Social and Military Aspects

Hazen Sise, January 3rd. 1937

HIS is a Canadian commentator speaking to the Anglo-Saxon world Tfrom Station UGT, Madrid. Canada is a long Way Off and 3 Very different sort of country from Spain, but it would S111‘PI'lSe Y0“ how many Canadians there are here helping the Government 111 one way or another. They realize, only too well, that even Canada, In her seeming security of isolation, will be affected sooner or later by the outcome of the struggle here. _ The price of liberty is not only eternal vigilance it is also Unity and Sacrifice. Canadians here are perhaps only the smallest group from people all over the earth who have come to Spai.n to make that Unity real and to participate in that Sacrifice.

Seeing With Canadian Eyes

There are several items of comment which I am going to give to you tonight, so this is going to be a sort of pot—pourri containing bits of news mixed with personal impressions. I think that these personal impressions are very important because there are ‘two reasons Why it must be very difficult for you to form an accurate picture of life here.

First, there are a great many newspapers which have deliberately misrepresented the situation, not so much by telling lies as by -the good old trick of leaving a lot of important things unsaid.

Second, you must realize that there Is a social revolution going on at the same time as a war of defence against Fascist aggressioin. Social revolutions are unfortunately outside the experience of most of you so you have no basis for understanding WHY things happen the way they do. I hope my comments and those of other English speakers from this station---UGT, Madrid--—-will be of some interest to you.

Development of Discipline

Some days ago, from this station, at this same hour, I gave you a short description of a visit to the front in which I commented on the discipline and spirit of -the troops. It is important to tell you of this because, at the beginning of the war, a lot of newspapers made sport of the People’s Army. , .

The sincere attempts to achieve a spontaneous discipline from below rather than an imposed discipline from above, produced, it is true, some apparently ludicrous situations. There was a tendency to hold committee meetings every time a decision had to be m-ade. “Shall We advance or retire? Let’s put it to vote.” That is perhaps an exag- geration of what actually happened, but you get the idea.

Today, there is very strict discipline, that is to say, an absolute obedience to the orders of superior officers, which, to the casual eye, wouldseem to differ very little from the type of discipline in other armies. Actually there is a fundamental difference. It is still a dis- cipline self-imposed from below rather than one super-imposed from above. .It is a discipline willingly and indeed proudly accepted and it works both ways. No officer in the Spanish People’s Army canlhol-d his command except by the consent and willing co-operationof his men. That is one of the reasons Why the Spanish People's Army will triumph. . I I i