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Give me the fair and balanced position on the Spanish Civil War (hexbear.net)

submitted 1 month ago by CommunistCuddlefish@hexbear.net to c/chat@hexbear.net

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It has been over half my lifetime since I read an in depth history of the Spanish civil war.

Anyway, some anarchists I used to roll with criticized Stalin for turning against the Spanish Anarchists during the Spanish Civil War, killing some and abandoning the othera. I thought at the time, "what the hell? Why would the Communists betray those who were fighting against their common enemy? I see some of the historical basis for fighting the Anarchists within the USSR, but why in Spain, when the fascists were by far the biggest problem? It can't have just been " Stalin was a bad dude", that's not how it works. So what were the material and political reasons for that betrayal? Was it even a betrayal? (I am looking for the ML perspective on this more than the anarchist perspective because I've heard plenty of the Anarchist side and not the "tankie" side)

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[–] CocteauChameleons@hexbear.net 13 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

Not to come off like a dick, but most anarchists I've met don't read history or just don't read in general. A lot of western leftists in general have brainworms, I had that realization when I was reading about the Cuban revolution at 18 and people around me were asking me why Im downplaying authoritarian dictatorships crimes. Being sympathetic or supporting Castro or being ML is a recent thing among the new generation of American leftists.

[–] CommunistCuddlefish@hexbear.net 1 points 1 month ago

I agree but in my defense or their defense, at the time we had these talks, these anarchists were always talking about some new books on history and theory they were reading. Way more literate and thoroughly read than I, mostly reading my fiction horror sci fi slop.

However I have since concluded from a lot of fucked up abusive shit they did to me that they were stupid fucks with dogshit methodology, who lacked the intellectual rigor and moral strength to actually investigate and engage with reality rather than truisms and vibes-based analysis, which called into question everything they held true. For me thinking maybe they were just wrong about this too.

[–] BeanBoy@hexbear.net 7 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Did you see @vovchik_ilich@hexbear.net effortpost from a few weeks ago? https://hexbear.net/post/7913587 Can’t speak to it myself but it seems pretty exhaustive from a quick look at it

[–] CommunistCuddlefish@hexbear.net 2 points 1 month ago

Thanks, I had not seen that. It and the linked Molotov Ribbentrop pact were great reads.

[–] vovchik_ilich@hexbear.net 3 points 1 month ago

As @BeanBoy@hexbear.net said (thanks for the mention), as a Spaniard myself, I suffered exactly the same engagements with Anarchists regarding the Spanish civil war, and decided to read on the topic and did a writeup of my findings here. Feel free to have a look through it and send me your opinion on it!