Story of the Iron Column : Militant Anarchism in the Spanish Civil War

Annotation The history of the legendary Column who took the fight to fascism and defied the dictatorship springing up in their wake, riding out the rise and fall of the Spanish Revolution that raged alongside the Civil War. Abel Paz uses the testimony of its members, extracts from their newspaper 'Línea de Fuego', and internal documents to tell their remarkable story. Abel Paz (1921-2009) spent most of his life authoring biographical and autobiographical works and delivering lectures celebrating the achievements of the anarchists in the Spanish revolution. His book 'Durruti in the Spanish Revolution' was published by AK Press in 2006 Contents 6 By Way of Historical Introduction 8 Declaration (from the first edition) 20 I Levante Confronts the Mutinous Generals 22 II Valencia on the Edge 28 III The Militias Push Against Teruel 38 IV From Theory to Revolutionary Practice 54 V The Achievements of the Iron Column 60 VI The Bureaucratisation of the Rearguard 68 VI IThe Iron Column and the Rearguard 78 VIII The Revolution Under Siege 88 IX The Prelude to May 1937 92 X The CNT Enters the Government 102 XI The Government Settles in Valencia 108 XII Militias or Army? 126 XIII The Iron Column and Militarisation 136 XIV The Counterrevolution on the Move 150 XV Teruel Torn Between Franco and Largo Caballero 160 XVI The Prologue to Militarisation 164 XVII The Iron Column Against Itself 176 XVIII The Testimony of an ‘Uncontrollable’ 186 Epilogue 206 Appendices 212 Línea de Fuego 212 Composition of the Iron Column (October–December 1936)1 219 The Counterevolution in Levante and the Militias 226 The Plenum of Confederal and Anarchist Columns 234 Dossier on Gino Bibbi 248 In Memory of José Pellicer 254 Eye-witness in Barcelona 260 Bibliography 268 Index 272 Annotation The history of the legendary Column who took the fight to fascism and defied the dictatorship springing up in their wake, riding out the rise and fall of the Spanish Revolution that raged alongside the Civil War. Abel Paz uses the testimony of its members, extracts from their newspaper 'Línea de Fuego', and internal documents to tell their remarkable story. Abel Paz (1921-2009) spent most of his life authoring biographical and autobiographical works and delivering lectures celebrating the achievements of the anarchists in the Spanish revolution. His book 'Durruti in the Spanish Revolution' was published by AK Press in 2006 A passionate history of fighting against all odds—the legendary war against fascism and capitalism in Spain.