The Spanish Revolution and Civil War: A Complete Timeline

Trotsky wrote in ‘The Tragedy of Spain’ (1939) that, despite the Spanish proletariat’s revolutionary heroism, they were “brought to ruin by petty, despicable, and utterly corrupted ‘leaders.’” In this episode, we chart the great triumphs and tragic demise of the Spanish Revolution in a complete timeline. Chapters listed below!

The Spanish Revolution that ran from 1931 to 1937 is one of the most remarkable and inspirational events in world history. The Spanish workers brought down the hated regime of King Alfonso XIII in April 1931; and strived to win freedom, dignity and a decent existence, which was continually denied to them by a procession of bourgeois and so-called Popular Front governments of class collaboration. 

The Spanish workers spontaneously rallied to repel an attempted military coup by General Franco in 1936, and established workers’ power in key cities like Barcelona. Time and again, victory was within reach. But sadly they were betrayed at every step by the bourgeois leaders of the Republic; as well as the blunders and outright crimes of the workers’ leaders: anarchists, socialists, communists and the POUM alike.

The price for these betrayals was the crushing of the revolution, with the Stalinist Communist Party (on the orders of the Comintern) playing an especially criminal role; and the eventual victory of General Franco in the Civil War, ushering in decades of military dictatorship.

Leading member of the Revolutionary Communist International, Jorge Martin, takes us through these remarkable years, month-by-month, revealing the entire process by which the Spanish Revolution rose and fell. 

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Chapters:

00:01:27 – The importance of the Spanish Revolution

00:03:20 – Conditions prior to the Revolution

00:10:13 – Main political forces in Spain explained

00:20:45 – April 1931, start of the Revolution

00:23:03 – October 1931, beginning of Reformist Biennium

00:23:19 – June 1932, first elected government

00:26:02 – August 1932, attempted military coup

00:27:00 – November 1933, second election, CEDA the biggest party

00:30:54 – July 1934, coup in Austria 

00:35:26 – October 1934, insurrectionary general strike and Asturian commune

00:48:04 – September 1935, founding of the POUM, two black years

00:51:31 – February 1936, Popular Front government elected

00:58:07 – April 1936, president ousted from Cortes

00:59:53 – July 1936, Franco coup defeated

01:18:41 – August 1936, changing policy of Communist Party

01:20:11 – September 1936, Caballero government

01:21:58 – October 1936, militias placed under control of bourgeois army

01:27:59 – November 1936, CNT leaders join Republican government in Madrid

01:34:17 – December 1936, repression against POUM and anarchists

01:34:32 – January 1937, POUM paper closed

01:40:17 – May 1937, Red Barcelona crushed

01:45:58 – June 1937, Nin arrested, POUM crushed

01:50:20 – August 1937, Negrin's 'government of Victory' sabotages war effort

01:52:08 – January 1938, Stalin recalling International Brigades

01:52:46 – March 1939, another coup and attempted deal with Franco

01:52:58 – April 1939, Franco enters Madrid

01:53:25 – Consequences of the revolution's defeat

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Works cited and sources:

Revolution and Counter-Revolution in Spain, Felix Morrow: https://wellred-books.com/revolution-and-counter-revolution-in-spain/The Revolution and the Civil War in Spain, Pierre Broué and Emile Témime: https://www.marxists.org/archive/broue/1961/spain/rev-spain.htmlCollected Writings on The Spanish Revolution, Leon Trotsky: https://www.marxists.org/archive/trotsky/spain/index.htmThe Class, the Party and the Leadership: Why Was the Spanish Proletariat Defeated? [Questions of Marxist Theory], Leon Trotsky: https://www.marxists.org/archive/trotsky/1940/xx/party.htmHomage to Catalonia, George Orwell: https://www.marxists.org/archive/orwell/1938/homage-catalonia.htm