IN THIS SERIES on social democracy, the last issue covered the role of the Spanish Socialist Party in the leading up to the outbreak of the Civil War in July 1936.
with how the Socialist Party responded to the fascist uprising and the revolutionary peasants the last issue should have stated that the election of the first Republican-Socialist govern ment took place in 1931.
The tasks of UNLESS THE Popular Front government could solve the develop and extend Spanish industry; break the hold of the church; smash the power and influence of the military and solve the colonial and national question, it was doomed to fail.
The attitude of the workers' parties to these matters was Socialist Party was to stand or fall on them.
The agrarian question income and nearly two thirds of exports. Some 70 percent of the population worked on the land UnIC ane was landowners. Another third was owned by middle sized landowners. The final third was owned by peasants and was variably DOUR capable of supporting a peasant family.
With few the most archaic methods and the yield per acre was the The agrarian problem could only be solved by distributing the two thirds held by the landlords to the peasament to raise agricultural productivity which equipment to raise This week BOB PENNINGTON deals demands of the workers and agrarian question; decisive. The tne big Stand waica was rarcy as conducted by agricultural productivity establishment authoritarian Within three days nearly every sile one of ris military garrisons joined him.
Landlords and capitalists quickly packed their bags and either fled the country or slipped into fascist territory Meanwhile the government of the Popular Front dithered. it tascism was tr be crushed it could only be done by civil war and that liberal bourgeoise who were the servants of capital, an anca working class Wa. an even more frightening thought than the armies of So the arms remained locked up in the barracks On 18 July the national committee of the Socialist and Communist parties Issuca a statement reassur ing the masses that: The has sufficient resources to overcome this criminal attempt. Just to make sure that the workers did start taking things in their own hands the statement WCHlE say: government commands and the Popular TOILE obeys.' But in Barcelona the workers ignored the Stalinists and the democrat leaders by storming the army barracks and by 20 July they controlled the city. In Valen cia rank and file soldiers shot their officers and armed the workers. In Asturias a column of 5,000 was equipped dynamite from the mines for a march on Madrid In the Cabild itself workers were rising and on zU July they stormed the city's barracks.
Acting against the advice of the socialist leaders the workers had saved the situation and stopped the counter revolution taking over great areas of spain.
As the peasants heard the news rom the cities they swarmed over the land, using their primitive landowners, and officials, who tried stop nel taking the land.
Committees of peasants and workers fed the militia and the workers in the cities. The old order did not have organisations revolutionary situa tion so the CNT (anarchist trade unions) and the UGT (socialist trade unions) organised factory committees that extended their influence beyond the trade union organisations.
Everywhere these new committees sprang up, and in town and country they one power or tine workers and peasants I Casaus them armed militias. As in all workers situation of dual power existed, as the newly emerg power of the masses challenged the capitalist The Popular Front 1CU Liberal president Azana.
had Franco. could only carry out function of defending over workers militias; dinating them and then, finally dissolving the joint committees that had replaced its authority.
For those readers who would like to take further neit reading on the Spanish war the author recommends the following three books.
Revolution and Counter Revolution in Spain by Felix Morrow. This was written party's left however was record against coalitions and had revolution. 1936 the Madrid party organisation had come out for the dictatorship of the proletariat, but Cabellero's chief theoretician, Luis Araquistain explained that Spain did no need soviets.
The had Front page of Morrow's classic 'Revolution and Counterrevolution in Spain and deserves the accolade of describee the classic on Spain's civil war.
The bourgeois historian Hugh Thomas has -written The Spanish Civil Wa Which contains much useful material although he is no friend of revolution.
fascist forces and the price for that was restoring the state The progressive 'progressive' allenated the Popular Front so private must intact Workers' armed militias were guaranteed to frighten the men of property so they had to be replaced by an army under the control of the capitalist
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Due to a typographical omission in the historical guideline