Anarchy (!)

Barcelona, Spain

Anarchy (!)... that's the way it’s said in the USA ... an implied pejorative. It’s a word you never hear uttered with any modulation, with any consideration of its fundamental political rationale or its possible social benefits. In Spain, on the other hand, in 1936, it was a very real and patriotic movement that was the first line of defense against a tyrannical military coup; a desperate and idealistic political front that organized to fight an overwhelming block of nationalists, nazis and fascists.

"The Spanish Civil War began in July 17, 1936, when a group of right-wing officers staged a coup against the constitutional government of the Republic. In the preceding years, Spain had experienced a period of growing social disorder. Like in the rest of Europe, this was an intensely ideological era in Spain, which led to political radicalization. Even sensitive analysts could only see opposing views as unbridgeable threats to the survival of their ideals. In this context, the military coup of July 1936 immediately cast one half of Spain against the other. The rebellion against the Republic initially succeeded in approximately one third of the country, but was resisted in the rest, including most major cities such as Madrid, Barcelona and Valencia. The resistance was led by popular militias organized by radical trade-unions that were armed for the occasion. As a result of their role in holding back the rebellion, Communists and especially Anarchists and revolutionary socialist organizations became the de facto power in the main centers of Republican Spain."
-Alexander Vergara 1998 The Visual Front