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Anarchism

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The Spanish Revolution of 1936 began during the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War. The Spanish Civil War was a major conflict in Spain that started after an attempted Coup d'état committed by parts of the army against the government of Much of Spain's economy was put under worker control; in anarchist strongholds like Catalonia, the figure was as high as 75%, but lower in areas with heavy Communist influence. Spain () or the Kingdom of Spain (Reino de España is a country located mostly in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. An economy is the realized social system of production exchange distribution and consumption of goods and services of a country or other area Anarchism is a Political philosophy encompassing theories and attitudes which support the elimination of all compulsory Government, i Catalonia (Cataluña Catalunya Aranese: Catalonha) is an Autonomous Community in the northeast part of Spain. Communism is a Socioeconomic structure that promotes the establishment of an egalitarian, classless, stateless Society based Factories were run through worker committees, agrarian areas became collectivized and run as libertarian communes. Agriculture refers to the production of goods through the growing of plants and fungi and the raising of domesticated Animals The study of agriculture Collective farming is an organization of agricultural production in which the holdings of several farmers are run as a joint enterprise Libertarian socialism is a group of political philosophies that aim to create a society without political economic or social hierarchies – a society in which all violent A commune is an Intentional community of people living together sharing common interests Property, possessions Resources, work and Income It has been estimated by Sam Dolgoff, author of The Anarchist Collectives: Workers' Self-Management in the Spanish Revolution, that over 10 million people participated directly or at least indirectly in the Spanish Revolution. Sam Dolgoff (1902-1990 was an American Anarchist and Anarcho-syndicalist. Even places like hotels, barber shops, and restaurants were collectivized and managed by their workers. A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging usually on a short-term basis A barber (from the Latin barba, " Beard " is someone whose occupation is to cut any type of hair give shaves, and trim A restaurant is a retail establishment that serves prepared Food to Customers.

Contents

Orwell's account

George Orwell describes a scene in Aragon during this time period in his book Homage to Catalonia. Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950 who used the Pseudonym George Orwell, was an English writer Aragon ( Spanish: "Aragón") is an autonomous community of Spain. Homage to Catalonia is political journalist and Novelist George Orwell 's personal account of his experiences and observations in the [1]

"I had dropped more or less by chance into the only community of any size in Western Europe where political consciousness and disbelief in capitalism were more normal than their opposites. Up here in Aragon one was among tens of thousands of people, mainly though not entirely of working-class origin, all living at the same level and mingling on terms of equality. In theory it was perfect equality, and even in practice it was not far from it. There is a sense in which it would be true to say that one was experiencing a foretaste of Socialism, by which I mean that the prevailing mental atmosphere was that of Socialism. Many of the normal motives of civilized life--snobbishness, money-grubbing, fear of the boss, etc. --had simply ceased to exist. The ordinary class-division of society had disappeared to an extent that is almost unthinkable in the money-tainted air of England; there was no one there except the peasants and ourselves, and no one owned anyone else as his master. "

Continuing, Orwell describes the general feel of the new society that was built within the shell of the old:

"This was in late December 1936, less than seven months ago as I write, and yet it is a period that has already receded into enormous distance. Later events have obliterated it much more completely than they have obliterated 1935, or 1905, for that matter. I had come to Spain with some notion of writing newspaper articles, but I had joined the militia almost immediately, because at that time and in that atmosphere it seemed the only conceivable thing to do. The Anarchists were still in virtual control of Catalonia and the revolution was still in full swing. To anyone who had been there since the beginning it probably seemed even in December or January that the revolutionary period was ending; but when one came straight from England the aspect of Barcelona was something startling and overwhelming. It was the first time that I had ever been in a town where the working class was in the saddle. Practically every building of any size had been seized by the workers and was draped with red flags and with the red and black flag of the Anarchists; every wall was scrawled with the hammer and sickle and with the initials of the revolutionary parties; almost every church had been gutted and its images burnt. Churches here and there were being systematically demolished by gangs of workman. Every shop and cafe had an inscription saying that it had been collectivized; even the bootblacks had been collectivized and their boxes painted red and black. Waiters and shop-walkers looked you in the face and treated you as an equal. Servile and even ceremonial forms of speech had temporarily disappeared. Nobody said 'Senor' or 'Don' or even 'Ústed'; everyone called everyone else 'Comrade' or 'Thou', and said 'Salud!' instead of 'Buenos días'. Tipping had been forbidden by law since the time of Primo de Rivera; almost my first experience was receiving a lecture from a hotel manager for trying to tip a lift-boy. There were no private motor-cars, they had all been commandeered, and the trams and taxis and much of the other transport were painted red and black. The revolutionary posters were everywhere, flaming from the walls in clean reds and blues that made the few remaining advertisements look like daubs of mud. Down the Ramblas, the wide central artery of the town where crowds of people streamed constantly to and fro, the loud-speakers were bellowing revolutionary songs all day and far into the night. And it was the aspect of the crowds that was the queerest thing of all. In outward appearance it was a town in which the wealthy classes had practically ceased to exist. Except for a small number of women and foreigners there were no 'well-dressed' people at all. Practically everyone wore rough working-class clothes, or blue overalls or some variant of militia uniform. All this was queer and moving. There was much in this that I did not understand, in some ways I did not even like it, but I recognized it immediately as a state of affairs worth fighting for. "

Social revolution

Woman with CNT-FAI flag
Woman with CNT-FAI flag

The communes were run according to the basic principle of "From each according to his ability, to each according to his need". From each according to his ability to each according to his need (or needs) is a Slogan popularized by Karl Marx in his 1875 Critique In some places, money was entirely eliminated, to be replaced with vouchers; however, in practice these "vouchers" performed and functioned as money themselves. Money is anything that is generally accepted as Payment for Goods and services and repayment of Debts.

Despite the critics clamoring for "maximum efficiency" rather than revolutionary methods, anarchic communes often produced more than before the collectivization. In Aragon, for instance, the productivity increased by 20%. Aragon ( Spanish: "Aragón") is an autonomous community of Spain. [2] The newly liberated zones worked on entirely libertarian principles; decisions were made through councils of ordinary citizens without any sort of bureaucracy (it should be noted that the CNT-FAI leadership was at this time not nearly as radical as the rank and file members responsible for these sweeping changes). Template talkInfobox Union for usage --> The Confederación Nacional del Trabajo ( CNT; English The Federación Anarquista Ibérica ( FAI, Iberian Anarchist Federation) is a Spanish organization of Anarchist ( Anarcho-Syndicalist

In addition to the economic revolution, there was a spirit of cultural revolution. Culture (from the Latin cultura stemming from colere, meaning "to cultivate" generally refers to patterns of human activity and the symbolic Traditions some viewed as oppressive were done away with. The word tradition comes from the Latin traditionem acc of traditio which means "a giving up delivering up surrendering" and is used in a number of For instance, women were allowed to have abortions, and the idea of "free love" became popular. An The term free love has been used since at least the nineteenth century to describe a Social movement that rejects Marriage, which is seen as a form In many ways, this spirit of cultural liberation prefigured that of the "New Left" movements of the 1960s. The New Left were the Left-wing movements in different countries in the 1960s and 1970s that unlike the earlier leftist focus on union activism instead adopted a The 1960s decade refers to the years from the beginning of 1960 to the end of 1969

As the war dragged on, the spirit of the revolution's early days flagged. In part, this was due to the policies of the Communist Party of Spain, which took its cues from the foreign ministry of Stalin's Soviet Union, the source of most of the foreign aid received by the Republican side. Communism is a Socioeconomic structure that promotes the establishment of an egalitarian, classless, stateless Society based A minister for foreign affairs, or foreign minister, is a governmental cabinet minister who helps form the Foreign policy of a sovereign nation Joseph Stalin ( ნამდვილი გვარი ჯუღაშვილი|Iosif Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili; March 5 1953 was General Secretary of the Communist Party The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR was a constitutionally Socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991 Aid (from the french word aide, also known as international aid, overseas aid, or foreign aid, especially in the United States) is The Communist policy was that the war was not the time for the revolution, that until victory in the war was won the goal had to be the defeat of the Franco forces, not the abolition of capitalism, which was to be addressed once the war had been won. Francisco Paulino Hermenegildo Teódulo Franco y Bahamonde (born December 4, 1892 in Ferrol, died November 20, 1975 in Madrid Capitalism is the Economic system in which the Means of production are owned by private Persons and operated for Profit and where The other left-wing parties, particularly the anarchists and POUM, disagreed vehemently with this; to them the war and the revolution were one and the same. A political party is a Political organization that seeks to attain and maintain political power within Government, usually by participating in electoral POUM Campesinosjpg|thumb|A POUM poster appeals to peasants "Peasants the land is yours"]]The Workers' Party of Marxist Unification (POUM Spanish: Partido Obrero Militias of parties and groups which had spoken out too vociferously in opposition to the Soviet position on the war soon found further aid to have been cut off. The term militia is commonly used today to refer to a military force composed of ordinary Citizens to provide defense emergency law enforcement or Paramilitary service Partially because of this, the situation in most Republican-held areas slowly began to revert largely to its prewar conditions; in many ways the "revolution" was over well before the triumph of the Franco forces in early 1939. Year 1939 ( MCMXXXIX) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar.

Further reading

Cultural treatments

Cinema

Literature

See also

References

  1. ^ Orwell, George [1938] (1972). Sam Dolgoff (1902-1990 was an American Anarchist and Anarcho-syndicalist. Land and Freedom is a 1995 Film (alternative title Tierra y Libertad) directed by Ken Loach and written by Jim Allen Libertarias is a Spanish historical drama made in 1996 It was written and directed by Vicente Aranda. Homage to Catalonia is political journalist and Novelist George Orwell 's personal account of his experiences and observations in the Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950 who used the Pseudonym George Orwell, was an English writer Anarchism has historically gained more support and influence in Spain than anywhere else especially before Francisco Franco 's victory in the Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War was a major conflict in Spain that started after an attempted Coup d'état committed by parts of the army against the government of Anarchist Catalonia ( July 21, 1936 – February 10, 1939) was the self-proclaimed Stateless territory and Anarchist Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950 who used the Pseudonym George Orwell, was an English writer "chapter 8", Homage to Catalonia. Homage to Catalonia is political journalist and Novelist George Orwell 's personal account of his experiences and observations in the England: Penguin Books, 101-102. ISBN 0-14-001699-6.  
  2. ^ G. Helsey, Anarcosindicalismo y estado en el País Valenciano, 1930-1938, Madrid (1994)

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