Moscow gold - Antifa for sale

[The Idler]

I found the following on Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moscow_gold) and adapt it below;
The term Moscow Gold, refers to the operation by which 510 tonnes of gold, corresponding to 72.6% of the total gold reserves of the Bank of Spain, were transferred from their original location in Madrid to the Soviet Union. This was transferred between September 15 to September 17 1936 and equivalent to $518m (in 1936). This transfer was by order of the government of the Second Spanish Republic, presided by Francisco Largo Caballero, through the initiative of his Minister of Finance, Juan Negrín. The term also encompasses the subsequent issues relating with the gold's sale to the USSR and the usage of the funds obtained. In total USSR provided Spain with 806 planes, 362 tanks, and 1,555 artillery pieces.

By way of comparison, Mexico gave aid of $2m to the Republicans in the Spanish Civil War and didn't ask for any gold in return. No wonder Stalin tried to keep his transaction secret.

[Woland]

USSR didn't ask for any gold in return either- the Spanish government asked the Soviet Union to store most of its gold, which was probably due to the threat of Madrid's fall (where the gold was stored) to the fascists in October 1936. On October 15, Prime Minister Largo Caballero and the Minister of Finance Juan Negrín formally appealed to the Soviet Union with a proposal to take about 500 tons of gold, and the USSR agreed.



Instruct t. Rosenberg to answer the Spanish Government that we are ready to take the gold reserves and that we agree to load this gold on our ships.

On October 20 the Spanish government agreed, and on October 22-25 it was loaded on Soviet ships.

Military equipment was first sold to Spain for cash, and when they began to have problems with their money, they were given credit in the value of $70 and $100 million- this started only in 1938. The gold [edit: i.e. money obtained from selling the gold] was said to have been the payment for the military equipment and thus never given back to Spain. And then, who would they have given it back to? Franco?

[The Idler]

Fair enough but it sounds a bit like the Father Ted defence that "the money was just resting in my account".

[Red Apex]

So what happened to the gold after the fall of Spain? Did the USSR just keep it?

[Raúl Duke]

Did they use it to fund CPs/Comintern?

[eyedrop]

Let's hope that the next time the "CNT-FAI" seizes all such assets when they have the opportunity.

[Woland]

So what happened to the gold after the fall of Spain? Did the USSR just keep it?

Most of it was sold in 1937, with most of the money going to Spain, and some going to the USSR to pay for the equipment.

[Intelligitimate]

To quote Daniel Kowalsky's Stalin and the Spanish Civil War:


How do these adjustments alter the final tally? Even if we subtract Howson's $51 million in overcharges, acknowledge only the unpaid loan of $70 million, (rather than the potential $155 million), and subtract the cost of three DC-3s (roughly $360,000), the total value of the Soviet assistance provided to the Republic comes to approximately $525 million, or $7 million more than their gold should have bought. Of course, the question of the gold's numismatic value effectively throws into doubt the estimated value of $518 million. In any case, the debate over the financing of the Republican war effort is likely to rage on for years to come. Tentatively, however, we may conclude this section with a qualified assertion that, even if an allowance is made for Russian overcharging for weaponry and the initial undervaluing of the gold, it does not appear that the Republic received an exceptionally unfair financial arrangement from the USSR.

It must be added, of course, that this whole affair was the idea of the Republic, so that Spain could purchase weapons for itself. Russia performed an invaluable service to the Republic in this regard, and the shipping costs of all these arms are not factored into most of these calculations, nor the lives of many Soviet citizens who died trying to get these supplies to the Republic.

[The Idler]

What also intrigued me when I read this, that a rival "central" bank was set up by Franco during the Civil War. Why are fascists so keen on banks and what's the point if it has no gold reserves? Are banks a good control method, and do they have to be nationalised to control people? I know under socialism the abolition of money would fatally undermine banks, and libertarians like Mises would let anyone start a bank (and they hate central banks), so what is the true fascist theory of banking?

[The Idler]

Most of it was sold in 1937, with most of the money going to Spain, and some going to the USSR to pay for the equipment.
Who did they give it back to in Spain?

[Woland]

Who did they give it back to in Spain?

The Spanish government- they were the ones who decided to sell it.

[The Idler]

The Spanish government- they were the ones who decided to sell it.
Wikipedia says that claim "did not include any evidence and contradicted statements issued by prominent members of the Republican government. For example, Negrín had affirmed to José Giral (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jos%C3%A9_Giral) in 1938 that two-thirds of the gold deposited in Moscow was still available. Also, since the statements issued were not part of an official notice, the Soviet government could distance itself from what had been affirmed if it were to be deemed appropriate."