Chomsky on Anarchism.pdf - Zine Library

CHOMSKY ON ANARCHISM
the terrible consequences of a Franco victory. See Brenan, op. cit. , p. 331. He attributes
the British failure to suppOrt an armistice and possible reconciliation to the fact
that Chamberlain "saw nothing disturbing in the prospect of an Italian and German
victory." It would be interesting to explore more fully the attitude of Winston
Churchill. In April 1937 he stated that a Franco victory would not harm British
interests. Rather, the danger was "a success of the rrotskyists and anarchists" (cited by
Broue and Temime, op. cit. , p. 172). Of some interest, in this connection, is the
recent discovery of an unpublished Churchill essay written in March 1939-six
months after Munich-in which he said that England "would welcome and aid a
genuine Hider of peace and toleration" (see New Yo rk Times, December 12, 1965).
100 I find no mention at all in Hugh Thomas, The Spanish Civil War. The account
here is largely taken from BroU/ and Temime, pp. 279-80.
101 Op. cit. , p. 405. A footnote comments on the "leniency" of the government to
those arrested. Jackson has nothing to say about the charges against Ascaso and others,
or the manner in which the old order was restOred in Aragon.
To appreciate these events more fully, one should consider, by comparison, the
concern for civil liberties shown by Negron on the second, antifascist front. In an
interview after the war he explained to John Whitaker (We Cannot Escape History
[New York, The Macmillan Company, 1943], pp. 116-18) why his government had
been so ineffective in coping with the fifth column, even in the case of known fascist
agents. Negron explained that "we couldn't arrest a man on suspicion; we couldn't
break with the rules of evidence. Yo u can't risk arresting an innocent man because you
are positive in your own mind that he is guilty. You prosecute a war, yes; but you also
live with your conscience." Evidently, these scruples did not pertain when it was the
rights of anarchist and socialist workers, rather than fascist agents, that were at stake.
102 Cf. BroUt and Tcmime, p. 262. Ironically, the government forces included some
anarchist troops, the only ones to enter Barcelona.
103 See Bolloten, op. cit. , p. 55, n. 1, for an extensive list of sources.
93
104 BroUt and Temime cite the socialists AJardo Prats, Fenner Brockway, and Carlo
Rosseli. Borkenau, on the other hand, suspected that the role of terror was great in
collectivization. He cites very little to substantiate his feeling, though some evidence
is available from anarchist sources. See nOte 91 above.
Some general remarks on collectivization by Rosselli and Brockway are cited by
Rudolf Rocker in his essay ''Anarchism and Anarcho-syndicalism," n. 1 in Paul
Eltzbach, ed., Anarchism (London, Freedom Press, 1960), p. 266:
Rosselli: In three months Catalonia has been able to set up a new
social order on the ruins of an ancient system. This is chiefly due to
the Anarchists, who have revealed a quite remarkable sense of proportion,
realistic understanding, and organizing ability .... All the
revolutionary forces of Camlonia have uni[ed in a program of
Sydicalist-Socialist character ... Anarcho-Syndicalism, hitherto so
despised, has revealed itself as a great constructive force. I am no