Historiography and Perspectives

Several of these perspectives have been included in previous sections but they have been repeated here for ease of access.

  1. Debates
  2. Causes
  3. Practices
  4. Effects

Debates

Causes of the Spanish Civil War

Stanley G. Payne gives an interesting view on this,

Reviewed Work(s): The Spanish Civil War, the Soviet Union, and Communism by
Stanley G. Payne
Review by: Sean McMeekin
Source: Journal of Cold War Studies , Winter 2008, Vol. 10, No. 1 (Winter 2008), pp.
125-127

In any war, civilians are killed. Under Franco’s regime, those who murdered or killed Spaniards who fought with the rebels/loyalists were arrested and punished, even with death. Whereas those who murdered or killed those who fought for the Republican side escaped any sort of justice. A continual debate in Spain is to what extent this should be rectified.

Marco, J. Francoist Crimes: Denial and Invisibility, 1936–2016, Journal of Contemporary History, Vol. 52, No. 1, p. 158

To open up any investigations into those responsible for the alleged crimes under Franco, blame must be attributed to the rebels/loyalists for starting the civil war and the events which took place within it. Hence the debate about the war and who is to blame continues.

Pio Moa‘s books are widely read in Spain and his arguments go against the narrative that the right-wing coup started the civil war. But his views are controversial, leading to significant criticism from both politicians and historians. In his Origins of the Spanish Civil War, Pio argues that the war began with the 1934 revolution, not the 1936 coup, and therefore it was the fault of the left.

The debate continues in Spain today (as ‘all history is contemporary history’ – Croce).

Choosing hate Does exhuming the remains of a nationalist icon represent progress or division?

Practices of the Spanish Civil War

Read Paul Preston and Anthony Beevor here.

  • Preston argues that the lack of action of both Britain and France had a decisive impact on the war. Beevor agrees with this but argues that the Nationalists were more united as the Republicans were also so divided.

The following is taken from Michael Alpert’s The Clash of Spanish Armies: Contrasting Ways of War in Spain, 1936-39, War in History, July 1999, Vol. 6, No. 3, pp.331-351

  • “For most historians, the Republic was defeated principally because it was deprived of a regular and ample supply of arms by the European agreement not to supply war material to the Spanish combatants.” Michael Alpert
  • However, Colonel Ramon Salas Larrazabal argues in Historia del Ejercito Popular de la Republica that the Republic was neither short of war material or officers which were capable of fighting the war. Alpert cites several other sources that agree with this view.

Causes

Paul Preston

This is discussed on this page.

Paul Preston – Values and Limitations

  • Preston’s value is that he has written extensively about the Spanish Civil War. He is cited by many other authors on the topic, has won awards in the UK and Spain for his services to history and, importantly, accesses the Spanish archives as he is fluent in the language.
  • The limitations of Preston are that he is left-leaning in his politics, perhaps this has an influence on how he sees the war. However, the fact that he admitted this in a podcast means that he is aware of it and, as a professional historian, tries to overcome this potential bias.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/books/what-to-read/people-betrayed-paul-preston-review-grisly-history-spain-must/

Anthony Beevor

This is shown on this page.

Anthony BeevorValues and Limitations

  • Beevor is a highly respected military historian. This give him value as other historians praise his work, especially the extent to which he carries out research. The ‘Battle of Spain’ book was a revised edition from Beevor, he had previously published it in 1982. But the 2006 version contained research into Soviet archives, he was unable to do this for the first piece. This gives further value.
  • However, a possible limitation of Beevor is that his expertise may not cover the causes of the Spanish Civil War, owing to the fact that he has published books predominantly about the warfare (List of Beevor’s publications).
  • Furthermore, the Spanish archives were not accessed in his 2006 book, ‘Battle for Spain’ and there is no analysis of the recent historiography of the subject.

Helen Graham

There were three key factors affecting Spain in the 1930’s:

  1. Social, political, cultural and economic divisions. For example, the urban cosmopolitan lifestyles versus the rural tradition.
    • Urban cities such as Valencia, Zaragoza, Sevilla and Catalonia expanded economically in the early 20th century. This brought improved infrastructure and attracted more people too. With a growing population, ideas flourished and a burgeoning middle-class began to question the political and economic structure of the country.
    • Catholicism dominated parts of Spain.
      • Rural Spain was conservative, held together by the common tie of the Catholic Church. It played a crucial role in pastoral care, with rural credit banks which offered financial help when times were bad. The monarchy was also seen as the best form of government.
      • However, in southern Spain the Catholic Church had far less influence. It was seen as the ally of the powerful landowners, who ensured that agricultural workers were kept as virtual slaves (like a feudal system). Even when these workers or peasants revolted, they were violently stopped by the hated civil guard.
    • The military officers were intolerant towards change.
      • Spain lost its empire in the 19th century and the officer corps believed in the myth that it was the civilian governments were responsible. Moreover, as they were now not required to defend their empire, they needed a new role in Spain – this became to protect the country from change, maintaining the traditions such as the monarchy and Catholic Church. As part of this protection, groups which advocated change were challenged by the military.
      • The senior officers generally had close relations with the large landowners, who were also reluctant to change.

Helen GrahamValues and Limitations

  • As with Preston, Graham is an expert on the Spanish Civil War, having published several books on the topic. She also teaches a university course on European civil wars of from 1917 to 47.
  • The limitations are similar to Preston in that perhaps Graham’s political beliefs lead her to be less critical of the left, even praising the communists within the International Brigade. However, she may also be aware of her own biases and aim to overcome them.

Pio Moa

  • See Debate above.
  • Argues that the Bolsheviks had influenced the Spanish left and that Republicans should not be able try to hold the high moral ground with regards to democracy as a result.
  • For more, read Myths of the Spanish Civil War and ensure you read the short biography of the author too at the bottom of the article.

Pio Moa – Values and Limitations

  • Was formerly an anti-Francoist activist and member of the armed wing of the Communists in Spain. Arguably, this is a value as he may be more objective, having ‘seen’ both sides.
  • Labelled a psuedo-historian by academics, he never trained as one. Criticised by Paul Preston but praised by Stanley Payne (although disagrees with some of Moa’s arguments).
  • Does not hide his support for Gil Robles, possible limitation.

Practices

Paul Preston

  • Preston argues that foreign powers had a decisive impact on the result of the Spanish Civil War. Britain and France did not intervene on the side of the Republicans (1936 Non-Intervention Pact) whereas Italy and Germany did so on behalf of the Nationalists. Moreover, Soviet aid did not compare to that given to the two fascist powers.
  • General Franco was eventually in charge of the Nationalist forces. According to Paul Preston, he had his own press officer even before he was the leader, putting out propaganda that he was directing the war. He was very ambitious and ensured there was only one leader. This alienated some on the right, Gil Robles for example, but it ensured stability and efficiency.
  • Paul Preston argues that had Britain entered into the Spanish Civil War on the side of the Republicans, and Winston Churchill the future prime minister argued they should, it would have had a huge impact on how much Italy and Germany were prepared to fight (the British Royal Navy could stop many Italian supplies for example) and may have prevented the Second World War.

Anthony Beevor

  • A deciding factor about the Nationalists, although admits this label is an oversimplification, is that they were more united than the Republicans. The former had a combination of monarchists, Carlists, the Church, the Falange and conservatives. The latter had anarchists, communists, republicans, regionalists, socialists etc – a wider variety of philosophies.
  • With regards to the influence of foreign powers,
Beevor, A. (2006) Battle for Spain, p. 215

and Beevor also argues that the Soviet influence on the republicans had a detrimental effect on their fighting ability and eventual defeat.

Beevor, A. (2006) Battle for Spain, p. 755
Beevor, A. (2006) Battle for Spain, p. 339

For the Nationalists, Beevor argues that it was the German military quality that was decisive.

Beevor, A. (2006) Battle for Spain, p. 1053
  • He also argues that the Condor Legion was devastating in the battles of 1937 and 1938, countering the republican offensives.
  • However, Beevor differs from Preston and Graham slightly, arguing that,
Beevor, A. (2006) Battle for Spain, p. 1056
  • Yet he agrees with Preston in criticising Britain for her lack of involvement in the war. The two prime ministers, Stanley Baldwin and Neville Chamberlain, both were wary of Spain becoming another Sarajevo (the spark of the First World War) but Beevor argues that they were wrong. Britain could hardly play the role of the world policeman when it was prepared to sacrifice the Spanish people and later the Czechs.

Helen Graham

  • According to Helen Graham, albeit looking back on the war, it can be argued that it was inevitable that the Nationalists would win the war. They had the support of Italy, Germany and Portugal and had the guarantee that Britain and France would not help the Republicans. the only surprise was that the Left were able to sustain the war for so long.
  • However, this could have been very different if Italy and Germany had not intervened.
Graham, H. The Spanish Civil War: a very short introduction, p. 24
  • Professors Helen Graham and Mary Vincent argue that there is a religious crusade for the Nationalists. They fight to protect the Catholic Church (it had been attacked by some Leftist forces since 1931) and this helps create a degree of unity amongst their forces.
  • From the beginning of the war, the people who represented the Catholic Church were targeted and killed (up to 7000 during the war). Even benevolent priests were murdered because they represented the an organisation that supported the military coup.
  • Elsewhere in occupied rebel areas, the absence of the police
  • The violence from the rebels reflected the ideology of their leaders. They, such as the Falange’, wanted to purge Spain of ‘alien’ influences.
Graham, H. The Spanish Civil War: a very short introduction, p. 29

and…

Graham, H. The Spanish Civil War: a very short introduction, p. 33

Effects

Paul Preston

  • Perhaps the biggest impact on Spain were the casualties, approximately 500 000 from the war. But the deaths caused by politics did not end in 1939. Under Franco, tens of thousands of ‘opponents’ were killed in order to consolidate his position as dictator of Spain.
  • Franco ruled as dictator until 1976. He maintained his position by ‘saving’ Spain from communism.
  • The Latifundia returned to influence in Spain, and trade unions such as the UGT and CNT were abolished. The Catholic Church regained its power too, arguably more so than before the civil war. However, the army lost a lot of its influence in Spanish politics, especially after 1956 when Morocco established its independence.
  • But all power became centralised in Madrid, no longer did Catalonia and the Basques have a chance of independence and only Spanish was the legal language.
  • The country’s economy fell by up to 15% due to the war. Industry suffered and inflation was still high because too much money was printed off to pay for the war.
  • Franco reversed the land reforms which earlier governments had passed.

Anthony Beevor

  • Beevor explains that one of the major effects of the Spanish Civil War was the development of military strategy from the foreign powers who were involved.
Beevor, A. (2006) Battle for Spain, p. 1053
Beevor, A. (2006) Battle for Spain, p. 1055
  • Beevor also explains the difficulties the hundreds of thousands of republican refugees faced at the end of the war. Many went to France, 450 000 in February 1939 alone, and were interned in camps. The French were unprepared for such numbers so the conditions were poor.
  • Some of these returned to Spain but the majority remained outside of the country, settling in France, one of their colonies or Latin America.

Helen Graham

Helen Graham’s explanation of peacemaking is here.