A-Infos (en) France, UCL AL #371 - History - 1936: The CNT, Money, and the Spanish Revolution (ca, de, fr, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

This article is a revised translation of a text by Jade Saab, a 
Lebanese-Canadian researcher and activist. It examines the 
contradictions and difficulties surrounding the question of money in the 
Spanish Revolution (1936-1937), through the strategic choices of the 
Confederación Nacional del Trabajo (CNT). It analyzes the attempt to 
abolish money, the limitations encountered in maintaining financial 
institutions under the state, and emphasizes the need for a more 
coherent revolutionary approach to this issue.

Socialists have long considered money a central tool of capital. 
Regulating not only exchanges and social relations, it also reinforces 
the domination, alienation, and fragmentation of workers. Its abolition 
has therefore become a major objective for revolutionaries. Karl Marx 
warned trade unions against focusing too much on daily struggles, urging 
them instead to aim for the abolition of the wage system, an idea taken 
up by the American Industrial Workers of the World (IWW). Piotr 
Kropotkin, a major theorist of anarcho-communism, clarifies that this 
implies not a new currency, but an organization based on the needs and 
capabilities of each individual.

Despite this theoretical agreement, historical examples are rare. The 
Paris Commune did not abolish money, and the Russian Revolution 
maintained and even complicated the wage system. Revolutionary theories 
often treat this abolition as secondary or subsequent to the overthrow 
of the state. Here, we propose to revisit notable events of the Spanish 
Revolution, textbook cases where money and financial institutions were 
allegedly insufficiently considered strategically by the CNT.

The CNT emerges as leader
The Spanish Revolution should be understood as the culmination of a long 
" protest spiral " [1]in which opposing camps (the Church, the army, and 
large landowners on one side, and the trade unions on the other) set in 
motion a process of mutual radicalization, ending in a final struggle 
for dominance. This final struggle took the form of a failed coup 
d'état, instigated by General Francisco Franco in July 1936, which 
degenerated into civil war. While the coup is seen as the trigger for 
the revolution, its foundations lie in a series of armed uprisings, 
notably those of January 1933 (led by the CNT) and August 1934 
(initiated by the Socialist Party and supported by the CNT).

In May 1936, the CNT synthesized its theoretical position on the 
revolution and the type of society it envisioned in the confederal 
concept of libertarian communism [2]. The proposal summarized its stance 
on money and supported the paradoxical idea that even though the rules 
of production and exchange would be governed by the concept of " from 
each according to their ability, to each according to their needs ," " 
production cards " demonstrating " the value of the work performed by 
the cardholder " would be necessary. This conflictual position stemmed 
from the pluralistic nature of the CNT and reflected the divergences 
between its rural and urban sections. These divergences became tangible 
after the coup.

CNT poster: "  Comrades ! Work and fight for the revolution  ."
DR
Franco's coup d'état began in Spanish Morocco on July 17, 1936. Multiple 
garrisons across Spain participated in the rebellion, and some succeeded 
in capturing towns. Others remained loyal to the Republic. Some 
garrisons were also stormed by armed workers, who redistributed weapons 
and formed union militias. As a result of this failed coup, the central 
state lost control of its coercive apparatus, paving the way for the 
domination of Spain by armed workers, led by the CNT [3].

In the aftermath, workers seized a third of the rural territory of 
Republican Spain, representing two-thirds of the arable land. Organizing 
themselves into agricultural collectives [4], they also took control of 
all types of factories and services in heavy industry, energy, water, 
and commercial activities. In Catalonia, 80% of businesses were 
worker-controlled [5]. These agricultural collectives were governed by 
revolutionary committees, which were vested with legislative and 
executive powers [6].

In rural agricultural communities, money was replaced by ration cards, 
allowing workers free access to food based on family size [7]. In urban 
communities, a producer card system was implemented. The distribution of 
goods was based on the worker's output. In some communities, however, 
the existing wages and monetary system were maintained due to opposition 
from workers not affiliated with the CNT [8]. Wages were increased, and 
a range of previously unavailable benefits were introduced, such as paid 
leave and free healthcare.

To facilitate the organization of work on a national scale, the CNT 
established National Industrial Federations (FIN) [9]. Rural 
agricultural communities engaged in exchanges and bartering with 
neighboring towns and established local and regional federations [10]. " 
 Libertarian communism  " seemed to be taking root.

Poster from the CNT AIT FAI: "  To arms to conquer the land that belongs 
to us, freedom and to open the furrows of the future society  ."
DR
Financial institutions have been neglected.
While the workers at the front quickly reorganized the economy according 
to libertarian principles, the leaders of the CNT abandoned the 
revolution to its logical conclusion. Instead, they chose to join the 
central government. The CNT justified this choice by arguing that the 
State, understood as a tool of suppression serving Capital, no longer 
existed. This reasoning would prove flawed.

The CNT was given minor ministries within what they called a " 
revolutionary government  ," finding itself without any real influence. 
Dominated by the Socialist Party, the central government was primarily 
concerned with maintaining good relations with France, England, and 
Belgium by protecting their economic interests [11]. This was necessary 
to secure arms deliveries, which were desperately needed in the war 
against Franco. But this approach toward the democracies of Europe put 
the central government in direct opposition to the autonomous 
agricultural workers' collectives. To demonstrate its control over the 
republican territories, the government launched a campaign that 
attempted to impose order on the agricultural collectives through a dual 
process of legalization and economic isolation.

This task was facilitated by the CNT's disinterest in financial 
institutions. The CNT's belief in the abolition of money (and its 
replacement by free trade) meant that it neglected to organize workers 
in financial institutions, and when the CNT decided to join the 
government, no effort was made to take control of them. The only 
exception was a plan, devised by a CNT militia in Madrid but quickly 
abandoned, to steal the government's gold reserves [12].

In the wave of factory and land appropriations, the banks remained 
untouched. The CNT believed they would no longer play any role in 
post-revolutionary society. Thus, although agricultural communities 
organized themselves into FINs (Farmers' Unions), they did not integrate 
into the networks of non-nationalized factories or those controlled by 
other political parties or communities. Their economic sustainability 
was therefore not guaranteed. Moreover, the central government quickly 
regained control over foreign trade. Agricultural communities could no 
longer bypass the central government regarding economic exchanges or 
securing materials and equipment.

In 1937, the CNT began to lose influence, and some committees 
transformed into councils with administrative functions. These councils, 
composed of representatives from all the political parties of the 
Popular Front, weakened the unions. Consequently, the municipal council 
was tasked with issuing the local republican currency.
Arxiu Ismael Latorre Mendoza
Thus, the agricultural communities quickly found themselves deprived of 
financial resources by the central state. The revolutionary councils 
managing these agricultural communities were gradually replaced by 
conventional municipalities, dependent on Madrid. This process of 
legalization and integration became a common feature throughout the 
revolution and extended to the trade union militias and the people's 
courts. The central government's interference in finances and resources 
led to uncontrollable inflation in the territories held by the 
Republicans [13], a deterioration in the quality of weapons [14], and, 
ultimately, defeat at the hands of Franco's troops.

The lessons of this Revolution
What can we learn from the Spanish case ? The CNT's choice to join the 
central government and the abandonment of the transition to a moneyless 
society are both linked to a gap in their revolutionary theory.

As developed in the "  concept of a confederal libertarian communism  ," 
the CNT ignored the fact that in a revolution, power is polycentric, 
with several centers of power vying for dominance. The transfer of power 
does not occur from one camp to another (even if power is 
decentralized). The parallel emergence of agricultural collectives 
within the central state plunged the CNT into a complex situation where 
pursuing revolutionary goals meant direct confrontation with other 
centers of power, allied against Franco. Once the CNT joined the 
government, its lack of union representation within financial 
institutions ensured the central government an advantage in financial 
resources over the collectives. The CNT found itself without the 
necessary influence to maintain the gains achieved during the early 
phases of the revolution.

Some authors [15]argue that the CNT's main mistake was not pushing its 
revolution to its logical conclusion. However, a potential CNT victory 
would not necessarily have resulted in a moneyless society either. Their 
disdain for financial institutions would have worked against them.

While revolutions are primarily local events, they must nevertheless 
take into account the international political dimension. Even if an 
anarchist Spain had emerged, it could not have functioned on its own 
without money, which is necessary for operation and exchange in a 
capitalist world. Moreover, in the CNT's conception of libertarian 
communism, forcing people to use money or compelling them to join 
agricultural collectives is condemned. In the CNT's post-revolutionary 
society, individuals can remain independent of the collectivist system, 
as the CNT did during the war, allowing individuals who did not wish to 
join the collectives to keep their own plots of land [16].

Is it therefore impossible to establish a moneyless society immediately 
after a revolution ? Should we instead adopt an incremental approach ? 
Not at all. In any revolutionary theory seeking to abolish the use of 
money, it is highly worthwhile to consider a dual post-revolutionary 
system, where internal affairs do not use money, but where a parallel 
monetized system is maintained to sustain interstate relations and 
relations with individuals outside the system of collectives. Both 
systems, however, remain faithful to the values ​​of the revolution, 
such as the abolition of exploitation.

Integrating this parallel approach into revolutionary theory means that 
pre-revolutionary organizations must not ignore financial institutions 
as arenas of struggle (including all institutions presumed to disappear 
in a post-revolutionary system). This may seem counterintuitive. Why 
would a revolutionary organization involve itself in institutions that, 
in any case, would no longer exist after the revolution ? Because, on 
the one hand, a parallel system would mean that these institutions do 
not become obsolete. On the other hand, while power during a revolution 
is polycentric-and sometimes competitive-organizing within these 
institutions can deprive competing powers of a valuable resource. 
Developing revolutionary theories that more fully integrate these 
parallel systems would therefore help avoid the same mistakes made by 
the CNT.

Jade SAAB (translated by Niels Zwarteveen)

To validate

[1] George Lawson, Anatomies of Revolution , Cambridge University Press, 
2019, p. 184.

[2] The full text can be found on Theanarchistlibrary.org in English.

[3] Jose Peirats, The CNT in the Spanish Revolution , Volume 1, The 
Meltzer Press, 2001, p. 131.

[4] Robert Alexander, The Anarchists in the Spanish Civil War , Janus 
Publishing Company Limited, 1999, p. 326.

[5] Ibid, p. 463.

[6] Ibid, p. 332 ; Stuart Christie, We, the Anarchists! , AK Press, 
2002, p. 186; Hugh Thomas, " Anarchist agrarian collectives in the 
Spanish civil war ", The Republic and the Civil War in Spain , R. Carr, 
1971, p. 240; Burnett Bolloten, The Spanish Civil War: Revolution and 
counterrevolution , University of North Carolina Press, 1991, p. 65-66.

[7] Alexander, op. cit., p. 329 ; Thomas, op. cit., p. 250.

[8] Alexander, op. cit., p. 533.

[9] Jose Peirats, The CNT in the Spanish Revolution , Volume 2, Christie 
Books, 2005, p. 32.

[10] Alexander, op. cit., p. 329.

[11] Bolloten, op. cit., p. 227.

[12] Alexander, op. cit., p. 175.

[13] Martín-Aceña, Pablo, Elena Martinez Ruiz and María A. Pons., " War 
and economics: Spanish civil war finances revisited ", European Review 
of Economic History 16 no 2, 2012, p. 158.

[14] Kowalsky, Daniel. " Operation X: Soviet Russia and the Spanish 
Civil War ", Bulletin of Spanish Studies 91 no 1-2, 2014, p. 168-169.

[15] See for example the work of Vernon Richard Lessons of the Spanish 
Revolution .

[16] Alexander, op. cit., p. 372.

https://www.unioncommunistelibertaire.org/?1936-La-CNT-l-argent-et-la-revolution-espagnole
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