The Revolution and the Civil War in Spain

by Pierre Broué, Émile Temime

First published in France in 1961 as La Révolution et la guerre d'Espagne, this book explains the major issues of the Spanish Civil War in a remarkably clear and comprehensive fashion. The authors focus on the internal affairs of the Republic and the Anarchist collective experiments in particular. For further description, the book is best served by its

"The Broué-Témime work is the best general interpretation available concerning both the revolution of 1936 and the war. It is especially valuable for analysis of the CNT, the POUM, and the anarchists in both the industrial and rural areas of Catalonia. It contains rich chapters on the first days of the war in the large cities and on the May, 1937, struggle in the streets of Barcelona."
— Gabriel Jackson , Hispanic American Historical Review

"This, by contrast (with the work of Hugh Thomas), is what gives weight to the fine works of Pierre Broué: the effort by which he constructs a Spanish war where events, parties, and man, the motives that guided them, the difficulties they encountered, their feelings, debates, ideas, and sacrifices are arranged and told in order to make them comprehensible."
— Jean-Pierre Peter , Economies, Sociétés, Civilisations

"Broué has prepared the first half [of the book], dealing with the Spanish background, the revolution, and the first year of the war... [He] gives a particularly good treatment of the origins of the Spanish Communist party.

"In the second half of this composite work, Témime has presented a clear, concise, and perceptive account of the military events in the last two years of the war and of the construction of Franco's authoritarian state."
— Stanley G. Payne , Journal of Modern History

Genres: History, Spain, Nonfiction, Politics, Spanish Civil War, War, European History

590 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1961

About the author

Pierre Broué was a French historian and Trotskyist revolutionary militant whose work covers the history of the Bolshevik Party, the Spanish Revolution and biographies of Leon Trotsky.

Reviews

[Asa · Rating 3 out of 5]

The best history of the Spanish Civil War. Unafraid to criticize the anarchists or communists despite its partisan view (Broue was Trotskyist). Much better than the oft-recommended populist history by Hugh Thomas which hardly even mentions the anarchist part in the Spanish Civil War.

[Nikola Jankovic · Rating 4 out of 5]

Prema broju žrtava, španski građanski rat (1936-1939) ne može se porediti sa ratom koji je kasnije zadesio svet. Ipak, za mene ostaje barem jednako tragičan. Od nemilosrdnog gaženja demokratskih izbora 1936 od strane vojne hunte, do politike nemešanja zapadnih demokratija (čak i prećutnog podržavanja Franka), stotina hiljada žrtava za vreme rata, sukoba unutar Republike za vreme rata, desetine hiljada pogubljenih i oduzimanja dece levičarskim porodicama nakon rata, pa do toga da je Španijom fašistički režim vladao još 30 godina nakon pada Hitlera i Musolinija.

Fascinirao me taj period ove godine, pa sam počeo sa The Battle for Spain: The Spanish Civil War 1936-1939 (ovde je moje razmišljanje o tom delu i o ratu), nastavio sa Hemingvejem koji odlično prenosi atmosferu u For Whom the Bell Tolls. Pročitao sam sad i ovo, a čekaju još Orvel i Malro.

Revolucija i građanski rat u Španiji je napisana 1961, ali je tek skoro izašla u našem prevodu. Ipak, nema mnogo znakova da ga je pregazilo vreme, čak naprotiv. Autor je trockista, jasno je da su njegove simpatije na strani levice, ali neće prezati da navede zločine počinjene u ime Republike. Ipak, citati fašista "red ćemo uspostaviti kada streljamo dva miliona marksista" (pukovnik Barato), "80% andaluzijskih porodica je u žalosti, ali mi nećemo oklevati da pribegnemo i oštrijim merama" (general Keopo de Ljano) i "ako zatreba, streljaćemo pola Španije" (Franko), dovoljno govore o razmerama belog terora.

Bivor nije preveden kod nas, ali je ipak bolje napisana knjiga od ove. Mislim da je bolje organizovao podatke, struktura mu je jasnija za nekog ko počinje sa temom. Čini mi se i da je bolji pisac. Brue zna da zbuni čitaoca - ne samo zato što je situacija sama po sebi zbunjujuća (pogotovo u Republici - socijalisti, komunisti, trockisti, anarhisti, dvovlađe, nezavisna katolička vlast u Baskiji koja se bori sa komunistima protiv Frankovih katolika...), već je i konstrukcija rečenica i pasusa ponekad nejasna.

Ono što Brue radi bolje, je pojašnjenje organizacije vlasti i životau Republici za vreme rata. Jasno su opisane te brojne frakcije, njihovi lideri, objašnjeno za šta i kako se bore. Lepo je prikazan, na primer, anarhistični režim u Kataloniji - što je i dandanas ostao jedini veći eksperiment anarhističke vlasti. Koji, uzgred, ne zvuči loše.

Ima tu i interesantnih priča. Ona o italijanskom ratu u okviru španskog rata je upečatljiva. Pripadnici brigade Garibaldi opkoljavaju legiju svojih sunarodnika koji se bore na strani fašista. Tu sad oni komuniciraju preko razglasa na italijanskom, levičari ih pozivaju na predaju, a istovremeno mladim fašistima drže čitava predavanja o razlozima zbog kojih se treba odupreti Musoliniju i Franku, a posle svake takve lekcije pušta se "Bandiera Rossa". Fašisti se naravno ne daju, dugo drže tvrđavu, ali su na kraju prisiljeni u predaju. Na osnovu priča o crvenom teroru očekuju najgore, ali umesto izlaska pred streljačke vodove internacionalnih brigada, podeljeni su u grupe i kreću dalja predavanja o smislu borbe za slobodu.

[Çağlar Sayar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kitabı okuduğumda İspanya iç savaşı hakkinda aslında ne kadar genel bilgilere sahip olduğumu farkettim. Gerek iç savaşın bitiminden hemen sonra dünya savaşının başlaması gerekse zaten gergin olan bir dünya atmosferi içerisinde verilen İspanya ic savaşı bence tarih sahnesinde çok önemli bir paya sahip olmamıştı ancak gerek başlangıcı gerekse dünya savasi öncesinde ic savaş içerisinde yaşananlar aslında dünya savaşının bir provasidir. 1936 yılında halkın devrim ateşi ileri ki yıllarda sol cephenin fraksiyonlarinin birbirine düşmanlık beslemesi iktidar hırsı Stalinist politikalar komünist Parti'nin diğer fraksiyonlari dislamasi ve net bir Lenin gibi bir liderlerinin olmaması sonucunda amacına ulaşamamis bir devrim ancak İspanyol yoldaşlar'in 1936 yılında yaşadıkları o heyecan ve eylemleri her zaman sosyalizm içerisinde yaşayacak .

Kesinlikle tavsiyedir . Ülkemize İspanya iç savaşı ile alakalı kazandırılmış en zengin metin olabilir

[Lori · Rating 5 out of 5]

Written by Trotskyites, they beautifully admit that: "There has never been such a thing as a perfectly objective historian, and anyone who thinks he is one is lying to himself just as he lies to others (p. 12), yet this book is most likely bamboozle free.

An account of the Spanish Revolution and the Civil War mostly from the radical left perspective of the Republican side: anarcho-syndicalists, socialists, communists. It treats the liberals, and fascists only insofar as to make the events comprehensible to the reader. Given that there's a plethora of literature that pretty much ignores the revolution aspect of this conflict, this choice in "bias" is not only understandable, but very welcome. Even more so, as this is an invaluable resource for the English reader given that sizable amounts of the bibliography have not been translated into English. Additionally then there are chapters dealing with the general context within Europe, focused mostly on the non-intervention pact, and the international brigades.

All beautifully written, easily readable, and riveting chapters aside this book also contains very useful maps, and an entire timeline of the conflict.

I shall keep interpretations of the content to a minimum, as it is the reader themselves who should do it. But I want to stress two very important points that emerge unquestionably from this text:

1) The Anarcho-Syndicalist revolution was mostly doomed by September 1936, even without the interference of the Stalinists. The anarchist leaders were complicit in dissolving the democratic, dual-power structures that could have taken over the functions of state. They chose to join the government as ministers, and the price was to dissolve these vibrant expressions, and brilliant organizational structures of popular will. It was they who betrayed the revolution first.

2) The conflict would most certainly have ended by 1937 (non-betrayed anarcho-syndicalist revolution or not) had it not been for armament shipments from the USSR in the aid of the republicans.

[Nathaniel Flakin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pierre Broué’s book on the Spanish Civil War is strange, because it’s actually two books in one. The first half is by Pierre Broué, the premiere Marxist historian of the second half of the 20th century; the second half is by Émile Temime, a bourgeois historian I had never heard of before. So the first half covers the proletarian revolution in Spain, with detailed analysis of the different classes and factions; the second half looks at the slow victory of the fascists, focussing entirely on governments, diplomats, and military leaders.

The best book on the Spanish Revolution is Felix Morrow’s „Revolution and Counterrevolution in Spain“ — actually two short books written in the heat of events and published together. Trotsky’s writings on Spain are the best analysis of the revolution (but require a good introduction). This book didn’t really feel necessary. Writing in the early 1960s, the could provide some new insights about French government policy, for example, but the most important fascist and Stalinist sources still weren’t available.

I was fascinated to learn about how the Moscow Trials were connected to Spain: Stalin realized that most leftists internationally wouldn’t question his horrible falsifications if he was providing the only lifeline to the Spanish Republic. Yet Stalinist aid for Spain was always too little to win. The Soviets and the Stalinized Communist Party put most of their effort into crushing the revolution, instead of crushing the fascists. As the joke went at the time, „If you want to prevent socialism in Spain, vote Communist!“

[Željko Matić]

Сажето о Шпанском грађанском рату и на основу ове књиге, која није лака за читање:
https://istorijskacitanka.wordpress.c...

[Karl Hafer, Jr. · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you keep in mind that Broué was a Trotskyist, it is a pretty fair handed account.

[Zéro Janvier · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un livre passionnant sur la révolution et la guerre d'Espagne. L'ouvrage date de 1961, il n'est sans doute pas à jour en terme historiographique, mais il s'agit d'un récit captivant des événements qui ont secoué l'Espagne entre 1936 et 1939.

Les deux auteurs ont chacun rédigé l'une des deux grandes parties qui composent le texte.

Dans la première partie, Pierre Broué s'intéresse principalement à la politique intérieure et en particulier à la révolution sociale déclenchée en 1936, avec des participants socialistes, communistes et anarchistes qui ne visaient pas les mêmes objectifs malgré une alliance de circonstance dans le cadre du Front Populaire.

Dans la seconde partie, Emile Temine insiste sur le déroulement de la guerre civile proprement dite mais aussi sur les aspects internationaux, avec l'intervention de l'Allemagne et de l'Italie dans le camp nationaliste, de l'URSS et des Brigades Internationales dans le camp républicain, et la position de non-intervention directe de la France et du Royaume-Uni.

J'ai été captivé par ce livre, qui m'a permis de mieux comprendre une guerre civile que je connaissais finalement mal. Je serais curieux de lire un ouvrage plus récent à ce sujet, notamment publié après la mort de Franco.

[Micah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Deservedly a classic; Broué the Trotskyist gives a sympathetic account of the Revolution and developments in the Republican zone up to the formation of Negrín's government; in a separate part, Témime dissects the Nationalist evolution, the Nonintervention farce, and military events up to the war's end. Very comprehensive and useful.

[Imanol Faya · Rating 5 out of 5]

Es genuinamente triste ver el resultado de la revolución española. En pocos lugares existió una clase obrera con plena conciencia de sus intereses, organizada y activa con respecto a las tareas que el periodo histórico exige de ellas.
Lamentablemente, la falta de una organización obrera centralizada, la guerra latente, y la traición por parte de sus propios lideres y militantes la condenó a ser devorada por el propio estado republicano.
Otra cosa, independientemente de lo que opinemos sobre distintas organizaciones obreras anarquistas o trotskistas (sindicatos o partidos), como el CNT o el POUM, lo que el PCE hizo en contra de la revolución es absolutamente injustificable de ninguna manera. El poner a la guerra y al estado burgués por encima de una revolución que ya estaba en proceso fue, sin dudas, una de las causas principales de la gran derrota subsiguiente.

[Edin Selimović · Rating 3 out of 5]

Previše propagande, pravdanje svega što uključuje ljevičare (jer je trockista i pisao). Iako sam ljevičar, ne volim takvu usku viziju. A dijelovi o samom ratu i akcijama prekratki. Puno više sam očekivao.