The outcome of the war

Previous articles have been building up tension for the Spanish Civil War. Having looked at Spanish society, international relations and the rising that sparked the conflict, it’s now time to see how this story ends.

As described earlier the rebelling nationalists found themselves outnumbered, even when the elite forces of the Army of Africa made the crossing to the mainland (in the nick of time). The republic held most major cities, natural resources and trade routes. A quick, easy victory would be difficult to obtain. Would an outnumbered band of professional soldiers, backed with state-of-the-art foreign military aid, be able to bring the masses to their knees?

The answer is yes, and for several reasons:

• The nationalists had state-of-the-art airplanes, tanks, rifles and other weaponry, whereas most republican soldiers would storm the enemy without even a rifle—let alone bullets. When German bombing aircraft were spotted people would stop and watch rather than run for cover. The resulting massacres had a great psychological impact.
• Although the republic had a professional army, most generals and experienced troops were on the nationalist side. Superiority in tactics, logistics and personal training made victories possible even against all odds—something the German army would demonstrate right until the end of WWII.
• Nationalist leadership was firm and clear.
• Unlike the republic the nationalists were not isolated by the international community, which enabled trade and short supply routes—and, effectively, better control over international media.

More than success on the nationalist side the outcome of the war was determined by failure on the republican side. There was no lack of determination under republicans in Spain. But the popular front movement was simply too diverse and complex to put up an effective, organized fight—on a national level as well as in individual battles:

• Most republican militia had no military experience and were ill-trained and -equipped.
• Socialist and anarchist ideals were strong and directly opposed sensible, military hierarchy. Militia would refuse to dig manholes, dismissing it as repression and elitism. They were slaughtered by artillery fire and German bomber aircraft.
• Through time it became harder and harder to supply the troops. In the early stages of the war militia would storm the enemy without a weapon, because the government wouldn’t hand them out. In the later stages the republic had no means to buy new stocks of weapons or ammunition as everybody but the Soviet Union—not all that keen to help—refused to intervene.
• Republicans were obsessed with the notion of the fifth column, or traitors within their ranks that would sabotage the republican cause. Fear of traitors led to witch hunts and uncontrollable paranoia.

There is some good stuff here, but these points do net yet fully explain why the popular front collapsed and Franco’s nationalists won the war. There are two very important developments not yet noted here: the civil war within the civil war and the role of the Soviet Union. To keep all this easily digestible I chopped this article in half, so expect the second half tomorrow.