Harriers Column | |
---|---|
Columna Los Aguiluchos de la FAI | |
Country | Spanish Republic |
Allegiance | FAI |
Branch | Confederal militias |
Type | Militia |
Role | Home defense |
Size | 1,700 |
Garrison/HQ | Grañén |
Colors | Red and Black |
Engagements | Spanish Civil War : Aragon front |
Commanders | |
Notable commanders | • Miguel García Vivancos • Juan García Oliver |
The Harriers Column of the FAI, or Los Aguiluchos, was the last of the great Catalan anarcho-syndicalist columns. Later, more militias left Catalonia for the front, but they would no longer do so in the form of a column but rather as reinforcement units of the existing columns. This column was supposed to form a large unit - of around 10,000 combatants - but it ended up reinforcing the Ascaso Column as an autonomous column - with about 1,500 militiamen with 200 militiawomen. Organized in the Bakunin barracks in Barcelona, it was sent to the Huesca front on 28 August, with Juan García Oliver and Miguel García Vivancos leading the column. [1]
In mid-August, Joan Garcia i Oliver, Gregorio Jover and Miguel García Vivancos began making plans to create a force of between 10,000 and 15,000 anarchists to launch an offensive against the nationalist line on the Aragon front. [2] [3] Garcia i Oliver wanted to take advantage of the call to arms made by the Government, to organize an anarchist army. [4] However, the CNT unions did not agree to a massive mobilization for the front. García Vivancos and Garcia i Oliver were frustrated by the refusal of the unions. But they decided to go ahead with the column, thinking of creating a reinforcement to some column already present in the front. They believed that with the departure of so many troops to the front, the war industry and the then recent collectivizations of companies would be in danger. The CNT's own structure would also be in danger. Thus, they organized the new column outside the Committee of Antifascist Militias. [5]
On 19 August the CNT newspaper in Catalonia, "Solidaridad Obrera", called for volunteers to start joining a new anarchist column that was being organized at the Bakunin barracks. This column would be called the FAI Harriers. "Harriers" in the anarchist terminology of the time symbolized young anarchists like the Libertarian Youth. Only young men between the ages of 16 and 18 were recruited to join this column. On 28 August the formation of the column was completed, it left the Bakunin barracks and went to parade to Via Laietana, where the CNT-FAI headquarters was located. [6] The column started with about 1,500 militiamen, including more than 200 women. [7] These were young women, predominantly between the ages of 16 and 20. Later the column would receive some reinforcements until reaching 2,000 troops. [4]
The famous anarchist maquis Quico Sabaté took part in the Harriers Column, and joined the column with his brother José. They participated in the column and later in the 126th Mixed Brigade of the 28th Division. [8]
The Spanish Revolution was a workers' social revolution that began at the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War in 1936 and for two to three years resulted in the widespread implementation of anarchist and, more broadly, libertarian socialist organizational principles throughout various portions of the country, primarily Catalonia, Aragon, Andalusia, and parts of the Valencian Community. Much of the economy of Spain was put under worker control; in anarchist strongholds like Catalonia, the figure was as high as 75%. Factories were run through worker committees, and agrarian areas became collectivized and run as libertarian socialist communes. Many small businesses, such as hotels, barber shops, and restaurants, were also collectivized and managed by their workers.
José Buenaventura Durruti Dumange was a Spanish insurrectionary, anarcho-syndicalist militant involved with the CNT and the FAI in the periods before and during the Spanish Civil War of 1936–1939. Durruti played an influential role during the Spanish Revolution of 1936 and is remembered as a hero in and by the anarchist movement.
Joan Garcia i Oliver (1901–1980) was a Catalan anarcho-syndicalist revolutionary and Minister of Justice of the Second Spanish Republic. He was a leading figure of anarchism in Spain.
Anarchism in Spain has historically gained some support and influence, especially before Francisco Franco's victory in the Spanish Civil War of 1936–1939, when it played an active political role and is considered the end of the golden age of classical anarchism.
Josep Lluis Facerias (1920–1957) was a Spanish insurrectionary anarchist. He was born in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, on 6 January 1920. He was nicknamed 'Face'. When the military revolt took place in July 1936, Facerias was already affiliated to the National Confederation of Labour (CNT) and to the Libertarian Youth. He fought on the Aragon front throughout the war in the Ascaso Column and in other units. In the last battles in Catalonia he was taken prisoner and Facerias was in various concentration camps and work gangs. When he was released at the end of 1945 he joined, in Barcelona, the industrial network of the Graphic Arts of the clandestine CNT although in fact he was working as a waiter.
Miguel García Vivancos was a Spanish Naïve painter and anarchist. He was a member of the National Confederation of Labor, during the Spanish Civil War he commanded several military units. With the defeat of the Republic he went into exile, where he developed a career as a painter. He was artistically known by his second surname.
The Iron Column was a Valencian anarchist militia column formed during the Spanish Civil War to fight against the military forces of the Nationalist Faction that had rebelled against the Second Spanish Republic.
Revolutionary Catalonia was the period in which the autonomous region of Catalonia in northeast Spain was controlled or largely influenced by various anarchist, communist, and socialist trade unions, parties, and militias of the Spanish Civil War era. Although the constitutional Catalan institution of self-government, the Generalitat of Catalonia, remained in power and even took control of most of the competences of the Spanish central government in its territory, the trade unions were de facto in command of most of the economy and military forces, which includes the Confederación Nacional del Trabajo which was the dominant labor union at the time and the closely associated Federación Anarquista Ibérica. The Unión General de Trabajadores, the POUM and the Unified Socialist Party of Catalonia were also prominent.
The Confederación Nacional del Trabajo is a Spanish confederation of anarcho-syndicalist labor unions, which was long affiliated with the International Workers' Association (AIT). When working with the latter group it was also known as CNT-AIT. Historically, the CNT has also been affiliated with the Federación Anarquista Ibérica ; thus, it has also been referred to as the CNT-FAI. Throughout its history, it has played a major role in the Spanish labor movement.
Solidaridad Obrera is a newspaper, published by the Catalan/Balearic regional section of the anarchist labor union Confederación Nacional del Trabajo (CNT), and mouthpiece of the CNT in Spain.
Los Solidarios (“Solidarity”), also known as Crisol (“Crucible”), was a Spanish anarchist armed-struggle group founded in 1922 in Barcelona, as a reply to the dirty war strategy used by the employers and government against trade unions.
The Regional Defence Council of Aragon, was an administrative entity created by the Confederación Nacional del Trabajo (CNT) in the context of the Spanish Revolution, during the Spanish Civil War. Until its dissolution, the CRDA controlled and administered the eastern half of Aragon. The price of goods was centrally controlled to mitigate inflation.
Pepita Laguarda Batet (1919–1936), was a Catalan anarchist militiawoman who fought on the Aragon front during the Spanish Civil War. She was incorporated into the libertarian ranks without having yet reached adulthood and died in Uesca at the age of seventeen. She was the youngest soldier to die in combat during the war.
The confederal militias were a movement of people's militia during the Spanish Civil War organized by the Spanish anarchist movement: the National Confederation of Labor (CNT) and the Iberian Anarchist Federation (FAI). The CNT militias replaced clandestine defense committees instituted earlier. As the war progressed, the militias were progressively dissolved and assimilated into the Spanish Republican Army, in spite of many militiamen refusing the militarization.
Ricardo Sanz García (1898–1986) was a Valencian anarchist militant. A member of Buenaventura Durruti's insurgent group Los Solidarios, Sanz participated in the anarchist armed struggle against the Spanish monarchy and the dictatorship of Primo de Rivera. Following the proclamation of the Second Spanish Republic, he became a leader of the Confederación Nacional del Trabajo (CNT) and Federación Anarquista Ibérica (FAI) in Catalonia. During the Spanish Civil War, Sanz oversaw the training of the confederal militias and went on to lead the Durruti Column following the death of its namesake. In command of the Aragon front, he attempted multiple unsuccessful offensives against Zaragoza, but was either hampered by severe weather or held back by the Ministry of Defence. After the militarisation of the Column, he continued to command it as the reorganised 26th Division, but came into conflict with Communist-aligned commanders of the Spanish Republican Army. After the Nationalist victory in the Aragon Offensive, Sanz fled to France, where he remained for the rest of his life.
The Red and Black Column was the fifth militia column organized by the CNT-FAI in Barcelona to send to the Aragon front. Its incorporation took place in mid-September, in the Province of Huesca as a reinforcement to the anarchist Ascaso and Harriers columns.
The Land and Freedom Column was a militia column organized by the CNT-FAI from the regions of Berguedà and Bages as well as from Barcelona. The column was sent to the Central front in mid-September 1936 to reinforce the republican line against a nationalist force. It had around 1,500 militiamen in its beginnings. The column integrated into the Rosal Column and later fought on the Serra de Montsant front. After the militarization that occurred in the spring of 1937, the column became the 153rd Mixed Brigade.
The Central Committee of Antifascist Militias of Catalonia was an administrative body created on 21 July 1936 by the president of the Government of Catalonia, Lluís Companys, under pressure by the anarcho-syndicalists of the National Confederation of Labor (CNT) and Iberian Anarchist Federation (FAI), which led the workers' struggle against the July 1936 military uprising in Barcelona.
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