Durruti Solidaridad Obrera

Durruti, Solidaridad Obrera, front cover design by Ruiz Morales, 22 November 1936

Buenaventura Durruti was an anarchist revolutionary trade unionist. On the first day of the attempted coup of 19 July 1936, Durruti was involved in the successful assault on the Barcelona telephone exchange, and later led an anarchist militia on the Aragon Front - enabling peasants to collectivise land as the landowners were driven away. He died while taking part in the battle to defend Madrid.

Following his death in November 1936, Durruti became a revolutionary martyr (a status he never sought but which was cemented by his death). He was revered by many in the anarchist movement and the broader anti-fascist struggle. It has been estimated that a million people turned out for his funeral (though some historians question this figure, it is undisputed that several hundred thousand attended), which became a massive display of anarchist and working-class solidarity, with a procession stretching across Barcelona. His body was buried in the Montjuic Cemetary. His burial site, like many Republican and anarchist graves, was later desecrated under Franco’s regime, but his legacy endured as a symbol of resistance.

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The CNT was founded in November 1910, with a membership of 26,000 at a conference of workers societies in Barcelona and had its first national congress the following year. A general strike was immediately called in Barcelona and the CNT was declared illegal.

By 1919 there were 700,000 members. As the CNT grew, employers became more worried and hired armed thugs (pistoleros) to intimidate or assassinate union members.

The CNT took part in revolutionary strikes and uprisings throughout the period leading up to the 1936 Revolution and Civil War, including uprisings in Catalonia, Asturias and Andalusia. By 1937 the CNT had 1.5 million members.

From the start of the attempted coup in 1936, the CNT had a decisive role in events - pushing revolutionary land and factory collectivisation, but by May 1937 the Republican Government, under the influence of the Stalinist Spanish Communist Party (PCE), was reversing its achievements, suppressing the collectives, forcing militias to join the regular army or be disbanded and arresting militants.