THOSE READERS who followed the articles in our Marxism and Social Democracy series by Bob Pennington on the Spanish revolution will be interested in following the series on Channel 4 on the Spanish Civil War. The programmes are every Friday evening at 8pm for six weeks. Next Friday (14 January) covers the revolution of 1936.
Friday's first coming to power of the Spanish Republic, the withdrawal of the Socialist Party from the government, the fall of the first Republican government and the advent of the right wing Gil Robles regime. It also movingly portrayed the Asturias Commune of 1934, its brutal repression by the army, and the leading the revolutionary plot.
The series is written by Neil Ascherson whose book on Poland many of our readers will already know. programme covered the general's counterThe message of episode one was simple: the ad vent of the Spanish Republic infuriated the bosses and the right wing, but was incapable of satisfying the most basic peasants and was thus doomed. tionary socialist could disagree with that.
Episode two, to be already called forth caustic remarks from the Morning Star, because (would you believe it makes out that there was a workers revolution in 1936. that the workers took the power in the areas they controlled, and that this was led by anarchists, revolutionary socialists and the like. After 46 years this basic truth still causes the CP distress.
We recommend all our readers to watch this series. A lavishly illustrated book to go with the series by David Mitchell is in your local branch of WH Smiths now.
workers and the No revolushown on Friday, has Workers militia arm themselves.