Confédération Générale du Travail-Syndicaliste Révolutionnaire
The Confédération Générale du Travail-Syndicaliste Révolutionnaire (CGT-SR; French for General Confederation of Revolutionary Trade Unions) was a trade union federation in France founded in 1926 by Pierre Besnard with the help of the Spanish CNT. It was affiliated to the International Workers' Association.[1]
It was an anarchist split from the Confédération générale du travail unitaire (CGT-U)[2] and was made illegal in 1939.
Theoretical Legacy
editIts legacy comprises the charter of Lyons, which founded anti-political syndicalism.
Syndicalist Activity
editIt took part in the major struggles of its time, like anti-colonialism, the strikes of June 1936 in France, or the support to Spanish Republicans during the Spanish Civil War[3] and the resistance to the Nazis.
The CGT-SR actively opposed French colonialism, both in Algeria and in France. For the occasion of the centenary of the colonisation of Algeria, in 1930, a declaration denouncing colonialism was signed by the Union Anarchiste, the CGT-SR and the Association des Fédéralistes Anarchistes.
Famous members
edit- Pierre Besnard
- Victor Giraud
- Paul Lapeyre
- Sail Mohamed (1894–1953)
- Adrien Perrissaguet
- Vincent Joseph (1920- )
- Antoine Turmo
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ Facing the Enemy: A History of Anarchist Organization from Proudhon to May 1968, Alexandre Skirda, Tr. Paul Sharkey, AK Press, 2002, ISBN 1-902593-19-7, ISBN 978-1-902593-19-7, page 117.
- ^ Syndicalism and the transition to communism: an international comparative analysis, Ralph Darlington, Ed. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd., 2008, ISBN 0-7546-3617-8, ISBN 978-0-7546-3617-5, page 172
- ^ Durruti in the Spanish revolution, Abel Paz, José Luis Gutiérrez Molina, Chuck Morse, Tr. Chuck Morse, AK Press, 2007, ISBN 1-904859-50-X, 9781904859505, page 134.
Further reading
edit- Amdur, Kathryn (1980). "From Schism to Reunification: Conflict and Compromise in Provincial French Labor Politics, 1922-1936". Journal of the Western Society for French History. 8. University of Michigan Library: 464–480. ISSN 2573-5012.
- Amdur, Kathryn (1986). Syndicalist Legacy: Trade Unions and Politics in Two French Cities in the Era of World War I. University of Illinois Press. ISBN 0-252-01238-0.
- Berry, David (1999). "'Fascism or Revolution!' Anarchism and Antifascism in France, 1933–39". Contemporary European History. 8 (1): 51–71. doi:10.1017/S0960777399000132.
- Damier, Vadim (2009) [2000]. Anarcho-syndicalism in the 20th Century. Translated by Archibald, Malcolm. Edmonton: Black Cat Press. ISBN 978-0-9737827-6-9.
- Darlington, Ralph (2008). "Influence and Demise". Syndicalism and the Transition to Communism: An International Comparative Analysis. Ashgate Publishing. pp. 145–180. ISBN 978-0-7546-3617-5.
- Gildea, Robert (1996). "Anarchism". The Past in French History. Yale University Press. pp. 260–299. ISBN 0300067119.
- Magraw, Roger (1992). A History of the French Working Class. Vol. 2. Blackwell. ISBN 9780631180456.
- Seidman, Michael (1991). "The Ideology of Workers' Control". Workers Against Work: Labor in Paris and Barcelona During the Popular Fronts. University of California Press. pp. 189–211. ISBN 0-520-06915-3.
- Thorpe, Wayne (1989). The Workers Themselves. Kluwer Academic Publishers. ISBN 0-7923-0276-1. LCCN 89-8205.
- Thorpe, Wayne (1996). "Anarchosyndicalism in Inter-War France: The Vision of Pierre Besnard". European History Quarterly. 26 (4): 559–590. doi:10.1177/026569149602600403.
- Tosstorff, Reiner (2004). "From the First to the Second Congress of the RILU". The Red International of Labour Unions (RILU) 1920 - 1937. Brill. pp. 422–608. doi:10.1163/9789004325579_007. ISBN 9789004325579.