CLASS WAR, REACTION & THE ITALIAN ANARCHISTS
by Adriana Dadà

The Struggles & Strategy Of The Anarchists

The daily was only one of the ways the anarchist voice could be heard. "Throughout the Biennio Rosso the anarchists were able to participate in force in the popular and workers' movements, first mixing in with them and then aiming at a more marked distinction" (70). As was observed,

"they are not external to the working class, but represent a precise sector of it, the most unstable sector, newly formed and not linked to the reformist tradition. They have their greatest support among the new, young working class, among the proletarized middle class of office workers and posts and telegraphs workers, and also among the old islands of traditional anarchist support (the railway workers, independent trades, etc.)" (71).

Actually, they were also present in other sectors such as the metalworkers. They were already in the majority in the USI, but in some regions formed independent unions and were often in charge of or well represented in autonomous Labour Clubs in places like Sestri Ponente, Sampierdarena, Savona-Vado, Livorno, in various parts of Emilia-Romagna and the Marches. They had militants in the Sindacato Ferrovieri, the Federazione dei Lavoratori del Mare, and others. In places where it was not possible to create independent unions or where their creation would have provoked artificial divisions, they worked in the Labour Clubs and within the professional unions of the CGdL, for example in Turin, where they formed a conspicuous and active component of the important metallurgical sector. The anarchists in the Piedmontese capital gave, in fact, high importance to action in the confederal mass organization. According to the anarchist Pietro Ferrero, secretary of the local metalworkers' union:

"In Turin there was no branch of the Unione Sindacale Italiana at the time and the anarchists, with the exception of the anti-organizationalists, were members of the FIOM branch and, as convinced partisans of proletarian unity, actively participated in this new movement [the factory councils], in the hopes of their bringing results" (72).

Anarchism was able to establish itself "at the heart of the class struggle in the city of Turin during the four years after the end of the war and provided one of the best militants in the course of the resistance in the person of Pietro Ferrero, who was murdered by the fascists on 18 December 1922" (73). Particularly significant was the influence anarchists had on the theories expressed by Ordine Nuovo, thanks especially to Maurizio Garino and Pietro Mosso an assistant in theoretical philosophy at the local university and author of the book "Il Sistema Taylor ed i consigli dei produttori" (The Taylor System and the producers' councils) under the pen-name of Carlo Petri (74). It comes as no surprise that the Gruppo Libertario Torinese (Turin Libertarian Group) was one of the signatories of the manifesto "Per il congresso dei consigli di fabbrica. Agli operai e ai contadini di tutta Italia" (For the congress of factory councils. To the workers and peasants of all Italy), launched in March 1920 by Ordine Nuovo in order to promote the use of councils (75). Even at the meeting of the Labour Club in December 1919, Garino and the anarchists had been decisive in the victory of the pro-council current. As Gramsci wrote:

"When Garino, the anarchist syndicalist, spoke [...] on the matter and spoke with great dialectic efficacy and warmth, we (unlike comrade Tasca) were pleasantly surprised and felt a deep emotion [...] The attitude of comrade Garino, a libertarian, a syndicalist, was proof of the profound conviction we have always had that in the real revolutionary process the entire working class spontaneously discovers theoretical unity and practical unity" (76).

The struggle of the metalworkers in the spring of 1920 began in February in Sestri Ponente and reached its peak with the "sciopero delle lancette" (a series of strike actions in protest of the introduction of summer time) in March in Turin. Anarchists constantly dedicated their efforts to expanding the councils, in an attempt to transform the labour action into insurrectional action. Undoubtedly, the conception developed in anarchist circles of this new institution (the factory council), bore noticeable differences from that if the supporters of Ordine Nuovo, set out in the motion presented by Ferrero and Garino at the Turin Labour Club meeting in June and detailed in the report presented to the anarchist national congress in July of that year in Bologna. At the congress, Garino confirmed the need to promote the creation of factory councils as "they bring the class struggle into its natural terrain, endowing it with the strength to conquer". He considered their primary tasks "first, immediate action; second, to guarantee the continuity of production in the insurrectionary period; third, to be perhaps the basis for communist management". Basically, for anarchists the importance of the councils lay in the fact that they ensured the participation of all workers "without distinction [...] organized or not, on the basis of their various sectors" and that they could operate as unitary instruments of struggle and management: "the Council as an anti-State organ and the Council as an organ of power" (77).

The common point between the anarchists and the Ordinovists was their demand that every worker, whether belonging to a union or not, had an equal voice within the councils. However, they differed in that the former refused to consider the councils as the basis for a new State, a soviet State. Other differences lay in stressing the criteria that only in the revolutionary phase could the councils act as effective instruments of class struggle (and, therefore, spread to all sectors of social life) and in pointing out the risks of their degenerating into joint management bodies of a non-communist system. Endorsing these points, the anarchist congress in Bologna approved a motion which read (in part):

"While noting that the factory and departmental councils are important above all in light of the proximity of the revolution and of the fact that they can be the technical organs of expropriation and of the necessary, immediate continuation of production, but that, by continuing to exist within the current society, they would be prey to the moderating and accommodating influence of this society, we believe that the factory councils and suitable instruments for grouping all manual and intellectual workers in their workplaces, for communist and anarchist purposes and that they are absolutely anti-State organs and possible nuclei of the future running of industrial and agricultural production. They are useful for developing in the waged worker the consciousness of producer and also, for the purposes of the revolution, for helping to transform the discontent of the industrial and agricultural workers into a clear desire for expropriation. We therefore invite comrades to support the formation of factory councils and to participate actively in their development in order to maintain their organic structure and their functions as outlined here, to fight any tendency towards collaborationist deviations and to ensure that when they are formed all the workers in each factory participate, whether they are organized or not" (78).

As far as the soviets were concerned, the meeting relied on the report by Sandro Molinari which, in effect, repeated what was said regarding the councils. They were adjudged to be important bodies during the revolutionary phase but mention was made of the risks of authoritarian, collaborationist or statist deviations (79). The introductory report on workers' organization was made by Fabbri, who stressed the need to "let workers' organizations and political organizations remain independent of each other" and to "occupy ourselves with the work of anarchist comrades [within the unions] to ensure that it increasingly promotes revolutionary and libertarian goals" (80). Fabbri had already written on the subject in Umanità Nova during the days leading up to the congress, proposing that the motion on the matter approved at the Florence convention the previous year be presented again, and suggesting that "a statement in favour of proletarian unity be added". In recalling this principle, he criticized the split between the Unione Sindacale and the CGdL which, he said, though "provoked by the evil designs of the reformists [...], was a mistake", as it had not produced the effects desired by the reformists, given that "in many places the anarchists remained as members of the confederation", because of their "desire for unity". He also negatively considered the USI's propensity for encouraging others to leave the CGdL:

"If I had to give advice, I would ask the comrades to avoid provoking splits within the unions, the Labour Clubs, etc., to which they belong [...] Workers' organization, which is based on the workers' interests, tends to adapt itself to its environment in order to obtain the best results for its members. It is not, as was once said, automatically revolutionary or libertarian".

The real question lay instead in the strategy anarchists should have within the unions: an anti-collaborationist and anti-reformist strategy, able to involve non-anarchist workers, to create "that revolutionary minority whose function is to give the first blow on the closed doors of the future" and to coordinate themselves within the structures of the party (81). But there were other positions argued during the meeting, such as Fantozzi's, which held that it was "disgraceful that anarchist workers are still members of the Confederation of Labour", Borghi's, which extolled the virtues of the USI without demanding that people join it, Binazzi's (poorly supported) middle-of-the-road position, which saw no difficulty with people joining either union. Then there was the Turin group's position, which insisted on the importance of action within the confederation, if possible forming "opposition groups of anarchists, syndicalists and revolutionary communists". Garino maintained that it was because "this was not the moment to force a split in those places where there was proletarian unity, given the times that were in it". At the end, a motion prevailed (with the support of Malatesta) which did not take into account the breadth of debate and in effect took an easy line of exclusive support for the USI.

"This Congress [...], given the current situation where several workers' organizations exist, once more considers that the Unione Sindacale Italiana is the one which today best embodies revolutionary and libertarian ideals. Our solidarity goes to those comrades who devote their activity to it with a spirit of abnegation. We advise comrades to promote the action of the USI as and as long as it remains on the terrain of revolutionary, anti-State action, both by becoming members and helping to form new branches, and (where this is not possible due to local conditions and in order not to provoke damaging splits) by uniting into direct action groups or committees to oppose reformism all those revolutionary elements who are still (as a result of the above needs) members of other organizations, and ensuring that these groups or committees act together with the USI" (82).

In more general terms, though marked by lively and complex debate, the Bologna congress was an indicator of the internal difficulty in the growth of the post-war movement where recourse was made to compromise between the various tendencies. In effect, the "pact of alliance" approved at the meeting was an attempt to hold together federations, groups and individuals with different ideas, binding them through a "programme", which would become impossible to realize given the total local and individual autonomy which the pact itself guaranteed. Discussion on the subject revealed at least two well-defined positions. The first position was hostile to any form of organization, tied to the guarantee of absolute freedom of the individual or the group. The second position was that in order to guarantee that the Unione Anarchica Italiana (UAI - Italian Anarchist Union) - the new name of the UCAdI - could function well, only those who accepted an organization which though not centralized, operated on the basis of federations according to a programme that would have to be binding for all once approved.

"The contradictions in the UAI's action and in the 'Pact' it approved are evident, and are obviously the consequence of the instrumental function which the UAI was to have had at that particular political moment. Thus it tried to bridge the gap between the founding principles of anarchism and operational efficiency, in order to reach certain goals, by artificially overcoming the contrasting methods and strategies of its militants. It reminded its members of the moral obligation attached to decisions reached but recognized, on the other hand, the right to full autonomy. It gave its members a series of practical regulations regarding the working of groups, the payment of dues, the process for convening assemblies, expulsions, etc., while on the other hand confirming that every group or circle which was a member of the UAI could establish its own internal constitution and decide its own activity in whatever way it chose and in full autonomy, thereby automatically permitting the various groups to establish their own regulations even if they differed from those set out in the 'Pact'" (83).

Furthermore, the Programme itself, which should have provided cohesion for all the components of the movement, limited itself to outlining the project for a future anarchist communist society without defining the tactics and strategy required in order to reach this objective, trusting practically exclusively to the insurrectional moment, for which it was necessary to "prepare oneself mentally and materially so that the outbreak of violent struggle would lead to a victory of the people" (84). Instead of an organic line, the congress created a badly-connected series of strategies and failed to create adequate mechanisms for the main proposal, the Fronte unico rivoluzionario (FUR - Revolutionary Single Front). In Fabbri's words, approved by the congress:

"it is not a single front of revolutionary parties, but between revolutionary elements in various places, even in opposition to the will of the leaders and without the blessing of the various organizations, the UAI included. It is a matter of local agreements made possible by an affinity of intent, especially with regard to action" (85).

Given such a set-up, if it were to be practicable there would have to be theoretical, objective and organizational unity together with a good level of efficiency, on the part of the whole movement. But within the Unione Anarchica Italiana this unity was only apparent, not real.

Alongside the official pronouncements, the congress was also the scene of a secret meeting in order to agree (it would seem) a plan of operations in light of the expected insurrection (86). In this area the anarchists showed themselves to be full of initiative and capable of acting as advanced nuclei of attack and defence in the waves of popular and workers' uprising, and in extreme resistance to fascism with an effect that was superior to their numbers. The group from La Spezia had established relations with sailors and soldiers and in May 1920 they launched an assault on the Monte Albano fort in Migliarino and, in agreement with some of the guards, tried in vain to take possession of an arms depot. Significantly, the police did not make any arrests even though they were well aware of the incident, for fear of provoking "a general strike of protest" (87). The Fascio Libertario Torinese (Turin Libertarian Group) formed close ties with soldiers (even with officers and junior officers) who secretly frequented the Labour Club. "The anarchist communists of Turin", according to a June 1919 report by General Scipioni, "have well-defined tasks for action: to blow up railway bridges, to cut telegraph and telephone communications and to isolate local authorities from any outside contact" (88). In April 1920, anarchists from Piombino, Livorno and Genoa blocked a convoy of troops being sent to Turin, the scene at the time of the "sciopero delle lancette". Not to mention the role of anarchists in the Ancona revolt the following June where "soldiers armed the workers", as Borghi reports, "and the workers defended the soldiers" (89).

The FUR was prepared to put into application temporary, local agreements which were often imposed by events, with socialists, republicans and subversives. Its best prospects seemed to lie in national initiatives and conventions jointly called by the mass organizations in defence of political victims and of the Russian Revolution, which fostered fervid hopes. Nonetheless, even the convention in Bologna in August 1920 called by the railworkers' union, which was massively attended, did not lead to the creation of unity. Certainly, a large part of the blame was due to the unwillingness of the PSI, but in part also thanks to the attitude of Malatesta who was reluctant to accept a permanent committee for fear of the power it could have assumed (90). Once again, then, we see the uncertainty of his position (shared at the time by a large part of the movement) whose roots lay in uncritical trust in spontaneity, in the imminence of the revolution and in the intent to leave the people to do things by themselves.

Above all, it was the workers' and peasants' struggles (which reinforced the conviction of their leading automatically to a revolution in society) which provided anarchists with fertile terrain to push for the immediate putting into operation of the FUR. The effect was the transformation of a mid-term strategy into the only strategy and the loss of understanding of the need for an organization of anarchists which would function as a centre of coordination and a reference point for the masses. However, their work went well beyond their intense operational activity, encompassing well-aimed analysis of the situation and the reformist attempts at limiting the initiative of the proletariat with the usual rules and regulations. Even after the end of the Mazzonis case (a conclusion effectively stage-managed by the government, which re-possessed factories occupied by workers in order to hand them back to their owners after agreeing new contracts with the workers), Umanità Nova wrote:

"We regret that those who we believe to be sincerely revolutionaries have acted with complicity in this affair. What have our friends of Ordine Nuovo got to say about this parody of communism of the Factory Councils, which they support so warmly? Or about this loudly-acclaimed attempt at communism in a bourgeois regime with the blessing of a minister of the king? And what about the abstentionist communists in the Partito Socialista?" (91).

It must be stressed that this denunciation anticipated (and perhaps led to) the position of the Ordinovists laid out in Togliatti's article "New Tactics" (92). In more general terms, it has been noted, with respect to the views of the other forces on the left, that

"the position of the anarchists during the period of the factory occupations was always one of revolutionary intervention and extension and, at the same time, of conflict with respect to intervention on practices. It is not a hurriedly cobbled together political position, just a step in the development of an analysis and tactics rooted in a wider background and in decisions and choices which are particularly referred to the period following the First World War". (93)

In fact, right from the very start of the metalworkers action, it was followed closely and commentated, its development was examined, the position with regard to the reformists was examined and there were attempts to extend the struggle and connect it to other categories of industry and agriculture (94). Equally, attention was focused on the new proletarian grassroots organizations which had developed out of the need to organize and manage production in order that the revolutionary transition could begin (95). When the action culminated in the occupation of factories, the anarchists showed themselves to be aware that there were no longer sufficient economic margins for negotiation and that the clash with the bourgeoisie had shifted onto the political terrain. The understood the particular nature of the moment when the masses, overcoming the traditional insurrectional methods, took possession of the means of production, actually putting revolutionary expropriation into practice (on 7 September, after calling for the factories not to be abandoned, Umanità Nova stated that "never again will such a favourable occasion present itself to begin expropriating the capitalists with the minimum loss of blood")(96). Seeing the risk of isolation, they proposed expanding the movement to other sectors up to the level of local administration. This was the situation in which a convention was called by the USI for 7 September in Sampierdarena, with the participation of the rail, sea and port workers, grocers and CGdL delegates. "All these workers", wrote Borghi (97), "are in favour of a courageous decision: to do the deed, to occupy immediately Italy's biggest port, Genoa, the other Ligurian ports, and other branches of industry". Equally perceptive was the prediction that the abandonment of the factories would inevitably spark off the fury of reaction (98).

Next section: The Preventive Counter-Revolution

Index

Notes:

70. E. SANTARELLI, Il socialismo anarchico cit., p. 189.
71. G. MAIONE, Il biennio rosso. Autonomia e spontaneità operaia nel 1919-1920, Bologna 1975, pp. 225-226.
72. Le lotte metallurgiche a Torino, in "Umanità Nova", 18 July 1921.
73. P.C. MASINI, Anarchici e comunisti cit.
74. "L'Ordine Nuovo", 25 October and 22 November 1919.
75. Ibid, 27 March 1920.
76. A. GRAMSCI, L'Ordine Nuovo, Turin 1954, pp. 128-129.
77. M. GARINO, Consigli di fabbrica e di azienda. Relazione presentata al Congresso dell'Unione Anarchica Italiana (Bologna 1-4 luglio 1920), in "Umanità Nova", 1 July 1920.
78. Congresso dell'Unione Anarchica Italiana. Terza giornata (3 luglio 1920), ibid, 6 July 1920.
79. ARGON [S. MOLINARI], I Soviet e la loro costituzione. Atti del Convegno (Relazione al Congresso Anarchico di Bologna), ibid, 3 July 1920.
80. Secondo Congresso dell'Unione Anarchica Italiana. Seconda giornata (2 luglio 1920) Seduta pomeridiana. Rapporti con le organizzazioni operaie di resistenza, ibid, 10 July 1920.
81. CATILINA [L. FABBRI], Anarchismo e azione sindacale, ibid, 27 June 1920.
82. Secondo congresso cit.
83. G. CERRITO, Il ruolo dell'organizzazione anarchica, Catania 1973, pp. 87-88.
84. UNIONE ANARCHICA ITALIANA, Programma adottato dall'UAI in Bologna 1-4 luglio 1920, Bologna 1920.
85. Secondo Congresso dell'Unione Anarchica Italiana. Seconda giornata (2 luglio 1920). Seduta antimeridiana. Il fronte unico, in "Umanità Nova", 4 luglio 1920.
86. See: L. FABBRI, Malatesta cit., p. 139.
87. G. BIANCO, op. cit., p. 147, which includes the Nota del Sottoprefetto di La Spezia del 18 aprile 1920.
88. Rapporto del maggior Generale Scipioni sull'organizzazione rivoluzionaria a Torino del 15 giugno 1919, reported in R. VIVARELLI, Il dopoguerra in Italia e l'avvento del fascismo (1918-1922). I. Dalla fine della guerra all'impresa di Fiume, Naples 1967, pp. 584-586.
89. A. BORGHI, La rivoluzione mancata cit., p. 129.
90. See: L. FABBRI, Prefazione cit., p. 18.
91. Note torinesi, Vertenza Mazzonis, in "Umanità Nova", 7 March 1920. See also: I nuovi orizzonti della lotta operaia, ibid, 4 March 1920, and L'espropriazione degli stabilimenti Mazzonis. Una nuova mistificazione, ibid, 6 March 1920.
92. Tattica Nuova, in "L'Ordine Nuovo", 13 March 1920 (article attributed to Togliatti). G. MAIONE, op. cit., p. 102, states that the Ordinovists were the only ones who understood the real implications of the Mazzonis case: when one considers what was written in "Umanità Nova" this statement seems overly biased.
93. G. BOSIO, L'occupazione delle fabbriche e i gruppi dirigenti e di pressione del movimento operaio, in 1920. La grande speranza. L'occupazione delle fabbriche in Italia, special issue of "Il Ponte", 31 October 1970, p. 1182.
94. In connection, see: "Umanità Nova", 28 March, 1 and 4 April, 9 and 12 June 1920.
95. In connection, see: ibid, 7 April, 6 and 22 June, 8 and 19 August, 4 and 5 September 1920.
96. Metallurguci attenti, ibid, 7 September 1920.
97. A. BORGHI, La rivoluzione mancata cit., p. 143 ff.
98. See: I pericoli, in "Umanità Nova", 8 September 1920.