Historical Materialism Book Series362 Volunteers for the Revolution

Apart from George Orwell, five hundred foreign volunteers fought with the militias of the anti-Stalinist Partido Obrero de Unificación Marxista (POUM) during the Spanish Civil War. This exhaustive account presents for the first time their story of courage and betrayal. That thousands of members of the International Brigades fought heroically against fascism during the Spanish Civil War is well known. Far less known—aside from the notable exception of George Orwell—is the presence of five hundred foreign combatants in the militias of the anti-Stalinist Partido Obrero de Unificación Marxista (POUM). This book provides, for the first time, an exhaustive study of these volunteers: their socio-political background, their participation in the Civil War and revolution, their role as victims of Stalinist slander and repression, and their fate during the Second World War and beyond.