UGT-CNT Relations: The Failure of Unity

Relations between the two union federations during the civil war were characterised by the same sort of difficulties, arising both from organisational rivalries and ideological differences, which had marked, and indeed marred, their relations in the pre-war period. The history of Spanish anarchism during the war years is the history of massive internal crisis and debilitation provoked by the gradual abandoning of anarchism's central tenet – namely its rejection of parliamentary politics. Inside the anarchist movement, and particularly within the FAI, an enormous gulf developed between the purists and políticos such as Horacio Prieto, Juan Peiró, Juan López and Cardona Rosell. The latter evolved towards a positive acceptance of creating a political party within the CNT, which would thus enable the organisation to share in state power. ‘It is thus our view that, in contrast to our previous separatist tradition, it is now the duty of all anarchists to accept functions in as many state institutions and bodies as need be to ensure the consolidation of the new political order.’ The supporters of Horacio Prieto and the politicos were concentrated in the national committee of the CNT and in the regional federations of the CNT for the North, Asturias and the Levante.