The Passionflower Transcript (Scotland: A Scottish History Podcast)
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Scotland - A Scottish History Podcast
Episode 31 - The Passionflower
MICHAEL PARK: It is December 1979 and a group of councillors, trade unionists and interested Glasgwegians are standing by the banks of the Clyde as a statue is unveiled in front of Customs House.
The statue, although you might not think of it to look at from a distance, is a war memorial and stands to commemorate the sacrifice of Scots who gave up their lives to fight fascism in the Spanish Civil War. These were people, both men and women, who went to Spain to take on General Francisco Franco’s nationalist forces as part of the International Brigades.
There were thousands of people from all across the world who signed up. Many did so because they saw fascism as a disease, many did so because they were ardent communists who saw a Communist republic in Spain as an exciting possibility provided the nationalists could be run out.
From 1936 to 1939 roughly 2,000 British people went to fight in Spain. A quarter of that number were Scottish and 134 of those lost their lives in the fighting. Almost half that number were from Glasgow.
Not everyone is delighted about the statue which was a depiction of Dolores Ibarruri, sometimes known as La Pasionaria, made of fibreglass and scrap iron by Arthur Dooley. Glasgow’s Tory councillors were nowhere to be seen at the unveiling. Ibarruri was a vocal supporter of Soviet dictator Josef Stalin throughout her career, and the councillors swore that they would throw the statue in the Clyde if they ever gained control of the City Council.
Funny that.
Dolores Ibarruri’s rallying of thousands to fight the injustices of a system predicated on the victimisation and subjugation of others lives on. On July 19th 1936 La Pasionaria - the Passion Flower - as she was known, made an address which would inspire the thousands of British volunteers commemorated by the statue, to leave their lives and fight as part of the International Brigades.
LA PASIONARIA: Workers! Farmers! Anti-fascists! Spanish Patriots! Confronted with the fascist military uprising, all must rise to their feet, to defend the Republic, to defend the people's freedoms as well as their achievements towards democracy!
Through the statements by the government and the Popular Front, the people understand the graveness of the moment. In Morocco, as well as in the Canary Islands, the workers are battling, united with the forces still loyal to the Republic, against the uprising militants and fascists.
Under the battlecry 'Fascism shall not pass; the hangmen of October shall not pass!' workers and farmers from all Spanish provinces are joining in the struggle against the enemies of the Republic that have arisen in arms.
Communists, Socialists, Anarchists, and Republican Democrats, soldiers and forces remaining loyal to the Republic combined have inflicted the first defeats upon the fascist foe, who drag through the mud the very same honourable military tradition that they have boasted to possess so many times.
The whole country cringes in indignation at these heartless barbarians that would hurl our democratic Spain back down into an abyss of terror and death.
However, NO PASARAN!
For all of Spain presents itself for battle. In Madrid, the people are out in the streets in support of the Government and encouraging its decision and fighting spirit so that it shall reach its conclusion in the smashing of the militant and fascist insurrection.
MICHAEL PARK: Her words, inscribed on the plinth of the statue, immortalise the struggle and the memory of the 534 British volunteers, including 134 from Scotland, who were killed in the streets and fields of Spain.
LA PASIONARIA: "better to die on your feet than live forever on your knees".
CREDITS
You’ve been listening to Scotland, it was written and produced by Michael Park and is a production of Be Quiet Media.
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