The ''Sindicatos Libres'' ( Spanish for "Free Trade Unions"; ) was a Spanish company union born in

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

Catalonia Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...

. It was established by

Carlist Carlism (; ; ; ) is a Traditionalism (Spain), Traditionalist and Legitimist political movement in Spain aimed at establishing an alternative branch of the Bourbon dynasty, one descended from Infante Carlos María Isidro of Spain, Don Carlos, ...

workers, and remained active during the early

interwar period In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period, also known as the interbellum (), lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days) – from the end of World War I (WWI) to the beginning of World War II ( ...

(the late stages of Restoration Spain) as a counterweight to the

anarcho-syndicalist Anarcho-syndicalism is an anarchist organisational model that centres trade unions as a vehicle for class conflict. Drawing from the theory of libertarian socialism and the practice of syndicalism, anarcho-syndicalism sees trade unions as both ...

Confederación Nacional del Trabajo The (CNT; ) is a Spanish anarcho-syndicalist national trade union center, trade union confederation. Founded in 1910 in Barcelona from groups brought together by the trade union ''Solidaridad Obrera (historical union), Solidaridad Obrera'', ...

''. The group aided employers take action against striking unionists, and was thus criticized as a " yellow union" with proto-fascist leanings; however, its regular members were in practice freely moving between right- and left-wing unionism. The ''Sindicatos'' lost momentum during the dictatorship of

Miguel Primo de Rivera Miguel Primo de Rivera y Orbaneja, 2nd Marquis of Estella, Grandee, GE (8 January 1870 – 16 March 1930), was a Spanish dictator and military officer who ruled as prime minister of Spain from 1923 to 1930 during the last years of the Resto ...

, and eventually dissolved when the

Second Spanish Republic The Spanish Republic (), commonly known as the Second Spanish Republic (), was the form of democratic government in Spain from 1931 to 1939. The Republic was proclaimed on 14 April 1931 after the deposition of Alfonso XIII, King Alfonso XIII. ...

was proclaimed.

History

They ''Sindicatos Libres'' were founded on 10 October 1919 in

, during a time of severe and violent class conflict between employers and workers in the city, with the practice of "'' pistolerismo''" widespread. With employers feeling that the Spanish Police and

Army An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by ...

were inefficient in their attempts to stop left-wing agitation, they sponsored the growth of the ''Sindicatos'', seeking to use them as violent militia groups. Formed by highly conservative Catholic workers, they took on some of the features of a yellow union as employer subsidies to the groups grew. Vilified by anarcho-syndicalist rivals as strikebreaking thugs, the ''Sindicatos Libres'' sided with the Spanish Police in the 1920−1922 period, when Civil Governor Severiano Martínez Anido and Chief of Police Miguel Arlegui unleashed a campaign of state terror against trade unionists. Aside from a small Carlist core, their militancy was not particularly ideological, with members often returning to the ''Confederación Nacional del Trabajo''. They reached 150,000 members in the 1920–21 period. However, as strike action declined in 1921 and beyond so too did the influence of the ''Sindicatos Libres'' as their violent activity became of less value to the employers. During the

dictatorship of Primo de Rivera General Miguel Primo de Rivera's dictatorship over Spain began with a coup on 13 September 1923 and ended with his resignation on 28 January 1930. It took place during the wider reign of King Alfonso XIII. In establishing his dictatorship, ...

(1923–30), ''Sindicatos'' expanded outside of Barcelona; towards the end of the 1920s their membership stood at around 200,000. However, Primo de Rivera's laws against the anarcho-syndicalists and other leftist groups again meant that the group were less essential for the street battles than they had been. The group initially espoused a sort of heterodox Carlism with potentially revolutionary undertones, but as they progressively lost the traditionalist tenets of Carlism, Colin M. Winston argues that they evolved into a first strand of Spanish

fascism Fascism ( ) is a far-right, authoritarian, and ultranationalist political ideology and movement. It is characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural social hie ...

. The ''Confederación Nacional de Sindicatos Libres'' ("National Confederation of Free Trade Unions") dissolved right after the proclamation of the Second Republic in 1931.

References

Bibliography

* * * * * {{Cite journal, title=The Proletarian Carlist Road to Fascism: Sindicalismo Libre, first=Colin M., last=Winston, journal=

Journal of Contemporary History The ''Journal of Contemporary History'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal covering the study of history in all parts of the world since 1930. It was established in 1966 by Walter Laqueur and George L. Mosse. Originally published by ...

, volume=17, issue=4, year=1982, pages=557–585, jstor=260522, issn=0022-0094, publisher=SAGE, doi=10.1177/002200948201700401, s2cid=159516428 Trade unions established in 1919 Trade unions disestablished in 1931 1919 establishments in Spain 1931 disestablishments in Spain Trade unions in Spain Carlism Catholic trade unions Restoration (Spain) Anti-anarchism in Spain Confederación Nacional del Trabajo Organisations based in Barcelona Fascism in Spain Fascist trade unions Far-right politics in Catalonia Proto-fascism