The Spanish Civil War, The Soviet Union, and Communism

417 Pages·2004·1.62 MB·english

by  Stanley G. Payne

the spanish civil war, the soviet union,
and communism

stanley g. payne
The Spanish Civil War,
the Soviet Union,
and Communism
yale university press new haven & london
Published with assistance from the Louis Stern Memorial Fund.
Copyright © 2004 by Stanley Payne. All rights reserved. This book may not be reproduced,
in whole or in part, including illustrations, in any form (beyond that copying permitted by
Sections 107 and 108 of the U.S. Copyright Law and except by reviewers for the public press),
without written permission from the publishers.
Designed by Rebecca Gibb. Set in Scala by Duke & Company. Printed in the United States of
America by R. R. Donnelley & Sons.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Payne, Stanley G.
The Spanish Civil War, the Soviet Union, and communism / Stanley G. Payne.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-300-10068-X (hardcover : alk. paper)
1. Communism—Spain. 2. Communism—Soviet Union. 3. Communist International—
History. 4. Soviet Union—Relations—Spain. 5. Spain—Relations—Soviet Union.
6. Spain—History—1868–1931. 7. Spain—History—Republic, 1931–1939. 8. Spain—
History—Civil War, 1936–1939. I. Title.
HX343.P39 2004
946.081′3′0947—dc22
2003018761
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
The paper in this book meets the guidelines for permanence and durability of the Committee
on Production Guidelines for Book Longevity of the Council on Library Resources.
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
To the memory of Burnett Bolloten (1909–1987)

Contents
Preface ix
List of Abbreviations xi
chapter one
Soviet Policy and the Comintern in the Early Years, 1917–1925 1
chapter two
Communism and Revolution in Spain, 1917–1931 8
chapter three
Communism and the Second Republic, 1931–1934 22
chapter four
From Revolutionary Insurrection to Popular Front, 1934–1936 38
chapter five
Communism and the Implosion of the Republic, February–July 1936 83
chapter six
Communism and the Spanish Revolution, July–August 1936 109
vviiii
viii contents
chapter seven
The Soviet Decision to Intervene Militarily, July–October 1936 124
chapter eight
Soviet Military Participation, 1936–1939 153
chapter nine
The Policy Struggle under the Largo Caballero Government,
September 1936–May 1937 174
chapter ten
The Negrín Government, 1937–1938 221
chapter eleven
Defeat, 1938–1939 270
chapter twelve
Conclusion 290
Notes 319
Index 379
Preface
The policy and intervention of the Soviet Union have long remained among
the least explored and most controversial aspects of the Spanish Civil War.
Seizure of most of the German documents in 1945, together with the general
accessibility of the Italian state data, provided opportunities years ago to re-
solve the major problems associated with the German and Italian interven-
tion. In the Soviet case, access to copious documentation in the Comintern
and military archives was restricted to favored Soviet scholars, and only very
limited material drawn from them appeared in Russian-language publications
on the Spanish conflict. A new opportunity was created by the collapse of the
Soviet Union, which, at least for a number of years, greatly broadened access
to most, though not all, Soviet archives.
The availability of previously inaccessible documents has made possible
several important new publications. The first was Queridos camaradas (1999),
the excellent study of Comintern policy in Spain by Antonio Elorza and Marta
Bizcarrondo, which resolved a number of problems for the first time. This
work was followed by a key collection of Soviet documents, Spain Betrayed
(2001), prepared by Ronald Radosh, Mary Habeck, and Grigory Sevostianov,
which illuminates both political and military a¤airs. Other works have appeared
in several languages.
This book is the first broadly synthetic account of Soviet policy and its relation
to the revolutionary process in Spain during the 1930s. By combining new Soviet
data with Spanish and other sources, it broadens the perspective on that conflict.
ix