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In Reply to: Re: More from the Giancarlo weekend posted by edta on April 26, 2000 at 19:12:00:
***Very interesting Victor. It is my understanding that Stalin sold out the Spanish republicans in some way. Had to do with money, I think.The money element was there for sure. Let me quote one document:
"Communist workers in other countries were naturally not in a position to see through this cunning game behind the scenes and were happy because Russia was from time to time sending the Loyalist government larger or smaller supplies of weapons and provisions. They naturally had no inkling that this, also, was done with the approval of France and England, who respected the provisions of the neutrality pact just as little as did Hitler and Mussolini and tacitly approved the importation of arms into Spain just to the extent that this suited their purposes. But what the Communist press diligently concealed from its readers was the fact that the Russian government never delivered a single cartridge to the Spaniards that had not been paid for dearly and in cash with the gold of the Valencia government."
I am not sure that Stalin "sold" the Republicans, he simply looked after his own interests all along. As we all know, he would deal with anyone, Hitler, etc, as long as there was some benefit for him. He had no moral stops of any kind.
***I feel that many Americans and others believed that the Spanish Republicans were on the side of democracy against a totalitarian bureaucracy (in this case fascism). Were they duped? Who were really the bad guys here?The more I read about it, the more complicated it looks. Neither side was uniform, but rather consisted of many factions, often along for a short ride, until the right moment.
On the Republican side, for instance, there were strong forces that saw the dictatorship of proletariat as their goal. In that respect one might be talking about not freeing the country, but rather simply replacing one form ot totalitarian rule with one under different name.
Let me quote the source again:
"Of greater significance is the attitude of the Russian government toward the Spanish question. Not that we had the slightest illusions on this side either. We had foreseen the inevitable results of the Bolshevist dictatorship from its first beginnings, and the later developments in Russia have confirmed our conceptions in every respect. The so-called "dictatorship of the proletariat," in which naïve souls wished to see a passing but inevitable transitional step to real socialism, has, under the domination of Stalin, developed into a frightful despotism wilicll lags behind the tyranny of the Fascist states in nothing, goes, indeed, beyond them in many respects -- a despotism which suppresses all free expression of opinion with b]oody brutality and deals with the lives and fate of human beings as if they were inanimate objects."
***The supremely important issue, in my view, is democracy vs. totalitarianism of any kind.As another source had incidated, the road to democracy in Spain was not through the communist revolution, but rather through the develoment of free capitalist economy. By some accounts the interests of Germany and Italy were much more along these lines than those of Russia. In that respect the Fascist countries were more aligned with progress, perhaps.
***The issue of communism and the arts is a red herring, no pun intended. When college grads and people like pharmacists could not get jobs during the 30's in America, that's when people were attracted to communism.Communism is the *emotional* philosophy. It speculates on normal human emotions, good inclinations and desires, while providing no real solution, just promises. Capitalism, on the other hand, requires advanced thinking and understanging of many facts, one of them the realization that equal opportunity doesn't mean equal results.
It is a bitter pill that warks, if you will. Communism is a piece of sugar-coated horse dung.
***When times were good, who wanted to be a communist? Does anyone actually think that Warren Beatty with his millions is a communist?
No. He is simply a dumb idiot and a complete disgrace to this industry.
Pardon my long rant.
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Follow Ups
- Stalin, the cockrooch with big ambitions (longish) - Victor Khomenko 05:47:48 04/27/00 (0)
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