This is the last article you can read this month
You can read more article this month
You can read more articles this month
Sorry your limit is up for this month
Reset on:
Please help support the Morning Star by subscribing here
HUNDREDS of people gathered at the weekend to pay tribute to the International Brigades on the 80th anniversary of the Battle of the Ebro.
Trade unionists, Brigaders’ families and supporters gathered at the International Brigade monument in Jubilee Gardens in London to remember one of the final battles of the beleaguered Spanish republic.
In memory of the heroes of the International Brigades @MarxLibrary @IBMT_SCW memorial pic.twitter.com/CN9fiy3XBK
— MarxMemorialLibrary (@MarxLibrary) July 7, 2018
About 2,000 British people fought in the Brigades, which were formed to defend the Spanish Republican government against the fascist-supported forces of General Franco. More than 500 of them were killed in the conflict.
The folk group Monero performed war ballads and Ireland secretary of the International Brigade Memorial Trust Manus O’Riordan led participants in a rendition of the Internationale.
Wreaths were laid by Spanish republican exile groups, trade unions, branches of the Labour and Communist parties and fraternal International Brigades memorial groups from Spain and France.
Labour shadow cabinet office minister Jon Trickett, who spoke at the event, paid tribute to the thousands of men and women who volunteered to fight for the republic, who, he said, were “motivated by the highest principles of solidarity” and were “amongst the most politically conscious working-class activists and intellectuals” Britain has produced.
“Over 500 of these heroes who had gone from Britain did not come back, killed on Spanish soil in their fight for democracy and socialism,” he said.
With @ASLEFunion remembering the volunteers of the International Brigades who gave their lives in Spain fighting Franco’s fascists in defence of the republic. No Pasaran! pic.twitter.com/xKlFr63O1K
— Marz Colombini (@MarzC) July 7, 2018
“Had Spain turned out as the Brigades wanted, the rise of fascism in Germany and Italy might have been avoided, with all its horrors.
“The old slogan ‘No pasaran’ must be inscribed on the banners of generations to come.”
In a statement Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said that “the men and women who served in the International Brigades represent the best of our country.
“Nearly 80 years on from the Spanish Civil War, we should remember the words of the legendary Spanish republican leader La Pasionaria, who told the International Brigades: ‘You are history! You are legend!’
“We can be both humbled and emboldened by the courage of those who stood alongside the Spanish people in their darkest hour and raised the flag of freedom and democracy.”
