Hippies with a gun?

“Towards a Citizens´ Militia: Anarchist Alternatives to NATO and the Warsaw Pact” was published in 1980 by Cienfuegos Press, associated with British anarchist radical Stuart Christie. At one point, Christie was prosecuted for involvement in the Angry Brigade, a group of domestic terrorists in Britain, but was acquitted. Already as a teenager, Christie tried to assassinate Spanish right-wing dictator Francisco Franco! 

“Towards a Citizens´ Militia” gives the International Revolutionary Solidarity Movement and the First of May Group as authors. It could be two different names for the same group, a clandestine anarchist resistance group against Franco formed by Spanish exiles. It´s not really clear whether they are behind the pamphlet, though, or whether this is some kind of mystification. The publication argues that Europe is on the brink of either authoritarian coups or a Soviet invasion, and that it´s therefore imperative for anarchists to learn the tactics of guerilla warfare. Then follows an overview of such tactics (and of government counter-measures) in very small print. 

Not being an expert on things military or martial, I have no idea whether the IRSM-First of May Group´s advice makes any kind of sense. Topics covered include roadblocks, sabotage against power lines, how to blow up railway tracks, where to get fake IDs, etc. I´m somewhat surprised the authorities didn´t clamp down on this material! Maybe they did – I bought a copy years later in Sweden, not in the UK. 

Politically, “Towards a Citizens´ Militia” is very naïve. It does emphasize that the guerilla need the support of the general population, but how is this to be accomplished? Obviously, some kind of *political* preparatory work is needed long before the war. Essentially, the authors want to “prove that anarchism works” by establishing “libertarian communities”. In other words, the usual network of hippie communes, alternative presses and vegetarian cafés. Or am I wrong? How this is supposed to make the broad masses more sympathetic to an anarchist urban guerilla squad in the event of a fascist coup or Soviet invasion is, alas, less clear. 

Somehow, I suspect most people would line up with NATO or even with the Warsaw Pact…