Enduring Understandings
General Resources
Timeline
1931 Law of Municipal Boundaries
1932 Agrarian Land Reform
Foreign Powers
Communism and the USSR
by Lisa A. Kirschenbaum, International Communism and the Spanish Civil War
- The USSR was seen as a safe haven for Spanish communists to leave their children so they could fight the war, Rivera Sanchez was one such mother who did this.
- There were clandestine (secret) training schools for international revolutionaries in Moscow. These would provide recruits for the International Brigade, aimed at spreading the ideology of communism and to understand the world with Soviet eyes. The most prestigious was the Lenin School. The Bolsheviks wanted to remake the world and communism was the ideology to do this. Comintern (Communist International) was the organisation in charge of this operation – it had sixty-five parties across six continents by 1935.
- The 1936 coup d’etat could have been defeated in its infancy if it did not receive support from Hitler and Mussolini – fourteen thousand Spanish and Moroccan troops were transported (initially trapped there) across the Straits of Gibraltar to Spain by Italian and German aircraft.
- These troops used similar tactics to those used in Morocco and were aided by up to seventy thousand Italian soldiers, hundreds of artillery pieces, tanks, and aircraft. In particular, the Condor Legion, bombers from Wehrmacht, gave air support and bombed targets such as Guernica to aid the Nationalists.
- During the war, the USSR was seen to be the saviour of democracy (Soviet propaganda therefore effective), standing up to the fascists. This helped attract support for the International Brigade.
- Republicans accepted Soviet aid reluctantly, they knew the West would not approve and be less likely to offer support themselves.
- Arguably, the USSR did not want to prevent the Nationalists taking control of Spain, but instead wanted a communist country.
Perspectives
- Paul Preston explained in In Our Time that Germany and Italy expected and wanted a short war. They feared a longer conflict would bring in Britain as their success would hinder the strategic power that both France and Britain had on the continent.
- He also explained that only Churchill foresaw this and that he had argued for intervention.
- However, in History Extra, he argued that Churchill changed his mind about the war, believing initially that he hoped the nationalists prevailed because of his own background. Only later, towards the end of the war, did he believe the Republic should have been supported.
The Historiography of Fascist Foreign Policy by Stephen Corrado Azzi
- ‘It was evident that world Communism, assisted by Socialists, Freemasons and other seditious organizations, was preparing a gigantic mobilization to ensure Red predominance in Spain. For this reason, Mussolini finally decided to lend Italian assistance to the Spanish Nationalist cause. Luigi Villari, Italian foreign policy under Mussolini (London, 1965), p. 167
- The Italian decision to intervene was … motivated by hostility toward the French and the Spanish Popular Front governments, by vague plans for expanded influence in the Mediterranean region, and by fears of Soviet penetration in Spain. Alexander De Grand
- Denis Mack Smith agrees and adds that Italy acted before there was any real involvement from the USSR.
- Alan Cassels argues that Mussolini wanted a puppet government in Spain so he would have more leverage against France in his quest for more Mediterranean control.
Human and Economic Resources
- As stated earlier, the USSR gave the Republicans military aid. This was generally weaponry but there were also military personnel too. However, the weapons varied in quality, from a small number of excellent tanks to virtually obsolete rifles from the Russo-Japanese and First World wars. As there were so many different types of weaponry, acquiring the correct ammunition was far from easy and this limited their use.
Ideology
- The Left was disunited during the war whereas the Right were. For example, the Left comprised the anarchists, communists, socialists and the independence movements. The anarchists followed the ideas of Mikhail Bakunin.
- This meant that they did not accept any influence from Comintern or the communists as they preached centralised control.
Women
Women are generally ignored in warfare but they were prominent in the Spanish Civil War.
- Prior to the war, their work was hard and poorly paid. Their wages were lower than that of men, although the figures differed according to the regions.
- The Republican constitution of 1931 brought equal voting (aged 23). Divorce became legal and more women took part in politics.
- During the early stages of the Revolution, women fought alongside men.
- Their wages were still generally lower than men’s but they did increase. Moreover, families received a ‘family wage’ so that they did not always have to work.
- Women took places in committees too, although few actually had as much influence as the men.
- They also began to wear trousers, perhaps a symbol of freedom, and helped collect for International Red Help (an organisation set up by the USSR to deliver aid).
- By the end of September 1936 ‘Free Women‘ had seven Labour Sections – Transport, Public Services, Nursing, Clothing, Mobile Brigades for non-specialists, and brigades able to substitute for men needed in the war. This led to greater calls for emancipation.
- Women continued to fight in the war, for example a women’s battalion fought (on the Republican side) before Segovia Bridge, during the Battle for Madrid, in 1936. These groups were called the milicianas. Women also fought for Nationalists too.
- However, many female units were trained for the defence of cities rather than for offensive actions. This is partly disputed by Lisa Lines, historian of the Spanish Civil War, who cites women who had fought and died on the front line. These milicianas fought until 1937, Lina Odena being amongst the most prominent. She led a militia group and was also a journalist, captured by Falange fighters in 1936 she killed herself rather than be executed.
Women in the Spanish Revolution
Guerilla Warfare
Consequences
Spanish Fascism by Stanley G. Payne
Resources