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Update: I stand corrected, see comments below. He served with the communist POUM and sympathised with the anarchists. > Orwell was serving with a Marxist milit

Update: I stand corrected, see comments below. He served with the communist POUM and sympathised with the anarchists. > Orwell was serving with a Marxist militia in the fight against fascism, in Spain Orwell actually fought on the side of the anarchists and their side was (later) betrayed by the communists as he mentions in the book: “Homage to Catalonia” Some Quotes: https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/7293191-philosophically-communism-and-anarchism-are-poles-apart-practically-i-e-in-the https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/7293191-philosophically-com... https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/7663572-the-fat-russian-agent-was-cornering-all-the-foreign-refugees https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/7663572-the-fat-russian-age... https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/7455290-it-is-impossible-to-read-through-the-reports-in-the https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/7455290-it-is-impossible-to...

jhbadger 5y ago
Sort of. He (and POUM) were more anarchist than Marxist. And found themselves under fire but the actual Marxists nearly as much as by Franco's forces.
arethuza 5y ago
I thought POUM were communists, just not the Stalinist version of communism? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/POUM https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/POUM
dghf 5y ago
He sympathised with the anarchists, and in retrospect wished he'd joined them, but the group he joined -- POUM -- were Marxist rather than anarchist, though not Marxist-Leninist/Stalinist (what most people would probably mean by Communist). The group is sometimes described as Trotskyite, but I believe it had already broken with Trotsky by the time Orwell joined. But its members were indeed the target of a purge by the Stalinists and their allies in the Republican government. So Orwell was one of the few authors, possibly the only author, to have been shot by Fascists and nearly shot by Stalinists, which probably explains in part the burning distaste for both ideologies evident in 1984.
- marsven_422 5y ago
- nfin 5y ago
  Don‘t know enough to tell, just (genuinely) asking: Is it not possibly to join a group, but actually leaning a bit in (also or partially) another direction (knowing that with our human flaws not one direction might be the only possible solution, or a mix or balance might be necessary). Only partially related: I am for example part of several groups (ok, admittely not as deep Orwell in this example) just so I can understand better all sides of a topic. To better understand a side and interact with the people of that group, I sometimes do not contradict everything I don’t agree with, but try to ask the right questions at the right moment. It sometimes feel a better use of time for both sides.
  - pjc50 5y ago
    Social groups? Sure. Armed rebel groups in the middle of an insurgency? Disloyalty is .. less tolerated.
    - nfin 5y ago
      oh thanks! it was about being an active part of an armed rebel group? I see. I should have read better what it ws about.
      - pjc50 5y ago
        Pay attention :) Orwell was in a roughly similar role to one of the idealistic Westerners going to fight in Ukraine today, except the anti-Fascist side was much more politically fragmented, less well armed, and ultimately lost, leaving Spain as officially Fascist until 1977.
    - dghf 5y ago
      To be picky, these weren't armed rebel groups (at least not until the May Days). They were armed groups defending the legitimate government of Spain from a full-on mutiny and attempted coup by the armed forces and associated right-wing groups. It was the middle of an insurgency, but these groups were fighting to suppress it, not support it.
throwaway59553 5y ago
[dead]
thisNeeds2BeSad 5y ago

jhbadger 5y ago

Sort of. He (and POUM) were more anarchist than Marxist. And found themselves under fire but the actual Marxists nearly as much as by Franco's forces.

arethuza 5y ago

I thought POUM were communists, just not the Stalinist version of communism? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/POUM https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/POUM

dghf 5y ago

He sympathised with the anarchists, and in retrospect wished he'd joined them, but the group he joined -- POUM -- were Marxist rather than anarchist, though not Marxist-Leninist/Stalinist (what most people would probably mean by Communist). The group is sometimes described as Trotskyite, but I believe it had already broken with Trotsky by the time Orwell joined. But its members were indeed the target of a purge by the Stalinists and their allies in the Republican government. So Orwell was one of the few authors, possibly the only author, to have been shot by Fascists and nearly shot by Stalinists, which probably explains in part the burning distaste for both ideologies evident in 1984.

marsven_422 5y ago
nfin 5y ago
Don‘t know enough to tell, just (genuinely) asking: Is it not possibly to join a group, but actually leaning a bit in (also or partially) another direction (knowing that with our human flaws not one direction might be the only possible solution, or a mix or balance might be necessary). Only partially related: I am for example part of several groups (ok, admittely not as deep Orwell in this example) just so I can understand better all sides of a topic. To better understand a side and interact with the people of that group, I sometimes do not contradict everything I don’t agree with, but try to ask the right questions at the right moment. It sometimes feel a better use of time for both sides.
- pjc50 5y ago
  Social groups? Sure. Armed rebel groups in the middle of an insurgency? Disloyalty is .. less tolerated.
  - nfin 5y ago
    oh thanks! it was about being an active part of an armed rebel group? I see. I should have read better what it ws about.
    - pjc50 5y ago
      Pay attention :) Orwell was in a roughly similar role to one of the idealistic Westerners going to fight in Ukraine today, except the anti-Fascist side was much more politically fragmented, less well armed, and ultimately lost, leaving Spain as officially Fascist until 1977.
  - dghf 5y ago
    To be picky, these weren't armed rebel groups (at least not until the May Days). They were armed groups defending the legitimate government of Spain from a full-on mutiny and attempted coup by the armed forces and associated right-wing groups. It was the middle of an insurgency, but these groups were fighting to suppress it, not support it.

throwaway59553 5y ago

[dead]

thisNeeds2BeSad 5y ago