✅ La HISTORIA del ANARQUISMO en 10 minutos | ¿Qué es el anarquismo?

Overview

The video argues that anarchism is a political ideology centered on abolishing the state and unjustified authority, but that its core principles generated many distinct currents rather than one unified program. It also claims anarchism has rarely been implemented at large scale for long, explaining this through ideological splits and political repression.

What Anarchism Is (and Why It Divides Into Currents)

• Anarchism is anti-state and anti–unjust authority.
• Even with a “simple” starting point, the movement splits into multiple branches with different visions for organizing society after the state is removed.

Origins and Spread (19th Century, Shaped by Revolutions)

The video places anarchism’s development in Europe during the Industrial Revolution, arguing it would not exist without the French Revolution, which helped cultivate revolutionary anti-authoritarian ideas.

Key figures and ideological shifts

• Pierre-Joseph Proudhon (spelled as Brucchon in the subtitles)
  • Presented as the first person to call himself an anarchist.
  • Advocates a non-oppressive economy based on labor exchange and labor-value.
• Mikhail Bakunin
  • Presented as a major figure who pushed anarchism toward a more collectivist/community-centered orientation.
  • Emphasizes rebuilding society through association and federation.
  • Contrasts community emphasis with a more individual focus.
  • The video frames Bakunin’s conflict with Karl Marx as decisive:
    • Marxism: belief in the “dictatorship of the proletariat.”
    • Bakunin: warning it would become a new ruling elite, requiring the destruction of the state.

Result (as the video presents it): anarchism and Marxism move apart.

Major Anarchist Currents and Labor Ties

Anarcho-communism (highlighted)

The video describes anarcho-communism as opposing:

• the state
• capitalism
• wage labor
• private property

In its place, it favors:

• common ownership
• direct democracy
• personal property (as distinguished from private property)

Motto:

“From each according to their ability, to each according to their needs.”

Anarcho-syndicalism (dominant in the 20th century)

• Presented as the leading form that links anarchism to unions and mass labor action.

Key Events Used to Illustrate Influence (and Repression)

France / U.S.

• Paris Commune (1871)

  • Anarchists participate.
  • Decrees include worker/collective measures, secularization, neighborhood assemblies, and social changes.
  • The uprising ends after government troops crush it, with 20,000 deaths.

• Haymarket-era influence (1886, U.S.)

  • An anarchist-influenced strike for the 8-hour day culminates in the Chicago Martyrs.
  • The tradition of May 1 as International Workers’ Day is also tied to this heritage.

Spain

The video portrays Spain as a recurring battleground where anarchism rises, organizes, and is brutally suppressed.

Restoration-era violence and political targeting

• Early revolutionary violence and attempted assassinations are linked to restoration-era politics.
• It mentions an assassination of Martínez Campos and attacks against Spain’s king.

Tragic Week (1909)

• Triggered by backlash against conscription and perceived ways to avoid service through ability to pay.
• Anarchists organize a strike via the Workers’ Solidarity federation.
• Escalates into an insurrection with nearly 150 deaths.

Growth of the CNT

• The CNT (Confederación Nacional del Trabajo / National Confederation of Labor) becomes a major force.
• Despite legalization and persecution, it grows to around a million members at its peak.

International spread into labor movements

• Argentina (FORA):
  • Mentions workers occupying Buenos Aires during Tragic Week (1919), repressed by the government.
• Mexico:
  • Emiliano Zapata is said to draw on European anarchist ideas.
• Russia and Eastern Europe:
  • 1905 revolution produces many anarchists.
  • Later purges occur after the Russian Civil War.
  • Ukraine’s “Black Army”
    • Described as the most enduring anarchist experience.
    • Autonomous peasant communes dominate until Stalin’s forced collectivization.

Spain, 1917–1939 Arc

• 1917 general strike

  • Tied to CNT action and the collapse of Eduardo Dato’s government.

• La Canadiense strike (1919)

  • CNT leads a 44-day stoppage; Barcelona is paralyzed.
  • Outcomes include wage increases, reinstatements, releases of detainees, and the 8-hour day.
  • The video claims Spain was the first country to enact this demand by law.

• Dictatorship of Miguel Primo de Rivera (1923)

  • CNT is outlawed; underground organizing continues.

• Second Republic

  • CNT regains influence and attempts insurrections.
  • January 1933 Casas Viejas:
    • A state massacre (described as carried out by forces under Captain Rojas) triggers scandal and the fall of Azaña’s socialist republican government.
  • Asturian Revolution (October 1934):
    • Anarchists generally do not participate, except in Asturias where they cooperate with socialists.
    • Repression follows with over 2,000 deaths.

• Spanish Civil War (1936)

  • CNT becomes a pillar of the Republic.
  • CNT controls major industries in Barcelona; Andalusian areas practice collectivization.
  • CNT’s collaboration with government bodies (accepting ministries) creates internal contradictions.
  • Growing communist strength (Soviet-backed) sharpens conflict:
    • winning the war vs. making the revolution the absolute priority
  • May Days (1937), Barcelona
    • Clashes between anarchists and communists.
  • After Republican defeat, CNT is outlawed again and loses power.

Central Conclusion: Why Anarchism Didn’t “Triumph”

The video does not present a single final explanation, but its narrative implies anarchism failed to achieve durable dominance because of:

• Internal ideological fractures (Marx vs Bakunin; collectivist vs individualist; communism vs other currents)

• State repression and violent counterinsurgency

• Strategic contradictions when anarchists participated in government structures—especially during the Spanish Civil War—leading to splits with communists and weakening the movement.

Presenters / Contributors

• Narrator / Video host: the creator of “Fish Memories” (also mentions “Memoria Este Pez” and “Shark Memories” as their channels).

• Referenced historical figures: Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, Mikhail Bakunin, Karl Marx, Emiliano Zapata, Vladimir Lenin, Cheka leadership (general reference), Miguel Primo de Rivera, Manuel Azaña, Eduardo Dato, Captain Rojas (Francisco Franco is not mentioned; subtitles cite “Cheka and Lenin’s Red Army.”)

• Organizations cited: CNT, FORA, PSOE, UGT, Black Army, First International, Cheka.