THE SPANISH CIVIL WAR

SOMETIMES CALLED

THE LITTLE WORLD WAR

OR PERHAPS

PICASSO’S WAR

 

Soon after the abdication of the Spanish throne by King Alfonso 13^th, the Spanish Republic was proclaimed on April 14, 1931.  What followed were five years of political turmoil, factionalism, and a growing mood of militarism as several political groups struggled for control of the government in Spain.  In the face of increasing instability, a Spanish military unit stationed in Morocco revolted against the legitimate Republican government on July 17, 1936.  Led by General Francisco Franco and supported by several other military units, this revolt marked the beginning of the civil war.  The multifarious factions took sides, unified under their chosen banners, armed themselves, and prepared for war.  As Franco entered Spain from Morocco and hostilities began to spread, Germany and Italy joined the fray on the side of Franco’s nationalists (Fascists), while the Soviet Union lent material support to the Republican cause.  Finally, the COMINTERN recruited and organized the International Brigades and the horrors of war infested the land of Spain.

 

WV CONTENT STANDARDS AND OBJECTIVES:

Civics/Government Objectives:

SS.11.2.6    examine historical and current conflicts and crises and compare resolutions within the framework of constitutional and totalitarian systems of government. 

Geography Objectives: 

SS.11.4.1    read and interpret maps, graphs, charts, cartoons and timelines.

SS.11.4.2    identify and locate the places significant to each period of study. 

History Objectives:

SS.11.5.7    analyze and evaluate the major causes, events, and personalities of World War II.

FASCISM:

The first order of business in this study is to understand the political concept known as Fascism.  The root word is the Latin, fasces.  A fasces was a bundle of rods bound together about an ax with the blade projecting, carried before magistrates of ancient Rome as an emblem of authority.  So, if you take the first few letters from fasces – fasc – and attach an ism – which indicates a belief system – then you have, Fascism.  Thus, Fascism is a radically totalitarian form of government that swept through European nations during our Roaring Twenties and ultimately took firm hold in both Italy and Germany.  One of your tasks in this study will be to explain the fundamental differences between Fascism and democracy as we know it.  So give particular thought to the following explanation of Fascism by Hitler’s ally, Benito Mussolini of Italy.  The fundamentals of Fascism are underlined for your convenience.

 

In 1932 Italian Dictator Benito Mussolini wrote an entry for the Italian Encyclopedia on the definition of fascism:

Fascism, the more it considers and observes the future and the development of humanity quite apart from political considerations of the moment, believes neither in the possibility nor the utility of perpetual peace. War alone brings up to its highest tension all human energy and puts the stamp of nobility upon the peoples who have courage to meet it.......

Fascism is the complete opposite of Communism……

After Socialism, Fascism combats the whole complex system of democratic ideology, and repudiates it, whether in its theoretical premises or in its practical application. Fascism denies that the majority, by the simple fact that it is a majority, can direct human society; it denies that numbers alone can govern by means of a periodical consultation, and it affirms the immutable, beneficial, and fruitful inequality of mankind, which can never be permanently leveled through the mere operation of a mechanical process such as universal suffrage....

...Fascism denies, in democracy, the absurd conventional untruth of political equality…

Given that the nineteenth century was the century of Socialism, of Liberalism, and of Democracy, it does not necessarily follow that the twentieth century must also be a century of Socialism, Liberalism and Democracy: political doctrines pass, but humanity remains, and it may rather be expected that this will be a century of authority, a century of Fascism. For if the nineteenth century was a century of individualism it may be expected that this will be the century of collectivism and hence the century of the State.

The foundation of Fascism is the conception of the State, its character, its duty, and its aim. Fascism conceives of the State as an absolute, in comparison with which all individuals or groups are relative, only to be conceived of in their relation to the State.

The Fascist State organizes the nation, but leaves a sufficient margin of liberty to the individual; the latter is deprived of all useless and possibly harmful freedom, but retains what is essential; the deciding power in this question cannot be the individual, but the State alone.

For Fascism, the growth of empire, that is to say the expansion of the nation, is an essential manifestation of vitality, and its opposite a sign of decadence

 If every age has its own characteristic doctrine, there are a thousand signs which point to Fascism as the characteristic doctrine of our time.

 

 

THE PROCESS:

1.  Paragraph (7/3) – Drawing conclusions from Mussolini’s article, explain the fundamental philosophical differences between Democracy and Fascism.  Develop at least three differences.  If you detect similarities, it might be interesting to include your thoughts.

 

2.  Attached are capsules of the Spanish factions and foreign nations/organizations that participated in the Spanish Civil War.  Organize these groups into a graphic organizer that begins with an outline map of Spain as the hub.  Organize the factions in such a way that the opposing groups can be easily identified and distinguished from one another.  Attach a list of significance statements to the graphic organizer that explains what each participating group hoped to gain from the conflict.  Limit the statements to one or two sentences.  I will show you some examples of graphic organizers that will help you get started.

 

3.  Answer the following questions in paragraph form:

 

     a.  Why do you think the Spanish Civil War has been referred to as the Little World War?     P   I           Picasso’s War?  Begin with a topic/thesis sentence (6/2).

 

b.       Less than thirty days after the Spanish Civil War was over, and having remained neutral

        throughout the hostilities, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt extended America’s                      diplomatic recognition to the new fascist regime of General Francisco Franco.     Considering the American love of democracy and disdain for totalitarian governments,   why do you think FDR grant this approval (7/3)?   Begin with a thesis statement.

 

4.  Create a cover page and submit all the above products together in the given order.  We will agree upon a target period as the study unfolds.

 

5.  You may work in teams of up to three to create a team product, or you may work alone.

PARTICIPANTS IN THE SPANISH CIVIL WAR:

I.  THE NATIONALISTS (FASCISTS):

The Carlists - The Carlists supported the claim of the descendants of Don Carlos,the uncle of Queen Isabella II to the throne of Spain. They wanted a return to a "traditionalist" ultra-Catholic monarchy. Although they hated the Alfonsine Monarchists, whom they regarded as too "liberal", they loathed the anti-clerical Republicans. The movement's support came from the Carlist Militia, the Carlist Youth Movement and the Carlist Womans' Service, whose recruits were mainly drawn from the families of Navarrese smallholders.

The Catholic Church -The Confederacion Espanola de Derechas Autonomas was a composite right-wing Catholic party founded in 1933 by Gil Robles. It was formed from the Accion Popular and Partido Agrario, and had a youth movement known as the Juventudes de Accion Popular. Although successful in the 1933 elections, the Party virtually collapsed after the Popular Front victory in 1936. The membership of JAP then switched en masse to the Falange.

The Falange -The Falange was a small fascist party that was founded in 1933 by Jose Antonio Primo de Rivera. It gained a degree of popular support when it merged with the Juntas de Ofensiva Nacional-Sindicalista, in 1934, to form the Falange Espanola de las Jons.

The Monarchists -The Monarchist groups, which included Accion Espanola and Renovacion Espanola, supported the claim of the descendants of Queen Isabella II to the throne of Spain. The Monarchist movement, which had the support of conservative army officers, became the focus of opposition to the Republic after the abdication of King Alfonso XIII.

The Spanish Army – Led by eventual dictator Franco and supported by the coalitions of nationalists described above, the vast majority of all Spanish military units and soldiers fought for the nationalist cause.  Of 19,000 men under arms at the outset of the civil war, 17,000 remained loyal to Franco. The Civil Guard, an elite paramilitary police force, had 69,000 men and officers. It is estimated that 42,000 joined the Nationalists and 27,000 remained with the republican cause. The Assault Guard had around 30,000 men. Of these, only 3,500 refused to join the Nationalist uprising.

Germany - In September 1936, Lieutenant Colonel Walther Warlimont of the German General Staff arrived as the German commander and military adviser to General Francisco Franco. The following month Warlimont suggested that a German Condor Legion should be formed to fight in the War. The Condor Legion was initially equipped with around 100 aircraft and 5,136 men but by the end of the war over 19,000 Germans had fought alongside the Nationalist Army.  Germany also provided battle ships as well as material support.

Italy –Buoyed by victory in Ethiopia, Mussolini sent large numbers of troops, probably about 70,000 by the end of the war, to fight alongside nationalist and German units.  Italy also supplied warplanes, ships, and material support.

 II. THE REPUBLICANS:

The Anarcho-Syndicalists - The Anarchist movement in Spain was the strongest in Europe. Its main support came from the industrial workers of Barcelona, who formed the anarcho-syndicalist trades union, the Confederacion Nacional de Trabajo, in 1911. The Anarchists also founded a youth movement, the Federacion Iberica Juventudes Libertarias, to promote anarcho-syndicalist beliefs amongst the young. The most influential organization within the Anarchist movement was the Federacion Anarquista Iberica; this was a federation of militant anarchist groups founded in 1927. It worked in secret, and formed the backbone of the Anarchist Militias at the outbreak of the Civil War.

The Basques - The Basques had always considered themselves to be a separate nation. The region had its own language, culture, traditional laws and style of government, and its people looked to the Republic to reintroduce the autonomy that had previously existed. The Partido Nacionalista Vasco, the main Basque Nationalist Party, was founded in 1895 and enjoyed popular support in the Basque region.

The Catalans - Like the Basques the Catalans thought of themselves as separate from Spain. They too had a language and culture of their own, and expected to gain autonomy when the Republic was founded. The main Catalan political parties were the Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya, which was a Left Republican nationalist party founded in 1931, and the Partido Socialista Unificado de Cataluna, the United Catalan Socialist Party, which was formed in 1936 from several Socialist and Communist groups. The latter was affiliated to the COMINTERN and was the Communist Party in Catalonia.

The Communists - The Partido Comunista de Espana was founded in 1921. Due to the strength of the Socialist, Anarcho-Syndicalist and Marxist movements in Spain, the Spanish Communist Party was small; it was also highly efficient and enjoyed the support of Stalinist Russia. This was to prove highly significant as the Civil War progressed; as the other political parties declined in power the Communists were to exert more and more influence, especially in the Armed Forces.

The Marxists - The revolutionary anti-Stalinist Marxist Party, the Partido Obrero de Unificacion Marxista, was formed in 1935 as the result of the merger of the Workers and Peasants Bloc, led by Joaquin Maurin, and the Left Communist Party, led by Andres Nin.

The Republicans - The two main republican parties were founded in 1934. They were the Izquierda Republicana (Left Republican Party), which was formed from four smaller left-wing social-democratic groups, and the Union Republicana (Republican Union Party), which had broken away from the Partido Republicano Radical (Radical Party).

The Socialists - The Socialists were the most powerful left-wing political force in Spain before the Civil War. The Spanish Socialist Workers Party, the Partido Socialista Obrero Espanol, was founded in 1879; it was supported by the Socialist Trades Union, the Union General de Trabajadores, and the Socialist Youth Movement, the Federacion de Juventudes Socialistas. The latter amalgamated, in 1936, with the Communist Youth Movement to form the Unified Socialist Youth or Juventudes Socialistas Unificadas; this was soon dominated by the Communists.

The COMINTERN - The Soviets also directed the complete involvement of the COMINTERN (communist International) on the side of the Republicans, including the recruitment of the International Brigades.  Created by Stalin’s Soviet Union, this organization’s mission was to foster and stimulate communist expansion and revolution throughout the world.

The International Brigades - The idea of an international force of volunteers to fight for the Republic was initiated by Maurice Thorez, the French Communist Party leader. Joseph Stalin agreed and in September 1936 the COMINTERN began organizing the formation of International Brigades. This force would ultimately include the following numbers of volunteers: French (10,000), German (5,000), Polish (5,000), Italian (3,350), American (2,800), British (2,000), Canadian (1,000), Yugoslavian (1,500), Czech (1,500), Canadian (1,000), Hungarian (1,000) and Scandinavian (1,000). These men were organized into the 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th and 15th of the Mixed Brigades.  Most of the volunteers were communists or communist sympathizers, but many were simply anti-Fascist. Notable American volunteers included Ernest Hemingway and Langston Hughes.

The Soviet Union – Directed by Joseph Stalin, the Soviet Union supplied huge amounts of military equipment and humanitarian relief to the Republican cause.  500 Soviet troops also participated as “advisors.” Many of these men became the actual commanders of the combined Republican military forces.