Francisco Barbieri

Although the name of Camillo Berneri was united fraternally with that of Francisco Barbieri by
their deaths, this anarchist comrade is rarely introduced.
Born 11th November 1895 in Briattica in the province of Catanzaro, Barbieri was active as an
anarchist from his youth, and with the coming of Fascism, he emigrated to Argentina.
Argentina was in the midst of social disturbance: violent strikes repressed by the army (2,000 dead
in Patagonia in 1921); powerful trade union organisations, of which FORA was anarcho-syndicalist.
Barbieri meanwhile became involved in the Italo-Argentinian anarchist group of Severino di
Giovanni which first attacked North American establishments with bombs at the time of the murder
of Sacco and Vanzetti, and then Fascist Italian firms. At the same time the group carried out several
hold-ups to finance a secret press which in 1930 was to publish two volumes of 'Social Writings' by
Elisee Reclus in Italian.
When di Giovanni and his comrades were arrested, Barbieri was able to make several
compromising documents disappear and escape to Brazil from where he was expelled to Italy to be
imprisoned. He succeeded in escaping and entering France. But, accused of using false papers, he
was imprisoned and expelled from France to Switzerland from where he was similarly expelled to
arrive in Spain in October 1935. But denounced by the Italian secret police who demanded his
extradition, he passed secretly into Switzerland which is where he was when the events in Spain
began. Barbieri reached Barcelona again, arriving there on 25th July 1936.
Because of illness, Barbieri found himself in Barcelona in May 1937 after having fought on the
Huesca Front. (Information contained in part in the article by L. Mastrodicasa, 'Guerra di Classe,'
23rd June, 1937).
Bound together by their death, Berneri and Barbieri illustrate two complementary aspects of
anarchism: the unrelenting struggle against dictatorships and their ideologies.

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The Spanish Revolution (1936)

The role of
anarchism in the
Spanish
Revolution or
Spanish Civil War
of 1936 is too
often absent from
histories of this
struggle against
fascism. Alongside
the war millions
of workers
collectivised the
land and took
over industry to
pursue their
vision of a new
society. This page
tells their story
and the story of
those who fought
alongside them.
The Spanish Revolution page has been online for more than a decade and contains dozens of
articles on the Spanish Civil War from an anarchist perspective as well as links to many
photographs of the civil war. Anarchists seldom use the phrase 'civil war' in relation to the events
because it hides the revolutionary nature of the struggle within the republican side, a revolution in
which some seven million workers on the land and in industry took over their workplaces. This
page has been updated as of late 2007 to fix the many broken links that had accumulated and to add
extra explanatory text and links to good books and video on the revolution that are not otherwise
available online.

Contents

Introductions
Prelude to

Introductions
Anarchism and

Recommended reading

Revolution
The Revolution
Eyewitness
accounts
Spain and the
world
Organisations of
the Spanish
revolution
Collectives
Women
The May Days
Individual people
Original
documents
Songs
Online books
Book Reviews
Interpretations
After the
revolution

the Spanish Civil

War
an brief overview of the
role the anarchists
played and their
acheivements
Glossary of terms
George Orwell's 'Homage to
Chronology of the Catalonia' is an excellent and easy to
major events
read, eyewitness introduction to the
The PDF file of this
revolution and counter revolution
pamphlet
within the Spanish Civil War
A summary of the
achivements of the Spanish
revolution
The People Armed and the
People's Army : A film
review of Land and
Freedom
An overview of the military
history of the civil war
The anti-fascist camp in the
Spanish revolution
A New World In Their
Hearts

Prelude to Revolution

Francisco Ferrer and the Modern School [1901]

The formation of the anarchist unions and the Tragic Week [1909]
Birth of the FAI - Edgar Rodrigues On The Origins Of The Iberian Anarchist Federation
(FAI) [1926]
An unexpected dash through Spain, Emma Goldman on conditions under Rivera [1929] *
The Barcelona rent strike of [1931]
Prison letter from Durruti the year before the revolution about CNT tactics [1935]
Daniel Guerin on the anarchist tradition in Spain *
How were the anarchists able to obtain mass popular support in Spain?*
Miners strikes in Asturies - 1890 to 1998
A history of the Spanish libertarian youth paper 'Ruta'

Latest International anarchist news and discussion

from Spain via Anarkismo.net
//

[Estado Espaol] CGT Ante La Aprobacin De La Reforma

Laboral A3 2:37pm
Reflexiones tras la Huelga del Metro de Madrid J31 6:37pm
CNT contra los despidos de educadores por el Ayuntamiento de
Madrid J21 8:19pm
Durruti J21 3:06pm
Ante la recuperacin de los retrasos ocasionados por la huelga del
metro J19 3:01pm
Manifiesto de Apoyo a la Huelga de Metro de Madrid (con los
nuevos firmantes) J18 5:34pm
Huelga del Metro de Madrid: Ensayo de la huelga general? J17
11:46pm

Decisiones importantes sobre la Huelga del Metro de Madrid J13

6:09pm

Manifiesto de Apoyo a la Huelga de Metro de Madrid J13 4:58pm

Spagna: Giornata di Formazione Confederale sulla riforma del
lavoro e i tagli sociali J13 1:47pm

The Revolution
Recommended reading

Durruti's funeral in Barcelona was attended by

500,000 people

The first days

of the
Revolution
from El
Acratador #54
The first two
weeks
by Andrew
Flood
The first two
years
by the Friends
of Durruti
The
organisation of
the anarchist
militia
Anarchist rural
Collectives
About the Iron
Column
from Jose
Peirats
Some quotes
from 'Blood of
Spain'

Antony Beevors brilliant

military history of the
war is written from a
stand point that seeks to
understand the anarchist
political positions and
how their military
methods related to them.

about the
Spanish
Revolution
Durruti's
interview with
Pierre van
Paasen
Jack White's
first Spanish
impressions
What Spanish
anarchism
must do to win
- Camillo
Berneri October. 1936
A Study of the
Revolution in
Spain
by Stuart
Christie
Why the CNT
entered
government
The Militia's
in the
revolution

Eyewitness accounts and studies of the Revolution

IWW coverage of the Spanish revolution

Workers War To Stop Fascism:
Class Collaboration--Old And New:
Counter-Revolution In Spain
Hi-Jacking The Revolution:
Failure of the Workers Alliance
The "Uncontrollables" In Spain
The CNT as I Saw It
by Fenner Brockway
The Collectives in Aragon
by Gaston Leval
George Orwell
on the Spanish revolution.
First Spanish impressions
by Jack White
Camillo Berneri's writings from Spain
Interview on militarisation of the militias
War and Revolution

Open letter to comrade Federica Montseny

Madrid, sublime city
Beware, Dangerous Corner!
Counter Revolution on the March
The May Days in Barcelona, 1937
by Augustin Souchy
Durruti Is Dead, Yet Living
By Emma Goldman
Towards a fresh revolution
by the Friends of Durruti
Anarchist rural Collectives
by Deidre Hogan (also in Spanish as El triunfo de la libertad)
Industrial Collectivisation during the Spanish Revolution by Deirdre Hogan
Within hours of the start of the Spanish revolution workers had seized control of 3000
enterprises.
The Tragedy of Spain
Rudolf Rocker's
The Collectives in Revolutionary Spain
by Lucien
Stalin's Foreign Policy in the Spanish Civil War and the Barcelona Uprising of May, 1937
by Jason Wehling
About the Iron Column
from Jose Peirats
A day Mournful and Overcast...
by an "uncontrollable" from the Iron Column.
A soldier returns
letter from a US member of the Durruti Column
Durruti Is Dead, Yet Living
by Emma Goldman
Living Utopia - Televisin Espaola documentary
CNT Newsreel stills
framegrabs from CNT newsreel shot during the Spanish Civil War
A Study of the Revolution in Spain
by Stuart Christie
Los Quijotes: Anarchist Youth Group, Spain, 1937
Why We Lost the War: A Contribution to the History of the Spanish
Pura Arcos 1919-1995
The Libertarian Revolution (1936)

The following books in this section used to be available online and linked here but no longer seem
to be so I've a substituted Amazon.com links
Collectives in the
With the Peasants
Spanish
of Aragon
Revolutio...
Agustn Souchy,
Gaston Leval, V.
A...
R...

The above photo is assembled from framegrabs of CNT newsreel of the Durruti Column, I believe
this is the International section

PDF file for you to print out and distribute:

Anarchism in Action: The Spanish Civil War

Organisations

Birth of the FAI

by Edgar Rodrigues
A study of the Iberian Anarchist
Federation
review of Stuart Christie book
The CNT as I Saw It
by Fenner Brockway
Why the CNT entered
government
The Friends of Durruti.
The revolutionary
message of the 'Friends
of Durruti' (BOOKincludes sections of their
paper, also available as a
PDF file )
Introduction to Friends
of Durruti
Their pamphlet Towards
a fresh revolution

Recommended
reading

Anarchists In
The Spanish
Revolution...
Jose Peirats
Peirats is widely
considered to be
the 'offical'

The Friends of Durruti A Chronology by Paul

Sharkey
Jaime Balius and the
Friends of Durruti
Rebuttal of accusations
of Marxism
Agustin Guillamon's
flawed history of the
FOD
Review of
Guillamons
flawed history of
FoD
another review of
Guillamon
Mujeres Libres - anarchist
womens organisation
Free Women of Spain
Text of a talk on the
Mujeres Libres
The Mujeres Libres
Anthem
The organisation of the
anarchist militia
Review of Antony
Beevan on Militias
About the Iron Column
from Jose Peirats
The Iron Column
quotes from A Study of
the Revolution
A day Mournful
and Overcast...
by an
"uncontrollable"
from the Iron
Column.
'Revolutionary War? A
Contribution to the
Debate about the
Spanish Revolution
The role of the Spanish
Communist Party
The Spanish libertarian youth
paper 'Ruta'

historian of the
Spanish anarchist
movement

PDF file of The

revolutionary message of
the Friends of Durruti
20 pages booklet on the Spanish
anarchist group with
introduction by Daniel Guerin

The Collectives

The economy of the revolution in Spain

Kevin Doyle
Collectives in the Spanish Revolution
a WSM article
The Anarchist Collectives in the Countryside during the Spanish Civil War
by Deidre Hogan
The Collectives in Revolutionary Spain
by Lucien
Anarchist rural Collectives
by Deirdre Hogan
Innovation in the collectives
from Sam Dolgoff
Collectivization in Catalonia
Augustin Souchy on collectivization in Barcelona during the Spanish Revolution
How were Spanish industrial collectives organized?
from the Anarchist FAQ
How were the Spanish agricultural cooperatives organized
from the Anarchist FAQ
Eyewitness quotes on
the collectives in the Spanish Revolution

PDF file of Spanish revolution poster

for you to print out and display

Spain and the world

Anarchist Revolution in Spain: a Victim of International Politics

What did non-intervention actually mean
Non - intervention and international involvement in the Spanish Civil War

Women in the
Revolution
Conditions
for the vast
majority of
people in
Spain in the
1920s and
1930s were
appalling.
For women
they were
especially
bad. In the
two years
before the
1936
revolution,
two groups
of anarchist
women in
Barcelona
and Madrid
had begun
organising

Anarchist Women Militia in Spain

Mujeres Libres anarchist

womens
organisation
Free Women of
Spain
Women in The
Spanish
Revolution - S.
African article
Womens
liberation & the
revolution
Women in the
Spanish
Revolution
A talk on the
Mujeres Libres

Recommended
Reading

Free Women of
Spain
Martha Ackelsberg
The best English
language source
on the Spanish
anarchist women's
organization
Mujeres Libres the revolution
within the
revolution

(Free Women)
The Mujeres
Libres Anthem
Women in the
Spanish
revolution
Solidarity text
by Liz Willis
Anarchism and
Womens
liberation

The May Days in Barcelona (1937)

The May Days in Barcelona, 1937

by Augustin Souchy
The Friends of Durruti.
The revolutionary message of the 'Friends of Durruti' translated for this site by
Chekov Feeney
A Spanish translation El Mensaje Revolucionario de "Los Amigos de Durruti"
Their pamphlet Towards a fresh revolution
Jaime Balius' rebuttal of accusations of Marxism
Pablo Ruiz, FoD member on the May days and the Friends of Durruti
A brief biography of Camillo Berneri - Italian anarchist murdered by the Stalinists in
Barcelona during the May Days
Luigi Camillo Berneri
Berneri's writings
Social democracy and communism betrays the revolution
Counter Revolution on the March
The USSR and the CNT: an unconscionable stance
Fragment on post-May opposition to collaboration
A soldier returns - a US member of the Durruti Column on the Stalinist terror
Review of non-anarchist writings on the May Days

People

Buenaventura Durruti
Durruti Is Dead, Yet Living by Emma Goldman
Buenaventura Durruti by Peter E Newell
Buenaventura Durruti by Correo@, Venezula
a prison letter from Durruti about CNT tactics in 1935
Durruti's interview with Pierre van Paasen
Francisco Ferrer
a photo of Ferrer
Emma Goldman on Francisco Ferrer
Ferrer was executed in the aftermath of the Tragic Week
Major General Miguel Garcia Vivancos
Captain Jack White who formed the Irish Citizen Army and later fought with the CNT
militia

Jack White - biography and writings

Jack White's first Spanish impressions
The anarchist views of Captain Jack White
Jaime Balius - secretary of the 'Friends of Durruti'
Jaime Balius' rebuttal of accusations of Marxism
Camillo Berneri - Italian anarchist murdered by the Stalinists in Barcelona during the May
Days
A brief biography of Camillo Berneri
Luigi Camillo Berneri
Berneri's writings
Francisco Barbieri - murdered alongside Berneri

Documents

Libertarian Communism
Isaac Puente's
Towards a fresh revolution
Friends of Durruti
After the Revolution
by Diego Abad de Santillan
Interview with Buenaventura Durruti
by Pierre Van Paasen
Berneri's writings
articles published 1936 - May '37

Songs of the Revolution

Lyrics of 'Sons of the People' in English and 'Spanish' (ca)

Lyrics of 'A las Barricadas' in English and 'Spanish' (ca)
Lyrics of the Mujeres Libres anthem in English and 'Spanish' (ca)
Lyrics of Los moros que trajo Franco in English and 'Spanish' (ca)

On-line books/pamphlets on Spain

Anarchism in Action: The Spanish Civil War

by Eddie Conlon
The revolutionary message of the 'Friends of Durruti'
George Fontenis, preface by Daniel Guerin

translated for this site by Chekov Feeney

Towards a fresh revolution
by the Friends of Durruti
A day Mournful and Overcast...
by an "uncontrollable" from the Iron Column.
A Study of the Revolution in Spain
by Stuart Christie
The Friends of Durruti - A Chronology
by Paul Sharkey

Book Reviews

The Spanish Civil War by Antony Beevor

The Spanish Civil War by Antony Beevor
Review of one of the best histories of the Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Anarchists - The heroic years; 1868 - 1936
The Friends of Durruti.and Guillamon's 'history'
Agustin Guillamon's history of the FoD
Arms For Spain
The story of the Moscow gold: How the Spanish war was lost
Review of non-anarchist writings on the May Days
Recent Books on Spanish Anarchism - Reviewed by Jon Bekken
We, the Anarchists! A study of the Iberian Anarchist Federation (FAI) 1927-1937, by Stuart
Christie.
We, the Anarchists: A Study of the Iberian Anarchist Federation (FAI)
1927-1937 Another review of Stuart Christie's book on the FAI.
What Nightmares! What Dreams?
A review of the Spanish Civil War exhibition "Dreams + Nightmares" at the London
Imperial War Museum.
The Anarchists of Casas Viejas by Jerome R. Mintz
Review of the excellent book on the Casas Viejas revolt of 1933
The CNT in the Spanish Revolution (vol. 1) by Jose Peirats
Review of the best anarchist book on the Spanish Revolution
Wrong Steps: Errors in the Spanish Revolution by Juan Garcia Oliver
Review of a pamphlet containing the section from Oliver's 1978 autobiography on the events
of July 1936
Review - Red Barcelona:Social Protest & Labor Mobilisation in the 20th Century
A rather sectarian attempt to draw lessons from the growth of the CNT for activists today

Films on the Spanish revolution

Libertarias

Land and Freedom

Ana Beln, Victori...

Rosana Pastor, Ic...

Review of Libertarias/Jugeos de

Review of Land and Freedom

Guerra
Anarchist militia women who are
fighting not only Franco,
but also the conservative attitudes
toward women that prevail in the
revolutionary ranks

Follows the actions of one international

milita unit fighting with the POUM in
the first year of the war

Check out the Anarchist History

page
Anarchist History including the Russian,
Spanish and Mexican revolutions, the Paris
commune, historical texts and famous
individual anarchists.

The meaning of the Spanish Revolution for

anarchism today

Does revolutionary Spain show

that libertarian socialism can
work in practice? from the
Anarchist FAQ
The lessons of the Spanish
Revolution
Murry Bookchins essays To
Remember Spain
Trotskyist Lies on Anarchism a
review of Felix Morrow's
'Revolution and CounterRevolution in Spain
The WSA (US section of the
IWA) answers criticism of the
CNT from a trotskyist group.
Anarchists in the Spanish
Revolution, by Sam Dolgoff

The Spanish Anarchists

Murray Bookchin
Recommended reading
A very readable introduction to
Spanish anarchism for
north American readers written by
one of the best known modern US
anarchists

After the war: Anarchism undefeated

Forgotten heros, the role Spanish anarchists played in fighting fascism in France in
WWII
The resistence to Franco after the Civil War
This account of the making of Behold a Pale Horse includes several references to

exiled Spanish anarchists

The Spanish libertarian youth paper 'Ruta' continued to be published in exile

Images

CNT Newsreel stills

framegrabs from CNT newsreel shot during the Spanish Civil War
The Southworth poster collection includes detailed explanations of the images

The Anarchist Movement in Spain today

Anarcho-syndicalism in Spain
Organisations on the web

The Confederacion National del Trabajo (CNT)

The Confederacion General del Trabajo (CGT)
The Catalan CNT paper Solidaridad Obrera

Essays

The CNT, anarchism and Spain: Challenging State and Class Power
Does Spanish anarchism prove that state and class control is fundamentally
inessential?

Links to other SCW web pages

Dana Wards Spanish Civil War page

Eugene W. Plawiuk's excellant site on the Spanish Civil War.
Ireland and the Spanish Civil War

Latest International anarchist news and discussion via

Anarkismo.net

//
Apuntes sobre Colombia y el fascismo clsico europeo A4 12:23pm
Black Flame Book Launch A4 11:32am
Protesto no crime A4 11:23am
Federacin de Obreros en Construcciones Navales. La huelga ms larga de la historia argentina.
A4 5:30am

Sindicato de Plomeros. Una historia de sindicalismo clasista y libertario. A4 4:30am

The Deepwater Horizon Spill A4 1:45am

Problems and Possibilities: California Student Organizing Explodes A4 1:43am
Haiti: A Better Way A4 1:40am
Why Anarchism? A4 1:33am
Entrevista a Luis Pacheco, miembro de ASOMA-PAZ, Colombia A4 12:43am

This page is from the Struggle archive