Spanish Civil War

[Barry woodling]

July 2006 is the seventieth anniversary of the start of the Spanish Civil War. A group of Trade Unionists is meeting in Manchester to organise an exhibition and series of films to mark this anniversary.

Anarchists and libertarians might be interested in the following interview conducted by Pierre Van Passen of the Toronto Daily Star on August 5th 1936 with Buenaventura Durruti, an anarcho-syndicalist metal worker, member of the CNT Union. Durruti was killed in November 1936 fighting the Fascists on the Madrid Front.

"There are 2 camps, civilians who fight for freedom and civilians who are rebels and Fascists. All the workers in Spain know that if Fascism triumphs, it will be famine and slavery. That is why the struggle is implacable and relentless. For us it is a question of crushing Fascism, wiping it out and sweeping it away so that it never rears its head again in Spain. We are determined to finish with Fascim once and for all. Yes and in spite of the government.

No government in the world fights Facism to the death. When the bourgeoisie sees power slipping from its grasp, it has recourse to Fascism to maintain itself

We syndicalists , we are fighting for the revolution. We know what we want. To us it means nothing that there is a Soviet Union somewhere in the world for the sake of whose peace and tranquillity the workers of Germany were sacrificed to Fascist barbarism by Stalin. We are giving HItler and Mussolini far more worry today with our revolution than the whole of the Red Army.

I do not expect any help for a libertarian revolutioin from any government in the world...we expect no help not even from our own government in the final analysis".

Anyone interested in Durrutis life will find an excellent account in Abel Paz. Durruti. The People Armed. Black Rose Books. Montreal 1976.

Barry Woodling

Northern Anarchist Network

[michele cryer]

Thanks Barry...

[Barry Woodling]

"A new world in in our hearts".

In Reply to Van Paasans comment that you will be sitting on top of a pile of ruins even if victorious Durruti avers:-

"We have always lived in slums and holes in the wall. We will know how to accommodate ourselves for a time. For you must not forget, we can also build these palaces and cities here in Spain and in America and elsewhere. We the workers, we can build others to take their place. And better ones. We are not in the least afraid of ruins. We are going to inherit the earth. There is not the slightest doubt about that. the bourgeoisie might blast and ruin its own world before it leaves the stage of history. We carry a new world in our hearts. The world is growing in this minute".

Next year will be the seventieth aniversary of the advent of the Spanish Civil War. The significance of the role of the CNT FAI in particular the anarchist militias such as the Durruti Column, Black and Red, Iron Column and Tierra y LIbertad should be highlighted in next years commemorative events.

Barry Woodling

Northern Anarchist Network

[bryan]

The last meeting of the committee involved in commemorating the 7oth anniversary of the Spanish Civil War took place last Saturady.
The group concerned with the exhibition have produced some panels.

Sheila Rowbottom has based one on 5 women who went to Spain: Molly Murphy (nurse who lived in Salford for 2 years) who was a communist party member up to 1932 when she and her husband JTMurphy split from the Commmunist Party; Lilian Urmston from Stalybridge who had little interest in politics and went to Sp[ain as a nurse out of humanitarian instincts; a Labour MP - Ellen Wilkingson - who paid some visits to Spain during the war; Sid Booth's wife who apparently never went to Spain.

Maggie Lerner of Salford Trade Union Council has produced a list of poems for inclusion on one of the panels. These include Herbert Read's 1916 poem dedicated to the Spanish Anarchists. Read was an anarchist in the 1930s and wrote for the anarchist paper SPAIN & THE WORLD. The other poems seem to be by less well known poets.

Dolores from the International Brigade is putting together a panel on the local participants of the IB who went from Greater Manchester, including her dad: Sam Wild.

Antonio Diez has done a panel on the the International Brigaders he has recently researched and has drawn together some conclusions.

Mike Luft from Oldham TUC is editing the panels and with Ron Marsden of the Solidarity Federation is including something on the camp for Refugees which was opened after the Second World War.

Richard Baxell, the academic who has written a book on the BRITISH VOLUNTEERS IN THE SPANISH CIVIL WAR, will be introducing the exhibition.

___________________________________________________________________

For my part I am acting editor of the booklet which will accompany the exhibition with the hope of enlightening the general public to the issues surrounding the Spanish Civil War. The Secretary of the Committee responsible for commemorating the 70th anniversary is Dr. Paul Arnold ~ a founder member of the Manchester Social Forum. Derek Pattison, a life-long anarcho-syndicalist, Trade Council member and trade union activist is on the committee as is Barry Woodling a Salford anarchist. Kevin a member of Manchester TUC is Chair on the committee.

[Mitch]

Wow, this is progressing well.

Better get our skates on with some ideas for this event at Burnley anarchist meeting this Thursday.

Fascinating stuff Bryan,

Cheers Mitch

[Mitch]

www.ashton-under-lyne.com/information.htm#c

There's currently an exhibition on the Spanish Civil War at Tameside Library (presume you know about this Brian and Barry?).

I'll try and find out how long it's running and perhaps we can have a trip out to see it?

Tameside Local Studies and Archives Centre
Central Library
Old Street
ASHTON-UNDER-LYNE
OL6 7SG

Tel: [phone]