1936年西班牙革命

The Spanish Revolution was a social revolution that began at the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War in 1936, following the attempted coup to overthrow the Second Spanish Republic and arming of the worker movements and formation of militias to fight the Nationalists. It featured takeover of power at local levels by the Spanish workers' organizations and social movements, seizure and reorganization of economic facilities directed by trade union groups and local committees, and widespread implementation of socialist, more narrowly, libertarian socialist organizational principles throughout various portions of the Republican zone, primarily Catalonia, Aragon, Andalusia, and parts of the Valencian Community.

Much of the economy of Spain was put under worker control; in anarchist strongholds like Catalonia, the figure was as high as 75%. Factories were run through worker committees, and agrarian areas became collectivized and run as libertarian socialist communes. Many small businesses, such as hotels, barber shops, and restaurants, were also collectivized and managed by their former employees. The revolutionary principles implemented with the revolution continued to evolve as much as the Republican zone existed, until the end of the civil war with the victory of the Nationalists.

The character of the revolution has been described as collectivist and pluralist, carried out by a variety of distinct, often mutually competitive and hostile, political forces and parties;……

History

On 17 July 1936, the Spanish Coup of July 1936 began. On 18 July, the ongoing military uprising led to a collapse of the republican state (four governments succeeded each other in a single day) and to the coercive structures of the state being dissolved or paralyzed in the places where the coup plotters did not seize power. By then, the CNT had approximately 1,577,000 members and the UGT had 1,447,000 members. On 19 July, the uprising reached Catalonia, where the workers took up arms, stormed the barracks, erected barricades, and eventually defeated the military.

First phase of the revolution (July–September 1936): The summer of anarchy

The CNT and UGT unions called a general strike from 19 to 23 July, in response to both the military uprising and the apparent apathy of the state towards it.……

Social revolution

Economic

The most notable aspect of the social revolution was the establishment of a libertarian socialist economy based on coordination through decentralized and horizontal federations of participatory industrial collectives and agrarian communes. Andrea Oltmares, professor in the University of Geneva, in the course of an address of some length, said:

"In the midst of the civil war the Anarchists have proved themselves to be political organizers of the first rank. They kindled in everyone the required sense of responsibility, and knew how, by eloquent appeals, to keep alive the spirit of sacrifice for the general welfare of the people.……

Criticisms

Criticism of the Spanish Revolution has primarily centered around allegations of coercion by anarchist participants (primarily in the rural collectives of Aragon), which critics charge ran contrary to libertarian organizational principles. Bolloten claims that CNT–FAI reports overplayed the voluntary nature of collectivization, and ignored the more widespread realities of coercion or outright force as the primary characteristic of anarchist organization.

Filmography

Vivir la utopia (Living Utopia), Juan Gamero, 1997, documentary about Anarchism in Spain and the collectives in the Spanish Revolution

Land and Freedom. Ken Loach, 1995, fictionalized adaptation of Orwell's Homage to Catalonia

Libertarias, Vicente Aranda, 1996, fictional film about the milicianas on the Aragon front

Butterfly's Tongue, José Luis Cuerda, 1999, coming-of-age film about children in libertarian education