing the eTextbook option for ISBN: 9781849350655, 1849350655. The print version of this textbook is ISBN: 9781849350648, 1849350647. Durruti Column. The Durruti Column (Spanish: Columna Durruti ) was the largest anarchist column formed during the Spanish Civil War (its number came to about 6,000 people [1] ). During the first months of the war it came to be the most recognized and popular military organisations fighting at the republican side. It is one of the best known symbols of the anarchist movement in Spain and its struggle for creating an egalitarian society based on collectivism and individualism. The column include people from all over the world. One of the best-known Catholic philosophers of the 20th century, Simone Weil fought alongside with Buenaventura Durruti in the Durruti Column. Her memories and experiences from the war can be found in one of her books, Écrits historiques et politiques . Contents. Formation [ edit | edit source ] The column formed in Barcelona where, on 18 July 1936, the anarchists fought against the General Goded and his armies. The government had not done anything to protect the city from the uprising of the army under the command of General Franco, Barcelona was left undefended. Being aware of that, anarchist and communist organisations such as CNT-FAI along with Unión General de Trabajadores (UGT), the Workers' Party of Marxist Unification (POUM) and the Unified Socialist Party of Catalonia (PSUC) in danger of the incoming attack of the military forces organised themselves into militia units and took weapons from arsenals (they had support of the people responsible for these places, mostly non- commissioned officers). During this day some of the militarists joined the anarchist cause and aided them in the fight. The next day in the morning the anarchists attacked the Atarazanas barracks under the command of Buenaventura Durruti, one of the most popular and best recognized leader of Federación Anarquista Ibérica. [2] The headquarters of the Durruti Column was at Bujaraloz . When the force was 6000 men. Several centuries contained foreigners: la centurie Sébastien Faure, composed of French and Italians, include Saïl Mohamed, Jean Mayol, Marcel Montagut, Simone Weil and George Sossenko; la centurie Sacco and Vanzetti, composed of Americans; la centurie Erich Mühsam, composed of Germans. Advance [ edit | edit source ] A Durruti column member on the Aragón front, 1936. The anarchists started to take Catalonia back from the hands of the Franquists. They were headed towards controlled by General Emilio Mola and the Durruti column, concentrating 2,000 people at that time [3] contrary to other units did not stop too much to liberate the countryside, they were moving only towards the city, mostly because of the lack of proper maps. They fought their first battle in Caspe, a city located about 100 kilometers southeast of Zaragoza. There they encountered a small group of militiamen fighting fascists commanded by Captain Negrete from Guardia Civil. [4] While leaving Barcelona there were about 2,500 people in the column but before they got to Zaragoza their number increased to 6,000. The advance stopped near the city banks because of the Colonel Villalba, the leader of all the republican forces who convinced Durruti that if he had reclaimed Zaragoza, he may have been isolated from the rest of the fighters. Nowadays it is doubted if that was a good decision because of the superiority in numbers of the republican forces, but some state that in the event of open battle lack of weapons and supplies could have led to total disaster. [5] Durruti installed his temporary headquarters in Bujaraloz. Waiting for the more convenient moment to attack Zaragoza turned out to be a grave mistake, because in passing of time the forces of Franco became more powerful there and made it impossible to reclaim the city. [6] The offensive stopped at this point and there was no major battle. Most of the advances were small and were mostly initiated due to the actions of guerrillas. Durruti was concentrating himself on helping the collective. Death of Durruti [ edit | edit source ] At the beginning of Buenaventura Durruti with more than 3,000 people from the column directed themselves to . At the time the capital of Spain was in grave danger of being overtaken by the fascists and Federica Montseny convinced Durruti to leave Catalonia. His arrival to Madrid strengthened the morale of the inhabitants. He was ordered to defend and then started the offensive at Casa del Campo. Efficient in street battles, the militants had neither enough power nor experience to stand a chance against the disciplined and well-armed army from Morocco. Having suffered huge casualties the Durruti column escaped the battlefield. On the 19th of November Durruti was shot and died in the hospital after some time. The origins of the bullet are unknown, some say it was an action taken by the responsibility of the Soviet special forces, other that it was failure of Durruti's gun. [7] The column was after commanded by Ricardo Sanz in Madrid and by Lucio Ruano on the Aragon Front. Colonel Romero had disagreements with anarchists, asked for the dismissal of Ricardo Sanz, [8] proposed the dissolution of Durruti Column and the distribution of their men among other units. [9] In January 1937 the new general delegate of the column José Manzana allowed the militarisation of the column which then became part of the 26th Division. After the Durruti Column [ edit | edit source ] Due to the soviet forces growing in power, the other militias were organized into regular army and the Durruti Column was transformed into the 26th infantry division. After the war many of the fighters were either put in prison or executed. Those who survived and escaped to France which right before the World War II experienced rise of nationalist sentiments, were put into concentration camps. After the German invasion of France many of the former anarchist fighters played an important part in the . Some managed to escape to different countries of Latin America and stayed there for the rest of their lives, sometimes even organising with the indigenous people mini-anarchist states in the jungle, as did Antonio García Barón. [10] After the end of the World War II the former republican fighters experienced a huge disappointment. They hoped that the democratic countries would now liberate Spain from Franco's dictatorship. But even Mexico which was one of the most active helpers of the republicans and France after so much help refused to start fighting the dictator. Some of the anarchists, many of them former members of the Durruti Column decided to organise their own resistance. They had their headquarters in France, many times collaborated with later formed ETA and did not stop fighting until the end of the regime. [11] Collectivisation [ edit | edit source ] The collectivisation [12] of the countryside started right after leaving Barcelona. Even though the column did not stop to liberate as much countries as other columns, due to its size, it created the majority of the libertarian communes. At the beginning there were some acts of violence and some people were forced to join the collectives. But it is said that Durruti himself defended the individualists who did not want to work share their land. [13] Such people were left having as much land as they could cultivate with their families without any hired labour and could always join the collective. Depending on the place, the individualists could have been put under more or less stronger economical pressure to make them join the commune. Organisation [ edit | edit source ] On 20 of July 1936 Durruti and other anarchists such as Juan García Oliver and Diego Abad de Santillán, participated in a meeting with Companys, the President of Catalonia. The next day, as the outcome of that meeting, they formed with other leftist organisations The Central Committee of the Antifascist Militias. Despite being in the majority they took only one third of the committees seats. [14] The Committee was responsible for supplying and coordination of the actions different militias. After some time, it became dominated by the communists. The Durruti Column is said to be the first anarchist military formation with discipline based on solidarity and hierarchy but not based on privileges, only the orders to attack certain places. Durruti, as happened in other columns, agreed to have his own military advisor, in this case it was captain Enrique Perez Farras. [15] Due to the lack of armaments [16] the column did not engage in open battles and moved forward mostly thanks to small guerilla actions. Also in Bujaraloz, the place of the War Committee the fighters were provided with services such as: health care, food and mechanic support. Cultural references [ edit | edit source ] The Durutti Column are an English post-punk band, who had moderate success in the late 1980s under the tuteledge of Tony Wilson's Factory label. Library. A short account of the circus clown duo Bim-Bom and their encounter with the Cheka in revolutionary Russia. In the insurgent Paris of 1968 when millions of workers were on strike, the students had occupied the universities, the president had fled the country and France seemed on the verge of revolution. Featured. A short biography of Chinese anarchist veteran Lu Jianbo. Examines the impact of the American Civil War on Karl Marx, and Karl Marx on America. 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▶ Can comment on articles and discussions ▶ Get 'recent posts' refreshed more regularly ▶ Bookmark articles to your own reading list ▶ Use the site private messaging system ▶ Start forum discussions, submit articles, and more. Story of the Iron Column: Militant Anarchism in the Spanish Civil War by Abel Paz. Price: $18.95. Quantity: 50 available. Condition: Brand New! The members of the Iron Column were among the most notorious anarchists in the Spanish Civil War. They were intransigent in the face of the fascist revolt, but also in defence of the revolution's gains. We say to all workers, to all revolutionaries, to all anarchists: At the front or in the rearguard, wherever you may be, fight against the enemies of your liberty and demolish fascism. But also make sure that your exertions do not bring about the installation of a dictatorial regime that would represent the continuation, with all of its vices and defects, of the whole state of affairs that we are trying to obliterate. Now with weapons and later with the tools of labour, learn to live without tyrants and to develop for yourselves the only road to freedom. These are the feelings of the Iron Column, and they have been explained clearly and simply. Comrades: Death to fascism! Long live the social revolution! Long live anarchy! (The Iron Column, 1 ). Abel Paz (1921-2009) was a fifteen-year-old anarchist when the Spanish Revolution began. After the revolution's defeat, he spent several years in exile, returning to Spain in 1942 as a guerrilla fighter against the Franco regime. He spent most of the subsequent eleven years in prison. Paz spent his later years authoring biographical and autobiographical works and delivering lectures celebrating the achievements of the Spanish anarchists. His book Durruti in the Spanish Revolution, was published by AK Press in 2006. Paul Sharkey, an accomplished translator, has almost single-handedly made available a vast body of non- English language anarchist texts. His numerous translations include the works of Nestor Makhno, Osvaldo Bayer, Errico Malatesta, Daniel Guérin, José Peirats, and Antonio Téllez. The history of the legendary Column who took the fight to fascism and defied the dictatorship springing up in their wake, riding out the rise and fall of the Spanish Revolution that raged alongside the Civil War. Abel Paz uses the testimony of its members, extracts from their newspaper L nea de Fuego , and internal documents to tell their remarkable story. Abel Paz (1921-2009) spent most of his life authoring biographical and autobiographical works and delivering lectures celebrating the achievements of the anarchists in the Spanish revolution. His book Durruti in the Spanish Revolution was published by AK Press in 2006. Title: The Story of the Iron Column: Militant Anarchism in the Spanish Civil War.