The Spanish Anarchists and the Russian Revolution, 1917–24 : Anguish and Enthusiasm

The Spanish Anarchists and the Russian Revolution, 1917–24 explores the impact of the Russian Revolution on the world's most powerful anarchist movement, the Spanish National Confederation of Labour. The monograph traces the curve of euphoria followed by scepticism that characterized anarchist reactions to the Soviet experiment in 1917–24. This book unearths the interactions between anarchists and Bolsheviks, and assesses their significance for social conflict in Spain and for the foundation of international communism. The Spanish anarchists are a window to examine the global appeal of the Bolsheviks among diverse, non-Marxist militant groups at a time of cross-fertilization for the left internationally. Through the case study of the Spanish anarchists, this book highlights how identification with the victorious Russian Bolsheviks became a rousing device and a political asset at a time of intense social effervescence, when, in the eyes of many, world revolution seemed imminent. However, for heterodox, non-Marxist forces, such as the Spanish anarchists, the Soviet model had to be negotiated and adapted to local conditions and political traditions. This book later traces the ending of this phase of cross-fertilization at a time of defeat and demoralization for the labour movement in Spain and across Europe. Cover Half Title Series Page Title Page Copyright Page Dedication Table of Contents Introduction 1 The three Bolshevik Years I. Spain, the ‘Russia of the West’ II. Europe Burning on both Ends III. ‘Who, being an Anarchist, did not Call himself a Bolshevik?’ 2 Negotiating Bolshevism, 1917–19 I. The Transmission Belts II. From February to October III. War, Peace, and the International IV. The Soviets V. The Land and the Factories VI. Lenin, Trotsky, and the Bolshevik Party VII. The Dictatorship of the Proletariat and the Civil War 3 Three Missions I. The Comedia Congress II. The Borodin-Phillips Mission III. The Pestaña Mission, 1920 IV. The Nin-Maurín Mission, 1921 4 The Experience of Defeat I. The Anti-Bolshevik turn of the Anarchists, 1921–22 II. Communist-Syndicalism, 1922–24 5 Conclusion Bibliography Index