The Rise of Anarchy in Spain for the Uneducated
Anarchy is the political point of view that there should be no authority, no laws, no control, and total equality. It's impossible to find an exact definition because every Anarchist has their own views, but it's formed on those basic ideas. Anarchy has had the biggest influence in Spain than anywhere else in the world. Radical revolutionary ideas were unknown to Spain until the mid-19th century when Giuseppi Fanelli came to Spain on a journey to recruit civilians for a group aiming to benefit working class citizens. The workers listening to his speeches were the start of the first Spanish Anarchist Movement. Many people weren't working in good conditions and they were tired of being oppressed by their government, so the idea spread fast across Spain. By 1870, 2,000 members had joined their party.
“These centers of revolutionary activity continued to spread ideas, through speeches, discussions, meetings, and their newspaper, La Solidaridad (Solidarity). Anarchism had soon taken root throughout Spain, in villages and in cities, and in scores of autonomous organizations. Many of the rural pueblos were already anarchic in structure prior to the spread of "anarchist" ideas.” Anarchism In Spain. Wikipedia. 8 August. 2011.
After many strikes and civilian revolts the government began to crack down on the Anarchist movement. Even though there were still many members of the Anarchist Movement, Anarchist ideas stayed relatively quite in Spain until the 20th century. The idea of syndicalism reached Spain around the 20th century and became popular among the Anarchist groups. In 1900 the Federation of Workers' Societies of the Spanish Region was formed by a syndicalist group of Anarchists and they lead many strikes. In 1909 the Spanish government cut worker's wages drastically and closed factories, creating large groups of poor, angry civilians. Then the government decided to declared war upon Morocco, none of the workers wanted to support their government so there was a burst of Anti-War protests, they even became violent and destructive leading to six deaths, 1,700 arrests, and five executions. The Anarchist Movement didn't have any real structure and effectiveness until the formation of the CNT (Confederación Nacional del Trabajo) in 1910.
The CNT is the organization that led the Anarchists in the Spanish Revolution/Civil War. The CNT armies were very “primitive” compared to the other armies. They had no chain of command and no salutes; a group of rebels wearing tattered clothes and rusty pistols fighting for freedom. Unfortunately the CNT was still not supported by the government so their arms and armor were limited. Many of the columns (branches of the army) even resorted to stealing arms from the Republican stockpile, one of the most famous columns being the Durruti Column, they managed to gain much respect and their numbers rose from 3,000 to 8,000 incredibly fast. At one point the CNT decided to join with the Republican party, but it was not popular among most of the Anarchists and it didn't last long.
“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." says George Orwell in his book Homage to Catalina. The CNT and the Communist Republic did not win against the fascists. The Communists were outlawed out of the FAI (Federación Anarquista Ibérica) and the Anarchists were deprived of there weapons. Today, there are squats across Spain that still house many Anarchists and the CNT is still up and running, though with limited power.
“These centers of revolutionary activity continued to spread ideas, through speeches, discussions, meetings, and their newspaper, La Solidaridad (Solidarity). Anarchism had soon taken root throughout Spain, in villages and in cities, and in scores of autonomous organizations. Many of the rural pueblos were already anarchic in structure prior to the spread of "anarchist" ideas.” Anarchism In Spain. Wikipedia. 8 August. 2011.
After many strikes and civilian revolts the government began to crack down on the Anarchist movement. Even though there were still many members of the Anarchist Movement, Anarchist ideas stayed relatively quite in Spain until the 20th century. The idea of syndicalism reached Spain around the 20th century and became popular among the Anarchist groups. In 1900 the Federation of Workers' Societies of the Spanish Region was formed by a syndicalist group of Anarchists and they lead many strikes. In 1909 the Spanish government cut worker's wages drastically and closed factories, creating large groups of poor, angry civilians. Then the government decided to declared war upon Morocco, none of the workers wanted to support their government so there was a burst of Anti-War protests, they even became violent and destructive leading to six deaths, 1,700 arrests, and five executions. The Anarchist Movement didn't have any real structure and effectiveness until the formation of the CNT (Confederación Nacional del Trabajo) in 1910.
The CNT is the organization that led the Anarchists in the Spanish Revolution/Civil War. The CNT armies were very “primitive” compared to the other armies. They had no chain of command and no salutes; a group of rebels wearing tattered clothes and rusty pistols fighting for freedom. Unfortunately the CNT was still not supported by the government so their arms and armor were limited. Many of the columns (branches of the army) even resorted to stealing arms from the Republican stockpile, one of the most famous columns being the Durruti Column, they managed to gain much respect and their numbers rose from 3,000 to 8,000 incredibly fast. At one point the CNT decided to join with the Republican party, but it was not popular among most of the Anarchists and it didn't last long.
“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." says George Orwell in his book Homage to Catalina. The CNT and the Communist Republic did not win against the fascists. The Communists were outlawed out of the FAI (Federación Anarquista Ibérica) and the Anarchists were deprived of there weapons. Today, there are squats across Spain that still house many Anarchists and the CNT is still up and running, though with limited power.