Anarchism in Spain - Relationship With Socialists and Communists

Relationship With Socialists and Communists

Spain was the only country in Europe where anarchists had more influence than the iterations of Marxism. Scholars have proposed a number of reasons for this anomaly. Spain was, unlike most of Europe, a largely rural, peasant-based society. Federalist Francisco Pi y Margall would claim that "Spanish anarchism is nothing more than an expression of the federal and individualist traditions of the country, that "the anarchist movement is not an outcome of abstract discussions, or theories cultivated by a few intellectuals, but an outcome of a social dynamic...."

There was occasional but fleeting and superficial unity between anarchists and non-communist socialists, but in general relations were uneasy. A socialist leader once said: "There is a great deal of confusion in the minds of many comrades. They consider Anarchist Syndicalism as an ideal which runs parallel with our own, when it is its absolute antithesis, and that the Anarchists and Syndicalists are comrades when they are our greatest enemies." The often opportunistic UGT often provided scabs to break CNT strikes. Condemnations of socialist tactics by anarchists was not at all uncommon. Yet, more radical socialists (like the POUM) often made allies out of the anarchists, especially during the Civil War and particularly in the defense of Madrid. By 1938, an official pact of unity had been signed between the CNT and the UGT.

Communists had extremely limited influence within Spain until around the time of the Civil War. The working classes, anarchist or not, responded to the Bolshevik revolution with triumph, as did most revolutionaries throughout the world. It was celebrated as a victory of the masses and a beacon of hope. Workers refused to ship arms that would be used against the Red Army. However, libertarians soon discovered the true nature of Bolshevik power, especially after the brutal suppression of the Kronstadt rebellion, and again when Leon Trotsky's Red Army attacked Nestor Makhno's Black Guards in Ukraine. The anarchist relationship with the Bolsheviks after these events was bitter. The CNT ardently refused to join COMINTERN and frequently criticized the policies of the Bolshevik government. Communist antipathy to anarchism was equally strong: when communists attained power during the Civil War, anarchist groups were repressed, often violently.