Corporate Body - Partido Comunista de España
Identification
Type:
Corporate Body
Preferred form:
Partido Comunista de EspañaOther forms
Fechas de Existencia:
1921-11-14
History:
The Communist Party of Spain (hereinafter referred to as PCE) is a Spanish political party that split from PSOE on 14 November 1921, because the latter refused to join the III International called by Lenin. It is the result of the merger between the Spanish Communist Party (founded by the Federation of Socialist Youth on 15 April 1920) and the Spanish Communist Labor Party, founded by leftist delegates of the Congress of the Spanish Socialist Labor Party held on 13 April 1921. Upon the proclamation of the II Republic, the PCE re-emerged in a very precarious situation. Having spent most of its existence in secrecy, it was legalized, but relied on the support of less than a thousand members. The Congress of the PCE was held in Seville on 17 March 1932. The main aim was to eradicate the cult-like approaches that were deeply rooted in the direction and to focus on building mass communist party, like in the Soviet Union. Comrades chosen for the Central Committee such as José Díaz, Dolores Ibárruri, Vicente Uribe, Antonio Mije, Manuel Delicado, Pedro Checa played a great role in this labor. On 3 December 1933, Cayetano Bolívar Escribano was chosen deputy by Málaga, being the first communist deputy in history released from prison to hold such position. At a later stage, in the so-called 1934 Revolution against the policy adopted by the radical government of the Spanish Confederation of Autonomous Right-wing Groups, the PCE played a smaller role than the PSOE (whose foundation had the leading role in the revolution together with the Socialist Youth and the UGT) and the CNT, which did not take part in the revolution except for Asturias. It was forced nonetheless to come back to secrecy. At that moment, the PCE adheres to the policy of creating a Popular Front which would gather all leftist forces together. Such policy was a theoretical proposal by the Communist International. Following the electoral victory of the Popular Front on 16 February 1936, the Communist Party gained increasing prestige: in five months, the number of affiliates grew from 30,000 to 100,000. The expansion of the PCE hit two major milestones in the timespan prior to the Civil War and the period immediately following it: the first milestone was the merger between the Socialist Youth and the Communist Youth on 1 April 1936, which gave rise to the formation of the Unified Socialist Youth, which appointed Santiago Carrillo Secretary-General, who would become Secretary-General of the PCE a few years later. The second milestone was the constitution of the Partit Socialista Unificat de Catalunya (Unified Socialist Party of Catalonia) on 23 July 1936, after a pre-war process was hastened by the onset of the war, and was the merger of four parties: the Communist Party of Catalonia, the Catalonian department of the PSOE, the Socialist Union and the Proletarian Party. Similar to all the political groups involved in the war, the performance of the PCE during the Civil War was very controversial. On their participation alongside other republican forces in the post-Francoist military uprising, the communist militants tortured and murdered right-wingers imprisoned in republican areas. Nevertheless, owing to the unwavering discipline imposed by the party, the unmonitored actions were less frequent than among other less disciplined organizations. Among other conflicts that took place within the republican side there took place fights against anarchists, socialists and other communists that strayed from the orthodoxy dictated by Moscow or the Trotskyites. As representative of the Soviet government most of his power stemmed therefrom; alongside the Mexican representative, he is the only one who did not leave the legitimate republican government in the lurch. The source of its support were the sectors of the State and Army apparatus opposed to revolutionary measures, collectivization and certain forms of popular militias. The discussion starred (mainly) by the PCE, on the one hand, and the anarchist and Trotskyist groups, on the other hand, was devoted to whether to conduct a revolution in tandem with the war or to win the war first and leave the revolutionary measures for afterwards. The posture of the PCE led to an open confrontation with the POUM and the CNT-FAI. It was directed the militarization of the militias in the republican army, an event that diminished and dehumanized the revolutionary process that took place in tandem with the war. The members of the PCE, on the other hand, believed that the revolutionary process triggered trust issues in the non-revolutionary sectors of republican left. For the PCE, the dilemma between war and revolution was a fallacy, and it unerringly supported the republican legality. During the civil war, the party amounted to 300,000 military men, and the JSU led by Santiago Carrillo and controlled by the communists reached 500,000 affiliated. Although the influence of both organizations shall not be denied, it is worth taking into consideration that in that period it was desirable to hold an identity card from some organization for specific occasions, so in this sense the affiliation to the PCE unlocked many doors. People frequently affiliated with several organizations. It was essential for the creation of International Brigades, strongly influenced by the Soviet Union, as well as for the relationships with the Soviet Union, regarded as the leading armorer and supplier of administration and military instructors for the Republic. The PCE sided with the republican legality. It encouraged the most reformist sectors of the CNT to participate in the government and it did not mind collaborating with parties contrary to its ideology, such as the PNV, of a strong Christian nature or the bourgeois republican parties. To maintain this collaboration, the PCE tried to gain respect for the interests of small and medium, rural and urban bourgeoisie.
Places
Subjects
Sources
Related Authorities
Associative relations :
Hierarchical relationships :