Durruti Column

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Durruti Column
Columna Durruti
Active18 July 1936 – 28 April 1937
CountryFlag of Spain 1931 1939.svg  Spain
AllegianceCNT FAI flag.svg CNT-FAI
Branch Confederal militias
Type Column
RoleHome Defence
Size6,000
Garrison/HQ Bujaraloz
Motto(s)Llevamos un mundo nuevo en nuestros corazones (We carry a new world in our hearts)[ citation needed ]
Engagements Spanish Civil War:
Commanders
Notable
commanders

The Durruti Column (Spanish: Columna Durruti), with about 6,000 people, was the largest anarchist column (or military unit) formed during the Spanish Civil War. [1] During the first months of the war, it became the most recognized and popular military organisation fighting against Franco, and it is a symbol of the Spanish anarchist movement and its struggle to create an egalitarian society with elements of individualism and collectivism. The column included people from all over the world. Philosopher Simone Weil fought alongside Buenaventura Durruti in the Durruti Column, and her memories and experiences from the war can be found in her book, Écrits historiques et politiques. The Durruti Column was militarised in 1937, becoming part of the 26th Division on 28 April.

Contents

History

Formation

The column was formed in Barcelona where, on 18 July 1936, the anarchists started fighting against General Manuel Goded and his army in what became known as the Battle of Barcelona. The republican government and the Captain General of Catalonia, Francisco Llano de la Encomienda, had done nothing to protect the city from the rebellious army in Catalonia; Barcelona was left undefended. Fearing attack, the anarchist and communist organisations such as CNT-FAI along with Unión General de Trabajadores (UGT), the Workers' Party of Marxist Unification ("Partit Obrer d'Unificació Marxista", POUM) and the Unified Socialist Party of Catalonia ("Partit Socialista Unificat de Catalunya", PSUC) organised themselves into militia units and took weapons from the arsenals with the support of the people responsible for the arsenals, mostly non-commissioned officers. The anarchists, under the command of Buenaventura Durruti, one of the most popular leaders of Federación Anarquista Ibérica, attacked the Atarazanas/Drassanes barracks. [2] Later on, the headquarters of the Durruti Column was attacked at Bujaraloz, halfway between Barcelona and Madrid.

On 20 July 1936, Durruti and other anarchists such as Juan García Oliver and Diego Abad de Santillán, participated in a meeting with Lluis Companys, the President of Catalonia. The next day, as the outcome of that meeting, they formed with other leftist organisations The Central Committee of the Antifascist Militias. Despite being in the majority, they took only one-third of the committee's seats. [3] The committee was responsible for supplying and coordinating the actions of different militias. After some time, it became dominated by the Communists.

Advance

Intending to secure Catalonia against the Nationalists, Durruti and his column headed towards Zaragoza, which was controlled by General Emilio Mola, who was one of the main leaders and instigators of the July Coup. [4] They fought their first battle in Caspe, a city located about 100 kilometres southeast of Zaragoza. There, they were joined by a small group of militiamen commanded by Captain Negrete from the Guardia Civil. [5] As Durruti left Barcelona, there were about 2,500 people in the column, and by the time they reached Zaragoza, their number had increased to 6,000. The advance stopped near the city banks because Durruti was convinced by Colonel José Villalba Rubio, the de facto leader of republican forces in Aragon, that if he reclaimed Zaragoza, he might become isolated from the rest of the fighters. Nowadays, it is doubted whether that was a good decision, given that the republican forces were greater in number; however, some argue that in the event of an open battle, a lack of weapons and supplies could have led to total disaster. [6] Durruti made his temporary headquarters in Bujaraloz. Waiting for a more convenient moment to attack Zaragoza turned out to be a grave mistake because, in time, Franco's forces became more powerful there and made it impossible to reclaim the city. [7] The offensive stopped at this point, and there was no major battle. Due to the lack of armaments, most of the advances were small and were mostly initiated due to the actions of the column's guerrilla groups. Durruti was concentrating on helping the collective.

Death of Durruti

Manifesto of the Durruti Column, published shortly after Durruti's death in 1936. United Kingdom Miscellaneous political topics (produced by one unidentified organization) undated Slide 1 Manifesto of the Durruti Column.png
Manifesto of the Durruti Column, published shortly after Durruti's death in 1936.

At the beginning of November 1936, Buenaventura Durruti, with more than 3,000 people from the column, directed themselves to Madrid. At the time, the capital of Spain was in grave danger of being overtaken by the Nationalists, and Federica Montseny convinced Durruti to leave Catalonia. His arrival in Madrid strengthened the morale of the inhabitants. He was ordered to defend, and then started on the offensive at the Casa de Campo. Whilst efficient in street battles, the militants lacked both the power and experience to stand a chance against the disciplined, well-equipped, and battle-hardened Moroccan soldiers of the Army of Africa. Having suffered huge casualties, the Durruti column was forced to withdraw from the battlefield. On 19 November, Durruti was shot and died in a hospital sometime later. The origins of the fatal bullet are unknown. Some argue it was an action taken by the Soviet operatives of either the GRU, or the NKVD, whilst others state that it was merely Durruti's gun letting off an unintentional discharge and killing him. [8] The column was later commanded by Ricardo Sanz in Madrid and by Lucio Ruano on the Aragon Front. Coronel Carlos Romero Giménez had disagreements with the anarchists. He asked for Sanz's dismissal [9] and proposed that the Column be dissolved and its men distributed among other units. [10] In January 1937, the new general delegate of the column, José Manzana, allowed the militarisation of the column, which then became part of the 26th Division.

After the Durruti Column

Due to the Soviet-backed forces growing in power, the other militias were organized into a regular army, and the Durruti Column was transformed into the 26th Infantry Division. After the war, many of the fighters were either put in prison or executed. Those who survived and escaped to France, which, right before World War II, experienced a rise of nationalist sentiments, were put into concentration camps. Following the German invasion of France, many former anarchist fighters played a crucial role in the French Resistance; others, however, were not so lucky, instead trading French concentration camps for German ones. Some managed to escape to different countries of Latin America and stayed there for the rest of their lives, sometimes even organising with the indigenous people mini-anarchist states in the jungle, as did Antonio García Barón. [11]

After the end of World War II, the former republican fighters experienced a huge disappointment. They hoped that the democratic countries would now liberate Spain from Franco's dictatorship. But not even Mexico, which was one of the most active helpers of the republicans and France, despite the pleading of many resistance fighters, refused to go to war in Spain to unseat the regime. Some anarchists, many of them former members of the Durruti Column, decided to organise a campaign of resistance against the Spanish State. They had their headquarters in France, many times collaborating with the later formed ETA and did not stop fighting until the end of the regime, fighting primarily in the mountains; however, despite their high successes in the early period of the campaign, the campaign declined in effectiveness as their primary core of fighting men and women aged, whilst many of their number were caught, tortured, and summarily executed in fabricated 'escapes' from the authorities as part of the Ley de fugas. [12] [13]

Collectivisation

The collectivisation [14] of the countryside started right after leaving Barcelona. Even though the column did not stop to liberate as many areas as other columns, due to its size, it created the majority of the libertarian communes. In the beginning, there were some acts of violence and some people were forced to join the collectives. But it is said that Durruti himself defended the individualists who did not want to work and share their land. [15] Such people were left having as much land as they could cultivate with their families without any hired labour and could always join the collective. Depending on the place, the individualists could have been put under more or less stronger economical pressure to make them join the commune.

Organization

The simplest combat units were made up of roughly ten to twenty-five individuals who formed a "group", with a group delegate elected by direct democracy and subject to recall at all times. Groups federated together to form a "century" of about 100 individuals, which also elected its own delegate. Five centuries formed a "grouping" with their corresponding elected delegate. The sum of the existing groupings gave rise to the column. Its general delegate, liaising with the War Committee, was the French artillery captain named Berthomieu, who died on 16 October during the Battle of Perdiguera. It also made use of "Guerrilla Groups", such as 'The Children of the Night', 'The Black Band', 'The Dynamiters' and 'The Metalworkers', which went on missions behind enemy lines. [16] The Durruti Column is said to be the first anarchist military formation with discipline based on solidarity, not on privileges and hierarchy. All the delegates of all ranks lacked privileges and hierarchical command, the column only obeyed orders to attack certain places. [17]

International Group

The column also had an international group, containing fighters from several countries, including Germany, France, Italy, Morocco, Britain and the United States. Several centuries contained foreigners:

Military Technical Council

The 'Military-Technical Council' was made up of all of the delegates in the Column, its delegate was initially Enric Pérez i Farràs but he was quickly replaced by José Manzana. [16]

First sector. Delegate Ruano.
Second Sector. Delegate Miguel Yoldi.
Third sector. Delegate Mora.
International Group. Delegate Louis Berthomieu.

War committee

A "war committee", advised by the military-technical council, coordinated the column's operations from the headquarters at Bujaraloz, where fighters were provided with services such as: health care, food and mechanic support. At the head of the war committee was the general delegate of the whole column. [16]

Notable members

See also

References

  1. ↑ Antony Beevor Walka o Hiszpanię 1936-1939. Pierwsze starcie totalitaryzmów, original title The Battle for Spain. The Spanish Civil War 1936-1939, Kraków 2009, page 186
  2. ↑ Antony Beevor Walka o Hiszpanię 1936-1939. Pierwsze starcie totalitaryzmów, original title The Battle for Spain. The Spanish Civil War 1936-1939, Kraków 2009, pages 113-115
  3. ↑ Antony Beevor Walka o Hiszpanię 1936-1939. Pierwsze starcie totalitaryzmów, original title The Battle for Spain. The Spanish Civil War 1936-1939, Kraków 2009, page 163
  4. ↑ "The first days of the Spanish Revolution, Durruti & the Durruti column... (often misspelt as Durutti)". Recollectionbooks.com. 11 December 2010. Archived from the original on 11 November 2013. Retrieved 6 September 2013.
  5. ↑ Abel Paz Durruti in the Spanish revolution AK Press 2007, page 482
  6. ↑ José Andrés-Gallego, Luis de Llera, Juan Velarde, Nazario González España acutal - La Guerra Civil (1936–1939), Madrid 1989, pp. 175-176
  7. ↑ Abel Paz Durruti in the Spanish revolution AK Press 2007, page 485
  8. ↑ Abel de Paz. "La muerte de Durruti". Blog.pedropaz.com. Retrieved 6 September 2013.
  9. ↑ Colonel Romero accused Ricardo Sanz of mistreating the soldiers and of taking prostitutes to the trenches
  10. ↑ Salas Larrazábal, Ramón. Historia del Ejército Popular de la República. Editora Nacional, Madrid (España) ISBN   84-276-1107-2, p. 784, note 5.
  11. 1 2 "Meeting Spain's last anarchist". BBC . 8 July 2008.
  12. ↑ for the history of the anarchist resistance movement, see: Tomasz Sajewicz Zapomniana wojna. Anarchiści w ruchu oporu przeciw rządom Franco 1939-1975, Mielec-Poznań 2005
  13. ↑ Marin Silvestre, Dolors (2002). Clandestinos. El maquis contra el franquismo. Barcelona: Editorial Plaza & Janés. ISBN 84-01-53053-9. ... Las contrapartidas de la Guardia Civil empiezan a vaciar las zonas (...) La actuación obedece a la represión ejercida contra los enemigos políticos de su época por el aparato represor del franquismo. No se para en la detención de hombres, mujeres o niños: se les tortura o se les aplica la Ley de Fugas indiscriminadamente. Los cadáveres de las víctimas aparecen tirados en márgenes de caminos o en las puertas de los cementerios," that is, "The countermeasures of the Guardia Civil began to empty the zones (...) The means were in line with the repression exercised against the political enemies of their time by the repressive Franquista apparatus. It was not limited to the detention of men, women, or children: they tortured or applied the Ley de Fugas indiscriminately. The cadavers of the victims appeared shot on the edges of roads or the gates of cemeteries."
  14. ↑ For the organisation of different collectives see: Gaston Leval Wolna Hiszpania. Kolektywy podczas hiszpańskiej rewolucji 1936-1939 Poznań 2009
  15. ↑ Gabriel Jackson "Breve historia de la guerra civil de España", original title A Concise History of the Spanish Civil War, 1974 Ruedo ibérico)
  16. 1 2 3 Paz, Abel (2006). Durruti in the Spanish Revolution. AK Press. ISBN   978-1-904859-50-5.
  17. ↑ Barbara Gola, Franciszek Ryszka Hiszpania Warszawa 1999, page 203
  18. ↑ Skirda, Alexandre (2002). Facing the Enemy: A History of Anarchist Organization from Proudhon to May 1968. Oakland: AK Press. p. 162. ISBN   1-902593-19-7.
  19. ↑ Antony Beevor (amongst others) describes the Sacco and Vanzetti centuria as composed of Americans, but Kenyon Zimmer has found this particular assertion to be false: Kenyon Zimmer, 'The Other Volunteers: American Anarchists and the Spanish Civil War, 1936-1939', Journal for the Study of Radicalism, x, no. 2 (Fall 2016), 30, 47.
  20. ↑ Carl Marzani, The Education of a Reluctant Radical, vol. 3: Spain, Munich and Dyring Empires, Topical Books, 1994.

Bibliography

Further reading

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