Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil War started in July 1936. It was between the leftist
Republicans, who were in government at the time, and the Nationalists. The right
wing Nationalists were led by the army, and had the support of the Catholic
Church, monarchists and large landowners.
There were a number of issues that directly led to the outbreak of the
Spanish Civil War. The greatest of these was the long period of decline that
Spain had suffered since the days of the Spanish Empire. By 1930, Spain had lost
all of her empire and was lagging behind the rest of Europe industrially. The
monarchy was overthrown, and the Second Empire formed in 1930. This government
proved to be completely inept at carrying out reforms, and maintaining law and
order.
Divisions continued to widen between the towns and the countryside, and the
wealthy landowners and peasants. Many areas of the country wanted to have their
own government and wanted independence from the rest of Spain. The Church was
one of the most powerful forces in the country, and it was strongly opposed to
social reform, therefore it was vehemently opposed to the Republican government.
The army had always had a history of meddling in the country’s politics. The
senior commanders were constantly worried about the amount of influence that
Communists had in the government, and were concerned that there might eventually
be a Communist takeover. Violence had always been an inherent part of all
attempts at democratic elections. Quite often, the genuine results were altered
due to intimidation, and other tactics. Spain was quite literally ready to
explode, and the final spark that lit the fuse of war was the assassination of
the right wing leader, Calvo Sotelo, in July 1936.
The war itself was extremely horrific. There was a considerable amount of
interference from other countries, mainly because the war was a fight between
the left and right factions. The fascist governments of Germany and Italy gave
their support to the Nationalists, under General Franco. Up until the outbreak
of the war, Franco had amassed his troops in Morocco. They were unable to cross
back into Spain, until Hitler and Mussolini provided airlifts. This began the
forward push of Franco, and ultimately led to his success. Although the USSR
gave its support to the Republican government, there was no other official aid
from other countries. However, a number of International Brigades and foreign
volunteers did join forces with the Nationalists.
The Spanish Civil War has often been seen as a prelude to the Second World War.
Indeed, there were a lot of tactics that were adopted that became widespread
during WWII. For example, it was the first war where air power played a
significant part, and this included bombing of towns and other civilian targets.
Armored vehicles were used in formation to drive the enemy back. Propaganda was
also widely used against the Republican supporters which broke a lot of their
resolve.
One of the main reasons General Franco and the Nationalists were victorious
after three years of war was that the army was on their side. The Republicans
did manage to train their own troops, and they had become a good fighting force
by the end of the conflict, but it was not enough against the professional
soldiers. There were some soldiers who defected from the army and went to fight
for the Republicans but they were often suspected of being spies for the
Nationalists, and their expertise was not made use of. General Franco had taken
all of the various Nationalist groups and unified them into a far stronger force
than the Republicans. He also had far more support from other countries than the
Nationalists did. Germany and Italy provided troops and equipment throughout the
war.
After the war ended, Spain suffered under the 40 years of Franco’s rule. They
were diplomatically isolated from other countries, and the country itself was in
turmoil. There had been a huge loss of life, and damage to the infrastructure.
Franco was in complete control and the government revolved around him.
Censorship was introduced, and the regionalism that had been brewing before the
war was completely outlawed. Industrially, Spain suffered extensively too. It
had been struggling before the war, and now it fell even further behind its
European neighbors. The majority of the damage that the war had caused could not
be repaired as there simply wasn’t the money. The country had very little money
because the Nationalists had sent all of the gold reserves to the USSR for
safe-keeping, and now Germany wanted reparations for the help that it gave
Franco that enabled him to seize power. Democracy would not return to Spain for
more than four decades. Recommended Reading:
Spanish
Civil War
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