The Communist party of Spain ( Partido Comunista de España or PCE), is the third national political party in Spain. He is the most important member of the coalition Izquierda Unida (IU, Plain Gauche) and controls the first Spanish trade union, the working Commissions (CC.OO.). Its body of youth is the Unión de Juventudes Comunistas de España. The PCE publishes the monthly magazine Mundo Obrero (working World).

Origins

If PSOE and UGT adopt a hesitant attitude compared to the Internationale Communist (IC) created in March 1919, it is not the case of the Fédération of Socialist Youths, which decides, at the time of its Ve congress, to support the IC. The partisans of the IC not managing to break the direction reformist, the major part of the Federation of Socialist Youths decides to found (the April 15th 1920) the Spanish Communist party ( Partido Comunista Español ), which publishes the newspaper El Comunista .

One year later, appears the Spanish working Communist party ( Partido Comunista Obrero Español ), founded by the terceristas which still tried to convince the PSOE to join the Third International. When the majority of the congress of the PSOE decides to join the Union of the socialist parties for the international action, the terceristas make secession and create the PCOE (April 13rd, 1921), very influential in the province of Bizkaye and Asturies, where it is joined by almost the whole of the socialist militants.

Members of the IC, these two parties are brought to amalgamate (" act of fusion" November 14th 1921) within the framework of the Communist party of Spain - Spanish Section of International Communist (PCE-SEIC). At the time of the first congress which takes place in March 1922 in Madrid, Antonio García Quejido is elected General secretary. But the central committee is not elected systematically: IC control designations in order to try to establish a balance between the tendencies gauchists resulting from the old PCE and those, center, of the PCOE. The second congress takes place in July 1923, again in Madrid.

The PCE under the mode of Primo de Rivera (1923-1930)

During its first years, the PCE undergoes the repression of the dictatorial mode of the general Miguel Primo de Rivera. Many leaders are stopped.

The pro-Stalin direction leaves victorious various internal conflicts and starts to determine the political line. The domination of the Stalinist involves the exclusion of many opponents. The communist Federation Catalan woman-Balearic Islands (FCCB) bursts in 1930. It joins the international communist Opposition (the tendency of Brandler) and becomes later the pivot of the working Bloc and peasant (BOC, Bloque Obrero there Campesino ) in Spain, directed by Joaquín Maurín.

The period of the 2° Republic (1931-1936)

Also, the PCE is in a state of great weakness when the Second Republic Spanish is proclaimed in 1931. December 3rd, 1933, the first deputy of the PCE is elected.

The PCE and the Spanish civil war (1936-1939)

The PCE was a modest party during the first years of the Republic, until it starts to enlarge following the victory of the Popular front (of which the Communists formed part) in February 1936 and the bursting of the Spanish Civil war in July of this year. The PCE, directed by Jose Díaz and Dolores Ibárruri (known like Pasionaria ), worked constantly with the victory of the republican armed forces and the reinforcement of the government of Popular front, but disturbed the unit of the Spanish republicans while being hostile to the anarchistic revolutionists (CNT) or Communists (POUM, fraction of PSOE). The action of the Communists of the PCE was criticized like one of the main reasons to the events of May 1937 in Barcelona, when the revolt of the anarchists and the militants of the POUM was brutally repressed.

The PCE thus helped the republican government to get rid of the dissenting elements, which could have discredited it abroad. While being highly disciplined and by defending the private property vis-a-vis the attempts at Collectivization, the PCE in spite of its initial numerical weakness became a major actor of the civil war. In only 5 months of war, the PCE grows of 30.000 members with 100.000. It also founded a Spanish branch of the international red Secours which supports the republican cause.

In 1936, being given the particular political situation of the Catalonia, the Partit Comunista de Catalunya (the Catalan branch of the PCE) separated from the party to amalgamate with the other Socialists and to form the Partit Socialista Unificat de Catalunya (PSUC). Since then, the PCE does not lay out more than one autonomous organization in Catalonia but control narrowly the new party " unitaire".

Resistance and reorientation

Following the republican defeat of April 1939, the PCE was pursued by the dictatorship of the general Francisco Franco (1939-1975), but manages to remain well organized within the opposition in exile. It organized some guerillas in the north of the country in collaboration with other counter-cells.

Signature of the Pact Molotov-Ribbentrop with the Germanic attack on the USSR on June 22nd, 1941, the Spanish Communists continued an uncommitted policy with respect to the German aggression in Poland and France, analyzing the war like unjust and imperialist. This position was reversed immediately following the Germanic invasion.

A vast majority of the militants of the party was led to the exile. Certain members of the PCE fought like volunteers within the Red Army during the Second world war, like the general Enrique Líster. Others were victims of the permanent purgings of Stalin. A broad section of the members of the PCE were based in France, where the organization partisane was installation. In second half of the dictatorship of Free the PCE changa its strategy and organized in Spain the working Commissions (CCOO) within the apparatus of the official single trade union. The PCE gained influence within the Spanish opposition there.

Dolores Ibárruri, " Pasionaria" , an indicated continuatrice of the practices of the Comintern, replaced Jose Diaz as general secretary in 1942, and holds this position until in 1960. Santiago Carrillo was general secretary of 1960 to 1982. Carrillo put the party in the sphere of the Eurocommunisme. It made many concessions with the moderated parties, accepting the restoration of a liberal Démocratie in Spain and the Constitutional monarchy. It was described by many militants like a traitor and a revisionist. The party was finally legalized following the Massacre of Atocha in January 1977, on April 9th, 1977, and that represented one of the last stages of the democratic transition. Only a few weeks after legalization the PCE asserted 200.000 inserted members.

Today

In 2006, the PCE belongs to the left coalition Izquierda Unida. Its General secretary is, in 2006, Francisco Frutos.

Personalities

General secretaries

Other outstanding personalities

See too

Internal bonds

  • Julio Anguita González
  • Francisco Frutos
  • Felipe Alcaraz
  • Izquierda Unida
  • UJCE
  • Commission Obreras
  • Fiesta LED PCE
  • Fundación de Investigaciones Marxistas
  • Mundo Obrero
  • Utopias-Nuestra Bandera

External bonds

  • Official site of the Communist party of Spain
  • Site of the Socialist party Unified of Catalonia Viu
  • Site of the Foundation of Marxist Investigations
  • Site of the Union of Communist youths of Spain
  • Internet site of the coalition Izquierda Unida
  • Internet site of the newspaper El Mundo Obrero, central body of the PCE
  • Internet site of fiesta LED PCE, very famous festival, organized each year in Madrid

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