Tie Vapauteen

Tie Vapauteen, (The Road to Freedom), was a Finnish-American monthly magazine published by Finnish members of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) from 1919 to 1937. Tie Vapauteen advanced an explicitly anarcho-syndicalist position marked a Marxian economic and class analysis. The magazine featured regular analysis of American industry, working life, and political commentary alongside poetry, fiction, and humour. The publication was also closely tied to the Finnish Work People's College in Duluth, Minnesota, and would occasionally publish English language articles written by Work Peoples' College students. Industrialisti was the magazine's sister publication, a daily Finnish-language IWW newspaper published between 1918 to 1975, at its peak appearing as a daily publication with a print-run of approximately 10 000 copies.

In 1921, the magazine was moved from New York to Chicago. "One of the substantial reasons for the above action, was the effort to undo the antipathy that the publication had created by publishing articles either too critical of the 3rd International, on the one hand, or lacking discretion in lauding the aims and purposes of political enthusiasts, on the other, which seriously threatened the existence of the magazine. The circulation of the publication, which at its best ranged from 5,000 to 6,000, came down scarcely 3,500. It was at this figure when the G. E. B. [General Executive Board] took it over; since then it has recuperated and now with the May issue reaches the 6,500 mark. This is apparently due to the changes made in editorial policy, and the moral backing of Headquarters, which has increased the circulation in general."^[1]

Between the years of 1936 and 1937, when Tie Vapauteen ceased publication, several indepth articles on the Spanish Civil War were printed. Several articles were re-printed Finnish translations of pieces that had been written by journalists on the ground in Spain. It was also admitted that contradictory and conflicting information was coming from Spain, and it was difficult to assess the actual situation. Editorial pieces, however, did understand the conflict as a battle in the global class struggle, victory for the Spanish proletariat over fascism was victory for the international proletariat. In one instance, the Popular Front government was criticized for refusing to arm syndicalist workers at a crucial stage in the early stages of the nationalist uprising, concluding that "Governments are moved by nothing more than remaining in the seat of power." The conflict is consistently described as a regrettable affair, and the war is not romanticized. There appears to be no open call for volunteers to join the International Brigades, however, economic organization is advanced as a weapon particularly in nations supplying arms to the nationalist cause.

Interestingly, there is no mention of the anarchosyndicalist seizure and de facto control of Republican Spain's industry. This underlines the fact that precious little information was coming outside of the dominant or Stalinist/Liberal press, as the I.W.W. naturally identified and were sympathetic to the methods and aims of the Confederación Nacional del Trabajo (CNT) and Federación Anarquista Ibérica (FAI).

References

1. ^ "High Spots" of the 13th IWW Convention, by Roy Brown