VIII. Defending the Revolution
The Syndicalist objectives we have outlined in previous articles will not, of course, be carried out without arousing the fiercest opposition and most bitter hatred of the employing class. The expropriation of that class, the control of industry by the workers, the abolition of money and the wage system and the establishment of the principle of each according to his need can only be when we are prepared for the most revolutionary of struggles.
Our first weapon is the highest technical development of the principle of non-co-operation; cutting of economic supplies and services from the employing class and switching them to the workers; generally, refusing to do any work for or co-operate in any way in the observation of the laws and orders of the employers.
We do not need to be warned that the enemy will not, if our forces be weak enough, willingly accept this new condition. We know he will if possible use against us the armed forces, the police and Fascist bands. But, acute social problems, particularly in the 20th century, sweep across the whole population including the armed forces. The Revolution will have as many adherents within the armed forces as it will have in the civil population.
Nevertheless, the Revolution must be defended, by armed force if necessary, against those remnants of the armed forces the enemy may rally and against Fascist militia, “Black and Tans” or whatever they may call the new counter-revolutionist army they may raise.
To that threat the Syndicalists reply is the creation of the Workers’ Militia. The chief base of the new workers’ army will be their place of work, factory, garage, mill, pit or dock. There men know one other, know the man who is loyal to his class and he who might be a counter-revolutionist. Already a high degree of self and group discipline and of working and struggling together have been practiced. In the Spanish Civil War of 1936 the Workers’ Militia was largely based on the squad of ten men known to one another and choosing their own squad leader or delegate. The squads of ten men were united into centuries of one hundred men and seven or eight centuries formed into a column, all on the federal principle.
The choice of the factory, etc. as the chief base of the Militia has an extra advantage in the present day warfare of highly mechanized forces. Thus, shipyard, dock and seamens’ syndicates form naval units; bus and lorry drivers—transport and mechanized units; miners, bridge builders and construction workers—engineer battalions and so on. Not only is the skill and experience already assembled, but, also, the necessary machines are at hand to these units. Further, an industrial population can be trained much quicker than an agrarian populace in the use of weapons, for a gun is just another machine.
As to the arming of the workers, the approach of revolutionary struggles has always forced workers to acquire small arms in their own defense, for the impending struggle has usually been anticipated by Fascist squads, “Black Hundreds”, “Black and Tans” or other named terrorist bands of the ruling class.
But such arms are few in the aggregate. The chief source of supply of modern revolutionary forces are the class conscious units of the army, and the factories. In modern revolutions the munitions factories take the place of the armories and gunsmiths’ shops of the 18th and 19th centuries. Not only the munitions works, but every engineering factory, workshop or chemical works, is turned to the manufacture or improvisation of weapons.
Highly industrialized countries such as France, Belgium, U.S.A., Germany and others will not suffer the tragic lack of the means of forging arms suffered by agrarian, revolutionary Spain in 1936.
Armchair Socialist theoreticians and Anti-Fascists will sneer at the Workers’ Militia and tell us that the barricades of 1848 are outdated, but revolutions have a way of taking these fine weather men unawares. Some years ago the celebrated Anti-Fascist and Liberal Professor Salvemini wrote a learned article against the principle of workers’ self defense forces. He pointed out that the German Social-Democratic Reichsbanner, the German Communist Rotfront, and similar military organizations of the Liberal and Catholic parties in Germany had surrendered without firing a shot when the Nazis took power in 1933. Therefore, reasoned the learned professor, workers’ defense corps are useless. The advice of such gentle Anti-Fascist is to call a policeman.
What the professor concealed was that the Social-Democratic Reichsbanner and the Communist League of Red Front Fighters did not fight because they were built upon authoritarian principles of order from above and rigid obedience to leaders. The Socialist leaders were too compromised by political practice to give orders to resist the Nazis. The German Communist leaders were under orders from Moscow, and Stalin wished to and did, make a treaty with the new Nazi Germany. It was not the principle of workers’ defense which failed, but the contrary principle of blind obedience to “leaders” and the subjigation of judgement and self-respect to that of “leadership”.
Within a few years of Salvemini’s article came the Spanish Fascist uprising of July, 1936. The spontaneous uprising of the workers in defense against Fascism and the rapid organization of workers’ militia, not authoritarian as the German, but federal and Syndicalist, blew to smithereens the learned discourse of the professor. Life is stronger than theory.
The revolutionary workers everywhere in Spain were rapidly defeating the Fascists when foreign intervention, allowed by the Labor movement of the world, came to the assistance of Franco. The defeat of the revolution after three years of war was due to that, to the Franco-British policy of “non-intervention” which allowed arms to Franco, but prevented arms and war supplies reaching the republicans. The efficacy of workers’ militia as a defense against Fascist terrorism remains proved by the events of 1936.
We shall anticipate the objections of the legalistic Socialists and Liberals who will be ready with tales of “the streets running with blood and corpses mountain high” by recalling that most revolutions have overthrown the old regime with the loss of a handful of men. The French Revolution of 1789, the overthrow of Tsarism and the October Revolution in 1917, the Austrian and German Revolutions of 1918, were accomplished with an almost unbelievably small roll of casualties.
Of course, if the revolutionaries fight as do the professional armies of states, with a solid front and two armies facing one another with tanks, aircraft and big guns, the revolution would be quickly crushed. But, revolutions cannot be fought like imperialist wars, the social factors are greater than the military. Strategy, tactics and weapons must be designed to wage a social war without fronts. An excellent case of this is found in the history of the Irish struggle against the British Government during 1919—20 and 1921. The Imperialist forces were increased to about 100,000 men, army, Royal Irish Constabulary, Auxiliaries and “Black and Tans”, with resort to any weapon they needed and the experience of the World War behind them. The Irish Republican Army of about 10,000 armed with automatic pistols, revolvers, home made bombs and a few rifles and machine guns defeated them by adapting their strategy and tactics to the social soil.
Let no one mistake the Workers’ Militia for just another army. The Spanish Militia of 1936—37 had no officer caste or badge of rank, no privilege or special ration, no saluting. The ranks were filled, not by conscription, but by the revolutionary knowledge and enthusiasm of the workers. Love of the Revolution took the place of professional military discipline founded on the death penalty. The daily pay was equal to all whether the least experienced militiaman or Durruti.
As well as the Workers’ Militia, other bodies of armed men were organized by the Spanish Syndicalists—Frontier Control Committees to prevent the flight of Fascists—and Republican Ministers and Workers’ Patrols to prevent disorder or counter-revolutionary outbursts in the towns and villages.
It is obviously necessary for the Revolution to disband the instruments of the old regime, the judges, the magistrates and police. But as well as counter-revolutionist attempts, criminal and hooligan elements useless to anyone, may remain as the legacy of capitalism. Indeed the counter-revolutionists will encourage these by bribes, arms and alcohol. The Workers’ Patrols organized by the ward and town federations of the Syndicates will easily handle such who would overthrow or discredit the Revolution.
It will be seen that these armed bodies of workers have no resemblance to the forces of the State—capitalist or other. The street patrols will be carried out in the workers’ spare time, like firewatching—only of his own free will. The factories and railways will be guarded by armed workers while doing their everyday work. They will continue to carry arms until the need has passed. Then, with no danger present, men will cease to carry arms as they ceased to carry gas masks when they found no danger of gas attack.
But, if, instead of the general force of the workers, the Revolution gives birth to the special force of a new army, police and judiciary, a new state and a new master class will arise. If a new police force were created to arrest counter-revolutionists the policemen would naturally try to preserve their jobs even when the old regime had been crushed . Let us recall the story of Napoleon’s wolves. It is said that while Napoleon was Emperor the number of wolves increased in France, so Napoleon offered a large reward for each wolf’s head brought to the local authority. Wolf hunting became a lucrative profession until the wolves began to disappear. Fortunately for the hunters the decline in the wolf population was mysteriously checked and their numbers began to increase. Upon investigation the authorities discovered that, rather than lose their jobs, the hunters were breeding wolves and even shepherds had turned from their flocks for the more remunerative work of wolf breeding and hunting.
For the defense of the Revolution there must be no new regular army, or police force, or officer caste, but arming of the workers. If the workers allow themselves to be disarmed, even in the name of the Revolution, then at that moment the counter-revolution has succeeded.