Editing Spanish Revolution of 1936 (section)

=== First phase of the revolution (July–September 1936): ''The summer of anarchy'' ===
The CNT and UGT unions called a [[general strike]] from 19 to 23 July, in response to both the military uprising and the apparent apathy of the state towards it. Despite the fact that there were specific records in previous days of the distribution of weapons among civilian sectors, it was during the General Strike when groups of trade unionists, linked to the convening unions and smaller groups, assaulted many of the weapons depots of the state forces, independently of whether they were in revolt against the government or not.

Already in these first weeks, two groups were established within the [[anarcho-syndicalist]] revolutionary sectors: the radical group, fundamentally linked to the [[Iberian Anarchist Federation]] (FAI) and through it to the CNT, which understood the phenomenon in which it participated as a traditional revolution; and the [[libertarian possibilism|possibilist]] group, made up of members of a more moderate sector of the CNT, which expressed the convenience of participating in a broader front, later called the Popular Antifascist Front (FPA), the result of adding the unions to the electoral coalition [[Popular Front (Spain)|Popular Front]].

[[File: CNT Emblem.svg | thumb | Emblem of the [[National Confederation of Labor|CNT]].]]

At the same time, administrative structures were formed outside the state, most of a local or regional character, but exceeding such limits in specific cases; some of the most important were:
* [[Central Committee of Antifascist Militias of Catalonia]]
* [[Popular Executive Committee of Valencia]]
* [[Regional Defense Council of Aragon]]
* [[Malaga Public Health Committee]]
* [[Gijón War Committee]]
* [[Popular Committee of Sama de Langreo]]
* [[Santander Defense Council]]
* [[Madrid Defense Council]]
* Council of the [[Cerdanya]]
* Antifascist Committee of [[Ibiza]]

In a few days, the fronts of the [[Spanish Civil War]] were established, one of the main fronts, in the context of the revolution, being that of [[Aragon front|Aragon]]. On 24 July 1936, the first voluntary militia left [[Barcelona]] in the direction of [[Aragon]]. It was the [[Durruti Column]], of around 3,000 people, mostly workers coordinated by [[Buenaventura Durruti]], who first implemented [[Anarcho-communism|libertarian communism]] in the municipalities through which they passed. In addition, other popular military structures were formed, such as the [[Iron Column]] and the [[Red and Black Column]], the latter also departing for Aragon. All this movement gave rise to an extraordinary concentration of anarchists in parts not taken by the rebel military. The arrival, on the one hand, of the thousands of anarchist militiamen from [[Catalonia]] and [[Valencian Community|Valencia]], and the existence, on the other, of a large rural [[Aragonese people|Aragonese]] popular base allowed for the progressive development of the largest collectivist experiment of the revolution.

During this first phase most of the Spanish economy was brought under the control of workers organized by the unions; mainly in [[anarchism|anarchist]] areas such as Catalonia. This phenomenon extended to 75% of the total [[industrial sector]], but in the areas of [[PSOE|socialist]] influence, the rate wasn't so high. The factories were organized by workers' committees, the agricultural areas became [[Collective farming|collectivized]] and functioned as [[libertarian]] [[Intentional community|communes]]. Even places such as [[hotels]], [[hairdressers]], means of transport, and [[restaurants]] were collectivized and managed by their own workers.{{sfn|Andreassi|1996|p=86}}

The British author [[George Orwell]], best known for his [[anti-authoritarian]] works ''[[Animal Farm]]'' and ''[[Nineteen Eighty-Four]]'', was a soldier in the [[Lenin Division]] of the CNT-allied {{lang|es|[[POUM|Partido Obrero Unificación Marxista]]}} (POUM; Workers' Party of Marxist Unification). Orwell meticulously documented his first-hand observations of the civil war, and expressed admiration for the social revolution in his book ''[[Homage to Catalonia]]''.{{sfn|Orwell|1938|pp=4–6}}

{{blockquote|I had dropped more or less by chance into the only community of any size in Western Europe where political consciousness and disbelief in capitalism were more normal than their opposites. Up here in Aragon one was among tens of thousands of people, mainly though not entirely of working-class origin, all living at the same level and mingling on terms of equality. In theory it was perfect equality, and even in practice it was not far from it. There is a sense in which it would be true to say that one was experiencing a foretaste of Socialism, by which I mean that the prevailing mental atmosphere was that of Socialism. Many of the normal motives of civilized life – snobbishness, money-grubbing, fear of the boss, etc. – had simply ceased to exist. The ordinary class-division of society had disappeared to an extent that is almost unthinkable in the money-tainted air of England; there was no one there except the peasants and ourselves, and no one owned anyone else as his master.|George Orwell{{sfn|Orwell|1938|p=51}}}}

The communes were operated according to the basic principle of "[[From each according to their ability, to each according to their need]]." In some places, money was eliminated, replaced by vouchers. Under this system, the cost of goods was often little more than a quarter of the previous cost. During the revolution, 70% of rural areas were expropriated in Catalonia, about 70% in Eastern Aragon, 91% in the republican sector of [[Extremadura]], 58% in [[Castilla-La Mancha]], 53% in republican [[Andalusia]], 25% in [[Madrid]], 24% in [[Murcia]],{{sfn|González Martínez|1999|p=93}} and 13% in the [[Valencian Community]]. 54% of the expropriated area of republican Spain was collectivized, according to IRA data.{{sfn|Payne|1970|pp=241–267}} The [[Provinces of Spain|provinces]] where rural communes became most important were those of [[Ciudad Real]] – where 1,002,615 hectares (98.9% of cultivated lands) were collectivized in 1938 – and [[Province of Jaén (Spain)|Jaén]] – where 685,000 hectares (76.3% of cultivated lands) were collectivized, leaving the rest of the republican provinces far behind.{{sfn|Garrido González|2006|p=6}} Many communes held out until the end of the war. Anarchist communes produced at a more efficient rate than before being collectivized,{{sfn|Sewell|2007|p=141}} with productivity increasing by 20%.{{sfn|Kelsey|1991}} The newly liberated zones worked on entirely libertarian principles; decisions were made through councils of ordinary citizens without any bureaucracy.

In Aragon, where libertarian communism was proclaimed as the columns of libertarian militias passed, approximately 450 rural communes were formed, practically all of them in the hands of the CNT, with around 20 led by the UGT.

In the Valencian area, 353 communes were established, 264 led by the CNT, 69 by the UGT and 20 with mixed CNT-UGT leadership. One of its main developments was the [[Unified Levantine Council for Agricultural Export]] ({{langx|ca|Consell Llevantí Unificat d'Exportació Agrícola}}, CLUEA) and the total socialization of the industries and services of the city of [[Alcoy]].{{sfn|Quilis Tauriz|1992|pp=83–85}}

In Catalan industry, the CNT workers' unions took over numerous textile factories, organized the trams and buses in Barcelona, established collective enterprises in fishing, in the footwear industry, and even in small retail stores and public shows. In a few days, 70% of industrial and commercial companies in Catalonia – in which, by itself, two-thirds of the industry of Spain was concentrated – had become the property of the workers.

[[File:Lucía Sánchez Saornil & Emma Goldman.jpg|thumb|[[Lucía Sánchez Saornil]] and [[Emma Goldman]].]]

Alongside the economic revolution, there was a spirit of cultural and moral revolution: the libertarian athenaeums became meeting places and authentic cultural centers of theoretical education, in which were organized literacy classes, talks on health, excursions to the countryside, public access libraries, theatrical performances, political gatherings, sewing workshops, etc. Numerous rationalist schools were founded, which expanded the existing offers of athenaeums and union centers and in which the educational postulates of [[Francesc Ferrer i Guardia]], [[Ricardo Mella]], [[Leo Tolstoy]], and [[Maria Montessori]] were carried out. Similarly, in the social field, some traditions were considered as types of oppression, and bourgeois morality was also seen as dehumanizing and individualistic. Anarchist principles defended the conscious freedom of the individual and the natural duty of solidarity among human beings as an innate tool for the progress of societies. Thus, for example, during the revolution, women achieved the [[Abortion-rights movements|right to abortion]] in Catalonia, the idea of consensual [[free love]] became popular, and there was a rise in [[naturism]].

However, the social effects of the revolution were less drastic than the economic ones; while there were some social changes in larger urban areas (Barcelona emphasised a "proletarian style" and Catalonia set up inexpensive abortion facilities), the attitudes of the lower classes remained fairly conservative and there was comparatively little emulation of Russian-style "revolutionary morality".{{sfn|Payne|1973|loc=Vol. 2 Ch. 26}}

Public order also varied substantially, getting by without the classic forces of public order (the [[National Police Corps|police]], [[Civil Guard (Spain)|Civil Guard]], [[Judiciary of Spain|courts]], and the [[Spanish Army|army]]), which were supplanted by the [[Control Patrols]] made up of volunteers, the [[Confederal militias|popular militias]], and the [[neighborhood assemblies]] that were intended to resolve problems that arose. The doors of many prisons were opened, freeing the prisoners, among whom there were many politicians but also common criminals, some prisons being demolished.

The [[anti-fascist]] [[Carlo Rosselli]], who before Mussolini's accession to power was professor of economics in the [[University of Genoa]], put his judgment in the following words:

{{quotation|In three months Catalonia has been able to set up a new social order on the ruins of an ancient system. This is chiefly due to the Anarchists, who have revealed a quite remarkable sense of proportion, realistic understanding, and organising ability&nbsp;... all the revolutionary forces of Catalonia have united in a program of Syndicalist-Socialist character: socialisation of large industry; recognition of the small proprietor, workers' control&nbsp;... [[Anarcho-Syndicalism]], hitherto so despised, has revealed itself as a great constructive force&nbsp;... I am not an Anarchist, but I regard it as my duty to express here my opinion of the Anarchists of Catalonia, who have all too often been represented to the world as a destructive, if not criminal, element. I was with them at the front, in the trenches, and I have learnt to admire them. The Catalan Anarchists belong to the advance guard of the coming revolution. A new world was born with them, and it is a joy to serve that world.|Carlo Rosselli{{sfn|Rocker|2004|pp=66–67}}}}

But despite the [[de facto]] decomposition of state power, on 2 August the government took one of its first measures to regain control against the revolution, with the creation of the ''Volunteer Battalions'', the embryo of the [[Spanish Republican Army]]. Overwhelmed by the revolutionary phenomenon, it also promulgated some symbolic decrees:

* 18 July: Decree declaring the military who participated in the coup to be unemployed.
* 25 July: Decree declaring government employees who sympathize with the coup plotters to be unemployed.
* 25 July: Decree of intervention in industry.
* 3 August: Decree of seizure of the railways.
* 3 August: Decree of intervention in the sale prices of food and clothing.
* 8 August: Decree of seizure of rustic properties.
* 13 August: Decree of closure of religious institutions.
* 19 August ([[Revolutionary Catalonia|Catalonia]]): Decree of socialization and unionization of the economy.
* 23 August: Decree of the creation of the People's Courts.

The first tensions also arose between the strategy of the anarchists and the policy of the [[Communist Party of Spain]] and its extension in Catalonia, the [[PSUC]]; and on 6 August members of the PSUC left the Catalan autonomous government because of anarcho-syndicalist pressures.