Editing Homage to Catalonia (section)

== Background ==

=== Historical context ===
During the 19th century, a motif known as ''[[the two Spains]]'' began to emerge in Spanish literature, in which writers such as [[Mariano José de Larra]] depicted a polarised Spain, divided into [[progressivism|progressive]] and [[conservatism|conservative]] factions.{{Sfn|Martín Moruno|2011|pp=38-39}} When the [[Second Spanish Republic]] was established in 1931,{{Sfn|Martín Moruno|2011|p=37}} it came at a time when Europe was experiencing a rise in [[far-right politics]], including [[fascism]] and [[Nazism]].{{Sfn|Caballero Aceituno|2005|p=31}} The [[Spanish Civil War]] broke out on 18 July 1936, when the [[Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War)|Nationalist faction]] of the [[Spanish Army]], supported by [[Fascist Italy]] and [[Nazi Germany]], launched a [[Spanish coup of July 1936|coup d'état]] against the elected government of the Spanish Republic.{{Sfn|Martín Moruno|2011|p=35}} 

[[File:General map of the Spanish Civil War (1936–39).svg|thumb|right|General map of the [[Spanish Civil War]] (1936–39).]]
As the Republican government was initially paralysed by the coup, resistance to it was organised by the general population in cities throughout the country, culminating in a [[Spanish Revolution of 1936|social revolution]] that saw [[anarchism in Spain|anarchist]] and [[Spanish Socialist Workers' Party|socialist]] workers bring Spain's industrial economy under [[social ownership]].{{Sfn|Martín Moruno|2011|p=39}} By the autumn of 1936, workers' militias had defeated the Nationalist coup in [[Madrid]], [[Barcelona]] and [[Valencia]], forming a frontline through [[Aragon]] and [[New Castile (Spain)|New Castile]] that divided Spain into Republican and Nationalist zones.{{Sfn|Martín Moruno|2011|p=41}} The [[Republican faction (Spanish Civil War)|Republican faction]] consisted of several different political parties and trade unions, of varying political positions and influence, including: the [[Confederación Nacional del Trabajo|National Confederation of Labour]] (CNT), an [[anarcho-syndicalism|anarchist trade union]] which controlled the [[Barcelona metropolitan area]]; the [[POUM|Workers' Party of Marxist Unification]] (POUM), a small [[Trotskyism|Trotskyist]] party; the [[Unión General de Trabajadores|General Union of Workers]] (UGT), a socialist trade union which predominated in [[Bilbao]] and [[Madrid]]; and the [[Spanish Socialist Workers' Party]] (PSOE) and [[Communist Party of Spain]] (PCE), which had amalgamated together in Catalonia into the [[Unified Socialist Party of Catalonia]] (PSUC).{{Sfn|Martín Moruno|2011|p=43}}

The French government of [[Léon Blum]] and the British government of [[Neville Chamberlain]] adopted a policy of [[Non-intervention in the Spanish Civil War|non-intervention]], ostensibly to prevent any escalation, but also motivated by their fear of revolutionary sentiments spreading outside of Spain.{{Sfn|Martín Moruno|2011|pp=41-42}} While the Nationalists were supported militarily from the Nazis and fascists, the Republicans found themselves economically and diplomatically isolated, forcing them to purchase military equipment from the [[Soviet Union]].{{Sfn|Martín Moruno|2011|p=41}} In order to combat the rise of fascism and defend the social revolution, thousands of volunteers came to Spain and joined the Republican militias.{{Sfnm|1a1=Caballero Aceituno|1y=2005|1p=31|2a1=Martín Moruno|2y=2011|2pp=39-40}}

=== Biographical context ===
[[File:GeoreOrwell.jpg|thumb|right|[[George Orwell]], the author of ''Homage to Catalonia'', who travelled to Spain to fight in the [[Spanish Civil War]]]]
[[George Orwell]] was born in 1903, in the Indian city of [[Motihari]], which was at the time under the rule of the [[British Raj]]. He was raised by his mother in [[England]] and returned to Asia at the age of 19, in order to join the [[Indian Imperial Police|Imperial Police]] in [[British rule in Burma|Burma]]. There he was exposed first-hand to the material realities of [[imperialism]], which became the subject of his first novel ''[[Burmese Days]]'', published in 1934.{{Sfn|Martín Moruno|2011|p=40}} Upon his return to Europe, he spent years living in [[poverty]] in the cities of [[London]] and [[Paris]], an experience which formed the basis for his first full-length work ''[[Down and Out in Paris and London]]''.{{Sfn|Martín Moruno|2011|p=42}} By the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War, Orwell was already a committed [[anti-capitalism|anti-capitalist]].{{Sfn|Martín Moruno|2011|p=40}}

Throughout the 1930s, Orwell had become concerned about the rise of fascism in Europe and wanted to take action to oppose it.{{Sfn|Buchanan|2002|p=303}} Although he did not speak or write about Spain during the first months of the conflict, so his thought process on the matter is not known,{{Sfn|Buchanan|2002|p=303}} by the autumn of 1936, he had decided to go to Spain.{{Sfnm|1a1=Buchanan|1y=2002|1p=303|2a1=Martín Moruno|2y=2011|2pp=41-42}} In order to obtain a passport that would permit his entry into Spain, he initially went to the headquarters of the [[Communist Party of Great Britain]] (CPGB) in [[London]]'s [[Queen Street, London|King Street]].{{Sfn|Martín Moruno|2011|p=42}} When the party's leader, [[Harry Pollitt]], asked if he would join the [[International Brigades]], Orwell replied that he wanted to see for himself what was happening first.<ref name="Transformation200">{{cite book|author1=Stansky, Peter|title=Orwell: The Transformation|author2=Abrahams, William|page=200}}</ref> After Pollitt refused to help, Orwell contacted the [[Independent Labour Party]] (ILP).{{Sfn|Martín Moruno|2011|p=42}}<ref name="Transformation200"/> They accredited Orwell as a correspondent for their weekly paper, the ''[[Labour Leader|New Leader]]'', which provided Orwell the means to go legitimately to Spain.<ref name="Transformation200"/> Orwell received a letter of recommendation from the ILP's general secretary [[Fenner Brockway]], who put him in touch with [[John McNair (UK politician)|John McNair]], the ILP's representative in [[Barcelona]] and an affiliate of the POUM, a Catalan party of the [[anti-Stalinist left]].{{Sfnm|1a1=Buchanan|1y=2002|1p=303|2a1=Martín Moruno|2y=2011|2p=42}} 

After putting the finishing touches on his book ''[[The Road to Wigan Pier]]'',{{Sfn|Buchanan|2002|p=303}} he departed for Spain on 23 December 1936. He briefly stopped in Paris, where he met up with his friend [[Henry Miller]], before he continued his journey south by train, finally crossing over the [[France–Spain border]] and arriving in Barcelona by the end of the year.{{Sfn|Martín Moruno|2011|p=42}}

Upon arriving in Spain, Orwell is reported to have told McNair that he had come to Spain to join the militia to fight against Fascism.<ref>"If you had asked me why I had joined the militia I should have answered: 'To fight against Fascism', and if you had asked me what I was fighting ''for'', I should have answered: 'Common decency'". {{Cite book |title=Homage to Catalonia |last=Orwell |first=George |publisher=Penguin Books |date=2013 |location=London |page=196 |isbn=978-0-141-39302-5}}</ref> While McNair also describes Orwell as expressing a desire to write "some articles" for the [[New Statesman|''New Statesman and Nation'']] with an intention "to stir working-class opinion in Britain and France", when presented the opportunity to write, Orwell told him writing "was quite secondary and his main reason for coming was to fight against Fascism." McNair took Orwell to the POUM ([[Catalan language|Catalan]]: ''Partit Obrer d'Unificació Marxista;'' English: Workers' Party of Marxist Unification), an [[anti-Stalinist]] [[communist]] party.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|last=Dag|first=O.|title=Bernard Crick: George Orwell: A Life -- Chapters 7 to 12|url=https://www.orwell.ru/a_life/Bernard_Crick/english/e_a-life_2.html|access-date=2021-10-16|website=orwell.ru|language=en|archive-date=17 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211017230058/https://www.orwell.ru/a_life/Bernard_Crick/english/e_a-life_2.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

By Orwell's own admission, it was somewhat by chance that he joined the POUM: "I knew that I was serving in something called the POUM. (I had only joined the POUM militia rather than any other because I happened to arrive in Barcelona with ILP papers), but I did not realize that there were serious differences between the political parties."<ref>George Orwell ''Homage to Catalonia''. Penguin Books 2013. pp. 197–198.</ref> He later notes, "As far as my purely personal preferences went I would have liked to join the [[Anarchy|Anarchists]]." He also nearly joined [[Communist International]]'s [[International Brigades|International Column]] midway through his tour because he thought they were likeliest to send him to Madrid, where he wanted to join the action.