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Neutrality and Internationalism: The Russian Exiles in Spain, 1914–1920

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 March 2022

Arturo Zoffmann Rodriguez Open the ORCID record for Arturo Zoffmann Rodriguez [Opens in a new window]
Arturo Zoffmann Rodriguez*
Affiliation:
Institute of Historical Research, National Autonomous University of Mexico, Coyoacan, Mexico
*
arturo.zoffmann@eui.eu
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Abstract

During the First World War, hundreds of exiles and refugees from across Europe arrived in neutral Spain. This article investigates the colony of Russian exiles that settled in the country and their interactions with the Spanish labour movement. It contends that the exiles played a prominent role as conveyors of information on the Russian Revolution, which served as an important source of inspiration during the social upheavals that rocked Spain in 1917–20. The authorities tried to sever the connection between local activists and the Russian exiles through persecution. The article concludes with reflections on the significance of neutral countries as safe havens for internationalists during the war, comparing the Spanish and the Mexican case studies. It contends that neutrality helped preserve transnational radical networks, while contact with exiles rendered the labour movement in these countries more cosmopolitan and knowledgeable of world events and ideological trends.

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Article
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Contemporary European History , Volume 31 , Issue 3 , August 2022 , pp. 339 - 352
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Copyright © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press

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References

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90 This telegram was sent to the governor in Seville, but similar instructions were sent across Spain: Interior Minister to Seville Governor, 15 Aug. 1919, Ex.2, L.57, Gobernación A, AHN

91 I refrain from covering the Borodin mission in this article as it was unconnected to the wartime Russian exile community in Spain. See: Francisco Romero Salvadó, ‘The Comintern Fiasco in Spain: The Borodin Mission and the Birth of the Spanish Communist Party’, Revolutionary Russia, 21, 2, 153–73.

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