Spanish Civil War

:Alternative meaning: Spanish Civil War, 1820-1823

Social Revolution

Main article: Spanish Revolution.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In the anarchist-controlled areas, Aragon and Catalonia, in addition to the temporary military success, there was a vast social revolution in which the workers and the peasants collectivised land and industry, and set up councils parallel to the paralyzed government. This revolution was opposed by both the Soviet-supported communists and the democratic republicans. The agrarian collectives had considerable success despite opposition and lack of resources, as Franco had already captured lands with some of the richest natural resources. This success survives in the minds of libertarian revolutionaries as an example that an anarchist society can flourish under the right conditions — or at least under siege, oppositors may argue.

Related Topics:
Aragon - Catalonia - Social revolution - Collectivised - Land - Agrarian collectives - Anarchist

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

As the war progressed, the government and the communists were able to leverage their access to Soviet arms to restore government control over the war effort, both through diplomacy and force. Anarchists and the POUM were integrated with the regular army, albeit with resistance; the POUM was outlawed, falsely denounced as an instrument of the fascists. In the May Days of 1937, many hundreds or thousands of anti-fascist soldiers killed one another for control of strategic points in Barcelona, as George Orwell relates in Homage to Catalonia.

Related Topics:
POUM - May Days - 1937 - Barcelona - George Orwell

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~