The
Spanish Civil War
1936-1939
John
Haynes
Pensacola
State College
EUR1001: European History II
Dr.
Brian Rucker
December
3, 2020
1
For hundreds of years before the Spanish Civil War, which
began in 1936, Spain had been ruled by a monarchy. A coup d’état in 1923 brought General Miguel
Primo de Riviera to the forefront as the military dictator of Spain. King Alfonso XIII remained as the ruling
monarch, however, he was mostly a figurehead with General de Riviera holding
almost all power.[1] Over the next 8 years, there was a growing
opposition to the strong right-wing government and in 1931, Alfonso was removed
from power and he fled the country. The
Spanish parliament was taken over by several left-wing coalition groups who by
1936 had secured enough power to win control of the government in national
elections. The leftist/Communist
government was opposed by a large portion of Right-wing Army officers and their
troops, under the lead of General Francisco Franco. This group revolted in June of 1936, wanting
to restore the “old Spain.”[2] What ensued was 3 years of bloody warfare and
sometimes wholesale slaughter of innocent civilians. While the U.S., England, and France declared a
non-intervention policy, the Soviet Union, Germany, and Italy all involved
themselves in the Civil War. The Soviet
Union backed the Communist forces while Germany and Italy backed the right-wing
Fascist forces of General Franco. It has
been said that the Spanish Civil War was a “dress rehearsal” for World War II
which would follow just a few years later.[3] In fact, both the Soviet Union and Germany
supplied the various parties with equipment that would test out their newest
2
military technologies and
Benito Mussolini of Italy supplied 50,000 ground troops. The author and historian Adam Hochschild
stated: “I think it really was the opening act of World War II.”[4]
As the fighting intensified through 1936 and into 1937,
so did the indiscriminate slaughter of civilians. The now infamous bombing of the city of
Guernica occurred in 1937 as General Franco’s forces, using German airplanes,
dropped bombs across Guernica resulting in mass civilian casualties. Ernest Hemingway, the American author, was in
Spain during the war and wrote the novel “For Whom the Bell Tolls” as a
remembrance of the nightmare that he witnessed.
Pablo Picasso also created a painting entitled “Guernica” for the same
reason. There was also some 2,800
Americans in Spain who had volunteered to join the fighting. Over a quarter of those lost their lives
during the war. In 1935, German General
Erich Ludendorff published the book “Die Totale Krieg” (The Total War),
in which he advocated the position that in war, all opponents were targets,
both military and civilian.[5] Capitalizing on this idea, Franco’s forces
with German airplanes dropped the first bombs on Guernica on April 26, 1937,
which landed in the town plaza in the center of the city. Utilizing these tactics, Franco’s forces
gained the upper hand and in 1939, Franco and his Fascist followers won the
civil war.[6] Franco became the military dictator of Spain
and ruled until the 1970’s. Interestingly
enough, during World War II, Franco declared Spain would remain neutral and
never joined the Axis powers to reciprocate aid to German and Italy[7], without whose help he may
not have come to power.
Works
Cited
- Guernica
online. https://www.pbs.org/treasuresoftheworld/guernica/glevel_1/1a_civil_war.html
- Hochschild,
Adam. NPR Interview. https://www.npr.org/2017/03/10/519462137/in-many-ways-author-says-spanish-civil-war-was-the-first-battle-of-wwii
- Rucker,
Brian. Lecture Notes. European History II.
[2]
Hochschild, Adam. NPR Interview. https://www.npr.org/2017/03/10/519462137/in-many-ways-author-says-spanish-civil-war-was-the-first-battle-of-wwii
[3]
Rucker, Brian. Lecture Notes. European History II.
[4]
Hochschild, Adam. NPR Interview. https://www.npr.org/2017/03/10/519462137/in-many-ways-author-says-spanish-civil-war-was-the-first-battle-of-wwii
[5] Guernica
online.
https://www.pbs.org/treasuresoftheworld/guernica/glevel_1/1a_civil_war.html
[6]
Rucker, Brian. Lecture Notes. European History II.
[7]
Ibid.
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