This article was excerpted from a PLP magazine article titled Lessons of the People’s War in Spain 1936-1939 Progressive Labor, Vol. 9, No. 5 (Oct.-Nov. 1974), 106-116. This July marks 88 years since the start of the Spanish Civil War. The lessons from the Spanish People’s War continue to be invaluable to the working class, sharpening our understanding of how we can defeat capitalism, fascism. Above all, learning the history of the Spanish Civil war can help us learn from the mistakes made by fighters in that period, so that we don’t risk repeating them on the march to communist revolution.
The Spanish Civil War in 1936-1939 was a heroic example of working-class internationalism, led by the communist movement to fight fascism. At the same time it continues to hinder today’s communist movement. We must learn the mistakes from history in order to successfully smash the capitalist ruling class once and for all.
The war was a ferocious fight between the Spanish Republicans and the fascist forces. The Spanish Republic was a weak liberal democracy, defended by an anti-fascist coalition made up of communists, anarchist organizations and other fake left groups, along with small bosses who were being ousted by the move to a fascist government. The fascist forces were backed by the main wing of the Spanish ruling class and the ruling classes of Europe and the U.S.
The Spanish Communist Party (PCE) and the Comintern (the Russian leadership of the international communist movement at the time) provided the only effective leadership--political and military--in the struggle against fascism in Spain. The PCE, unlike the numerous groups of fake leftists, was able to organize hundreds of thousands of workers into a powerful military force, despite the enormous material difficulties and their own weaknesses.
The PCE established the Spanish Republic in 1931. From the outset, the Republican government struggled to hold onto power. The growing fascist forces, backed by a large section of the Spanish ruling class, made several attempts to overthrow the Republic and move to fascism.
In 1936, the leftist parties formed a so-called “Popular Front” slate, the rationale being that in order to confront the dangers of fascism and imperialist war, communists should form an alliance with Social-Democrats and some bourgeois elements to preserve the liberal democracy, which ultimately means preserving peace for the ruling class.
Capitalists unite in support of fascists
In 1936 the fascists launched an attack with help from the European ruling class. Hitler sent the first substantial military aid of 20 transport planes to bring the Fascist Army of Africa to Spain. At its peak, German aid to the Fascists stood at about 6,000 troops plus a large amount of material. The maximum size of the Italian forces was about 100,000 troops, with enormous quantities of material. The European democracies refused to sell arms to the Republic and set up a naval blockade in conjunction with Germany and Italy to prevent weapons and volunteer anti-fascist fighters from getting to Spain.
U.S. companies also sold arms to Nazi Germany, then shipped them to Spain. In April 1938, President Roosevelt publicly admitted that the bombs falling on Spanish cities were American-made. “It is all perfectly legal,” he said.
While the rest of the Soviet Union sent aid to the Republic, the total number of Soviet personnel in Spain at any one time likely never totaled 700. Soviet arms shipments were limited after the closing of the French border by the necessity to run the blockade and also by the desire to avoid a world war, a desire unrealized.
Communist organize the working class to fight
The communist movement, through the PCE, organized the defense of Madrid. Their famous Fifth Regiment recruited over 60,000 militiamen (half PCE members), which soon became the backbone of the People’s Army.
Partly because of the seriousness and effectiveness with which the communists organized the militias, membership in the PCE, and their affiliated groups soared: from 30,000 at the beginning of the war to 200,000 at the end of 1936 to 1,000,000 by June, 1937.
Remote volunteers recruited largely by communist parties were organized into communist-led International Brigades. About 40,000 served in the brigades to fight back against the fascists
Famous for their discipline and courage, the International Brigade were some of the few troops in the early days with any sort of training , and they fought well throughout. Their recruitment was an act of internationalism enormously appreciated by the workers.
In another costly error by the communist movement, foreigners were withdrawn in 1938 in a vain effort to secure League of Nations (the precursor to the U.N.) action against German and Italian intervention.
As fascist troops approached Madrid, communists assumed the functions of the departed civil servants; radio, leaflets and banners urged the workers of Madrid to dig trenches and build barricades. Communists organized block by block; Fifth Regiment leaflets gave advice on battling tanks and house-to-house fighting.
On November 7th, 1936, fascist troops, expecting an easy victory, assaulted Madrid from the west, southwest, and northwest, but were repulsed by the hard-pressed militias, particularly the communist organized Fifth Regiment, in hand-to-hand fighting.
At the same time fake left groups undercut the anti-fascist fight. For example, the leaders of the 3,000-man anarchist column from the Aragon Front, demanded an independent section of the front “so that their achievements could not then be claimed by other units.”
The anarchists were given a sector in the University City, with artillery and air support, but refused to attack. When the Fascists attacked the anarchists broke and ran, abandoning a key bridge and positions in the University.
Failure to fight racism deadly mistake
Throughout the war, the fascists relied on troops recruited and conscripted in Spanish Morocco. Around 100,000 Moors fought for the Fascists. The Fascists encouraged every sort of atrocity on the part of the Moors, playing on the racism of the Republicans with great success.
Republican propaganda repeated and embroidered this racist trash. The PCE never made a public fight over this crucial issue, which should not only have been a matter of principle, but could have produced a powerful and proven ally in the struggle against the fascist bosses. The biggest error by the communists was not understanding that the key to victory in the civil war was the fight for the dictatorship of the proletariat, not as a vague objective for the far-off future, but right then. There can be no doubt that the opportunity for taking power existed: the PCE was the real organizer of the war against fascism, and could have united the working class even more completely around workers’ dictatorship
Key to winning: Rely on the working class
The bosses can be relied on for racism, murder and exploitation, but not for help. The only alternative is to rely on the workers, and that means fighting for workers’ power. Spain shows clearly what relying on the bosses means. The fascists won the war in 1939. In the aftermath 400,000 people--apart from those dead in the fighting—were slaughtered after the Republic fell. The clear lesson of Spain and the larger conflict which was to follow is that workers have absolutely nothing to gain from alliances with bosses. We must rely on our own strength, fight racism and settle for nothing short of workers’ power and communism.
