Córdoba Congress
Native name | Congreso de Córdoba |
---|---|
Date | December 25, 1872 – January 3, 1873 |
Duration | 9 days |
Venue | Moratín Theater |
Location | Córdoba, Andalucía, Spain |
Also known as | Third Congress of the FRE-AIT |
Type | Congress |
Cause | |
Motive | Reorganization of the Spanish Regional Federation |
Organised by | Spanish Regional Federation of the International Workingmen's Association |
Outcome |
|
The Córdoba Congress was the Third Congress of the
Background
The conflict that arose in the Madrid Federation between anarchists and Marxists dealt with by the Zaragoza Congress reappeared two months after its closure when on June 2 the latter sent all sections of the International Alliance of Socialist Democracy a circular in which they announced that the Madrid section was self-dissolving and invited the rest to do the same. For this reason they were once again expelled from the Madrid Federation, but this time the Federal Council did not intervene because it was precisely the Alliance members who predominated. This attitude led to the resignation of Anselmo Lorenzo on June 20 from his post on the Federal Council.[1]
The nine expelled, along with five other affiliates, decided to constitute the "New Madrid Federation", subsequently requesting its recognition by the Federal Council, but it was denied by the Federal Council, despite the fact that it received the adhesion of other Federations. Then the London General Council intervened and accepted the New Madrid Federation as a member of the IWA, independently of the Spanish Regional Federation (FRE). Shortly after, between September 2 and 7, the Hague Congress of 1872 was held in which the definitive break between Marxists and anarchists was to take place.[2] The Marxist split in the FRE was only followed by a dozen local federations, made up of about 200 militants, while the rest of the federations, some 150 with 15,000 members, remained faithful to the "apolitical" anarchist line.[3]
The four FRE representatives who came to
Development
The Córdoba Congress was scheduled for April 1873 but the Federal Council decided to advance it and was held it between December 25, 1872 and January 3, 1873. 46 delegates met at the Moratín Theater in Córdoba — plus five members of the Council, among them
The socio-professional composition of the delegates was as follows: 10 weavers and spinners; 5 carpenters; 4 bricklayers; 4 paperists; 3 agricultural workers; 2 students; 2 painters; 2 beds; 2 cabinetmakers; 2 shoe racks; 2 smelters; 2 adjusters; 2 locksmiths; 2 hatters; 1 tanner; 1 cooper; 1 rope maker; 1 printer (Farga Pellicer); 1 baker; 1 recorder; 1 cylinder; 1 marble maker; 1 teacher; 1 primary school teacher.[10]
The resolution that obliges the internationalists to establish themselves as a political party and that declares that the first duty of the proletariat is the conquest of political power, the commission considers contrary to the broad base of the International Workingmen's Association, which aims to collect in its bosom of redemption to all those who suffer the injustices of the present Society, because far from tending to unite the efforts of all those who are interested in emancipation, it tends to alienate and repudiate all those who are not in agreement with the political program that the general council or a congress were pleased to elaborate. The commission also believes that by affirming that "the first duty of the proletariat is the conquest of political power" is to declare that social unrest, that is, social injustices, come from the evil of governments; and it is to deny or hide that they have their origin in the institutions of the present society, of which they are natural emanations of the political powers. To consign this first duty to the working class, is to deny all the considerations of the General Statutes of the International, and is to distract the working class from the path that to achieve its emancipation it must follow, and which is to tend to destroy all powers and not to conquer them; for if it were to conquer it for itself, it would only do what all classes have done up to now, and it would be completely unaware of its great mission of realizing justice, at the same time as for it, for all humanity.
If the working class did so, it would seek and obtain the destruction of the existing privileges in order to become privileged; but it would not destroy all privileges, and would therefore lack the motto that is written on its flag, which reads: "We do not want privileges even for ourselves"
Opinion of the Congress on the "attitude of the Regional Federation in view of international congresses of The Hague and Saint-Imier".[11]
The Congress rejected the "authoritarian" resolutions of the Hague Congress and accused the General Council of trying to create a political party led by the bourgeoisie and mediated by supporters of Marx, members of the "
In Congress, the "new" federations formed by the Marxists were roundly condemned for considering that they "work against the aims of the International, help the bourgeoisie, giving it so much strength against the proletariat and against the true social revolution like the one they manage to extract from the bosom of the Spanish Regional Federation". They also advised "all sincerely revolutionary workers, whatever their particular opinions, [to] return with them to the bosom of their respective Sections to fight for their victory and to contribute to the most important of all, that is, to the triumph of the cause of the work on capital, and that they leave in the void those who voluntarily and intentionally want to continue being constituted in a group of damaging divisions that would weaken us."[17]
Consequently, Congress "unanimously" supported the decision of the Madrid Federation to expel the Marxist group from La Emancipación - whose conduct was "anathematized", recognizing "pretensions and bad faith" - and which subsequently had founded the New Madrid Federation.[18]
In addition, Congress approved a resolution in defense of the Alliance of Socialist Democracy,
…that there has been no more than an active and fruitful propaganda of the collectivist and anarchic ideas that the Association wishes, and therefore [the Commission] also recognizes the conduct of the allianceist allies as good, since the generality of those who to said Association belonged to those who have done the most work for the International, contributing to its development; and above all, this Commission recalls that one of the most important acts of the Spanish Federation was its birth, and this was due to the activity and initiative that the Alliance's José Fanelli demonstrated to build the International in Spain; Therefore, until it has proven news of the acts carried out by said Association, to protect the bourgeoisie against the interests of the working class, in which case it would place it among the enemy societies of the worker.
An opinion was also approved on "Means to establish purely international schools in the greatest possible number of means" in which it was said that the "revolutionary socialist instruction of the worker [is] the lever that will remove and annihilate the old world by consolidating a complete revolution that, regenerating us from the yoke of ignorance, will pave the way for our complete social regeneration. The instruction that is convenient for us, and in general the instruction of all kinds, we must provide ourselves ... Obviously the teaching that is spreading in the present society is poisoned by the authoritarian, clerical and bourgeois virus — force, sham and exploitation — very useful to obtain the result we are witnessing: to make man the slave of man, intellectually, politically and economically."[21]
Consequences
Those expelled who formed the "
I believe that any attempt to move immediately to the proletarian revolution in Spain will end in a massacre. I also believe that the bourgeois republic has a meaning here ... but we must not give the impression that we treat them [republicans] with moderation and above all we must not, not for a moment, deny that we aspire to carry out the social revolution, if we want to found a workers' party in Spain, since the people of this country are always on the side of the most active party.
References
- ^ Tuñón de Lara 1977, p. 188-189
- ^ Tuñón de Lara 1977, p. 189
- ^ Termes 2011, p. 63
- ^ Tuñón de Lara 1977, p. 189-190
- ^ Termes 2011, p. 63
- ^ Termes 1977, p. 169
- ^ Avilés Farré 2013, p. 71
- ^ Termes 1977, p. 173
- ^ Tuñón de Lara 1977, p. 190-192
- ^ Tuñón de Lara 1977, p. 192
- ^ Termes 1977, pp. 170–171
- ^ Termes 1977, p. 170
- ^ Tuñón de Lara 1977, p. 192
- ^ Tuñón de Lara 1977, p. 192-193
- ^ Avilés Farré 2013, p. 71
- ^ Termes 1977, p. 170
- ^ Lida 1973, p. 228
- ^ Termes 1977, p. 169-170
- ^ Termes 1977, p. 170
- ^ Lida 1973, p. 228-229
- ^ Termes 1977, p. 171- 172
- ^ Tuñón de Lara 1977, p. 202
- ^ Termes 1977, p. 174
- ^ Termes 2011, p. 63
- ^ Termes 1977, p. 174
Bibliography
- ISBN 978-84-8383-753-5.
- ISBN 84-323-0098-5.
- ISBN 84-7423-023-3.
- ISBN 978-84-9006-017-9.
- ISBN 84-7222-331-0.