Right after the war Spain lay in ruins. Total casualties are estimated around 600,000—comparable to English, French and Italian losses during WOII. The proud Spanish empire that once spanned the globe was now reduced to an authoritarian, paranoid dictatorship. Spain kept out of WOII and would continue to play a relatively minor role in European affairs until its migration to a peaceful democracy after Franco’s death in 1975. As opposed to Franco’s nationalism, Spain is today one of the most federal countries in Europe with high-levels of autonomy for each of its 17 regions.

As for the Church: it’s role in the conflict is hard to reflect upon without airing my personal, atheist views on religion as a whole. I shall therefore let you make up your own mind on that, and perhaps come back to this subject in a separate post.

Adolf Hitler must have been very pleased with the outcome of the war: he ‘beat the Soviets’, formed an alliance with Mussolini’s Italy and—most importantly—England and France seemed paralyzed by fear. The Spanish civil war also gives a sense of inevitability to the Russo-German conflict to come—fascism may have won the battle, but the war was far from over. Europe braced itself for things to come.

Looking back it is easy to deem England and France fools or even cowards, but it must be admitted that the escalation could not have been foreseen. A full-scale European conflict was not inevitable until after the 1938 conference of Munich and we can hardly blame England and France for doing all they could to keep the peace. It’s an interesting thought to think that if England and France had intervened in Spain there would not have been a Second World War. Yet it is unlikely that anyone other than the Soviet Union or the United States would have been able to supply the Republic with the quantity and quality of equipment needed to tip the scale.

The Spanish Civil War was so much defined by ideas rather than physical objectives it is nigh impossible to take an unbiased view. I’m sure many will disagree with how the war is looked upon today. When reflecting upon his time in Spain George Orwell said: ‘I am willing to believe that history is for the most part inaccurate and biased, but what is peculiar to our own age is the abandonment of the idea that history could be truthfully written.’

Stalin would not help popular front out of charity. The war had to either result in a communist Spain, or in an only minor Soviet embarrassment in defeat. The Spanish communists played a clever game with the single most important trump card in the popular front: Soviet supplies. The communist movement would receive the supplies and hence the communist movement decided on battle tactics and weapons distribution. Battalions with a non-communist commander would receive little or no supplies, while completely communist formations received tanks and airplanes. Military leaders were forced to join the communist party and the popular front grew more and more dependent on it.

Fear of a communist coup upset both the international community and the popular front itself—almost leading to a civil war within a civil war. The popular front consisted of so many movements, parties and ideologies it would have to light a fuse at some stage. At more than one occasion left-wing forces were fighting each other rather than the nationalists. Every minority feared a take-over by every other and they all tried their best the keep the others from becoming to powerful.

The nationalist propaganda put the growing unrest and communist influence to good use. In a conflict so full of fear, desperation and hatred it is telling that people actually changed sides and joined the nationalist ranks in order to fight the communists. It seemed there was no hope for the republic to survive. The militia felt it, the women and children felt it, and—most importantly—the western democracies felt it. That the republic held out for so long as it did (until 1939) not only makes us wonder if it was really that hopeless, but also illustrates the power of people fighting out of desperation.

The number of communists in the Spanish government grew fast. But in 1939 an anti-communist coup relieved the communist party and ComIntern from the blame of the imminent disaster—defeat. With the fall of Madrid at March 10 1939 all remaining hope was crushed. Within two weeks all resistance was given up. The nationalists had won.

The country was devastated. Cities burnt, houses lay in ruins and food was scarce. Europe closed its borders out of fear of refugees. The Germans, Italians and Russians pulled out, as their attention was needed elsewhere. Pope Pius congratulated Franco: ‘Lifting our hearts to God, we give sincere thanks with your Excellency for the victory of Catholic Spain.’ The defeated republican troops could only toss away their weapons and start walking, without any goal or hope.

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.

Note that I don’t suck all this out of my thumb—I do use a lot of sources. I will reference each and every one of them at the end of this series. In addition I’ll combine all these posts into one great article (one text to rule them all) and put it up for download in PDF or something.

I want to thank you for your interest. If there is any topic in particular concerning the Spanish Civil War you would like to see addressed, don’t hesitate to tell me.

England, France and the Western democratic world

After the military rising France’s prime minister was quick to declare support for the republican cause. However, France was dependent on Britain and by pressure from London and French right-wing forces he was quick to take his words back. Britain, still wary from WOI, was shaping appeasement-policy. As a result the French and British proposed a common non-intervention policy. This treaty was signed by many nations, including Germany, Italy and the Soviet Union’all of who failed to keep their promise. The non-intervention policy effectively isolated the Spanish republican movement.

Officially the Western world would not intervene, but it was far from passive. The British navy silently helped the nationalist movement by blocking republican trade ships or passing information to the nationalists. American and British business, having great stakes in the young Spanish economy, provided passive or active support to the nationalists with money, oil and obscuring Republican trade. Finally, many volunteers fought alongside the republican movement in the now famous international brigades: 35,000 volunteers from 53 countries, mostly French but also including Scandinavians, Poles and even Mexicans.

Germany and Italy

General Franco was quick to turn to its natural fascist German and Italian allies for help. Why did they help him? Of course Fascist Spain would be a great advantage in an eventual war with France, but there was more to it. Let’s start with Mussolini:

• Mussolini, seeking glory and grandeur, had promised to do so as early as 1934;
• Spreading Fascism and Italian influence fitted Italian Mare Nostrum (Our Sea)-policy. It would help keep the British out of their mediterranean backyard.

German diplomats initially refused to help, but Hitler personally overruled them for several reasons:

• It was an ideal opportunity to test his innovative, young army
• Spain possessed many natural resources important for German war industry
• It was good for drawing away attention from other German activities in Europe
• As Germany was at this stage not quite the European powerhouse, it would help it form closer bonds with Italy. Here, the ‘axis’ is formed.

German aid consisted mainly of military advice, materials and logistic support, but Hitler also sent the Condor Legion, a highly advanced air combat unit. Italy sent more troops and ground forces. In total, Germany sent some 20,000 and Italy some 80,000 men to Spain.

Russia

Stalin, unlike the exiled Trotsky, was not as much interested in spreading communism as in the general interests of the Soviet Union. As he was about to purge the Red Army of disloyal officers an international adventure that would most certainly offend all his potential European allies (Britain, France) and enemies (Germany) was highly inconvenient.

Still he realised that failing to support Spanish communists would make the Soviet Union and international communism lose all its credibility. Therefore he decided to help the Republic, only just not enough to actually let it win the war. All over the Soviet Union, people would ‘spontaneously volunteer or donate’ in support of the Spanish communist cause.

The army had agreed upon transportation with the Spanish navy. But as it turned out the ships’ crews were loyal to the republic—not to their commanding officers. Sailors quickly overpowered their superiors and took control over the transport ships. Although it had quickly secured Morocco, the Army of Africa suddenly found itself stuck on the Moroccan shores with the rest of the republican navy under way to make sure they stayed there.

A country in disarray

At this time, news of the rising has spread throughout Spain. Unions called for general strikes, national and local authorities were reluctant to arm the uncontrollable masses and the small army garrisons in the city lay in disarray—nobody knew exactly what was happening. Chaos led to creativity in fighting: both sides improvised armoured cars, self-propelled guns and the weirdest of grenades. But lack of firepower also led to brutal fighting, with entire villages being slaughtered by hand, knife or whatever kind of agricultural equipment one could get his hands on.

Although the rebelling Spanish mainland forces were holding on, it was clear the Army of Africa had no time to lose. With no means of transport, many lost hope. But for the first time in history a major airlift was set up, mostly thanks to transport aircraft quickly dispatched from Nazi Germany. By transporting the Army of Africa over the Gibraltar straight, Adolf Hitler saved the rebels only in the nick of time.

A rebellion transforms into a civil war

The Army of Africa, with General Franco slowly but steadily consolidating his leadership of the rebellion, got across. But it was not in time to secure a successful coup. The major cities were mobilised. The republic had kept control over the country’s gold supplies, major economic resources, most of the major cities, the trade fleet and most of the navy. The nationalist rebels however had the most experienced soldiers and officers, enjoyed extensive military, logistical and technological support from Germany and Italy, and—last but not least—got extensive economical support in forms of credit and oil from the Americans and the English.

The republic collapsed and the masses were on the streets. Anthony Beevor (1982) observes: ‘The pre-emptive counter-revolution from the right drove an unanticipated revolution right into the arms of the left.’ The outlook for Spain was Grim.

Next up: where did the Germans and the Italians come from all of a sudden? It’s time for a look at the various foreign interventions in the Spanish Civil War.

On the left we find the republicans, coming in many movements. These come down to socialists, anarchists and communists—all with various different parties representing them. The republicans control most of the Spanish workers in the cities and enjoy the larger part of popular and international support. Republicans aim at reforming Spain. The republicans form Spain’s legal government, trying to prevent a coup.

Where is the outside world at at this stage? We’ll look into this in the next post, but for now it is safe to say that most of the outside world regards the rising as a strictly internal Spanish affair. Most hope the coup will be quick and painless.

So far for this short summary of where we’re at. In the next posts we’ll be looking at how the rising escalates and at the role of the outside world in this full–scale civil war.

The left tried to win as much of the military for its own. These efforts were relatively successful, partly thanks to the communist movement. A series of murders on July 12 however, was responsible for a general feeling of ‘the last straw’. But the cogs had already been in motion before that. Despite many signals the government failed to notice, or chose to ignore, preparations for a coup.

The generals in Morocco had planned a rising that could only be successful with speed and by its psychological impact rather than by numerical superiority. The army of Africa was to revolt on July 18, to be followed by the mainland army 24 hours later. In that time the army of Africa would secure Morocco and move to the Spanish mainland. Time was of the essence.

In effect, the first 48 hours of the civil war were the most important. Politicians dared not abandon the legal constitution of the state, and they refused to arm the workers of the UGT and CNT. The republic failed to protect itself from its own army; it merely proclaimed it was ‘the only legally constituted government.’ Hesitation in a rapidly developing crisis was soon to prove fatal.

The army played an important role in Spanish society, although (or maybe because) it was nowhere near the great military force that built the Spanish empire in South-America. The Spanish army had one general to every hundred soldiers, while the navy had more or less ceased to exist after the Spanish-American war. Over the years, the once liberal army shifted to the conservative, monarchist side of politics–partly thanks to king Alfonso’s obsessions with militarism. As it was without a job the army took on the role of protecting Spain from internal enemies and social unrest, often with the use of violence.

Tensions between society and the army further rose after the army suffered its greatest defeat in history in 1921, when an army of Moroccan natives took back almost all the territories Spain had occupied over the years; while also inflicting terrible losses on the Spanish forces. While the people were embittered by the humiliation, the military felt misunderstood, having not received sufficient resources to fight the Moroccan war.

The military discontent with Spanish society leads to Miguel Primo de Rivera orchestrating a military coup. Spain is placed under military dictatorship backed by king Alfonso XIII from 1923 to 1930. Primo de Rivera took a tight grip on the state, but was forced to step down in 1930 because his government went bankrupt after trying too hard to remedy unemployment with public spending. Spain had lost its confidence in the military as well as in the king, and soon the second Spanish republic was founded.

The Church

Religion held a special place in Spanish society ever since the reconquista, and the power of the church extended to politics, law and order, education and health care. Catholicism in Spain condemned all forms of liberalism and capitalism, doing all it could to ‘save European society from itself’. In the ’30′s, government efforts to separate state from church failed due to lack of resources to replace the church. Still, Clerical influence waned as workers detested the church for preaching to accept poverty while amassing vast riches. In some regions, the church stopped teaching children to read so as to keep them from studying socialist theory later. Despite left-wing resentment for the church, conservative powers considered the church the heart of Spanish civilization. So it came that the church was not only a driver, but also the subject of social unrest.

Boiling point

Tensions in Spain between movements along all kinds of axes would inevitably lead to a climax, be it uncertain what kind of climax. Next up is a description of the rising of the army of Africa and the failed coup that would turn into a full-scale civil war.