Today in History: Sept 26th
1919: Anarchist Makhnovist army counterattacks the forces of White Army General Denekin near the village of Peregonovka, routing the forces arrayed against them. The Makhnovischina goes on to cut the supply lines of Denekin's forces driving towards Moscow, forcing him to abandon the advance. The Bolsheviks repay this kindness by betrayal of their anarchist allies on more than one occasion. For more on Nestor Makhno see the 'Nestor Makhno Archive' at http://www.nestormakhno.info
1936: Oops !!! Three anarchists, Juan Domenech, Juan Fabregas and Antonio Garcia Birian compromise and betray anarchist principles by joining the government of the Catalan Generalidad. This is the first move in a series of depressing compromises that the Spanish anarchists make in the name of "anti-fascist unity". The main beneficiary of these compromises is the previously insignificant PCE - The Spanish Communist Party. This Stalinist party-of course- goes on to betray its allies, anarchist and otherwise. Do we see a pattern here ? Finally the great and glorious bastion of the working class against fascism forms a "temporary, eternal friendship" with guess who on the signing of the Hitler Stalin pact.
For more on some of the anarchist opposition to the collaborationist policies of the CNT-FAI see 'The Friends of Durruti Group:1937-1939' (Agustin Guillamin) at http://www.spunk.org/library/places/spain/sp001780 .
1969: Eighth Conference of the Situationalist International held in Venice. The SI lasted until 1972 when it dissolved at the point when it had only two members. Most of the internal activity of the group consisted of the search for grounds for expulsion. Hence the fact that it rarely had more than 10 or 15 members at a time. You might say that heresy hunting was a "matter of everyday life" for them. Despite admirable bursts of creativity the SI remained a basically incoherent group. There was thus always good grounds for expulsions. Should it have continued until only Debord remained the combination of incoherence and megalomania would possibly have led him to expel himself. But that would be expecting a little too much from someone fantastically convinced of his own importance.
Anyways see the Wikipedia article on the SI at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Situationalist
. You can also access the actual texts of the SI at the 'Situationalist International Online' at http://www.cddc.vt.edu/sionline .
All being said the SI was more than a slight cut above some of its progeny.
That's about it for today. Sorry about the slim picking.
Molly.