TO CANADA   15

APPENDIX "D" 

DECLARATION 
of the Joint Meeting of the General Council of the Trades Union 
Congress, the National Executive of the Labour Party and the 
Parliamentary Labour Party held in London on August 28, 1936.

The Military Rebellion in Spain which has raged with increasing fury for the last 
six weeks emphasizes once more the grave dangers arising from the growth of Fascism. 
Organised labour pays homage to the steadfast courage and sacrifice of the Spanish people, 
who have cemented with their blood the foundations of liberty and democracy.

The struggle has been brought about by Spanish officers who have broken an oath 
of loyalty to the Republican Government which they had recently renewed, have seduced 
Spanish soldiers from their duty, and have organised an invasion of their own country 
by foreign mercenary troops. The workers, peasants and youth of Spain, unorganised 
for warfare, have rallied to the defence of the people's rights with a bravery, unanimity 
and energy without parallel in history. Events have shown that the spirit of the Spanish 
nation cannot be broken by any dictator.

It was clearly the right of Spanish Government by rules of international law to 
obtain arms for its defence, but by the supply of arms to the rebels in clear breach of 
international law, in circumstances which showed fore-knowledge of their plans, Fascist 
Italy created a new and immediate danger of war. This danger was simultaneously 
aggravated by the adoption of a similar policy by Nazi Germany which had already 
established a vast system of espionage, corruption and intrigue in Spain. Fascist Portugal 
has aided and abetted the rebellion, and its territory has been used as a base.

The Conference expresses regret that it should have been thought expedient on the 
ground of the dangers of war inherent in this situation, to conclude agreements 
among the European Powers laying an embargo upon the supply of arms and munitions of war 
to Spain, by which the rebel forces and the democratically elected and recognised Govern-
ment of Spain are placed on the same footing.

In the meantime, we again call upon all sections of the British Labour Movement 
to accord the fullest possible financial support to the International Solidarity Fund for 
Spain, which has been created to provide humanitarian assistance to the Spanish people.

OFFICIAL BRITISH LABOUR VIEWS

The following extracts are from an official pamphlet issued by the National Council 
of Labor. London, entitled: "The Truth About Spain".

The conflict in Spain is not a Communist revolution. It is not a fight between 
"religious" and "anti-religious" sections of the Spanish people.

The Spanish workers are fighting against monarchists, Fascists, and corrupt 
Clericals, who are striving to overthrow the democratically elected constitu-
tional Government of the Spanish Republic by force of arms.

The head of the State was President Azana, a Liberal Republican. The Prime 
Minister was Senor Giral, also a Liberal Republican. There was not a single Socialist 
or Communist in his Government.

In this struggle against the rebels, the workers of Spain, irrespective of party, have 
willingly taken up arms in defence of Freedom and Democracy.

They are fighting to maintain representative Government and the demo-
cratic rights of the people, and their struggle is of vital importance to all 
men and women concerned that Democracy should not be trampled under 
by Fascism.

The Spanish Supreme Court of Justice, a Conservative body, also issued 
a statement calling upon judges and Magistrates to remember that the acts 
of the Fascist rebels are illegal.

September 4 the Giral Cabinet was succeed by the Caballero Government. The 
ex-Prime Minister has stated the reasons for this change:

"In view of the duration of the civil war, Ministers expressed the view that all 
political parties, the workers, and syndical organisations should be represented in the 
Cabinet. 

"I think I fulfilled my mission in the most difficult circumstances. Other 
men and other forces must assume control with the primary aim of ending the 
war. I remain a Minister without portfolio, to show the country that the 
new Government is only a development of the last."

Senor Prieto, the Socialist Minister for the Navy and Air, declared, in a Manifesto 
issued to the workers:

"The Cabinet is the direct representative of all the political forces fighting on 
the various fronts for the maintenance of a democratic republic against armed 
rebellion."