CHAPTER TWELVE
The Spanish Revolution

The Long Range Plan for the ultimate subjugation of Spain started, as in other countries, soon after the death of Christ.  In an attempt to crush the power of the Christian Church in Spain, the money-lenders their agents to infiltrate into the congregations and pose as Christians.^[1]  This placed them in positions to destroy the church organizations from within.  This conspiracy became obvious, and in the 13th ceutury Pope Innocence III instituted the Inquisition.  The purpose of the Inquisition was to ferret out and question infidels suspected of masquerading as Christians.  Spain had been exceptionally kind to the Jews.  They were allowed to hold office and acted as tax-collectors.  But, as happened in every other country in Europe, the crimes of the athiestic money-lenders, and their agents, were charged against the whole Jewish population.  Between 1475 and 1504 during the reign of Isabella and Ferdinand, the Inquisition was used extensively to locate and destroy all traitors who plotted to overthrow the power of the Church and State.  The Inquisitors under Torquemada discovered the subversive underground to be so widespread and well-organized that in 1492 Spain followed the example of other European countries and expelled all the Jews.  This task provided the opportunity for some extremists to organize mob violence against the Jews and several extensive and regrettable massacres took place.  These illegal killings were condemned publicly by the Church authorities in Rome.

After the international bankers re-organized during the 1600s, their agents infiltrated into the Spanish Treasury Department.  They were exceptionally active during both the English and the French revolutions, trying to destroy the Spanish economy in order to prepare the way for revolutionary efforts in that country also.

It is worth while to study the political intrigue that went on in Spain from 1839 to 1939 because it gives a clear picture of the pattern of the ultimate subjugation of all countries.  There are three steps in all revolutionary efforts.

First:  Infiltration by the agents of the revolutionary party into the government, civil services, armed forces, and labour organizations in order to be in position to destroy the government from within when the order to revolt is given.

Second:  The affiliation of the revolutionary party with the socialist or liberal party left of centre in order to overthrow the established government regardless of whether it is a monarchy or a republic.

Third:  Subversive activities to bring about anarchy in order to discredit the Popular Front Government and provide the excuse for forming a proletarian dictatorship.  Once this is established purges turn it into a totalitarian dictatorship as it happened in Russia in 1917.

Karl Marx’s agents organized Spain’s first General Political Strike in 1865.  In 1868 the Directors of the World Revolutionary Movement (W.R.M.) sent Senor Fanelli to Spain to affiliate the Anarchists with the Marxist revolutionaries.  Fanelli was a close friend of Bakhunin who was a close associate of Marx and Engels.  In 1870 Bakhunin fell out with Marx over Policy.  He was expelled from the First International of the W.R.M.^[2]

In 1872 Bakhunin influenced the Spanish revolutionary leaders into forming the Socialist-Democratic Alliance.^[3]  The Spanish government decreed Bakhunin’s extremist organizations illegal, but they continued to exist underground.  The Grand Orient Lodges formed convenient headquarters.  At a congress held in Zargoza the Spanish section of the Marxist International agreed to ally themselves with the Anarchist International.  After its affiliation, both groups concentrated in organizing the various Labour Groups into a vast ‘Carnorra.’  They crowned their combined efforts with a revolution which produced the first Spanish Republic in 1873.

The effort on the part of the revolutionary leaders was accompanied with the usual Reign of Terror.  Anarchy ran wild.  All kinds of excesses took place.  Finally, General Pavia brought off a ‘Coup d’Etat’ and the revolutionaries went underground again.

In order to emerge into the open once more, the members of the revolutionary underground supported the leaders of a mild ‘liberal’ movement to obtain political power.  The revolutionary leaders used the quarrel going on between those who claimed the descendants of Don Carlos should occupy the throne, and those who claimed the descendants of Isabella should reign, to start a Civil War.  This war ended with the defeat of the Carlist Group in 1876.^[4]

The Spanish workers really desired to organize for their own protection, but the majority did not agree with the extreme policy advocated by the Anarchists.  The anti-revolutionaries therefore organized the “Workers Association.”  These moderates were immediately set upon by both revolutionaries and employers of labour alike.^[5]  This persecution continued until 1888 when, at the suggestion of Pablo Iglesias, the moderate group adopted the name “The Workers General Union” which became known in Spain as the U.G.T.  The members of this organization did not get much support until after the government outlawed the Iberian Anarchist Federation.

The syndicalist elements collaborated with the radical republican party until 1908.  They then formed the ‘Solidaridad Obrera’, and, two years later, in 1910, they rounded the Regional Federation of Labour known in Spain as the C.R.T.  Immediately afterwards they formed the National Federation of Labour (C.N.T.).

In 1913 both the C.R.T. and the C.N.T. were suspended as the result of a series of strikes.  The government did not object to the principles of collective bargaining, but it did object to the extremist policy, and revolutionary actions, of the leaders.  So legitimate labour, striving for social justice, found their organizations barred because the radical element always seemed able to work its way into executive positions within the Unions.

The reaction was what the plotters of world revolution expected it would be.  Their revolutionary syndicalist movement greatly increased in power and acted against all political parties, and against the State itself.  The policy of these extremists was “direct action,” advocated with the greatest heat and violence.  In 1916 the C.R.T. was reorganized by Angel Pestana and Salvador Segui.  In 1918 these two labour leaders were able to form in Barcelona the ‘Sole Syndicate’ generally known as ‘The One Big Syndicate.’

During World War I Spain, as a neutral country, made a vast amount of money but, generally speaking, the labouring classes did not receive anything like a fair share of the national prosperity.  This fact was perhaps the deciding factor which drove the majority of the working classes out of moderate labour organizations into the arms of the revolutionary leaders in the extremist labour groups.  However, the more moderate and level-headed labour leaders didn’t give up the fight against the radical groups and as a result of their efforts, they brought into being a new labour group known as “The Free Syndicate” in 1920.  During the next three years there was continuous strife going on between the Right and Left labour organizations.  Local strikes, general strikes, destruction of property, private assassinations to remove labour leaders, wholesale murders to reduce the strength of opposing organizations.  All these crimes were committed in the name of liberty.  By 1923 conditions became chaotic.  To prevent the Commumst Party bringing about another revolution the king of Spain asked General Franco to become military dictator.

One of the first results of Primo de Rivera’s dictatorship was the successful termination of the Moroccan War.  It was during the final stages of this war that General France greatly distinguished himself in the field.  He turned what looked like a complete military defeat into a brilliant victory.  By tempering justice with mercy he won the admiration, and the loyalty, of many of the Moroccan natives.  It was thus he came to the notice of the general public in Spain, Rivera is accused by General his enemies of doing everything a man shouldn’t do.  It is only fair to record that he did restore law and order;  he brought about a number of social reforms;  he co-operated with Largo Caballero to improve working conditions.  He worked so hard that only his breakdown in health in 1929 can explain the errors in judgment he made during 1930.

Tired and worn out, and as if in a hurry to unburden himself of the responsibilities of office, he called in two socialist leaders, Besteiro and Saborit.  He charged them with the task of re-organizing the electoral machinery of the nation so the people could decide whether they wanted a monarchy or a republican government.  Just why De Rivera appointed Besteiro and Saborit to re-organize the electoral machine of Spain will probably never be known.

The two socialists rigged the election machinery so well a socialist-Republican Government was assured.  In Madrid alone the number of ficticious voters exceeded 40,000.^[6]  Similar corruption existed in all the larger centres of population.

To ensured the end of the monarchy in Spain The Grand Orient Lodges organized a special “Military Brotherly Union” by which they obtained the promise of twenty-one of the twenty-three Spanish generals to support the Republican Cause.  General Mola, who was Chief of the Spanish Internal Security, in his book, Tempestad Calma Intriga Y Crisis informs us that the generals were initiated into the Grand Orient and had one and a half million pesetas placed to their credit, to help them escape abroard should the republican movement fail.  Franco was one of the two generals who refused to join the “Military Brotherly Union.”  In support of Mola’s statement, Cano Lopez sain on the floor of the Spanish Cortes (parliament):  “Since 1925 masonry has grouped under the heading ‘Military Brotherly Union’ most of the high ranking officials of the army.  The members include Cabanellas, Sanjurjo, Goded, Mola, Lopez, Ochoa, Queipo de Llana, and others... Of twenty-three divisional generals, twenty-one were masons... All had taken the oath of the Grand Orient.”  (I swear obedience without limitation to the Head of the Council of Thirty-Three... I swear to acknowledge no mortal as above him.)  Lopez added:  “Both in 1929, for the abolition of the dictatorship of de Rivera, and in 1931 for the abolition of the monarchy, the Grand Orient issued the orders most of the other generals obeyed.”^[7]

footnotes