Esperantists of the world, act energetically against international Fascism!

“Kion vi faras por eviti tion? Geesperantistoj el la tuta mondo agu energie kontraŭ la internacia faŝismo!” (What are you doing to prevent this? Esperantists of the world, act energetically against international Fascism!”) This is the text on the best-known Esperanto-language poster published by the Propagando Office of the Generalitat of Catalonia during the Civil War. 

Esperanto had already spread in Spain by the start of the conflict, and many Esperanto speakers quickly used the language in their communications networks to report on the events taking place in the country and to defend their ideas. Some of these initiatives came from individuals, but they also used the structures of the Esperanto associations to publish newsletters, broadcast radio programs, and translate texts or raise funds. 

This propaganda effort was most notable in Catalonia, where the main Espaeranto organizations joined together in the Esperantist Antifascist Committee of Catalonia, which collaborated with the authorities to produce material in Esperanto. The Generalitat’s Propaganda Office created an Esperanto-language section that published posters, pamphlets, translated press releases, and organized an exhibition of Esperanto material in Barcelona in 1937, among other things. 

A number of political parties, trade unions, and other organizations also published their own Esperanto-language newsletters. For a few months, the CNT published its Informa Bulteno (Informative Newsletter), and the POUM and PSUC also had Esperanto-language magazines. 

The most notable pro-Republican publication outside Catalonia was the Popola Fronto (Popular Front) which was published in Valencia by a group connected to the workers’ Esperanto movement. Its combative style and, while circumstances permitted, its high technical quality, gave it wide distribution in Spain and beyond. 

In this way, and, given that it has traditionally been seen as a “language of peace”, Esperanto became a tool for mobilization. It has been estimated that around one hundred Esperantists came to Spain during the Civil War. Efforts were made to use Esperanto as a common language in the International Brigades (IB) and there were even rumours that an Esperanto-speaking battalion had been created. In the end, however, the IBs were organized along lines of nationality or language, and the use of Esperanto remained purely episodic. 

There were also proposals to use Esperanto on the rebel side where there were Esperantist sympathizers, especially in Catholic circles. However, decision makers were suspicious of a language identified with internationalist tendencies, and these initiatives came to nothing. Moreover, Esperantist activities essentially disappeared in Francoist territory, and organizations promoting Esperanto did not recover for many years after the war.