Editing George Orwell (section)

===Spanish Civil War===
[[File:Placa de George Orwell in Barcelona 3.jpg|thumb|upright|The square in Barcelona renamed in Orwell's honour]]
Orwell set out for Spain on about 23 December 1936, dining with [[Henry Miller]] in Paris on the way. Miller told Orwell that going to fight in the Civil War out of some sense of obligation or guilt was "sheer stupidity" and that the Englishman's ideas "about combating Fascism, defending democracy, etc., etc., were all baloney".<ref>Haycock, ''I Am Spain'' (2013), 152</ref> A few days later in [[Barcelona]], Orwell met John McNair of the [[Independent Labour Party]] (ILP) Office.<ref>John McNair – Interview with Ian Angus UCL 1964</ref><ref name="catalonia">{{Cite book |last=Orwell |first=George |title=Homage to Catalonia |publisher=Penguin Books |year=2013 |page=197 |isbn=978-0-141-39302-5 }}</ref> The [[Second Spanish Republic|Republican government]] was supported by a number of factions with conflicting aims, including the [[Workers' Party of Marxist Unification]] (POUM), the [[anarcho-syndicalist]] [[Confederación Nacional del Trabajo]] (CNT) and the [[Unified Socialist Party of Catalonia]] (a wing of the [[Communist Party of Spain (main)|Spanish Communist Party]]). Orwell was at first exasperated by this "kaleidoscope" of political parties and trade unions.<ref name="catalonia"/> The ILP was linked to the POUM so Orwell joined the POUM.<ref>{{cite book |first=George |last=Orwell |title=[[Homage to Catalonia]] |publisher= [[Penguin Books]] |year=2013|pages=197–198}}</ref>

After a time at the Lenin Barracks in Barcelona he was sent to the relatively quiet [[Aragon#Spanish Civil War 1936–1939|Aragon Front]] under [[Georges Kopp]]. By January 1937 he was at [[Alcubierre]] {{convert|1500|ft|m}} above sea level, in the depth of winter. There was very little military action and Orwell was shocked by the lack of munitions, food and firewood as well as other extreme deprivations.<ref>See article by [[Iain King]] on Orwell's war experiences, [http://www.military-history.org/articles/thinkers-at-war-george-orwell.htm here.]</ref> With his Cadet Corps and police training, Orwell was quickly made a corporal. On the arrival of a British [[ILP Contingent]] about three weeks later, Orwell and the other English militiaman, Williams, were sent with them to [[Sierra de Alcubierre|Monte Oscuro]] and on to [[Huesca]].

Meanwhile, back in England, Eileen had been handling the issues relating to the publication of ''The Road to Wigan Pier'' before setting out for Spain herself, leaving Nellie Limouzin to look after The Stores. Eileen volunteered for a post in John McNair's office and with the help of Georges Kopp paid visits to her husband, bringing him English tea, chocolate and cigars.<ref>Letter to Eileen Blair April 1937 in ''The Collected Essays, Journalism and Letters of George Orwell Volume 1&nbsp;– An Age Like This 1945–1950'' p. 296 (Penguin)</ref> Orwell had to spend some days in hospital with a poisoned hand<ref name="nytimes.com">{{cite news|last=Hicks|first=Granville|title=George Orwell's Prelude in Spain|url=https://www.nytimes.com/books/99/05/16/specials/orwell-homage.html|website=The New York Times|date=18 May 1952}}</ref> and had most of his possessions stolen by the staff. He returned to the front and saw some action in a night attack on the Nationalist trenches where he chased an enemy soldier with a bayonet and bombed an enemy rifle position.

In April, Orwell returned to Barcelona.<ref name="nytimes.com"/> Wanting to be sent to the Madrid front, which meant he "must join the International Column", he approached a Communist friend attached to the Spanish Medical Aid and explained his case. "Although he did not think much of the Communists, Orwell was still ready to treat them as friends and allies. That would soon change."<ref>Bowker, p. 216</ref> During the [[Barcelona May Days]] Orwell was caught up in the factional fighting. He spent much of the time on a roof, with a stack of novels, but encountered [[Jon Kimche]] from his Hampstead days during the stay. The subsequent campaign of lies and distortion carried out by the Communist press,<ref>"The accusation of espionage against the P.O.U.M. rested solely upon articles in the Communist press and the activities of the Communist-controlled secret police." ''Homage to Catalonia'' p. 168. Penguin, 1980</ref> in which the POUM was accused of collaborating with the fascists, had a dramatic effect on Orwell. Instead of joining the International Brigades as he had intended, he decided to return to the Aragon Front. Once the May fighting was over, he was approached by a Communist friend who asked if he still intended transferring to the International Brigades. Orwell expressed surprise that they should still want him, because according to the Communist press he was a fascist.<ref name="newsinger">{{cite web |url=http://pubs.socialistreviewindex.org.uk/isj62/newsinger.htm |title=Newsinger, John "Orwell and the Spanish Revolution" ''International Socialism Journal'' Issue 62 Spring 1994 |publisher=Pubs.socialistreviewindex.org.uk |access-date=21 October 2010 |archive-date=17 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181017022834/http://pubs.socialistreviewindex.org.uk/isj62/newsinger.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>

[[File:George orwell.jpg|thumb|right|Memorial plaque in [[Lleida]] marking where Orwell received treatment at the Hospital Santa María de Lleida for his bullet wound to the neck]]
After his return to the front, he was wounded in the throat by a sniper's bullet. At 6&nbsp;ft 2 in (1.88 m), Orwell was considerably taller than the Spanish fighters<ref>{{Cite journal|url=http://www.hoover.org/research/man-who-saved-orwell|title=Harry Milton&nbsp;– The Man Who Saved Orwell|journal=Hoover Digest|publisher=[[Hoover Institution]]|access-date=23 December 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150620092650/http://www.hoover.org/research/man-who-saved-orwell|archive-date=20 June 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref> and had been warned against standing against the trench parapet. Unable to speak, and with blood pouring from his mouth, Orwell was carried on a stretcher to [[Siétamo]], loaded on an ambulance and sent to hospital in [[Lleida]]. He recovered sufficiently to get up and on 27 May 1937 was sent on to [[Tarragona]] and two days later to a POUM sanatorium in the suburbs of Barcelona. The bullet had missed his main artery by the barest margin and his voice was barely audible. It had been such a clean shot that the wound immediately went through the process of [[cauterisation]]. He received [[electrotherapy]] treatment and was declared medically unfit for service.<ref>Taylor (2003: 228–229)</ref>

By the middle of June, the political situation in Barcelona had deteriorated and the POUM—painted by the pro-Soviet Communists as a [[Trotskyist]] organisation—was outlawed and under attack.<ref>Gordon Bowker, ''Orwell'', p. 218 {{ISBN|978-0349115511}}</ref> Members, including Kopp, were arrested and others were in hiding. Orwell and his wife were under threat and had to lie low,{{refn|The author states that evidence discovered at the National Historical Archives in Madrid in 1989 of a security police report to the Tribunal for Espionage and High Treason described Eric Blair and his wife Eileen Blair, as "known Trotskyists" and as "linking agents of the ILP and the POUM". Newsinger goes on to state that given Orwell's precarious health, "there can be little doubt that if he had been arrested he would have died in prison."|group= n}} although they broke cover to try to help Kopp. They finally escaped from Spain by train. In the first week of July 1937 Orwell arrived back at Wallington; on 13 July 1937 a deposition was presented to the Tribunal for Espionage & High Treason in [[Valencia]], charging the Orwells with "rabid Trotskyism", and being agents of the POUM.<ref>''Facing Unpleasant Facts'', p. xxix, Secker & Warburg, 2000</ref> The trial of the leaders of the POUM and of Orwell (in his absence) took place in Barcelona in October and November 1938. Observing events from French Morocco, Orwell wrote that they were "only a by-product of the [[Moscow trials|Russian Trotskyist trials]] and from the start every kind of lie, including flagrant absurdities, has been circulated in the Communist press."<ref>''Facing Unpleasant Facts'', pp. 31, 224</ref> Orwell's experiences in the Spanish Civil War gave rise to ''[[Homage to Catalonia]]'' (1938).

In his book, ''The International Brigades: Fascism, Freedom and the Spanish Civil War,'' [[Giles Tremlett]] writes that according to Soviet files, Orwell and his wife Eileen were spied on in Barcelona in May 1937.<ref>{{Cite web|date=11 October 2020|title=Revealed: Soviet spies targeted George Orwell during Spanish civil war|url=http://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/oct/11/revealed-soviet-spies-targeted-george-orwell-during-spanish-civil-war|access-date=12 October 2020|website=The Guardian|language=en}}</ref>