Trotsky wrote in ‘The Tragedy of Spain’ (1939) that, despite the Spanish proletariat’s revolutionary heroism, they were “brought to ruin by petty, despicable, and utterly corrupted ‘leaders.’” In this episode, we chart the great triumphs and tragic demise of the Spanish Revolution in a complete timeline.

The Spanish Revolution that ran from 1931 to 1937 is one of the most remarkable and inspirational events in world history. The Spanish workers brought down the hated regime of King Alfonso XIII in April 1931; and strived to win freedom, dignity and a decent existence, which was continually denied to them by a procession of bourgeois and so-called Popular Front governments of class collaboration. 

The Spanish workers spontaneously rallied to repel an attempted military coup by General Franco in 1936, and established workers’ power in key cities like Barcelona. Time and again, victory was within reach. But sadly they were betrayed at every step by the bourgeois leaders of the Republic; as well as the blunders and outright crimes of the workers’ leaders: anarchists, socialists, communists and the POUM alike.

The price for these betrayals was the crushing of the revolution, with the Stalinist Communist Party (on the orders of the Comintern) playing an especially criminal role; and the eventual victory of General Franco in the Civil War, ushering in decades of military dictatorship.

Leading member of the Revolutionary Communist International, Jorge Martin, takes us through these remarkable years, month-by-month, revealing the entire process by which the Spanish Revolution rose and fell.

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Works cited and sources:

Revolution and Counter-Revolution in Spain, Felix Morrow: https://wellred-books.com/revolution-and-counter-revolution-in-spain/ 

The Revolution and the Civil War in Spain, Pierre Broué and Emile Témime: https://www.marxists.org/archive/broue/1961/spain/rev-spain.html 

Collected Writings on The Spanish Revolution, Leon Trotsky: https://www.marxists.org/archive/trotsky/spain/index.htm 

The Class, the Party and the Leadership: Why Was the Spanish Proletariat Defeated? [Questions of Marxist Theory], Leon Trotsky: https://www.marxists.org/archive/trotsky/1940/xx/party.htm 

Homage to Catalonia, George Orwell: https://www.marxists.org/archive/orwell/1938/homage-catalonia.htm