sign in sign up
<<
Home , Battle of Brunete, Battle of Majorca, Battle of Teruel, Battle of the Ebro, Condor Legion

and the (1936-1939)

with photographs, children’s drawings, and posters from the Spanish Civil War, and the music of . why should we care….? why should we care….? The origins of the war

Diego Velázquez (1599- 1660). The Count-Duke of Olivares on Horseback 1634 (Robert Jordan thinks of Velázquez’s horses when he sees the horses of Pablo) 1936 : Europe

Fascist: Hitler and the Nazis in power in Germany Mussolini in power in Italy

Communist dictatorship: Stalin in power in communist USSR other militaristic and suppressive regimes: Japan (invades Korea, China)

This is fascism! Misery, destruction, persecution and death artist: Antonio Lopez Padial Fascism - Massive build-up of arms - Excessive praise of military and soldiers, especially in broadcast media and film - Refusal to ratify treaties, or breaking of treaties; disdain for, and ignoring of, international bodies and forums when not to the country’s advantage - refusal to follow the Geneva Convention - Intervention in foreign conflicts, particularly civil wars - No attempt to assist recovery of countries after civil wars - suppression of dissent, either directly, or by failing to provide information on international perspectives - Quasi-religious basis for ideals - Ruled by elite with strong and often corrupt ties to big business interests - Extensive commercial pressure and blackmail on other countries - Populace believe that only their way is right, and the rest of the world should think and act in the same way - Population knows very little about the rest of the world, or other modes of thought - Creation of ‘scapegoat’ groups - Large-scale incarceration of own citizens (no voting rights) - extensive use of the death penalty - climate of violence, gun training Spain : the background The background – the late 1800s

Spain during the 19th-Century still very backward compared with the rest of Europe • Looked back on its glorious past • Strongly Roman Catholic country with strong influence of Church (e.g. all schools Church run) • Start of industrial revolution, especially in , centered on , which becomes a modern city (Barcelona ‘Universal Exhibition, 1888) • Much of the country rural and very backward • Monarchy - King Alfonso reigned from 1886 to 1931 • 1880s – period of peace and growing prosperity • 1890s – period of industrial and rural unrest (strikes, assassinations of bosses, bombs in Barcelona) • 1895 – revolt in Cuba (Spanish possession) • 1898 – War with the USA, defeated Though not clear at the time, this seminal event turned Spain from looking backwards to the glorious but lost past, centered on its lost South American empire, to looking to the future, and slowly turning herself into a modern European state. Improvements in standards of living in cities The background, 1900 – 1930 : Primo de Rivera • Many schools and colleges built • Railway and road system extended • Irrigation schemes • Increases land values Spain does well out of World War I, in which she remained neutral but – • widespread urban and workers unrest (major confrontations in Barcelona, 1909 – martial law declared all over Spain) • the ‘religious question’: opposition to the influence and control of the Church • pressure for autonomy from Catalonia and the Basque country, both of which had distinct languages 1925 Dictatorship of Primo de Rivera sought to: • clean up corrupt elections • stop tax evasion • cut down civil service, over-manned and under-worked • cut the unnecessary number of army officers • build new roads, railways, schools, and improve the condition of the working classes, which was far behind the rest of Europe Unrest from the military and right The background, 1900 – 1933 – The Republic 1929 - economic depression: rapid fall in the value of the pesos 1929 - Riots, small-scale military revolts, student strikes, protests from intellectuals January 1930 - Primo de Riviera resigns, failing to get the support of the armed forces December 1930 - unsuccessful revolutionary coup to overthrow the monarchy April 1931- municipal elections: all major cities vote Republican (left wing), most rural areas Monarchist (right-wing) King ‘suspends activities of monarchy’ and goes into exile June 1931 - Cortes (parliamentary elections) – large majority for coalition of left-wing Communists and anarchists saw this as prelude to full-scale revolutionary government, and continued campaigns of strikes bombings and church burnings December 1931 - Constitution of Republic Church disestablished; property of the Jesuits appropriated Property and wealth “subordinated to the interests of the national economy’ some local autonomy 1932 - Land reform (Agrarian Act) 1933 - All teaching by members of religious orders forbidden Propaganda poster land worker poster Land worker, the revolution will give you the land. The background, 1933 – 1936 – prelude to civil war 1933 – Massive swing to Right in Cortes elections – Right have majority, but Centre holds the balance of power Many changes of government (five in 1935) Continuous far left-wing action Gradual gulf opening up between Left and Right October 1934 - Simultaneous revolutions in and Catalonia (both suppressed) All left wing parties rally behind Azana February 1936 -: Left wing majority in Cortes. Centre decimated. February – July: massive disorder • left-wing seize land in rural areas, shut down convents, attack right wing newspapers, magazines and clubs, and right wing react. • 113 general strikes, 218 partial strikes, and 170 churches burnt in these four months May - President Alcala Zamora, who had tired to pull all parties to the centre, voted out of office by combined left and right. Azana Vote for the elected successor. Prominent right-wing ex-cabinet minister assassinated Amnesty 17 July - Army in Morocco revolts. Spreads to mainland. General Fransisco Franco leads the revolt. Civil War The start of the war

Vote for the Popular Front Amnesty The two sides Republican Nationalists (elected government) (rebels) left-wing, support of workers, right-wing, support of Church, intellectuals, and in many land-owners, and many Army regions, peasants elements, including Morocco (Spanish possession) inspired in part by international socialism inspired in part by German and Italian fascism Government centre-Left: Falange U.G.T. Right-wing party founded in (General Union of Workers) 1933 that brought other right- far-Left: wing factions into its fold C.N.T. C.E.D.A. (National Confederation of Coalition of Catholic parties Workers – anarchist) Monarcists (Carlist) P.O.U.M. (Trotskyists) supported by: supported by: U.S.S.R. Germany Mexico Italy international volunteers Anarchist poster We the rebels as assassins! Innocent children and women die. Free men, repudiate all those who support Fascism in the rearguard. The Spanish Front, 1936 Main events of the Civil War, 1936-1937

1936  August: Nationalists unite areas under their control into one block  September: Toledo and Majorca fall to Nationalists  December: besieged by Nationalists 1937  February: Malaga taken by the Nationalists  March: Battle of Guadalajara – Republicans repulse Nationalist attempt to take Madrid  March: Battle of – Nationalists take city in June May: Republican offensive to capture Segovia July: Battle of – Republican counter- offensive near Madrid. ends in stale-mate  August: Republicans attempt capture Saragossa – ends in stale-mate Vicente Terol Romeros  September-October: Nationalists take whole of Basque country The sinking of ‘Spain’ January 22, 1938 Main events of the Civil War, 1937-1939

1937 o December – The Battle of o Republicans capture Teruel, but themselves are besieged. Nationalists re-capture the city 1938 o March-July: Nationalists attempt to cut Republican held Spain into two by a drive to the Mediterranean, and create small gap between Valencia and Barcelona o July-November : Battle of the (River), which the Nationalists eventually crossed 1939 o December-January 1939 : Battle for Barcelona. Nationalists take city o February: Azana resigns. Negrin’s new republican government fails in peace bids – Franco wants “unconditional surrender” o March 28 : Nationalists enter Madrid oMarch 29 : hostilities cease o April 1 : Franco announces war is over Foreign involvement No man is an Island, entire of it self; every man is a piece of the Continent, a The part of the main; if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a manor of they friends or of thine own were; any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in Mankind; And therefore never send to know ; It tolls for thee. -Meditation XVII -John Donne 1571 - 1631 The Durante Brigade The International Brigades

About 37,000 fighters from 52 countries fought in Spain on the side of the Loyalist formed at the start of the war, disbanded in November 1938

The 15th International Brigade - American, British, Irish, Canadian and other nationalities - Americans:

o About 2,800

o plus 125 serving with the American Medical Bureau

o from all parts of the country and a very wide variety of occupations

o first racially integrated military unit in US history

o first American unit to be commanded by an African- American commander

o most famous the Abraham Lincoln Brigade

o unrecognized officially in US

o some who had worked with partisans (like Robert Jordan) were key figures in OSS missions in World War II International Red Aid. It is there when it is needed http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/k Dolores Ibarruri (La Pasionaria) autographing for International Brigaders, 1938 The International Brigades

Canadians

o Canadian Committee to Aid Spanish democracy formed

o 1,300 combatants formed into Mackenzie-Papineau battalion ()

o Fought in five actions, including the defence of Teruel, December 1937-January 1938

o Officially not approved of – Canadian Government passed law in forbidding Canadian citizens to How can you help enlist in a foreign army the blood banks? o Disbanded September 1938 Buy a raffle ticket and take part in this o Did not receive acknowledgement until 1970s in charitable event. Canada Canadians lining up for food - Credit: National Archives of Canada, C-67447 Dr. Norman Bethune (1890-1939)

Pioneered blood-transfusions on the battlefield (at Malaga), and thus revolutionized care of wounded soldiers The Russian Communist involvement

General background

o U.S.S.R. supported the Republic o Supplied equipment and officers o Russian generals gradually put into important positions in the Republican army o Under orders from Moscow, in addition to orders from the Spanish government o Purged communists who did not follow the Moscow party line o Recent information, emerging after the collapse of the To win the war is to U.S.S.R., suggests that Stalin was keen to use the spur the revolution, opportunity to promote Russia’s dominance, and to ensure says the Communist that the republic did not lose, but also did not win, the war. Party. o Spain’s gold reserves taken to U.S.S.R. for ‘safety’. Never returned. The Russian Communist involvement

The Russian General Lister

André Marty The Russian Commissar, paranoid about traitors to his brand of Communism, whom Hemingway uses as a character in For Whom the Bell Tolls Germany and the air war

The

• Extensive air support from and Italy • Testing ground for new German air force and equipment as prelude to World War II • Some Russian airplanes for Republic, but France and Britain refused to allow export to Spain, and blockaded equipment getting in • New terror – mass bombing of civilians and cities and towns, especially by Condor Legion •

Abel Puche V. January 1938, Valencia Germany and the air war

Heinkel 111 Germany and the air war Germany and the air war

Heinkel fighter of the type flying as ‘pursuit planes’

Abel Puche V. January 1938, Valencia Germany and the air war Germany and the air war

Messerschmit B- 109 in Spanish Nationalist markings epilogue http://www.globosapiens.net/data/reportpix/th http://www.cypresscollege.edu/~sa/spain/valle

Valley of the Fallen – Franco’s mausoleum