Which side are you on? - May Day Greetings: For Peace, Independence and Socialism - Communist Party of Ireland / Páirtí Cumannach na ...
←
→
Page content transcription
If your browser does not render page correctly, please read the page content below
Printed & Published by the Communist Party of Ireland
May Day Greetings: For Peace, Independence and Socialism
4.5.19 Vol. 31 No 16 (Print Day Wednesday) WEB Page
Which side are you on?
ON the 1st of May millions of activ- By Lynda Walker
ists take up the ideals of the Haymar-
ket Martyrs and those who established coalition in Yemen.
May Day as an International Workers' We are no strangers to elitist groups
Day following the Chicago massacre who believe the struggle for a united
in 1886. Then over 300,000 walked Ireland comes from the barrel of a
off their jobs in support of an 8 hour gun.
day, a demand that still has to be won The reactions from Lyra McKee’s
for thousands of workers throughout killing range from that of total con-
the world. demnation, which the CPI endorse, to
With the origins of May Day came other reactions shrouded or otherwise
the culture, music and song of the in apologies. They suggest that she
working people, from Italy, Bandiera was in the wrong place at the wrong
Rossa, from France, the Internation- time, collateral in a justified war for
ale, from America, Bread and Roses Irish independence. Retaliation by the the LGBT community and also all those
and the Ballad of Joe Hill, from all PSNI would have resulted in an even who seek a more just and equal soci-
countries the songs of factories, bloodier day. ety.”
mines, mills, fishing and farming Claiming responsibility the New The reaction of journalist, politicians
communities. IRA admit there is no public support and religious leaders has been been un-
This culture reflects the bloody for its campaign of violence, that it restrained. Alison Morris in an article in
struggles against capitalism and impe- “cannot defeat the British militarily”, the Irish News suggests that poverty
rialism. None more so than the Red but action will continue for propa- especially amongst the youth in Derry is
Flag written by Jim Connell from ganda purposes. a cause of violence, others point to the
Rathniska, Co. Meath. The very The Communist Party of Ireland has absence of a regional government here.
words echo the history; “The people’s always condemned outright army and In the first instance prosperity/
flag is deepest red. It shrouded oft our police violence and the invasiveness employment would not pacify the gun-
martyred dead” that house searches produce: the role ners cause and in the second it is highly
Workers throughout the world con- of the PSNI and the Garda Siochana unlikely that they will be swayed by
tinue to be exploited and killed by are not so different when it comes to activating Stormont.
ruthless wars, conflict and deprava- protecting the state and capital. Building a united Ireland of the Con-
tion, spin offs from this include sui- The role of the police in a capitalist nolly tradition requires building a
cide bombings. state is a deliberation which is ad- united people, education and struggle
On Thursday April 17th, the Euro- dressed in Lenin’s, State and Revolu- cannot take the place of elitist violent
pean Parliament voted on a 13 billion tion when he writes: “A standing army action.
European Defence Fund. One thou- and police are the chief instruments of The real education of the masses can
sand researchers, scientists and aca- state power”. (1917). never be separated from their independ-
demics from 25 European countries Adam Murray, Community Develop- ent political and especially revolution-
called on the Parliament to vote ment Officer for the LGBT charity ary struggle. Only struggle educates the
against the Fund. They said the EU Cara-Friend, said "Lyra McKee was a exploited class and unites them in a
should tackle the root causes of con- courageous and gifted advocate for common cause. May Day is part of that
flict and that European weaponry is equal rights, her killing has devastated struggle.
being heavily used by the Saudi-led
Page 2 May Day Greetings Unity 4.5.19
Editorial
Unity is published each week
by the Communist Party of
Ireland.
PO Box 85, Belfast BT1 1SR.
May Day: optimism needed May Day
WE celebrate International Worker’ Day but it has to be
said, not with a great deal of optimism. The divisions over the
Greetings to all
European Union have been laid bare since the referendum of our Readers
2016 and recently Ireland was graced by the presence of US
House of Representatives speaker Nancy Pelosi who came
Forward for Peace,
down on the side of the pro-EU remainers when she issued Independence and
warnings connecting Brexit with the Irish border, the Good Socialism !
Friday Agreement and the question of violence. You are invited to the CPI
For good measure she also announced that there could be
May Day Social in the
no US-UK trade agreement should Brexit undermine peace in
Northern Ireland. Belfast Premises after the
Those comments will be seen as manna from heaven for May Day March
those nationalists who no doubt will up the ante in their
claims, unfounded of course, that Brexit undermines the
GFA.
As regards her line that there could be no US-UK trade
agreement, well if US capitalists see rich pickings to be had
This is an eight page May Day
here she and her words will be pushed aside as profits come special for the Web, Facebook
before principles. and email circulation.
To order Unity by post every
The 19th April saw the opening of the James Connolly week subscription rates are: 6
Interpretive Centre in West Belfast where the speakers, who months £20; 12 months £40
included the President of Ireland Michael D Higgins, spoke of Ireland and Britain
Connolly the socialist, trade unionist and internationalist. (Rates for elsewhere on re-
Connolly was all of these and to many on the left he was quest))
seen also as a Marxist but that term did not get a mention.
Connolly warned that it was not enough just to raise the Please send me Unity by post
green flag over Dublin Castle but there are those who may as for .....................months
well replace the tricolour with the yellow and blue emblem of Name...............................................
the EU for all their misplaced enthusiasm for that ................................................
organisation. Address...........................................
It is beyond comprehension when people speak from
platforms about James Connolly who stood for Irish
independence, was a socialist, trade unionist and Send to Unity Subscriptions:
internationalist and then express fervent support for an PO Box 85, Belfast BT1 1SR
organisation that was set up to oppose socialism, rules against
trade unions, and by its very nature crushes independence.
Unity 4.5.19 May Day Greetings Page 3
Jenny Farrell introduces a new booklet by Lynda
Walker, published by the Communist Party of Ireland. The Legacy of
Peadar O’Donnell
Living in an Armed May Day Event
Patriarchy ON Thursday 9th May in Crumlin
Road Gaol, Belfast, at a May Day
THIS booklet takes its reader back
event organised by Unity Press,
in time to the years from the late
Donal Donnelly, Peadar O’
1960s to the early 1980s, years that
shook the North of Ireland pro- Donnell’s long term friend and politi-
foundly in many ways. cal right hand man for more than 20
It is an example of the kind of writ- years will speak about Peadar’s life
ing about historical events that de- which spans from 1893 to 1986.
parts from mainstream, bourgeois He was in Liberty Hall with Con-
history: it writes about the experi- nolly in 1916. He fought in the War
ence of the dispossessed from their of Independence and the Irish Civil
own point of view. War.
It records aspects of their suffering He was imprisoned with Liam
and their resistance and does so with Mellows and others who were exe-
compassion as well as personal in- breaking free from their silencing and cuted by the Free State Government.
volvement. becoming aware of their powers. Peadar witnessed two world wars
The people most likely to achieve Lynda’s is not the haughty and he was in Spain at the outbreak
lasting and real change in the North ‘objective’ voice of one who com- of the anti-fascist war in 1936.
of Ireland, as is shown in the years ments from above and beyond the His contribution to the land strug-
under examination here, are those struggles of the ordinary people, a gle and for workers’ rights was out-
who are the worst affected by this voice that is not actually objective, standing.
grotesque version of capitalism but conceals the bourgeois view in Barry Bruton will chair the meet-
manifest in Britain’s strife-ridden verbal pomposity. ing.
colonial backwater. It is an account of the experience of Afterwards there will be a book
Here, as the author Lynda Walker working class women in a political
shows, civil rights were slow to ar-
launch of “There will be another
battle that propelled them forward to Day: The inside story of the land
rive and in some instances have yet ensure their demands for civil rights
to be achieved – in glaring contrast struggle” by Peadar O’ Donnell (Red
also included equality for women.
to both Britain and the Republic of Sky Books). Donal Donnelly wrote
It shows that the long, hard strug-
Ireland. an evocative tribute to his friend in
gles of working people for progres-
Indicatively, the absence of a the preface.
sive change can lead to success - al-
woman’s Right-to-Choose and same lowing us to conclude that historians May 9th, 7pm to 9pm
sex marriage can be linked to the interpret the world in different ways, Crumlin Road Gaol
greatest handicap of this artificial but the important goal is to change it. Free tickets on Eventbrite
statelet, political sectarianism, which *The main title of the book is taken Organised by Unity Press
was fuelled along contrived religious from a quote by a much loved and More info from: 07751951785
lines to divide the working class. formidable women's and civil rights
Symptomatically, those who then activist from Derry, the late Cathy
as now carry the greatest burden are Harkin.
the women of this disempowered The booklet can be bought from:
class. * Unity Press, PO Box 85 Belfast
Lynda traces the evolution of the BT1 1SR. £5. 0r £6.50 incl,. P&P.
Northern Ireland Women’s Rights * Connolly Books from the shop or
Movement from the wider political online: €6 P&P to be added. 43 East
struggles fought by these women as Essex Street Dublin 2 D02 Y306. Tele-
their very existence and that of their phone; 003531678707 connolly-
families came under threat. books@eircon.net
She also refers to the roles played *Unity Books; 72, Waterloo Street;
by women in the political move- Glasgow, G2 7DA£5. OR £6.50 incl,
ments and organisations as an aspect P&P. www.unitybooks.co.uk Tele-
of Irish women from both traditions phone: 0141 204 1611
Page 4 May Day Greetings Unity 4.5.19
By Kevin Lee
THE decline in trade union
membership since the 1970s has
been well studi ed and
Struggle to Build
documented. increases in pay and better conditions, Important union victories
The stated causes for the then growing in confidence they
deterioration include: demanded progressively more through Recent days have seen a number of
- Structural changes to capitalism a combination of trade union power important union victories which the
re-shaping the economy, altering and political representation. media have, unsurprisingly, failed to
There were many setbacks along this cover.
business models, employment and
path forward, but the lesson from the Forty-eight hour strike action by
the working class.
history of our movement is that Unite members at Balcas, Enniskillen,
- Sustained and ideologically ended as the workforce voted
driven attacks on trade unions by struggle is the first step in achieving
change. overwhelmingly to accept a vastly
the state through direct improved pay offer.
Despite the massive challenges the
confrontation, dismantling of According to Unite the “Two year
trade union movement faces today
collectivist structures and the pay deal is worth more than one
there are opportunities for growth if
i nt r oducti on of r estr icti ve there is the will to seize them. thousand pounds a worker in first year
legislation. Working people are aware of the with guaranteed above-inflation pay
- The deliberate creation of a growing levels of inequality. While increase in year two.
reserve army of unemployed the rich get more obscenely rich we “This is the first successful private-
labour and the promotion of have seen the longest stall in wage sector industrial action in Fermanagh in
precarious employment have been growth in a century, and a massive rise more than a decade…. The heroic spirit
effective tools to undermine the in insecurity. and unity of this strike action,
opposition of labour. Public health, education and other involving workers from many different
- Possibly the most important key services which a healthy society nationalities and across all traditions,
factor, but least recorded, is the depends upon are being are being has electrified workers across
collapse in ideological starved of funds and purposefully Fermanagh and the southwest of
undermined to make way for Northern Ireland generally.
confidence that there is an
privatisation while big business and Unite members have subsequently
alternative to the greed driven voted for strike action at Encirc,
the rich receive tax cuts.
capitalist model of society Derrylin, Fermanagh, over a pay
The hopes of upward mobility have
despite the obvious misery and been shattered as it has become clear dispute.
suffering it creates for people and that for the first time since the Second At the same time Prospect members
its destructiveness of resources World War our children’s lives will in System Operator NI (SONI), the
and the environment which not be better than our own. operators of the NI electricity grid
threatens the very existence of Too many people feel a growing which ensures electricity is supplied to
humanity. power imbalance and that they lack homes and businesses, suspended their
Viewed from today’s perspective voice and control. action short of a strike and postponed
the scale of the problem may seem The same feeling is echoed in the their first one day stoppage due to
daunting. workplace. commence on 15th April, to consider
But a longer view of history With the employment rate reaching a an improved pay offer from the
reveals that the working class have record high, workers discontent about employer.
been in this situation before. pay and the quality of work are Earlier in the year BFAWU members
Trade unions, the basic growing. at Irwin’s bakery Portadown accepted a
organisations of working people’s Trade unions are organisations of pay offer on the day they were due to
resistance to capitalism, have faced working people, accountable to their commence strike action.
severe legal repression before by members, and should be focused on Unite members in Glen Dimplex won
British governments and were even furthering the interests of their improvements in pay following strike
illegal. members. action at the end of last year.
Precarious employment was the For unions to grow and become Alongside the Prospect members
normal condition of workers until more relevant they must remember frustrations over pay, underfunding and
the second half of the 1900s. their purpose and encourage their conditions are leading other non-
The circumstances of working members to go on the offensive. traditional unions to consider strike
people only began to change when Successful industrial struggle will action.
they decided to fight. Initially build confidence and attract workers to The biggest nursing trade union in the
forming trade unions to struggle for the movement. North is taking the unprecedented step
Unity 4.5.19 May Day Greetings Page 5
of balloting its members for involved in strike action at Tescos
industrial action over a pay dispute and internationally) in solidarity
in December.
and unsafe staffing levels. and actively encourage workers to
Another strategic victory was the
Strike action will be among the struggle to defend and seek
winning by FORSA of recognition
measures considered by the Royal improvements to pay, conditions
from Ryanair for cabin crew staff
College of Nursing (RCN) for the and jobs.
in Ireland, while BALPA won
first time in its history. Thirty years ago, in what could be
recognition for the Company’s
The NAHT, which represents argued was the union movement’s
British based pilots.
principals and vice-principals in last great advance, the
Italian unions have also secured
around two-thirds of 1,150 schools in Confederation of Ship Building and
similar recognition deals from
NI, voted overwhelmingly to proceed Engineering Unions launched the
Ryanair.
to a formal ballot with 93% in favour 35 Hour Week Campaign.
The precarious employment
of taking industrial action. This was a master class in co-
model being exploited by
The other teaching unions in the ordinated industrial action strategy
companies like Uber in the so
North are continuing their campaign and solidarity.
called ‘gig economy’ are being
of industrial action short of strike After 10 years of being under
challenged by a new breed of
over pay. attack from plant closures, job
smaller trade unions in Britain.
Strike action is also being losses and labour laws, the
By going back to the basics of
considered by Unite and GMB engineering unions felt the
the trade union movement and
members in Bombardier Shorts in confidence to go on the offensive.
combining this with innovative
response to the Canadian owner’s CSEU unions went through the
strategies these new unions, such
demands for further job losses in NI most meticulous preparation for a
as the IWGB, are organising
“simply in the interests of profit major dispute which they are
workers in the gig economy and
maximisation” according to Unite. determined not to lose.
winning victories.
These latest redundancies are a Much of that time was spent
Some of the traditional unions
continuation of a prolonged shedding taking advice on how to avoid the
such as the BFAWU and GMB are
of jobs and skills at the Belfast many legal pitfalls which had led to
beginning to move onto this
operation which are undermining the crashing defeats for the miners' and
territory helping organise workers
existence of Bombardier Shorts. printers' unions in previous years.
previous deemed unorganisable.
It is essential that the trade union They also had to raise the
movement and community rally awareness and confidence of their
Welcome developments
behind the defence of this membership. Key workplaces were
strategically important workplace. identified by the unions as sites for
All the above initiatives are
In the South 35,000 members of strike action.
welcome developments which the
the Irish Nurses and Midwives Lengthy consultations were held
movement should be promoting
Organisation took strike action for with shop stewards as to the state of
loudly and widely to rebuild
better pay and the issue of staff their companies and the readiness
workers confidence in industrial
retention for just the second time in of their members to act as the shock
struggle to deliver better lives.
their history. troops in a battle to win a shorter
However, the movement must
SIPTU Community Employment working week for two million of
not rely on spontaneous isolated
supervisors took strike action aimed their colleagues across the industry.
actions as a sign that times are
at forcing the Government to The membership in workplaces
changing.
i mp le men t a La b o u r C o u rt not called out to strike was asked to
Real change will only occur
recommendation regarding their right participate in a voluntary levy
when unions put aside petty inter
to a pension. which would be used to pay
union rivalries, work together
And Mandate members have been significant levels of strike pay.
strategically (locally, nationally
This successful campaign of
targeted strike action and
coordinated solidarity in 1989/90
saw the working week in major
engineer firms, and beyond, reduce
from 39 to 36 hours with no
reduction in the wages.
There are lessons from this and
other struggles from our past for
unions today.
This was written before the
announc e me nt of the s ale of
Bombardier this week. Cont. page 7
Page 6 May Day Greetings Unity 4.5.19
Shameless Book and DVD A Women for
Rebel Song All Seasons available from PO
and
Immoral by Box 85, Belfast BT 1 1SR
£6 each includes P&P
James Connolly Cheques payable to CPI
International law seems to mat-
ter little to the United States Northern Area Trading
(U.S.) government as they once
again have publicly expressed
support for a coup attempt Come, workers, sing a rebel song,
against the constitutional and de- A song of love and hate:
mocratically elected government Of love unto the lowly
of Venezuela. And of hatred to the great—
One of the first to ratify his sup- The great who trod our fathers
port for the destabilizing attempt down,
was U.S. Senator Marco Rubio, Who steal our children’s bread,
who as news of an attempted Whose hands of greed are
coup reached the world early stretched to rob
Tuesday morning, has tweeted 30 The living and the dead.
messages vehemently expressing
his desire to see President Nico- Chorus:
las Maduro deposed. Then sing our rebel song as
Venezuelan state offi- we proudly sweep along
cials responded, denouncing the To end the age-old tyranny
comments of foreigner govern- that makes for human tears. Cont:
ment leaders.Vice President of Our march is nearer done Our army marches onward
Venezuela Delcy Rodriguez with each setting of the sun, With its face towards the dawn,
tweeted Tuesday: “In a shameless In trust secure in that one thing
And the tyrants’ might is
and immoral way, the U.S. gov- The slave may lean upon.
passing with the passing of the
ernment recognizes its authorship The might within the arm of him
in this criminal attempt of a coup
years.
Who, knowing freedom’s worth,
in Venezuela! They show the Strikes hard to banish tyranny
world their desire to destroy our We sing no more of wailing
From off the face of earth.
Homeland!” And no songs of sighs or tears;
Chorus
Minister of Communica- High are our hopes and stout our
This is a workers’ song written
tion Jorge Rodriguez reported hearts
by James Connolly. It first ap-
that a group of about 50 soldiers And banished all our fears.
peared in 1903 in the May num-
were located in the Altamira Our flag is raised above us
So that all the world may see ber of an Edinburgh paper, the
highway, in eastern Caracas, to
promote a coup supporting the far ’Tis Labour’s faith and Labour’s Socialist. (John McDonnell,
-right’s agenda. arm 1979, p. 42–43.) The Irish
Alone can Labour free. adopted the song as their anthem
during the fight against the fas-
Chorus cists in Spain. At a meeting in
Belfast on 17 May 2006 Manus
Out of the depths of misery O’Riordan said that his father,
We march with hearts aflame; Michael O’Riordan, learnt the
With wrath against the rulers false words of the song whilst he was
Who wreck our manhood’s name. fighting in Spain. In Connolly
The serf who licks the tyrant’s rod Column Michael writes: “The
May bend forgiving knee; Scottish comrades sang a song
The slave who breaks his slav- that they had well preserved, but
ery’s chain which at that time had almost
A wrathful man must be. disappeared in Ireland: Con-
Chorus nolly’s ‘Rebel Song’.”
Unity 4.5.19 May Day Greetings Page 7
MAY DAY 1971 BELFAST
James
a unique photo exhibition
by Bill Kirk as part of the Connolly
Belfast Archive Project
OPENS 6.00 pm:
Thursday 2nd May to Saturday 11th May Friday 10th May 7pm:
in the Red Barn Gallery Rosemary Street, Belfast. Women, power and politics in
Come and spot your comrades from past times the 21st century Speakers:
Clare Daly TD, Fatin al-
Tamimi (Ireland-Palestine
Solidarity Campaign),
Lorraine O’Connor (Muslim
Sisters of Éire), Emily Waszak
(Migrants and Ethnic Minori-
ties for Reproductive Justice).
Chair-person: Michelle Con-
nolly (Dublin Central Housing
Action). New Theatre (43 East
Essex Street)
Saturday 11 May, 2:30
p . m .
James Connolly Memorial
Lecture, 2019 The struggle for
equality: Can a capitalist sys-
tem ever provide true equal-
ity? Speaker: Prof. Kathleen
Lynch (School of Social Jus-
tice, UCD) New Theatre (43
East Essex Street)
Saturday 11th May, 7 p.m.
Youth panel: Issues facing the
youth of Ireland today. Speak-
ers from Connolly Youth
Movement, Ógra Shinn Féin,
Workers’ Party Youth, People
Before Profit New Theatre (43
East Essex Street, Dublin)
Sunday 12th May 3pm.
Struggle to Build Continued from page 5 James Connolly Commemora-
Particularly for public sector unions whose members have suffered signifi- tion, 2019 Orations by Frankie
cant decline in real wages, job losses and replacement by a complementary
Quinn (national organiser,
workforce of agency workers. Pay and the securing of permanent employ-
ment for their precariously employed work colleagues should be key issues 1916 Societies), Laura
for an innovative campaign of industrial action. Duggan (National Executive
For trade unions to grow in numbers and relevance they have to encourage Committee, CPI), Alex
their members to struggle on the issues directly affecting them in the work- Homits (Connolly Youth
place. Movement) Arbour Hill
Success will raise confidence in their strength. With such confidence rebuilt Cemetery and afterwards a
the forward march of labour can recommence.
drinks reception and music at
the Cobblestone, Smithfield
The booklet Spain’s “ Left “ Critics (see p 8) is available from: Further details and full pro-
www.manifestopress.uk £4 plus £2 p&p. Bulk order post freePage 8 May Day Greetings Unity 4.5.19
Media Review
wink from Franco, the 14th Division
Betrayal of Madrid of the Republican Army, controlled
by anarchists and under the direction
of General Mera, left an active front
to march on Madrid in order to con-
APRIL saw the 80th anniversary
front the Republican loyalists .
of the end of the Spanish civil War.
Insurmountable odds forced the
Those people throughout the world
Communists to leave their strong-
who supported the Spanish Repub-
holds and retreat leaving over a
lic, whether it was by volunteering
thousand of them and their support-
to take up arms in its defence or do-
ers dead in the attempt to save the
ing other vital support work, saw it
Republic.
as an armed rehearsal for the coming
Some weeks later Franco's army
global conflict.
marched into Madrid unopposed and
“Bombs on Madrid today means
all attempts to negotiate favourable
bombs on London tomorrow” unfor-
peace terms came to nothing.
tunately became all too true.
Whilst many at the time saw
Since that time there have been
Casado's coup as a betrayal, George
various accounts of the war from hang on for a few more months it
Orwell took a contrary view stating
equally various sources. was possible that the gathering war
in a review of Casado's memoirs in
Some people never get beyond clouds over Europe would force
1940, “Considering the actual mili-
George Orwell's Homage to Catalo- Western powers to take military and
tary situation it is difficult not to feel
nia which was described by former diplomatic action against Franco.
that Casado was right.”
International Brigader Bill Alexan- However, in early March Colonel
However in the early 1940s after
der as “as useful as studying the Casado, appointed commander of
discussions with Negrin, in exile in
Second Word War from the story of the Republic Army of the Centre the
Britain, Orwell was beginning to
a small group of soldiers in some previous year, led a group of rene-
have second thoughts on other mat-
quiet corner, far from the main front gade military and political leaders,
ters contrary to Homage to Catalo-
of El Alamein, Stalingrad or Nor- including well-known socialists and
nia, conceding that the war was not
mandy.” anarchists, from the Consejo Na-
lost because of divisions on the left
Ken Loach’s film Land and Free- tional de Defence (CND) with the
and the suppression of POUM by
dom was nothing short of an ultra- intention of deposing Negrin and
the Popular Unity Government.
left travesty of the truth. the elected Popular Front Govern-
He even came to the view that the
Fitting then that on this anniver- ment.
Trotskyist thesis that the war could
sary Tom Sibley wrote an article for Sibley tells us that the renegades’
have been won if the revolution had
the Morning Star under the heading actions were informed by virulent
not been sabotaged was probably
“The betrayal of Madrid and the tri- anti-Communism.
false.
umph of fascism in Spain” based on They justified their treachery by
He accepted that the fascists won
a pamphlet written at the time by claiming that the Communist Party,
because they were stronger militar-
Daily Worker editor J. R Campbell. backed by Negrin and the Soviet
ily and “no political strategy could
He states, “A coup against the Re- Union, was about “to take power in
offset that.”
public led to the fascists marching the republican zone,” and “that
However Orwell made no attempt
on Madrid unopposed, and by refus- Spain was about to fall under a Sta-
in future editions of his book to re-
ing to correct his most famous book, linist dictatorship.”
flect his true views of POUM and
Orwell knowingly misled his readers Sibley describes these claims as
the reasons for the defeat.
to this day.” absurd as by that time Franco ‘s vic-
He and his publishers preferred
Sibley writes that until the end of tory was inevitable.
to retain the anti-Communist and
February 1939 Prime Minister Juan Communists and their supporters
anti-Soviet views which were in line
Negrin and his only reliable allies, were being arrested and when these
with the Cold War position of the
the Communists, were determined to actions were forcibly resisted a civil
British Establishment.
fight on despite a series of crushing war within the Civil War broke out,
Orwell went further, ending his
defeats in Catalonia. The Communists held the initia-
life as an informer who denounced
The Republic still had 500,000 tive for the first few days and were
his literary and political contempo-
men under arms, controlled a large on the verge of defeating Casado
raries to the British secret police.`
area of central Spain and it was coalition troops but with what
Negrim’s belief that if they could Sibley describes as a nod and aYou can also read
