Grandizo Munis
Encyclopedia
Grandizo Munis was a Spanish
politician.
Grandizo first entered revolutionary politics as a member of the Izquierda Comunista de España
(ICE) or Left Communists
of Spain. This group was led by Andrés Nin
and was in sympathy with the views of Leon Trotsky
and therefore affiliated to the International Communist League
.
Trotsky was opposed to the name of the group which he argued was imprecise and badly expressed the program of the Bolshevik-Leninists. In addition he entered into dispute with Nin and the ICE when they refused his suggestion to enter the youth organisation of the Spanish Socialist Workers Party (PSOE). The majority of the ICE then split with Trotsky leaving a small remnant grouping which included Grandizo Munis.
With the beginning of the Spanish Civil War
in 1936 Munis was a member of the tiny Seccion Bolshevik-Leninista. This organisation sought to influence the ranks of the larger Workers' Party of Marxist Unification (POUM
) and also worked closely with the more left wing anarchists of the Durruti Column
.
The Trotskyists were among the very few to oppose the Popular Front
government and openly took part in the May Day
s of 1937. This event led to their suppression by the government which was now dominated by the Stalinists. This meant that Munis was forced into illegality and had to flee for fear of his life.
Shortly before fall of Barcelona
Munis was able to escape the Monjuic Prison cross Francos lines and eventually got pass to border to France. He made is fate public in an interview with the French Trotskyist newspaper La Lutte Ouvrier published in its February 24 and March 3, 1939 issues. In the spring of 1940 Munis fled France to Mexico where he had a meeting with Trotsky, then to New York where he attended the May 1940 Emergency Conference of the Fourth International. Back in Mexico that August he spoke at Leon Trotskys funeral.
Munis spent the remainder of the war years in Mexico where he reestablished a section of the Fourth International among Spanish exiles. He managed to produce two issues of a printed magazine 19 de Julio, then began a mimeographed periodical Contra la Correinte. some of the articles in these journals were translated into the SWPs theoretical organ Fourth International. He was assisted in this effort by the French surrealist poet Benjamin Péret
, who had also fled to Mexico.
During the war and immediate post war years Munis began to have differences with the Fourth International Secretariat based in New York, and with the Socialist Workers Party of the United States. These first began with a critique of the SWP leaders actions during the Minneapolis trials. On an ideological level he claimed that the USSR was no longer a workers' state of any kind, but state capitalist
. He also rejected united fronts
with Stalinist parties and key parts of the Transitional Program
including nationalization
and a government of traditional workers parties. He also had organizational differences with the fourth International. He was supported in some of these criticism by Natalya Sedova, the widow of Leon Trotsky
At the Second World Congress of the Fourth International Munis blocked
with Max Shachtman
of the Workers Party by was eventually condemned by the Secretariat.
After the war Munis settled in Paris and began publishing a new periodical Revolucion, which proclaimed its official break with the Fourth International in November 1948. By 1949 his following was calling itself the Grupo Comunista Internacionalista de Espana. In 1951 Munis and J. Costa returned to Spain to organize an underground movement in the wake of the Barcelona tramway strike. They were unsuccessful and arrested by the Francoist authorities in 1952 and sentenced to ten years imprisonment. Munis was released in 1957 and returned to Paris where he began publishing a new organ Alarma. With the relaxation of the Francoist regime in the late 1960s and early 1970s the Munis group was able to establish a small following within Spain, though Munis himself continued to live in France. By the time of Francos death in the mid-1970s this group numbered about 50 people. However differences between the exiles in Paris and the younger personnel in Barcelona precipitated a purge by the exiles of the Spanish group until there were only two or three members left in 1983.
Munis also had followers in several other countries and in the late 1970s these were organized into the Revolutionary Workers Ferment
with sections in France, Italy Greece and the United States. The American group, the FOR Organizing Committee of the United States
or FOCUS left in 1981 in solidarity with the expelled Spanish members.
Munis wrote many articles and books in his life, the best known being A Second Communist Manifesto and a history of the Spanish Civil War which remains untranslated into English. Munis is considered to have become a left communist following his break with the Fourth International.
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
politician.
Grandizo first entered revolutionary politics as a member of the Izquierda Comunista de España
Communist Left of Spain
Communist Left of Spain was a Trotskyist political party during the Second Spanish Republic. Its central leader was Andres Nin, who had been a supporter of the Left Opposition while living in Russia...
(ICE) or Left Communists
Left communism
Left communism is the range of communist viewpoints held by the communist left, which criticizes the political ideas of the Bolsheviks at certain periods, from a position that is asserted to be more authentically Marxist and proletarian than the views of Leninism held by the Communist International...
of Spain. This group was led by Andrés Nin
Andrés Nin
Andreu Nin i Pérez was a Spanish Communist revolutionary.- Early life :...
and was in sympathy with the views of Leon Trotsky
Leon Trotsky
Leon Trotsky , born Lev Davidovich Bronshtein, was a Russian Marxist revolutionary and theorist, Soviet politician, and the founder and first leader of the Red Army....
and therefore affiliated to the International Communist League
International Communist League
The International Communist League can refer to several Trotskyist political parties:*The Left Opposition, led by Trotsky from 1933 until 1936*The International-Communist League, a short-lived alliance of British groups in the mid-1970s...
.
Trotsky was opposed to the name of the group which he argued was imprecise and badly expressed the program of the Bolshevik-Leninists. In addition he entered into dispute with Nin and the ICE when they refused his suggestion to enter the youth organisation of the Spanish Socialist Workers Party (PSOE). The majority of the ICE then split with Trotsky leaving a small remnant grouping which included Grandizo Munis.
With the beginning of the Spanish Civil War
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...
in 1936 Munis was a member of the tiny Seccion Bolshevik-Leninista. This organisation sought to influence the ranks of the larger Workers' Party of Marxist Unification (POUM
Poum
Poum is a commune in the North Province of New Caledonia, an overseas territory of France in the Pacific Ocean. The town of Poum is located in the far northwest, located on the southern part of Banare Bay, with Mouac Island just offshore....
) and also worked closely with the more left wing anarchists of the Durruti Column
Durruti Column
The Durruti Column was the largest anarchist column formed during the Spanish Civil War . During the first months of the war it has come to be the most recognized and popular military organisations fighting at the republican side...
.
The Trotskyists were among the very few to oppose the Popular Front
Popular Front (Spain)
The Popular Front in Spain's Second Republic was an electoral coalition and pact signed in January 1936 by various left-wing political organisations, instigated by Manuel Azaña for the purpose of contesting that year's election....
government and openly took part in the May Day
May Day
May Day on May 1 is an ancient northern hemisphere spring festival and usually a public holiday; it is also a traditional spring holiday in many cultures....
s of 1937. This event led to their suppression by the government which was now dominated by the Stalinists. This meant that Munis was forced into illegality and had to flee for fear of his life.
Shortly before fall of Barcelona
Catalonia Offensive
The Catalonia Offensive was part of the Spanish Civil War. The Nationalist Army started the offensive on December 23, 1938, and rapidly conquered Republican-held Catalonia with its capital city from October 1937, Barcelona. Barcelona was captured on January 26, 1939. The Republican government...
Munis was able to escape the Monjuic Prison cross Francos lines and eventually got pass to border to France. He made is fate public in an interview with the French Trotskyist newspaper La Lutte Ouvrier published in its February 24 and March 3, 1939 issues. In the spring of 1940 Munis fled France to Mexico where he had a meeting with Trotsky, then to New York where he attended the May 1940 Emergency Conference of the Fourth International. Back in Mexico that August he spoke at Leon Trotskys funeral.
Munis spent the remainder of the war years in Mexico where he reestablished a section of the Fourth International among Spanish exiles. He managed to produce two issues of a printed magazine 19 de Julio, then began a mimeographed periodical Contra la Correinte. some of the articles in these journals were translated into the SWPs theoretical organ Fourth International. He was assisted in this effort by the French surrealist poet Benjamin Péret
Benjamin Péret
Benjamin Péret was a French poet, Parisian Dadaist and a founder and central member of the French Surrealist movement with his avid use of Surrealist automatism.-Biography:...
, who had also fled to Mexico.
During the war and immediate post war years Munis began to have differences with the Fourth International Secretariat based in New York, and with the Socialist Workers Party of the United States. These first began with a critique of the SWP leaders actions during the Minneapolis trials. On an ideological level he claimed that the USSR was no longer a workers' state of any kind, but state capitalist
State capitalism
The term State capitalism has various meanings, but is usually described as commercial economic activity undertaken by the state with management of the productive forces in a capitalist manner, even if the state is nominally socialist. State capitalism is usually characterized by the dominance or...
. He also rejected united fronts
United front
The united front is a form of struggle that may be pursued by revolutionaries. The basic theory of the united front tactic was first developed by the Comintern, an international communist organisation created by revolutionaries in the wake of the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution.According to the theses of...
with Stalinist parties and key parts of the Transitional Program
Transitional Program
The Transitional Program, the full name of which is The Death Agony of Capitalism and the Tasks of the Fourth International, is a political platform adopted by the 1938 founding congress of the Fourth International, the international Leninist organization founded by Leon Trotsky...
including nationalization
Nationalization
Nationalisation, also spelled nationalization, is the process of taking an industry or assets into government ownership by a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to private assets, but may also mean assets owned by lower levels of government, such as municipalities, being...
and a government of traditional workers parties. He also had organizational differences with the fourth International. He was supported in some of these criticism by Natalya Sedova, the widow of Leon Trotsky
At the Second World Congress of the Fourth International Munis blocked
Bloc
Bloc may refer to:* Eastern Bloc, a former group of countries in Europe* Voting bloc, a group of voters voting together* Trade bloc, a type of intergovernmental agreement* Bloc voting , several types of voting systems...
with Max Shachtman
Max Shachtman
Max Shachtman was an American Marxist theorist. He evolved from being an associate of Leon Trotsky to a social democrat and mentor of senior assistants to AFL-CIO President George Meany.-Beginnings:...
of the Workers Party by was eventually condemned by the Secretariat.
After the war Munis settled in Paris and began publishing a new periodical Revolucion, which proclaimed its official break with the Fourth International in November 1948. By 1949 his following was calling itself the Grupo Comunista Internacionalista de Espana. In 1951 Munis and J. Costa returned to Spain to organize an underground movement in the wake of the Barcelona tramway strike. They were unsuccessful and arrested by the Francoist authorities in 1952 and sentenced to ten years imprisonment. Munis was released in 1957 and returned to Paris where he began publishing a new organ Alarma. With the relaxation of the Francoist regime in the late 1960s and early 1970s the Munis group was able to establish a small following within Spain, though Munis himself continued to live in France. By the time of Francos death in the mid-1970s this group numbered about 50 people. However differences between the exiles in Paris and the younger personnel in Barcelona precipitated a purge by the exiles of the Spanish group until there were only two or three members left in 1983.
Munis also had followers in several other countries and in the late 1970s these were organized into the Revolutionary Workers Ferment
Revolutionary Workers Ferment
The Revolutionary Workers Ferment, often know by its Spanish name or initials Fomento Obrero Revolucionario or FOR, was a small left communist international founded by Grandizo Munis, which arose as a split from the Trotskyist Fourth International at its Second Congress in 1948.Though Munis and his...
with sections in France, Italy Greece and the United States. The American group, the FOR Organizing Committee of the United States
FOR Organizing Committee of the United States
The FOR Organizing Committee in the United States or FOCUS was a small group of leftists in the United States. It was the US section of the Revolutionary Workers Ferment, known by its Spanish initials FOR ....
or FOCUS left in 1981 in solidarity with the expelled Spanish members.
Munis wrote many articles and books in his life, the best known being A Second Communist Manifesto and a history of the Spanish Civil War which remains untranslated into English. Munis is considered to have become a left communist following his break with the Fourth International.
Selected works
- Unions Against Revolution
- Qua son las Alianzas Obreras Madrid : Ediciones Comunismo, 1934