George Orwell wrote “Homage to Catalonia” in 1938, immediately after his return from Spain. He had gone there in 1936 as a journalist but, fascinated with the joyous socialism he saw in Barcelona, he joined the militia and fought against Franco and the Fascists.
The book tells of his experiences fighting. He writes of his arrival in Barcelona, a city clearly in the hands of the working class and of their beliefs in a classless society. Orwell was drawn to them because of his own socialistic beliefs and joined in.
Orwell soon discovered that internal politics on each side were more complicated than they seemed. On his side the Socialists wanted a worker-controlled government, that would have influence from Russia while the CNT wanted a decentralized workers government. The Spanish Communists wanted a centralized communistic government like Russia. Franco’s side was equally split.
International politics were also at play, as Orwell came to realize Stalin did not supply arms to the workers because they wanted to crush the movement and to form an alliance with France and Britain against Nazi Germany. Stalin began to support Spain’s capitalists.
In May of 1937, the Civil Guard tried to take over the telephone exchange. Orwell had returned from the front to find the classless society had broken down even to the point of beggars on the street. Eventually, the PUWM and the anarchists were outlawed, Orwell was wounded and had to escape to France. He reflected that, for a brief time, he had seen what a workers state would look like “one where hope was more normal than apathy or cynicism.”
