THE FIGHT AGAINST FASCISM

RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: may 2011 :: RMTnews 32 In 1936 hundreds of men and women began making the journey to Spain to join the International Brigades to oppose General Franco’s fascist-backed coup. And in that same year the people of London’s East End stopped Sir Oswald Mosley’s Blackshirts from marching through their streets – adopting the slogan used by the defenders of Madrid: “They shall not pass” – “No pasarán”. Many of those who took part in the Battle of Cable Street on October 4, 1936 went on to fight for the Spanish Republic’s democratically elected government during the Spanish Civil War of 1936-39. The International Brigades rallied over 35,000 people from more than 50 countries to the anti-fascist cause. Some 2,500 of them came from Britain and Ireland, of whom 527 died in Spain. Meanwhile Britain’s Conservative-led government was eager to appease Nazi Germany and fascist Italy. Indeed a large part of the ruling class admired Hitler and Mussolini for the way they dealt with their opponents on the left. Those same people detested Spain’s government and its modest programme of social and economic reform. So the British government supported a hypocritical policy of “non-intervention” in the Spanish Civil War, which meant enforcing an arms embargo on the Spanish Republic and turning a blind eye to the huge military assistance given to Franco by the fascist dictators. But just as the people of the East End forcibly prevented the police from clearing the way for the Blackshirts to march through their streets, so the International Brigade volunteers defied government threats to prosecute them for enlisting in a foreign war. Brigaders and their supporters warned that the bombing of Guernica, Barcelona and Madrid would soon mean Nazi bombers over Britain unless fascism was crushed in Spain. They were proved right: five months after the Spanish Civil War ended on April 1 1939 with victory for the fascists, Britain and Germany were at war. With only the distant Soviet Union and Mexico willing to supply it with arms, the Spanish Republic was doomed. The cause of freedom in Spain was lost – democracy was not restored until after Franco’s death in 1975 – but the resistance of the Spanish people and the International Brigades crucially checked the advance of fascism in Europe. The International Brigades also showed the world an example of international solidarity and selfless commitment to anti-fascism. Inspired by the International Brigaders who took the road to Spain via Cable Street, a new generation must say once again: “No pasarán”. The annual International Brigades commemoration takes place in Jubilee Gardens on London’s South Bank on Saturday July 2 at 1pm. A weekend of events is also being organised in London on September 30 - October 2, coinciding with the commemoration of the Battle of Cable Street. For more details contact: secretary@international- brigades.org.uk The International Brigade Memorial Trust 6 Stonells Road, London SW11 6HQ 20 7228 6504 Charity no. 1094928 www.international-brigades.org.uk FROM CABLE STREET TO SPAIN: THE FIGHT AGAINST FASCISM Jim Jump previews events to mark 75th anniversary of the start of the fight against fascism NO PASARAN: A demonstrator is arrested by police officers after a mounted baton charge, in East London, on Oct 4, 1936, in a failed attempt to clear the way for Oswald Mosley's fascist blackshirts to march through the area.