Andy Durgan is the author of The Spanish Civil War (2007), Comunismo, revolución y movimiento obrero en Catalunya, 1920–1936: los orígenes del POUM (2016), and Voluntarios por la revolución: La milicia internacional del POUM en la Guerra Civil Española (2020).
Francisco Franco launched his uprising against the Spanish Republic 90 years ago today. The resistance to fascism developed into a social revolution in Republican-held areas that challenged the power of capitalists and landowners.
Andreu Nin, leader of the POUM, was murdered by agents of Stalin during the Spanish Civil War. Nin’s legacy speaks to issues still relevant today, from Catalonia’s right to self-determination to the danger of the far right.
Without mass mobilization, Unidos Podemos's electoral success won’t match up against the forces of austerity.