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(Created page with "{{Stub}} '''The Spanish Civil War''' was a civil war in Spain fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Communists and the Fascists. It was also the first hotwar in The World's War Against Communism. The "Republicans" were loyal to the Communist Popular Front government of the "Second Spanish Republic", and consisted of various, communist, separatist, anarchist, and "republican" parties, some of which had opposed the government in the pre-war period. The oppos...")
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[[File:Francisco Franco1.jpg|thumb|300px|[[Francisco Franco]] [[Roman salute|saluting]] the troops]]
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The '''Spanish Civil War ''' (17 July 1936 – 1 April 1939) was a civil war between Spanish [[nationalist]]s, traditionalists, [[Roman Catholic]]s, and [[monarchists]] in a loose alliance on the one hand, against a loose alliance of leftists including [[communists]] and [[social anarchists]] on the other. The sides are generally referred to as the Nationalists and the Republicans. The latter, having taken control of the government, following a political decline associated with the [[Second Spanish Republic]], which had been set up in 1931 following the decision of King Alphonso XIII to leave Spain, although without formal abdication.<ref>Medlicott, W.N., Dakin, Douglas, & Bennett Gillian, editors, ''Documents on British Foreign Policy 1919-1939'', Second Series, vol.xvii, Her Majesty's Stationary Office, London, 1979, p.1n.</ref>
'''The Spanish Civil War''' was a civil war in Spain fought from 1936 to 1939 between the [[Communists]] and the [[Fascists]]. It was also the first hotwar in [[The World's War Against Communism]]. The "Republicans" were loyal to the Communist [[Popular Front]] government of the "Second Spanish Republic", and consisted of various, communist, separatist, anarchist, and "republican" parties, some of which had opposed the government in the pre-war period. The opposing [[Nationalists]] were an alliance of [[Falangists]], [[Fascist]]s, [[monarchist]]s, actual [[conservative]]s, and [[traditionalist]]s led by Spanish [[patriot]]s among whom General [[Francisco Franco]] quickly achieved a preponderant role. Although there was street-fighting throughout the world, it was the first hotwar in the battle between fascism and communism, and thus the beginning of [[WWAC]].


The conflict started after a revolt by a group of nationalist Spanish Army generals (notably [[Francisco Franco]]), supported by the conservative Confederatión Espanola de Derechas Autónomas (C.E.D.A), Carlist groups and the revolutionary [[Falange|Falange Española de las J.O.N.S.]].<ref name="payne">[[Stanley G. Payne|Payne, Stanley]] [http://books.google.com/books?id=NiD3UeOCSGsC&pg=PA197&vq=mola&hl=es&source=gbs_search_r&cad=0_1#PPA203,M1 ''Fascism in Spain, 1923-1977''], pp. 200-203, 1999 Univ. of Wisconsin Press</ref>.
[[Category:Events]]
 
[[Category:History]]
The Nationalists received help from [[Germany]] and [[Italy]], and also by volunteers from other countries, while [[Soviet Union]] and other volunteers were giving support to the Republicans.
 
==Background==
[[File:Spanish Civil War.png|thumb|300px|Civil War pictures]]
[[File:Spanish-Republicans (communists).jpg|thumb|300px|Spanish-Republicans (communists)]]
[[File:Spanish Civil War, Nationalists.jpg|thumb|300px|Spanish-Nationalists]]
[[File:Franco (Mitte) und der Stabschef der deutschen Legion Condor, Wolfram von Richthofen (rechts).jpg|thumb|300px|General Franco (centre) and the Chief of Staff of the German [[Condor Legion]], Generalmajor [https://de.metapedia.org/wiki/Richthofen,_Wolfram_von Wolfram von Richthofen] (right), 1937]]
 
Alfonso XIII, King of Spain, felt obliged to go into exile in April 1931 following Far-Left republican election victories in the cities and the illegal proclamation of a Second Spanish Republic. He was told at the time, wrongly, that the army would not support him. This was followed by a period of increasing leftist terror. The Catholic Church was a prominent target, with many churches being destroyed and individuals associated with the Church being killed. Many of the prominent leftists were [[Freemasons]].<ref name=oo1>http://www.theoccidentalobserver.net/2012/01/the-spanish-civil-war-a-successful-nationalist-revolution/</ref><ref name=oo2>The Spanish Civil War: A Successful Nationalist Revolution, Part 2 http://www.theoccidentalobserver.net/2012/01/the-spanish-civil-war-a-successful-nationalist-revolution-part-2/</ref>
 
The third General Election held under the Republican régime took place on February 16, 1936, resulting unexpectedly in an overwhelming victory for the parties of The Left, the so-called Popular Front led by [[Manuel Azana]] secured 256 seats, the Centre 52, and the Right 165. This was a reaction to the unpopularity of the previous government of [[Alejandro Lerroux]], leader of the Radical Party, who had headed four governments from 1933 to 1935. Aazana's government, however, was dependent for its existence upon the support of the parties of The Far Left, including the [[Communists]], [[Socialists]] and [[Syndicalists]], with whom its members had little or nothing in common beyond a hatred of [[Fascism]] and [[Roman Catholic Church|Clericalism]]. Soon afterwards the Cortes (Spanish Parliament) removed President Zamora and Azana took his place.<ref>Medlicott, ''et al'',1979, p.1 and notes.</ref>
 
Following this election the situation throughout the country steadily deteriorated. Under pressure from The Far Left the government passed by Decree a number of laws which resulted in a state of chronic strikes and lockouts and a paralysis of the country's business. Civil unrest became widespread and 140 churches were burnt during the first six weeks after the election. Even the Law Courts fell into the hands of the Extreme Left. The Socialist Party then also passed into the hands of its extremist leader, [[Francisco Largo Cabalelro]]. The [[Communists]] were at the same time busy arming themselves and strengthening their organisation. Opposition was almost impossible: the Fascist leader, [[José Antonio Primo de Rivera]], had been arrested and gaoled. The British Government reported in June 1936 that "with things developing as they are the chances of Parliamentary government surviving are becoming very slight. The financial position is also deteriorating rapidly, and a large black rate for the Pesata has made its appearance." Anti-Foreign feeling in official circles was evident and a left-wing book entitled ''Spain, to whom does she belong?'', containing a violent attack on British businesses in Spain, was published on February 29 by Virgilio Sevillano Carbajal, a First Secretary at the Spanish Foreign Office!<ref>Medlicott, ''et al'',1979, p.2-3 and notes.</ref>
 
The British and other Ambassadors relocated in June 1936 to [[San Sebastian]]. On July 3, at 3 a.m., units of the Republican Assault Guards kidnapped and murdered Don [[José Calvo Sotelo]], the charismatic Monarchist leader and a former Minister of Finance. In revenge for this, the Captain of the 'Asaltos' was shot in Madrid on the night of July 12/13 by a few Monarchists. The Left used this as an excuse to round up fourteen of them in their revenge. On July 20 several churches were burnt in [[Barcelona]], and serious riots continued for days mainly by anarchists.<ref>Medlicott, ''et al'',1979, pps:4-6 and 8-10 and notes.</ref>
 
The civil and armed forces did nothing, and the Government appeared powerless to maintain order.
 
==Civil War==
Following the Popular Front victory in February 1936 General [[Francisco Franco]] y Bahamonde had been dismissed from his position in the Spanish War Office because of his part in the suppression by the Foreign Legion of the revolt of the Asturias' miners in 1934. He was then sent to be the Military Governor of the [[Canary Islands]]. On July 17 it was reported that the Foreign Legion in [[Spanish Morocco]] had revolted against the Madrid régime and that Franco had flown from [[Las Palmas]] that morning to Tetuan in Spanish Morocco, leaving almost at once for [[Ceuta]]. In addition, the Spanish fleet were now trapped in [[Tangier]] without oil. In [[San Sebastian]] in northern Spain clashes had taken place between armed police and "crowds of armed men in lorries, bristling with guns", trying to prevent soldiers joining the revolt. "Terrible excesses" took place there and diplomats' evacuated the town, the British Ambassador reporting to London saying: "I imagine that anyone who had experience of [[Russian Revolution|Russia]] at the beginning of the 1917 revolution would have found those conditions very faithfully reproduced here." Meanwhile, in [[Barcelona]] the garrison rose on July 20 against the Republican government. The government having wind of it employed shock police, Civil Guards, and a few loyal troops together with masses of armed workers, mainly anarchists and syndicalists, against them and there were heavy casualties.<ref>Medlicott, ''et al'',1979, pps:4-6 and 8-11 and notes.</ref>
 
Within days, Spain was divided in two: the Second Spanish Republic (within which were pockets of revolutionary anarchism and Trotskyism), and a Nationalist and traditionalist Spain under the generals, and, eventually, under the leadership of General Francisco Franco. In the early days of the war, it is said that over 50,000 people who were caught on the "wrong side" of both lines were assassinated or summarily executed. In these ''paseos'' (promenades), as the executions were called, the victims were taken from their refuges or gaols by armed vigilante squads to be shot outside of town. Probably the most famous such victim was the poet and dramatist Federico García Lorca. The outbreak of the war provided an excuse for settling accounts and resolving long-standing feuds. Thus, this practice became widespread during the war across Spain.
 
Any hope of a quick ending to the war was dashed on July 21 when the Nationalists captured the main Spanish naval base at Ferrol in north-western Spain. This encouraged other sympathetic regimes of Europe to aid Franco, who had already contacted the governments of Germany and Italy the previous day. On July 26, Italy and Germany agreed to assist the Nationalists.
 
In the north, a Spanish army unit under Colonel Beorlegui, sent by General Emilio Mola, advanced on Gipuzkoa. On September 5, after heavy fighting, it took Irún, closing the French border to the Republicans. On September 13 the Basques surrendered San Sebastián to the Nationalists, who then advanced toward their capital, Bilbao. The capture of Gipuzkoa had isolated the Republican provinces in the north. Aircraft of the Spanish Air Force bombed Madrid in late November 1936.
 
Nationalist forces under Franco won a great symbolic victory on September 27 when they relieved the besieged Alcázar fortress at Toledo. Two days after relieving the siege, Franco proclaimed himself Generalísimo and Caudillo ("chieftain"); he would unify the various elements of the Nationalist cause.
 
In October, the Nationalists launched a major offensive toward [[Madrid]], reaching it in early November and launching a major assault on the city on November 8. The Republican government, rapidly losing control on all fronts, was forced to shift from Madrid to Valencia on November 6. However, the Nationalists' attack on the capital was repulsed in fierce fighting between November 8 and 23. A contributory factor in the successful Republican defence was the arrival of the [[communist]] International Brigades, though only around 3,000 of them participated in the battle. Having failed to take the capital, Franco bombarded it from the air and, in the following two years, mounted several offensives to try to encircle Madrid.
 
===Foreign aid===
Meanwhile, the [[League of Nations]] were busy attempting to enforce a non-intervention policy in the rapidly escalating war. But on July 22, 1936, General Franco had sent a letter via Diplomatic Bag to [[Adolf Hitler]] asking for transport planes and other assistance. Hitler received the letter while at [[Bayreuth]] on the 26th and he agreed immediately to give aid without consulting the German Foreign Office. Thirty ''Junkers 52'' transport planes were immediately sent to [[Spanish Morocco]], solving the vital problem of getting troops onto the Spanish mainland. Other help followed. On November 18, Germany and Italy officially recognized the Franco government, and on December 23, Italy sent volunteers of its own to fight for the Nationalists.
 
On July 25 the [[France|French]] had announced that they would not furnish planes or munitions to the Spanish Republican Government. Meanwhile, Franco reported a Soviet oil tanker was heading for the stranded Spanish fleet (denied by the [[Moscow]] press).<ref>Medlicott, ''et al'',1979, pps: 21/30n/36.</ref>
 
Republicans (''republicanos'') received the support of the [[Soviet Union]] and [[Mexico]], while the Nationalists (''nacionales'') received the support of [[Kingdom of Italy (1861–1946)|Italy]] and [[National Socialist Germany|Germany]], as well as neighbouring [[Portugal]].<ref>Medlicott, ''et al'',1979, p.31-2.</ref>
 
==Observers==
The advent of the [[mass media]] allowed an unprecedented level of propaganda to be spread ([[Ernest Hemingway]], [[Martha Gellhorn]], [[George Orwell]] and [[Robert Capa]] all covered it) and so the war became notable for the passion and political division it inspired. Like other [[civil war]]s, the Spanish Civil War often pitted family members and trusted neighbours and friends against each other.
 
==Victory==
The war ended with the victory of the Nationalist side and the founding of an authoritarian nationalist government led by [[Francisco Franco|General Francisco Franco]]. In the aftermath of the civil war, all major patriotic parties were fused into the state party led by Franco.<ref>Payne, Stanley G., ''Fascism in Spain, 1923-1977'' University of Wisconsin Press, 10 Jan. 2000.</ref>
 
The Spanish Civil War contributed to political tensions in the lead-up to [[World War II]] and has been seen by some as part of the conflict between the [[Communist]] [[Soviet Union]] and [[Italy]] and [[National Socialist Germany|Germany]].
 
== Strength of the different sides ==
Leftists like to depict the Republican side as being hopelessly outnumbered by a reactionary military and foreign fascists. However, the Spanish officer corps has been argued to at this time to be influenced by Freemasons even at its highest levels. Only 17 generals sided with the rebels, whereas 22 stayed loyal to the Leftist regime. Most of the country was initially under Republican control, including Spain’s main industrial centers. The Republicans also had the support of the worldwide media, which was heavily biased against everything that traditional Spain represented.<ref name=oo1/><ref name=oo2/>
 
The Nationalists received support mainly from Mussolini’s Italy and Hitler’s Germany, while the Republicans were backed by the Soviet Union, and more discreetly by France, ruled by Jewish Prime Minister [[Léon Blum]]’s socialist/Communist Popular Front government. The foreign military support has been argued to have been about equal for both sides.<ref name=oo1/><ref name=oo2/>
 
== Foreign volunteers ==
The Communist International, or [[Comintern]], opened recruiting offices all over the world. Between 30,000 and 35,000 volunteers, mostly Communists, enlisted with the [[International Brigades]].<ref name=oo1/><ref name=oo2/> The International Brigades were originally proposed by the [[Soviet Union]] and closely associated with Communism through Soviet controlled organizations, such as the [[Comintern]] and the [[NKVD]]. Foreign pro-Soviet Communist Parties were used to recruit for volunteers. As a security measure, non-Communist volunteers would first be interviewed by an [[NKVD]] agent.
 
Jews were hugely over-represented in the International Brigades, with  between 3,000 to 10,000 of the volunteers estimated to have been Jewish.<ref>Thomas, Hugh, ''The Spanish Civil War'', 1st edition, 1961, p.637.</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/History/spanjews.pdf | title=Against Fascism – Jews who served in The  International Brigade in the Spanish Civil War | publisher=Jewish Virtual Library/Jewish Military Museum | author=Sugarman,  Martin | page=122}}</ref> See also [[Jews and Communism]]
 
The anarchist [[CNT]] and the [[Trotskyist]] [[POUM]] were not part of the International Brigades, but also had foreign volunteers (notably [[George Orwell]]).
 
Three times as many volunteers fought on the Nationalist side. They were from countries such as Italy, Germany, Ireland, and Romania.<ref name=oo1/><ref name=oo2/>
 
== The "Republican" side as a defender of liberal democracy ==
The civil war is often depicted as a [[liberal democracy]] being overthrown by non-democrats. Critics of this view point to the increasing [[Red Terror]], lawlessness, and chaos before the war, the 1936 election being marked by several irregularities, the Left only gaining a minority of the votes (but a majority of seats in the Parliament), the Nationalists seeing themselves as preventing a totalitarian communist regime, and, after the war having started, the Jewish Soviet ambassador to Spain, [[Marcel Rosenberg]], in reality having the real power (and thus ultimately [[Stalin]] controlling "Republican" Spain). An event related to this was most of the Spanish gold reserve being transported to the Soviet Union and never returned.<ref name=oo1/><ref name=oo2/> The Spanish gold reserve had been one of the largest in the world.
 
== Red and white repressions  ==
Killings and other repressions of political opponents occurred  before, during, and after the war, with both sides being involved in such repressions. Descriptions of these repressions may be influenced by the leftist or even the far leftist sympathies of many politically correct historians. Both sides have been accused of blaming the other side for atrocities committed by the own side. Estimates of the number of deaths and argued responsibilities have varied widely.
 
Nationalist supporters have seen the Nationalist revolt as a response to the earlier and increasingly severe Red Terror before the war and fear of a Communist coup, accompanied by much larger communist mass killings, similar to those occurring in the Soviet Union.<ref name=oo1/><ref name=oo2/>
 
Another aspect is the communist Soviet Union sending people to assist the Red Terror in Spain. One prominent example is the Jewish secret police officer [[Aleksandr Orlov]].<ref name=oo1/><ref name=oo2/> He has been argued to have been responsible for various internal purges, persecutions, and killings affecting various leftists disliked by Soviet Union.
 
[[Social anarchists]] like to depict the areas that social anarchists briefly controlled as a utopia. This ignores, for example, the numerous atrocities committed by social anarchists.<ref>The Anarcho-Statists of Spain http://econfaculty.gmu.edu/bcaplan/spain.htm</ref>
 
See also the article on [[Guernica]] for [[revisionist]] criticisms of the politically correct view on the events there.
 
==See also==
* [[Legion Condor]]
 
==External links==
*[http://www.theoccidentalobserver.net/2012/01/the-spanish-civil-war-a-successful-nationalist-revolution/ The Spanish Civil War: A Successful Nationalist Revolution, Part 1]
*[http://www.theoccidentalobserver.net/2012/01/the-spanish-civil-war-a-successful-nationalist-revolution-part-2/ The Spanish Civil War: A Successful Nationalist Revolution, Part 2]
*[https://altright.com/2017/10/02/the-untold-victors-the-spanish-civil-war-as-history-not-propaganda/ The Untold Victors: The Spanish Civil War as History Not Propaganda]
*[http://www.realzionistnews.com/?p=89 Jewish Murderers of the Spanish Civil War] at [[Real Zionist News]]
*[http://econfaculty.gmu.edu/bcaplan/spain.htm The Anarcho-Statists of Spain] - on atrocities by [[social anarchists]]
 
==References==
{{reflist}}
 
[[Category:Wars]]
[[Category:Spain]]
[[Category:Spanish Civil War| ]]
[[Category:Civil wars]]
[[Category:Anarchism]]
[[Category:Mass killings under Communist regimes]]
[[Category:Francisco Franco]]
[[da:Den spanske borgerkrig]]
[[de:Spanischer Bürgerkrieg]]
[[es:Guerra Civil Española]]
[[no:Den spanske borgerkrig]]
[[pt:Guerra Civil Espanhola]]
[[sv:Spanska inbördeskriget]]

Revision as of 16:07, 15 November 2022

The Spanish Civil War was a civil war in Spain fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Communists and the Fascists. It was also the first hotwar in The World's War Against Communism. The "Republicans" were loyal to the Communist Popular Front government of the "Second Spanish Republic", and consisted of various, communist, separatist, anarchist, and "republican" parties, some of which had opposed the government in the pre-war period. The opposing Nationalists were an alliance of Falangists, Fascists, monarchists, actual conservatives, and traditionalists led by Spanish patriots among whom General Francisco Franco quickly achieved a preponderant role. Although there was street-fighting throughout the world, it was the first hotwar in the battle between fascism and communism, and thus the beginning of WWAC.

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