To begin with, gratitude to Russia for the arms and the fact that the
Communist Party, especially since the arrival of the International
Brigades, looked capable of winning the war, immensely raised the
Communist prestige. Secondly, the Russian arms were supplied via the
Communist Party and the parties allied to them, who saw to it that as
few as possible got to their political opponents.* Thirdly, by
proclaiming a non-revolutionary policy the Communists were able to
gather in all those whom the extremists had scared. It was easy, for
instance, to rally the wealthier peasants against the collectivization
policy of the Anarchists.
There was an enormous growth in the membership of the party, and the influx was largely from the middle class-shopkeepers, officials, army officers, well-to-do peasants, etc., etc. The war was essentially a triangular struggle. The fight against Franco had to continue, but the simultaneous aim of the Government was to recover such power as remained in the hands of the trade unions. It was done by a series of small moves--a policy of pin-pricks, as somebody called it--and on the whole very cleverly. There was no general and obvious counter-revolutionary move, and until May 1937 it was scarcely
necessary to use force. The workers could always be brought to heel by an argument that is almost too obvious to need stating: 'Unless you do this, the war will be lost'
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