XVII
Socialism on the march
(extract from
British history post 1914 by Norman Davis, London 2009)
If year 1936 could be called the "awakening" or "revival" of the socialism, then the following year should be considered a period of intensified growth and expansion of Marxism, syndicalism, mcleanism and other left-winged ideologies.
Just after the end of the Second International Congress, a revolution sparked in Spain. This was hardly surprising - the peninsula, already torn apart by internal struggle between the Carlist catholic fanatics and Royalists, was ripe for the red tide to arrive. The Spanish question was rather complicated, since all the factions had rather weak claims for authority over Spain. The Royalists, with their king Alfonso XIII laying in coma, had nominal control over the country. The Carlists, led by Bourbon usurper Xavier, had popular support, but lacked military power to challenge the Madrid directly. Finally, the CNT-FAI, severly crippled by purges of 1936, was weak, scattered and exiled to France, Britain and Sicily.
However, the common support voiced during the Congress gave the Spanish socialists the strenght required to muster their forces. Secretly smuggled across the Spanish border, the leaders of the movement managed to reach Barcelona with a small group of armed men. There they took control over the dockyard area, and let in French ships carrying weapons, supplies and other CNT-FAI members. The first act of the Spanish Revolution has taken place.
CNT-FAI banner flies in Barcelona
In June, the Carlist made their move, backstabbing the Royalist forces poised to eliminate the FAI. With his headquarters established in Saragossa, Xavier quickly mobilised all the units at hand and marched towards Madrid, occupying the city without much resistance. The Royalist leadership was then evacuated to Valencia.
June and July were months of great anxiety and inconfidence for the Spanish revolution. After initial victories, achieved mostly due to local trade unions and peasant communities organising revolts against landowners and capitalists, the FAI forces have been halted by Royalist retreat towards Valencia. This split the FAI militias into two groups - one in Catalunya and the second one, marching from Murcia towards Sevilla. The northern group succeded in entrenching itself around Barcelona and even capturing Bilbao, but the southern one was gradually forced to give ground and abandon all hopes of assaulting Sevilla. Ultimately, it managed to capture Gibraltar in late July, which resulted in yet another international crisis.
Both France and Germany reacted with great anxiety to the fall of Gibraltar. An important base and the only access from Atlantic to the Mediterrean, it would have served as an excellent gain for both countries. Once again, the socialists emerged victorious; a small French fleet, led by battleship
Internationale, left its port in Marseille, and sailed at full speed towards the peninsula. After arrival, a small garrison was unloaded, and the Spanish survivors loaded onboard to be secretly evacuated to Barcelona. Not willing to risk a full-scale conflict yet, the Kaiser turned back the cruiser squadron designated to capture the port.
The Internationale
docks in Gibraltar harbour
With the Gibraltar question solved, and FAI armies mustered, the war in Spain turned into a stalemate, with Carlists occupying Asturia and Galicia, anarchists fortified in Catalunya and the Basque State and the Royalists holding ground in Andalusia.
Following this victory, the French issued an ultimatum to the Swiss Confederation, demanding an instant handover of the French-dominated Geneve, along with all the surrounding areas. Realising the enourmous power gap between the Swiss and French armies, the Confederation agreed to surrender the province. Commune's army quickly established garrisons along the new border, and a temporal military government was established. In November local elections were held, with syndicalists dominating the Genevian Commune's self government.
The second war against the reactionists erupted in South America. In June, the so-called Buenos Aires - Santiago Axis, consisting of the republics of La Plata and Chile, annouced its claims on the Bolivian province of Santa Cruz. With their ultimatum rejected, the sountern countries attacked Bolivia. This in turn resulted in president Astrojildo Pereira honouring the alliance signed during the Second International Congress and annoucing its full support for Bolivia.
This war differed greatly from the wars waged in Spain or the United States; harsh terrain, combined with relative small size of the armies involved, resulted in little combat. Nevertheless, the frontline went back and forth a number of times, with Bolivia briefly occupying Santiago and the La Platean forces marching into southern Brazil. In the beginning of 1938, the frontline was roughly as it was before the conflict, safe from Brazil occupying Asuncion, Bolivia holding the Atacama Desert and La Plata marching into Porto Allegre. The war had yet another considerable impact on Internationale's situation - in its second week, La Platean navy has succeeded in intercepting a convoy of Brazilian craft, carrying vital resources - mostly iron, nickel, boxites and chromium - for British industry. Not willing to risk its tiny merchant navy, the Brazilians have officialy held all tranports between America and Europe, until the situation is resolved. The British and the French, on their side, continued sending precious supplies and weapons to America, but assigned heavy escort for every convoy sent.
Heavy La Platean naval presence did not prevent the British from aiding their South American comrades
Realising that socialist revolutions all over the world were not capable of toppling the reactionary governments on their own, France and Britain came up with an idea of finding an organisation aimed at providing industrial support to other socialist countries. In early September the French government announced a proposition to organise the so-called "Phalanstere Internationale". The idea was quickly accepted by the other socialist powerhouse, and as soon as October, French and British factories started gearing up for supporting their so-called "minor comrades".
Until the end of the year, the Phalanstere's duties have been assigned, with Britain taking up orders from Brazil and Georgia and France aiding Mexico, Bolivia, Panama, Centroamerica and Bengal. According to the plan, a wide-scale support for those developing economies was to be provided - including industrial equipment, resources, technical blueprints and data, as well as advisors and military missions. This, naturally, put a huge strain on both industrial powerhouses - with its exact extent becoming apparent during the years of the Second Great War.
