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Workers' Party of Marxist Unification Partido Obrero de Unificación Marxista | |
|---|---|
| Catalan name | Partit Obrer d'Unificació Marxista |
| Abbreviation | POUM |
| Leader | Joaquín Maurín(1935–1936) Andreu Nin(1936–1937) Julián Gorkin(1937–1939) Wilebaldo Solano(1947–1980) |
| Founder | Joaquín Maurín Andreu Nin |
| Founded | 1935 |
| Dissolved | 1980 (unofficially) |
| Merger of | Communist Left of Spain Workers' and Peasants' Bloc |
| Headquarters | Hotel Rivoli Rambla,Barcelona |
| Newspaper | La Batalla |
| Youth wing | Iberian Communist Youth |
| Membership(1936) | ~30,000–70,000[1][2] |
| Ideology | Communism Socialism Marxism Centrist Marxism Impossibilism Anti-Stalinism Factions: Libertarian socialism Trotskyism |
| Political position | Far-left |
| National affiliation | Popular Front Left Bloc for National Liberation |
| International affiliation | International Revolutionary Marxist Centre |
| Colors | Red |
| Party flag | |
 | |
TheWorkers' Party of Marxist Unification (Spanish:Partido Obrero de Unificación Marxista,POUM;Catalan:Partit Obrer d'Unificació Marxista, POUM) was a Spanishcommunist party formed during theSecond Republic and mainly active around theSpanish Civil War. It was formed by the fusion of theTrotskyistCommunist Left of Spain (Izquierda Comunista de España, ICE) and theWorkers and Peasants' Bloc (BOC, affiliated with theRight Opposition) against the will ofLeon Trotsky, with whom the former broke.
In 1935, POUM was formed as a communist opposition to theStalinist form ofcommunism promoted by theSoviet Union, by the revolutionariesAndreu Nin andJoaquín Maurín. Nin was profoundly influenced by the thinking ofLeon Trotsky, particularly hispermanent revolution thesis. It resulted from the merging of the Communist Party'sLeft Opposition (theTrotskyistCommunist Left of Spain) and theRight Opposition (theWorkers and Peasants' Bloc). This alliance was against the wishes of Trotsky, with whom the Communist Left of Spain broke.In his writings on the Spanish Revolution, Trotsky would elaborate on his criticisms of the POUM such as their abandonment of theLeft Opposition program in favour of reformism to retain tactical advantage among other political tendencies.[3]
The party grew larger than the officialCommunist Party of Spain (PCE) nationally and in the communist hotbeds ofCatalonia and theValencian Country, where theUnified Socialist Party of Catalonia (PSUC) represented the PCE. The POUM was highly critical of thepopular front strategy advocated byJoseph Stalin and theCommunist International (Comintern) but it participated in theSpanish Popular Front initiated byManuel Azaña, leader ofAcción Republicana. The POUM attempted to implement some of its radical policies as part of the Popular Front government but they were resisted by the more centrist factions.George Orwell, fought in the POUM in the civil war and reported that its membership was roughly 10,000 in July 1936, 70,000 in December 1936 and 40,000 in June 1937, although he notes that the numbers are from POUM sources and are probably exaggerated.[2]
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The POUM's independent communist position, including opposition to Stalin, caused huge ruptures with the PCE, which remained fiercely loyal to the Comintern. Moreover, these divisions, which included accusations of Trotskyism (and evenfascism) by the communists, resulted in actual fighting between their supporters; most notably, in 1937, a primarily communist coalition of government forces attacked the POUM during theBarcelonaMay Days. While the largerConfederación Nacional del Trabajo (National Confederation of Labour, CNT) supported the POUM at first, the moderate leadership of the CNT dropped its support after it joined the government. Radical elements within the anarchist movement however fought side by side in the streets of Barcelona during the May Days and were isolated as well, like theFriends of Durruti. The POUM, along with the purely Trotskyist Seccion Bolshevik-Leninista, became isolated, and both organizations were driven underground. Nin was detained and presumably tortured to death byNKVD agents inAlcalá de Henares, Nin and his party were consistently labeled asprovocateurs in Stalinistpropaganda.
The POUM was a member of theLondon Bureau of socialist andcentrist Marxist parties that rejected both thereformism of theSecond International and the pro-Moscow orientation of the Comintern. Other members included theIndependent Labour Party in Britain, theWorkers and Peasants' Socialist Party (PSOP) in France, andPoale Zion. Its youth wing was affiliated to theInternational Bureau of Revolutionary Youth Organizations, through which it recruited theILP Contingent in the Civil War. Foreign supporters of POUM during the Civil War includedLois Orr.
During theSpanish transition to democracy, the POUM was legalized in 1977. This led to a split in the party, with one faction opposing formal legalization, calling for a boycott of the1977 general election and demanding the immediate restoration of the republic. The legalized party participated in the election as part of theFront for Workers' Unity (FUT), a coalition of parties and organisations to the left of the PCE which won 0.22% of the nationwide vote. The election result led to a crisis for the POUM as well as for most parties to the left of the PCE, from which it was not able to recover.[4]
The POUM continued to exist as a small party with an office in Barcelona and a monthly newspaper,La Batalla, calling for cooperation among the various far-left parties, but an attempted merger withCommunist Action and the Collective for Marxist Unification failed during a "Unification Congress" in 1978. After this setback, the POUM decided not to participate in the1979 elections. POUM branches in several cities became part of local coalitions and unification attempts with various far-left groups. In 1980, the POUM made its last electoral efforts, supportingHerri Batasuna in the Basque country and participating in theLeft Bloc for National Liberation (BEAN - Unitat Popular) coalition in the Catalan parliamentary election, but the party was disintegrating.La Batalla ceased publication in May 1980, marking the end of the POUM as an organized party, though it was never officially dissolved. As a last remnant, theValencia branch remained active until 1981. Former members of the POUM formed the Fundación Andreu Nin (Andreu Nin Foundation) to preserve the heritage of their party and ideological current.
British authorGeorge Orwell fought alongside members of theIndependent Labour Party as part of POUM militias;[5] he recounted the experience in his bookHomage to Catalonia.[6] Likewise, the filmLand and Freedom, directed byKen Loach, tells of a group of POUM soldiers fighting in the war from the perspective of a member of theCommunist Party of Great Britain who initially fought for the POUM before he later joined his CPGB comrades in theInternational Brigades. In particular, the film goes on to deal with his disillusionment with theSoviet Union's policies in the war while he was fighting with the International Brigades, after which he decided to return to his POUM comrades shortly before the POUM's June 1937 suppression.
The POUM is briefly mentioned inJoe Haldeman's science fiction novelThe Forever War as a militia where "(y)ou obeyed an order only after it had been explained in detail; you could refuse if it didn't make sense."[7]
Victor Serge dedicatesMidnight in the Century to Andreu Nin and other slain leaders of the POUM.
Discussion of POUM in Hemingway'sFor Whom the Bell Tolls (Collier edition, p. 247).
InWilliam Herrick's novel "Hermanos!", the American communist protagonist comes to Spain in order to fight Fascism, but gets diverted into hunting down members of POUM. The POUM activists which the protagonist tortures and executes are depicted very sympathetically, shown bravely defiant and sticking to their positions to the bitter end - eventually causing the protagonist to undergo a crisis of conscience, break with the Party and become a dissident himself.
Ian Fleming'sFrom Russia with Love (Signet edition, p. 50) states that Rosa Klebb infiltrated the POUM and may have murdered Andrés Nin Pérez.
InMargaret Atwood's prize-winning novel,The Blind Assassin, a fictional newspaper account details the actual battles between the POUM and the Stalin-backed communists in Barcelona; the title of the newspaper article isRed Vendetta in Barcelona and mentions the purges against the POUM by Stalinist communists "well armed by Russia".
The figure for P.O.U.M. membership are given as: July 1936, 10,000; December 1936, 70,000; June 1937, 40,000.
