9. The Counter-Revolution and the Masses¶
Core Argument¶
In the spring of 1937, the Spanish Revolution faced its gravest internal crisis. The masses of the CNT were profoundly discontented with the relentless advance of the counter-revolution, yet they remained leaderless, lacking any coherent strategy for seizing power. The CNT’s own ministers had capitulated repeatedly: after withdrawing from the Catalonian government in March-April, they were exposed by President Companys for having voted for all the repressive decrees they ostensibly opposed. Humiliated further by Stalinist demands for a joint declaration, the CNT leadership gave Companys unconditional political support and returned to an identical cabinet. Meanwhile, crippling price rises devastated the working class, and the CNT offered no way out.
In this vacuum, the Friends of Durruti emerged, demanding workers’ power and democratic organs, while the Libertarian Youth openly denounced the CNT ministers’ betrayals. The POUM, however, failed to provide revolutionary leadership. Its Central Committee proposed a government of all workers’ organisations—including Stalinists and the Esquerra—to convoke a congress of unions, peasants, and combatants. This was a sham. The POUM had learned nothing from its earlier participation in government; its proposed congress was not based on soviets elected directly from the factories, but on union representation, thereby conceding to the CNT bureaucracy. Nin argued that Spain could not have a one-party dictatorship and that soviets had not arisen because Spain possessed strong unions—a transparent rationalisation for tailing the CNT leadership.
Within the POUM itself, a Leninist opposition emerged. In 1937, the Madrid section overwhelmingly backed a programme rejecting Nin’s renunciation of Leninism, and the Barcelona section voted on April 15 to organise soviets immediately. Nin and Gorkin responded with bureaucratic repression: they recalled dissidents from the front under guard, expelled them, and banned fractions. Government repression fell hardest on rank-and-file workers. Expelled left-wing POUM members formed the Spanish Bolshevik-Leninists (Fourth Internationalists) and built links with anarchist workers, particularly the Friends of Durruti. But this regroupment was too slow. Before revolutionary forces could unite, win mass confidence, and transform bitter discontent into a positive drive for power, the leaderless workers’ fury erupted: on May 3, the barricades went up.