Felix Morrow on Spanish Fascism

[Louis N Proyect <lnp3@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Louis:

I know, I know. I already posted this, but it seems to have gotten lost
in cyberspace. Anyhow, its so good that I can't resist repeating it.

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"Mussolini declared he had saved Italy from Bolshevism.
Unfortunately, the truth is that the workers' post-war upsurge had
already receded, thereby facilitating Mussolini's assumption of power.
Hitler said the same, at a time when the workers were hopelessly
divided and disoriented. Franco had need of the same myth for
justifying his resort to arms. What was true, in Italy, Germany and
now in Spain, is that democracy could no longer exist. Precisely the
fact that fascism had to seize power, even though there was no
immediate danger of a proletarian revolution, is the most conclusive
evidence that democracy was finished.

Franco's rebellion left only two alternatives: either fascism would
conquer, or the working class, rallying the peasantry by giving it the
land, would destroy fascism and with the capitalism in which it is
rooted.

The Stalinists and social-democrats, seeking theoretical justification
for their collaboration with the liberal bourgeoisie, declare that he
roots of fascism in Spain are feudal. For the Stalinists, this is an
entirely new theory, concocted ad hoc. Spanish fascism is no more
feudal than is Italian. The backwardness of industry in both countries
cannot be overcome within the capitalist framework, since neither can
compete with the advanced industrial countries in the epoch of
declining world markets. They could only secure temporary
stabilization by cutting their labor costs below the European level, and
to do this required crushing every form of labor organization. Spanish
agriculture is backward and 'feudal' in its operating methods. But land
has been bought, sold and mortgaged, like any other commodity, for
two centuries. Hence, the land question is a *capitalist* question.

The Stalinists blandly resort to 'feudalism' as an explanation of the
Spanish civil war and denounce as fascist agents anyone who dares to
differ. Stalinist journalists writing outside the party press, however,
are less fortunate. They have to deal with certain obvious phenomena.
If the struggle is one against feudalism, why is the industrial
bourgeoisie on the side of Franco?

The Stalinist journalist, Louis Fischer, writes:

'Strangely enough, Spain's small industrialist class supported the
reactionary position taken by the landlords. The industrialists should
have welcomed a land reform which would create a home market for
their goods. But they believed that more than economics was involved.
They feared that the granting of land to the peasantry would rob the
owning classes of political power. The manufacturers, therefore, who
should have encouraged the republic in its attempts to stage a peaceful
revolution which would have enriched the country, actually leagued
themselves with the backward looking landlords to prevent all
amelioration and reform.' ('The War in Spain', published by the
Nation.)

It does not occur to Fischer to wonder whether landlord and capitalist
are not often one and the same, or of the same family, or whether the
manufacturer, dependent on the banks, is not fearful for the banks'
mortgages on the land. But even as Fischer poses the problem, the
answer is clear. The manufacturer fears the diminution of the political
power of the owning classes. Why? Because the weakening of the
police power permits the workers in his factory to organize and make
inroads into his profits. Spanish fascism is the weapon not of
'feudalism' but of capitalism. It can be fought successfully by the
working class and the peasantry, and by them alone."



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