The Spanish Civil War I. The Antecedents: 1898-1931 (Ellwood 5-12) A. Conservative ideology in Spain, which is well established by 1700, is based upon 1. Spanish imperial greatness 2. National identity 3. Catholicism 4. National unity B. Conservatives equated these qualities with Spain itself, and regarded any questioning or disagreement with those values as un-spanish, foreign and subversive. C. The crisis of the Conservatives 1. The French Revolution a. Liberalism ("Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité") b. Loss of empire 2. "Expressed very simply, the partisans of absolutism, empire, inherited wealth and social inequality gave their support to authoritarian, conservative political groupings, while those who favored parliamentary rule based on universal suffrage, democratic freedoms and measures to reduce social and economic inequality backed liberal and, from the latter part of the century onwards, socialist formations" (Ellwood 7) a. Socialism as an outgrowth of Enlightenment and Liberalism D. Government in Spain in 19th century characterized by frequent coups or pronunciamentos led by the military on behalf of civilian forces too weak or fragmented to effect change. The military was not necessarily acting to preserve status quo automatically, but as caretakers for the nation as a whole, at least as the generals understood the nation. (Ellwood 8) 1. This establishes a tradition by which direct military action substitutes for parliamentary or democratic methods in order to achieve change. E. The Spanish-American War and the loss of the Philippines and Cuba were particularly heavy blows for the Conservatives, who begin to yearn for a national reawakening. F. The Algeciras Conference in 1906 provides Spain with an opportunity to regenerate the nation by the conquest and pacification of Spanish Morocco (sort of El Cid's revenge, I suppose). G. War in Africa 1. The Army of Africa provides a forum for professional soldiers to earn honors and promotions. It develops a fierce sense of identity among the officers, but is physically and spiritually separated from the bulk of the nation; yet the Army of Africa tended to see itself as the embodiment of the nation and the hope of the future. They tend to blame Spain's loss of greatness on the cowardice and ineptitude of the civilians. In other words, they represent a coup waiting to occur.
The Spanish Civil War Page 2 2. The cost of war weighs heavily upon a nation that is not wealthy. a. A saying from the American Civil War, "It's a rich man's war but a poor man's fight," sums up the problem. The costs in casualties and treasure was borne unequally. For peasant and working class families, whose sons were conscripted to fight, sweat and die, the war became very unpopular. b. A disastrous offensive at Annual in Morocco in 1921 led to scandal and investigation. Rumors that the King, Alfonso XIII, had authorized the offensive without the knowledge of his own war minister, generated such unhappiness as to actually threaten the crown itself. 3. General Miguel Primo de Rivera y Orbaneja intervened to protect the crown and established a dictatorship. a. Primo de Rivera ends the war in Morocco in 1925, and thus saves the monarchy, but at the cost of transferring effective government from the king to the military. (1) Dictatorship, however well-intentioned, was not popular with liberals, socialists, and anarchists, and eventually Primo's high handed ways cost him the support of the other generals. (2) In 1930, Primo felt compelled to resign and go into selfimposed exile. He is replaced by two military governments which, however, came under increased pressure to provide a modern democracy. 4. A "Revolutionary Committee" is formed in 1930, including liberals, socialists--the Spanish Socialist Party or Partido Socialista Obrero Español, or PSOE--as well as disaffected conservatives. H. The Second Spanish Republic 1. Elections in April 1931 left the king in command of the rural regions but defeated in the urban and manufacturing centers, from whence economic and political power derived. Alfonso reluctantly left the country to save face 2. The republic is proclaimed on April 14, 1931 3. The Provisional Government was emphatically not Socialist or Communist, although these groups had influence. The government was reformist and dominated by Liberals. a. The first President was Niceto Alcalá-Zamora, an Andalusian landowner. b. Spanish conservatives, and conservatives everywhere in Europe, had a great difficulty in distinguishing the difference between a Liberal, a Socialist, and a Communist. All of them looked like Satan to the Conservatives.
The Spanish Civil War Page 3 II. The Second Republic: 1931-1936 (Ellwood 13-27) A. Conservatives were not reconciled to republican government 1. These people believed that Spain should be governed by a monarch who would rule by divine right and the natural inequality of men. a. Parliamentary government requires accountability of the governors to the governed, which is fundamentally opposed to these conservative values. b. These conservatives came primarily from upper-middle class and aristocratic classes whose wealth originally was based on land ownership. (1) The latifundia were concentrated in the south, west and center: Castile, Andalusia, and Estramadura. 2. Formation of Conservative political groups a. Acción Española (Spanish Action) b. Acción Nacional (National Action) (later Acción Popular) 3. The Republic is severely hampered by this political opposition which is fundamentally hostile to its very existence. They are unable in to achieve needed (and promised) reforms in large part due to this opposition. Furthermore, the Republic's very commitment to democratic freedoms made it impossible to defend itself effectively against those who would destroy it. a. The implication of this ironic situation for all free societies is quite serious. At the very least, democracy cannot survive unless there is a societal consensus that it should survive. The lesson of Spain also suggests that a democratic society under deliberate attack may be in very deep trouble unless it suspends or restricts the very rights and liberties that distinguish a democratic society from authoritarian or totalitarian ones. B. Opposition of the Catholic Church to the Republic 1. It would be difficult to understate the importance of the Church in molding Spanish life. The Church saw the Republic as an atheistic threat. 2. The Church's fears were exaggerated but not imaginary. Republican leaders wished to a. Establish lay schools (control of education has been one of the Catholic Church's most important goals where ever it has been the dominant religion. Throughout the Hispanic world, the struggle over religious or secular education is often the first fault line for a deeply divided society, and often also serves to define Conservatives and Liberals.) b. Allow divorce c. Permit freedom of religion for other Christian denominations 3. For Conservatives, "Catholicism was inseparable from national identity."
The Spanish Civil War Page 4 (Ellwood 15) C. Fear of the Latifundists 1. Land reform was a high priority issue for the Republicans. 2. The latifundia were very inefficient economically, since the owners had little incentive to invest in such innovations as fertilizer or machinery. 3. Latifundia are typically tied into inheritance, political dominance, social class, etc. They act as powerful conservative forces within a society. dividing the population into a very small number of wealthy, patriarchal, semi-feudal landholders and masses of desperately poor, ignorant dependant peasants. a. Problems which we may see in Spain may also be seen throughout Latin America. 4. The most difficult issue was compensation for the landowners for the redistribution of land. 5. A Law of Agrarian Reform was introduced into the Cortes in March 1932 but was blocked by the Conservatives. a. The Republicans did something very nasty in this bill: they established that compensation would be on the basis of the taxable value of the land declared by the latifundists. The latifundists had grossly undervalued their land (to avoid having to pay any taxes) but could hardly admit that they had been defrauding the government all along. D. Opponents from the Left who felt that republican reform was much too limited and hesitant 1. The PSOE (socialists), their trade union (Unión General de Trabajadores, General Workers Union, or UGT) 2. The Partido Communista de España (Communist Party of Spain, or PCE) 3. The Confederación Nacional del Trabajo (National Confederation of Labour, or CNT, an anarcho-syndicalist organization a. Anarchism as an intellectual movement had its roots in Russia, with Mikhail Bukharin as its most famous spokesman. The anarchists viewed all government as evil. They dreamed of a primitive socialism of genuine equality, without having much idea how to achieve that (beyond random violence) or how to maintain it. By definition, anarchists were much better at destroying governments than in creating them. They were enthusiastic and often very destructive revolutionaries, but not successful. The much more disciplined Bolsheviks were vastly more effective. b. Syndicalism has as its chief spokesman the French philosopher Georges Sorel. Georges Sorel (1847-1922) accepted Marx' idea of a class war as well as the idea of violence as an end in itself (a concept that is irrational or even antirational, as opposed to the
The Spanish Civil War Page 5 rationalism of the Enlightenment) from Nietzsche. (Blum 249-50) He urged a campaign of violence on the part of the workers, including sabotage and strikes. The ultimate revolutionary weapon is the general strike. (Bernstein 195) Syndicalism was especially influential in Latin America. c. The elections of November 1933 resulted in right-wing victories. Reasons for this surprising result are (1) The political system favored coalitions. The Right was willing to work together despite differing agendas; the Left was less willing. (2) Universal suffrage permitted women to vote for the first time. They proved to be generally conservative (a pattern true for other societies as well; male conservatives have tended to fear that permitting the vote to women would result in a sharp turn to the left and the end of modern civilization; more often than not, women have voted conservatively; I attribute--without the research to prove it-- that to traditional concerns for children, family, and stability.) E. The Rightist Coalition included 1. Confederación Española de Derechas Autónomas (Spanish Confederation of Autonomous Rightist Parties, or CEDA) led by José María Gil Robles. Robles is a monarchist and a Catholic, and he is reactionary, nor revolutionary. 2. Falange Española de las Juntas de Ofensiva Nacional Sindicalista (Spanish Phalanx and the Committees for National Syndicalist Offensive or Falange Española de las JONS [do you mind if I call them the Falange?} They were led by José Antonio Primo de Rivera, the son of the former dictator. F. The "Black Biennium" (November 1933 to February 1936) 1. Economic conditions were harsh (Spain was not immune to the Great Depression) 2. Rural protest was crushed savagely by the Guardia Civil, who were viewed as the instrument of the landlords and the political caciques) 3. In the Asturian mining districts, the strikers fought back desperately against the police and Guardia Civil. General Francisco Franco was called in to suppress the strikers. 4. Franco deployed Spanish regulars, Spanish Legionnaires, and Moroccan troops (the latter had a well-deserved reputation for ferocity and cruelty; Ellwood notes that Asturias never submitted to Moorish rule and was the springboard for the Reconquest; the use of Moorish troops in Asturias by the devoutly Catholic Franco seems a bit ironic) (19)
The Spanish Civil War Page 6 5. Rightist rule was weakened by financial scandals in 1935 6. The Left began to organize its opposition in November 1935 a. Indalecio Prieto of the PSOE b. Manuel Azaña Díaz of the Republican Left c. UGT, the trade unionists d. PCE, the Stalinist Communists e. Juventudas Socialistas (Socialist Youth or JS) f. Partido Obrero de Unificación Marxista (Workers' Party of Marxist Unification, or POUM, which was anti-stalinist) 7. The Seventh Congress of the Comintern (Communist International) in 1935, an organization thoroughly controlled by Stalin, gave orders for all Communist Parties to cooperate with other Socialist organizations to oppose fascism. From this came the term "Popular Front," which is applied to the Republicans in Spain and to the Socialist government in France. a. Stalin was trying to be very clever here. He hoped to assist Germany (indirectly) to rearm. Then he hoped for Germany to wage war against Great Britain and France, fellow capitalists; the result would be the exhaustion and collapse of all three. Then, Stalin reasoned, he could move into the power vacuum and pick up the pieces. He did not, however, want Germany to become too strong nor France too weak. Hence, the Popular Fronts, which would act as a counter-weight to growing German strength. Since Stalin was unable to distinguish the difference between the Conservative Neville Chamberlain or Edouard Daladier and the Nazi Adolf Hitler, this complex and risky policy turns out to be one of the worst foreign policy disasters in history. One would think that someone as pathologically paranoid as Stalin, not to mention ruthless, amoral, cruel, cynical, and evil, would recognize a kindred spirit. Actually, he did. He just didn't expect Hitler to attack him. b. Stalin's attempts to be clever has a profound effect on the Spanish Civil War. What must be firmly understood about Stalin's policy towards Spain is that ideology (the fostering of the world socialist revolution so beloved by Trotsky and Lenin) had been perverted into "What's good for the Soviet Union is good for world Socialism" or "Socialism in One Country," the official slogan. All Communist Parties were expected to function as extensions of Soviet foreign policy, and the immediate benefit of the Soviet Union (a concept which Stalin tended to treat as if it were the old Imperial Russia, but that is impossible, isn't it, since Stalin was a Communist, and Communists are not imperialists, are they, only us
The Spanish Civil War Page 7 Capitalist-Imperialist running-dog paper tiger pigs.) took absolute precedence over every thing else. Stalin cares nothing for Spain or Spanish Communists (or anyone else for that matter). G. The elections of February 1936 1. The Popular Front won a narrow victory in popular vote which became a much larger victory as a result of proportional representation in the Cortes. 2. Manuel Azaña Díaz became the new Prime Minister. 3. This change of government was interpreted by the Right as tantamount to a Communist takeover (ie the deionization of one's political enemies, which paves the way to killing them ruthlessly). This is nonsense; the Popular Front implies cooperation with the bourgeois parties, not Red October. a. Having lost the election, the Right began to look to other measures. 4. Rightist conspiracies were revealed in February 1936, and Azaña posted the conspirators in the army to distant posts. a. Franco was sent to the Canary Islands. b. Unfortunately, radio and secret codes permitted continued plotting. 5. Tensions within the nation rose as Primo de Rivera was arrested and sent letters from prison urging war, and the PSOE and Falangists battled in the streets. 6. The Republican cause was hurt when José Calvo Sotelo, the leader of the RE, was murdered by government police. This caused fears that the government could not control its own adherents (a not unjustified fear, under the circumstances, one must admit; the Republicans will have an unfortunate tendency to commit real atrocities, which provide a pretext for the Nationalists to commit much larger, thorough, and devastating atrocities. a. Friedrich Engels' analyses of Revolution of 1848 are quite a propos here: (1) Do not start an insurrection unless prepared to face the consequences (2) Once begun, always maintain the offensive and initiative III. The Rising: July 17, 1936-August 1, 1936 (Ellwood 28-41) A. Conspiracy turned into actual rebellion as the result of fears among the rebels at Melilla, along the North African coast about 400 km east of Gibraltar, that the plot would be exposed. B. Precipitate action led to arrests and proclamations in Tetuán and Ceuta. C. Leadership in Morocco was exercised by Lt. Col. Juan Yagüe Blanco, who was known as the "Hyena of Asturias." D. The rebels seize control of North Africa but cannot get to the metropolis, since the navy and air force remain loyal. E. Francisco Franco arrived from the Canaries to take command.
The Spanish Civil War Page 8 1. I was raised to regard Franco as a fascist, just like Hitler and Mussolini. Since I have begun teaching fascism, I realize now that he is really a reactionary. Order, discipline, hierarchy, Catholicism, national unity are all hallmarks of his personality. However odious he was, he still remains within the context of traditional Judaeo-Christian values, which is not true of Lenin, Hitler or other genuinely totalitarian leaders. F. On the mainland, the rising is successful at 1. Pamplona, under the direction of Gen. Emilio Mola Vidal. 2. Castile 3. Provincial capitals such as Burgos, León, Valladolid, Salamanca, Segovia, and Soria. 4. Ellwood finds it significant that savage repression of all perceived dissidents began in Castile immediately, despite the lack of organized opposition or real fighting. (31-2) a. A standard defense used by revolutionaries for the use of terror as an instrument of statecraft is that the threat of reactionary resistance or outside intervention (or both) forced the use of terror to ensure the very survival of the revolution. This is a very plausible defense. b. Close examination of several such events, including the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia, and the Spanish Civil War, lead me to regard such claims with suspicion. In both of the above cases, these claims are a deliberate attempt to disguise the murderous nature of the regime. (1) If you are wondering why I did not include Hitler among those, it is because Hitler never pretended that he was forced to the use of terror. G. The rebels fail in Asturias, Santander, Vizcaya and Guipúzcoa remained under Republican control. 1. These provinces ensure that the rail and maritime links with France and the outside world are secure. 2. Outside support is therefore not precluded. 3. For this reason, the struggle on the northern front is the decisive theater of the war. 4. Republican response was rather slow, since the Liberals were reluctant to arm the workers, which implied a deep, class-driven civil war. Of course, that is what they already had. H. Italian and German Intervention 1. Benito Mussolini provided aircraft to Franco to transfer the battle hardened Army of Africa to Spain. 2. Adolf Hitler chipped in with more transport aircraft. a. Without this assistance, the Nationalists would have failed.
The Spanish Civil War Page 9 I. Catalonia 1. The Catalans had been granted self-government in 1938. 2. The destruction of Catalan and Basque nationalism were very high priorities throughout Franco's life since they posed a fundamental threat to the Conservatives' entire concept of Spanish nationhood. In neither case were the Nationalists successful. 3. Divisions within Republican ranks seriously hurt the government in Catalonia, and this is virtually the story of their defeat in the war. a. The Catalan government was middle-class and generally conservative; in all but Catalan autonomy they were more in sympathy with the Nationalists than with the Republicans. However, nationalism is an enormously powerful force, and so the Catalans remain loyal to the government. b. Barcelona was stronghold for the anarchists. The CNT saw an opportunity enact a thorough anarnicho-communist social and economic revolution. (1) Part of that revolution was persecution of the Church (including desecration of churches, relics, and the graves of nuns.) (2) Such scenes make it hard for the disparate elements in the Republican government to work together smoothly and they also harden the determination of the Nationalists to fight to the bitter end and to give no mercy. (3) Throughout the war, the anarchists tended to place social revolution first and defeating the Nationalists second, while the socialists and communists reversed the order. Their bitter internecine feud is a terrible weakness. We shall see that Franco does not make this mistake. (a) Of course, as an authoritarian reactionary, Franco would not be expected to tolerate internal dissent. And as anarchists, one would expect them to rebel against centralized authority of whatever kind and to refuse to subordinate their particular desires to a common cause. In this respect, the Nationalists hold an inherent advantage. J. Madrid 1. A lack of unified leadership weakened the rebels in Madrid. There, police, leftist paramilitary militias, and citizens besieged the rebels in their own barracks. 2. The defenders of the Montaña Barracks surrendered, but were massacred by the populace. This demonstration that the government lacked effective control of its own forces is not helpful.
The Spanish Civil War Page 10 3. The failure to seize the capital is a major defeat for the Nationalists. 4. With so much of the regular army disloyal, the government now must turn to socialists, paramilitary militias to defend itself 5. Nationalist forces launch a drive on Madrid in the Sierra de Guadarrama. While the Nationalists were successful at driving the Republicans out of the mountains, they stalled before Madrid itself. K. The chance of a relatively swift coup d'etat has been lost. Now Spain is faced with a civil war which will force everyone in the country to choose up sides. IV. A Failed Coup Turns Into War: August 1-October 1, 1936 (Ellwood 42-55) A. The Nationalists quickly established military rule in their zones of control. The Republicans attempted to maintain civilian control in theirs. B. Offensive Against Extramadura 1. A column from Seville, composed of Legionnaires and Moroccans headed towards Extramadura, with the crossroads of Mérida the goal. They hoped to link up with Gen. Mola, who was advancing south from Castile. This would link up Nationalist enclaves that were physically separated. These columns were later joined by one under the command of Juan Yagüe. 2. Badajoz was assaulted on August 13, and taken after hand to hand fighting. An unknown number of Republicans were then massacred; the count is certainly well into hundreds. C. By the end of July, the Nationalists held the agricultural regions of the west, northwest, and south-west, and north-central regions, but the Loyalists held the industrial and manufacturing centers of Madrid, Vizcaya and Catalonia, and the agricultural regions of Andalusia, Murcia, Alicante and Valencia. In particular, the Loyalists still held rail links through the Pyrenees. D. French policy 1. France had just established a Popular Front government with Leon Blum, a Socialist, as Premier. 2. Blum's instinct was to defend the French Popular Front by defending the Spanish Popular Front. Since the Popular Front had been formed to provide unity against the Nazi resurgence, this made sense. 3. France is a deeply divided society. Blum's attempts at support raised a maelstrom of opposition domestically. 4. The British then waded in and warned the French against any meaningful support of the Republicans. If French assistance led to war with Nazi Germany, the British told the French they would be on their own. This left Blum with little choice. 5. Under British pressure, Blum closed the Spanish border, which is not a neutral act--it is hostile to the Republicans. Neutrality would have allowed the purchase of equipment and munitions and the movement of food, volunteers and medicines into the country. 6. Also under British pressure, Blum supports a non-intervention agreement,
The Spanish Civil War Page 11 which is signed by Britain, France, Germany, and Italy a. The fascists begin breaking the agreement almost immediately. (Sontag 304-5) 7. The failure of the Popular Front to take a firm stand really destroys it. Blum resigned in June 1937. Afterwards, the French government was incapable of effective action. 8. French conservatives preferred the order and discipline which Hitler was imposing on Germany to the "godless" socialists. "Better Hitler than Blum!" All too soon, Hitler would show them what kind of order and discipline he meant. E. British policy 1. I cannot find much good to say about British policy. Frankly, it makes me ill. 2. The government was really hoping for a stalemate leading to a British negotiated peace settlement with Franco in charge. a. Neville Chamberlain is a Conservative and is quite hostile to any government that includes socialists. 3. British intellectuals, like George Orwell, Aldous Huxley, and Bertrand Russell, were all pro-red. Unfortunately, they were also pacifists. 4. Pacifism remained very strong in Britain among all segments of society. It was especially strong among intellectuals. Cambridge students voted a resolution that they would never fight for king and country, for instance. Russell is on record with some fatuous comments about greeting German invaders with open arms. (Sontag 309-10) 5. British policy is quite hostile to the Republic in practice (British merchant vessels were barred from bringing food and medicine into Barcelona, for example.) 6. Such short sighted policies are difficult to stomach. Neville Chamberlain will live to see German bombers over London and the city in flames. Somehow it seems not to have occurred to him until far too late that the defense of the home islands required the defence of France. 7. British intellectual pacifists failed to grasp the idea that letting an aggressor have his way with you does not discourage the aggressor. If someone is punching you in the face, it is rather too much to expect that he will quit because your face is hurting his fist. F. Stalin's policy 1. Stalin was primarily interested at this time in the first great show trials in his Great Purge. 2. The Spanish Civil War put Stalin in an embarrassing situation. The Purge required him to follow a cautious policy, since the Soviet Union was very vulnerable. A Socialist or Communist victory would have benefits for him so far as a world wide revolution were concerned, but Adam Ulam points
The Spanish Civil War Page 12 out that Spanish history gave Stalin little expectation that the Spanish would become tools of any foreigner. Furthermore, such a victory would be purchased at the hostility of France and Britain, and Stalin was beginning to test the waters for cooperation against Hitler. On the other hand, a Franco victory could not have been desired in Moscow. As the self-proclaimed leader of international socialism, Stalin could not sit idly by in a war which pitted the left against the right, especially when Trotskyite Communists were accusing Stalin of betraying the revolution. Stalin's hatred and fear of Trotskyites was real, hence his concern to crush POUM and the NKVD assassinations. (244-6) 3. Stalin had the PCE under strict discipline, which is a great advantage, and he also controlled the Comintern. 4. The Comintern recruited the famous International Brigades. a. Most, but not all, of the volunteers were Communists. Others were idealists fighting dictatorship. Many equated communism with freedom. b. A total of 25,000-35,000 men served in the Brigades. (Bell 215) c. Brigade commanders were under Stalin's control. d. Stalin organized the financing and equipping of the brigades. e. Unlike either Italy or Germany, Stalin carefully refrained from deploying Soviet troops. 5. Stalin also decided to send substantial aid to the Republicans. (Sontag 302) including 700 tanks and 1,500 aircraft (Messenger 100-101) [P.M.H. Bell has somewhat different figures: 1,000 aircraft and 900 tanks.] (Bell 214) Among the officers were four future marshals, and heroes of World War II 6. Stalin does require the Republicans to turn over Spain's entire gold reserves before delivery. (I thought he was a Communist, not a capitalist?) G. Mussolini's policy 1. Mussolini's contribution to the Nationalist cause was very substantial. 2. He sent an entire corps (about 50,000 men and 700 aircraft, plus very substantial munitions. [Bell offers 73,000 men total, 759 aircraft, 157 tanks, 1,800 guns and 320,000,000 rounds of small arms ammunition] (Bell 213) 3. Mussolini's motives are more obscure. a. He claimed to have wished to avoid a Communist government so close to Italy. This is not worth his effort. b. More likely is Mussolini's wish for glory, to gain victories for Italian arms. Mussolini's rhetoric was filled with images of war and violence; he seems to have felt he had to put his money where his mouth was. (Sontag 301) c. Italy emerged from the war weaker economically and socially
The Spanish Civil War Page 13 4. Whatever his reasons, the decision is disastrous. The Italian economy was in no position to support even so small a war as the Spanish H. Hitler's policy 1. Hitler was never as deeply involved in Spain as Mussolini, contrary to popular belief. 2. German forces never exceeded 10,000 men, of whom 6,000 were the Condor Legion from the Luftwaffe (about 600 aircraft in all according to Bell (214)). a. The Condor Legion included the very best Hitler had, which was very very good indeed. Included were two fighter pilots and combat leaders who became legendary: Werner Mölders and Adolph Galland b. Werner Mölders invented the fighter formation which the US calls the "finger four." It is still the standard fighter formation in use today. c. Galland specialized in close-air to ground support, an essential component of Blitzkrieg war and, certainly, the most notable single characteristic of the method of waging war by the US armed forces. German air support was a basic part of all Nationalist offensives. d. Wolfram von Richthofen was sent over to test out the new Junkers Ju-87 dive bomber. Especially early in World War II, the Ju-87 Stuka is THE airplane associated with Blitzkrieg. (Messenger 100-103) 3. Hitler's motive was mostly to complicate the strategic problems faced by France. (Sontag 321) He is more interested in the fastening an iron grip on his military and on the annexation of Austria, to be followed by the rape of Czechoslovakia. 4. Hitler's observation of the weak-kneed, pusillanimous policies of France and Britain strengthen his opinion that the democracies would never fight. I. The Largo Caballero Government 1. The execution of a number of prisoners held in Madrid, which was in retaliation to the Badajoz massacre, helped discredit the government of José Giral on September 4, 1936. 2. He is replaced by Francisco Largo Caballero, a socialist, and his government reflects the leverage exerted on the Republic by the PCE, operating under Stalin's orders. J. Toledo 1. While the Nationalist drive on Madrid stalled, attention was drawn to the siege of Nationalists in Toledo, which was both the religious center and the location of the officer cadet school. 2. Toledo was not militarily important, but the siege of Nationalists by the Republicans there assumed great emotional significance for the
The Spanish Civil War Page 14 Nationalists. 3. Although suffering terribly from casualties, and lack of food, water and medicine, the Nationalists refused to surrender. 4. Franco showed his political acumen by diverting forces from Madrid to fight their way into Toledo. He could not afford to allow such a symbol to fall, and he also wanted the credit for saving such as symbol--he wanted a triumphal entry, like a modern day El Cid. K. Creation of a Nationalist Government 1. Since the mining and manufacturing districts were in Loyalist hands, the Nationalists would have to obtain weapons and munitions from abroad, which meant Hitler and Mussolini. 2. Neither Hitler nor Mussolini would provide the assistance for free. They would have to be paid for by economic concessions (Hitler drove some very hard bargains) Only a functioning government could make such agreements. 3. The Nationalist Defence Committee began to discuss how to organize itself and who should lead the state. They quickly concluded that the military commander should lead the state, and the only viable choice was Franco. 4. Franco is declared "Head of the Spanish state" on September 30, 1936. V. The Battle for Madrid: October 1936-May 1937 (Ellwood 56-74) A. The Republicans granted the Basques self-government in July, both to ensure their loyalty and to recognize the fact that they were cut off from the rest of the Loyalist territory. B. José Antonio Aguirre became the President of Euzkadi in October. C. The Nationalists fought their way close enough to Madrid on November 13 to begin direct bombardment of the city. D. The Republican President, Manuel Azaña left Madrid for Barcelona. E. Also in November, 4 members of the anarchist CNT join Largo Caballero's cabinet. The cabinet then abandons Madrid for Valencia. F. Despite being abandoned, the madrileños refused to surrender. They organized themselves for stubborn defense, and organized themselves for life under siege and bombardment--a siege that lasted two and a half years. G. By January 16, 1937, stalemate had been reached on the Madrid front. H. In the south, Italian and Moroccan troops captured Málaga on February 8, 1937. German warships bombarded civilians as they fled along coastal roads. Fleeing civilians were also subjected to air attack. Hundreds of prisoners were executed after summary trials. I. The Battle of Jarama Valley 1. The Jarama Valley controlled the Madrid-Valencia road. The Nationalists wanted to sever that. Fighting lasted from January 30 to February 17, cost 16,000 dead, and ended in stalemate.
The Spanish Civil War Page 15 J. The Battle of Guadalajara (March 1937) 1. Spanish and Italian troops attacked east of the capital. 2. The Republicans routed the Italians and drove the Nationalists back. a. It was following this battle that the Russian Gen. Pavlov concluded that tanks were unsuitable for operations independently of infantry, and he recommended that the new Soviet panzer divisions be broken up and the tanks distributed among infantry divisions. b. The German observers drew different conclusions; the attack had been conducted by Italians and therefore any lessons to be drawn were useless. c. Pavlov was rewarded for his insight by being surrounded, routed, and crushed by German panzers in 1941. Stalin decorated him with a nine millimeter bullet worn intercranially (a standard Stalinist decoration for services rendered). As Danton once remarked, "Pour l'encourager les autres!" K. The Fall of Bilbao 1. Gen. Mola began a drive on the port of Bilbao with the purpose of isolating the Republic from maritime resources and from Cantabria 2. The Basque defenders put up much stiffer resistance than expected, and although the Nationalists advanced, it was slow and costly. 3. Guernica a. On April 26, 1937, the German Condor Legion conducted a deliberate terror bombing attack on the town of Guernica, the cradle of Basque nationalism. b. The bombers struck on Sunday, and waited until the market place would be crowded with civilians. The legitimate military targets in Guernica (an arms factory and a bridge) were carefully avoided. The target was the civilian population itself. After bombing (both high explosive and incendiary were used), the Germans came down and strafed the survivors. About 1,500 people were killed. c. The Nationalists have claimed that the Germans acted without their knowledge. Ellwood correctly points out that this is tantamount to Franco confessing that foreigners acted with contempt for his sovereignty. (68) The Germans have claimed that the timing and target were accidental. Captured German records prove that that is a lie. d. Ellwood believes that Franco asked for the attack, and I believe the Germans gladly obliged. (1) The Scripture says that he who sows the wind shall reap the whirlwind. (2) On July 24, 1943, the British and Americans began Operation Gomorrah against the city of Hamburg,
The Spanish Civil War Page 16 Germany (a) Some 791 bombers from Bomber Command mounted the first attack 2,396 tons are dropped in 2.5 hours. (Caidin 63) Water mains ruptured, in many cases beyond repair. Fires rage uncontrollably, in some areas for weeks. (b) On July 25, 1943 218 B-17s from the USAAF 8th Air Force attack the docks. Damage is very heavy. (c) July 26, 1943 56 B-17s bomb the electrical works, destroying it. (d) July 27, 1943 The Firestorm i) 739 bombers from Bomber Command drop 2,417 tons of high explosive and incendiaries between 23:40 and 23:55 hours. ii) All defense systems are overwhelmed and collapse abruptly. iii) The most heavily populated district in Hamburg, with a pre-war population of over 400,000 in 6 square miles is targeted. iv) Thousands of individual fires merged into increasingly larger fires. In the still air, flames shot up buildings like chimneys. A pressure differential built up between the center of the fire and outside. Super heated air rushed upward explosively. Cooler, oxygen laden air rushed in at ground level, stoking the fire hotter, and accelerating the process. v) Temperatures rocketed upward. The larger fires merged into a single inferno beyond imagining. vi) Pressure differential built so sharply that the air flow is visible in smoke flowing horizontally. Flames streaked out down streets. vii) Wind speed in the suburbs reach gale force-- 30-40 mph. Trees are stripped. The sound is like locomotives roaring by. Think of Hurricane Andrew outside your window. viii) Wind speed near the edge of the firestorm reached 150 mph (that is not a typo) (Caidin 91-93)
The Spanish Civil War Page 17 (e) ix) Temperatures reached 1472 F. (that is also not a typo) (Caidin 133) At that temperature, lead melts, wood will spontaneously explode, glass melts, and humans are simply devoured. Doctors conducting autopsies discovered that most the those who died died of cellular disruption. x) Flames roared upwards to altitudes of 15,000 feet. xi) It is a scene from Dante. People threw themselves into canals and lakes, only to die from heat. Parents held children up with heads above water until they died. Hurricane winds drove blasts of this heat reducing humans to cinders without flames. People huddled in courtyards and bomb cellars suffocated as oxygen is sucked out of the air.(caidin 112) In all, 2,630 British bombers dropped 8,261 tons of bombs on Hamburg, of which 4,309 were incendiary. (Caidin 129) i) According to the United States Strategic Bombing Survey, conducted after the war, the firebombing of Hamburg " 'destroyed 55 to 60 percent of the city, did damage in an area of 30 square miles, wiped out 300,000 dwelling units, and made 750,000 people homeless. German estimates range from 60,000 to 100,000 persons killed.' " (Caidin 129) 4. Bilbao fell on June 19, 1937. L. The nature of the Nationalist Government 1. Like the Republicans, the Nationalists represented a coalition. They all agreed that the Republic must go, but they were not all united as to what should replace it. There were Alfonsists, Falangists, Carllists, and CEDA conservatives. 2. Franco pre-empted any attempt to divide his coalition or threaten his postwar power. All party militias were forcibly incorporated into the army forces, and all parties merged into one party. 3. The execution of Primo de Rivera by the Republicans helped in this. Primo feared precisely just such a military led coalition since that meant
The Spanish Civil War Page 18 reaction rather than revolution. Once he is safely dead, he can become a martyr instead of a rival. 4. Franco's brother in law, Ramón Serrano Suñer provided the intellectual underpinning for the new regime. 5. On October 19, 1937, Franco issued the Decree of Unification, which combined the Falange with the Carlists (the CT) into a new, wholly subservient organization called FET y de las JONS. All other parties were dissolved, a state of affairs that lasted 40 years. 6. When the Falange successor to Primo, Manuel Hedilla, he was arrested, saved from execution only by the direct intervention of the German ambassador, and sentenced to a harsh prison term. (Ellwood 74) 7. Franco is authoritarian and he will brook no opposition. VI. The Republic's Desperate Struggle: May 1937-April 1938 (Ellwood 75-88) A. The Failure of the Republic to Unify Its Effort 1. The Republican's failure is in sharp contrast with Franco's success 2. A very important factor is the leverage with the PCE wielded. They were not large, and did not represent the bulk of the Spanish people or even the bulk of the leftists. However, since the Republic could not survive without Soviet aid, and since the PCE and Stalin played hard ball with the Republic, it is difficult for the Republican leaders to maneuver. 3. Very serious conflict developed in Barcelona, which was a stronghold of POUM and CNT (the anti-stalinist [or Trotsky] Marxists and the anarchists. a. President Lluis Companys formed a government which included the Catalan Communists, the Partit Socialist Unificat de Catalunya or PSUC), POUM, and CNT. b. The PCE attacked the inclusion of POUM and the anarchists resigned rather than disarm the civilians. c. CNT and POUM ended up fighting in the streets against PSUC, PSOE and left Republicans 4. Largo Caballero would have liked to have attempted to restore unity by forming a new cabinet that omitted the PCE, but could not or risk losing the war. a. In the meantime, Stalin had boosted the NKVD representation in the Soviet embassy. These agents and PCE began a systematic persecution of POUM. b. One of POUM's most important figures, Andreu Nín, was imprisoned, and died of torture by Stalinists in June 1937. B. The Battle of Brunete July 5, 1937 1. The defenders of Madrid attempted to break the siege with a surprise attack at Brunete. 2. The Republicans gained surprise and initially gained ground, but ran out of
The Spanish Civil War Page 19 momentum 3. Moroccan troops counterattacked and finally drove the Republicans out of the ruins of Brunete after bitter fighting. 4. The Republicans ended the battle demoralized. "To a large extent, this battle was a watershed for the Republic. From that point onwards, the Popular Army was no longer thought of as the instrument for winning the war, but simply as the means to hold out as long as possible. That the war lasted another two years was as much due to the grim tenacity of the Spanish people as to the quality of the Popular Army." (Ellwood 79) C. The Fall of Santander August 27, 1937 1. Basque resistance ended with the destruction of the Santander pocket. 2. The Basques surrendered to troops from Navarre and Italian "Black Arrows." They hoped by surrender to mitigate reprisals, which they expected would be especially severe. a. Like the Catalans, the Basque National Party was very Catholic and inherently very conservative, except for the issue of Basque autonomy, which was an issue Franco could not abide. Franco had expressed his displeasure by shooting a group of Basque priests and, of course, Guernica as a Basque center was not bombed by accident. b. Their surrender did not mitigate the reprisals. The Italians turned the prisoners over to the Spanish. D. The Fall of Gijón and Oviedo 1. The Asturian militias continued to resist fiercely but were completely outgunned by this point. 2. The last pockets were eliminated by October 21, 1937. 3. The campaign in the north was over. All that remained were the arrests, reprisals, and executions. 4. The Nationalists now can concentrate on Madrid and Aragón/Catalonia. E. The Battle of Teruel December 15, 1937 1. The Republicans attempted to ease pressure against Madrid by an attack on Teruel, which is in the mountains. a. This is a frequent strategy for the Republicans, but their geographical division, lack of coordination and lack of speed, leadership and resources lead to consistent bloody defeat. Initial gains were always wiped out after bloody fighting that left the Republicans relatively weaker than before. 2. The winter was the most severe in many years, and conditions in the mountains appalling. 3. The Republicans entered the outskirts of Teruel on December 21 4. Franco counterattacked on Christmas Day 5. After 6 weeks of bitter house to house fighting, the Republicans withdraw,
The Spanish Civil War Page 20 having lost 60,000 dead. F. Franco promulgates a Labour Charter, which adopts corporatist ideas from the Italian fascists. 1. Philippe Schmitter writes, "Corporatism can be defined as a system of interest representation in which the constituent units [ie, social and economic sectors] are organized into a limited number of singular, compulsory, noncompetitive, hierarchically ordered and functionally differentiated categories, recognized or licensed (if not created) by the state and granted a deliberate representational monopoly within their respective categories in exchange for observing certain controls...." (qtd in Payne 24-25) 2. It should be noted that Corporatism tends to sound quite nice in theory, but in practice transforms labor unions into a charade. G. On April 15, 1938, the Nationalists captured Vinaroz, cutting the road between Barcelona and Madrid. 1. It is now clear that the Republicans cannot win. VII. The Third and Final Year: April 1938 - March 1939 (Ellwood 89-105) A. Some elements within the Republican government, seeing that victory was impossible, were prepared to negotiate for the best peace they could obtain. Franco refused to negotiate at all. B. The Nationalist Prime Minister, Juan Negrín López, held out in hopes of intervention by the Western democracies. C. The Battle of the Ebro July 1938 1. As so often previously, the Nationalists hoped to ease pressure by an offensive, this time across the Ebro River. As before, their offensive stalled, and an attritional slugging match ensued, which the Nationalists could not win. 2. The battle ended in November 1938, with about 40,000 lost on each side. (Ellwood 92) D. The Munich Agreement (September 29, 1938) led Stalin to shift attention to the growing threat from Germany and to cut back on assistance to the Republicans. At the same time, German aid flowed unabated to Franco, in exchange for important economic concessions. E. The Fall of Catalonia 1. Franco launches his offensive on December 23, 1938 a. It quickly became clear that the Republicans could not stop the assault. 2. The Battle of Córdoba January 9, 1939 a. Once again, the Republicans attempt a spoiling offensive. This time,, it is stopped dead in its tracks. 3. Tarragona fell on January 15, 1939. 4. The Republican government, accompanied by Presidents José Antonio
The Spanish Civil War Page 21 Aguirre of Euzkadi and Lluis Companys of Catalonia fled Barcelona. The President, Manuel Azaña accompanied the other two presidents into France on February 5. The Republican government followed on February 7. F. Foreign Recognition for Franco 1. Franco signed the Law of Political Responsibilities on February 13, 1939,"Which indicated that there would be no mercy for anyone considered to have held even the most minor political post under the Republic or to have 'obstructed' the Nationalist cause." (Ellwood 100) The law was made retroactive to October 1934. 2. France and Britain recognized the Nationalists as the de jure government on February 27; Azaña resigned. G. The Fall of Madrid 1. In this extremity, it is only a matter of time before Madrid fell. 2. The PCE and PSOE began fighting among themselves. 3. On March 26, Republican resistance collapsed. VIII. Immediate Aftermath (Ellwood 106-115) A. Franco began post-war reprisals immediately. The extent is debated, but Ellwood quotes figures from 10,000 to 28,000 (108) B. The next decade were called the "hungry years" as food shortages were suffered widely. C. Franco effectively destroyed the Republic institutionally. D. Franco did however, avoid allowing Hitler to pull him into World War II. He is the only man I know of off-hand who met Hitler face to face and came out a winner. E. After the Second World War, Franco was anathema to the Western democracies, who regarded him as little better than Hitler. Spain is diplomatically and economically isolated until the Cold War heated up. 1. Franco's bitter anti-communism helped to rehabilitate him, at least in US eyes. I.
The Spanish Civil War Page 22 Works Cited Bell, P.M.H. The Origins of the Second World War in Europe. New York: Longman, 1986 Bernstein, Paul and Green, Robert W. History of Civilization. Vol II. Totowa, NJ: Littlefield, Adams and Co. 1971. Blum, Jerome, Cameron, Rondo, and Barnes, Thomas G. The European World Since 1815: Triumph and Transition. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1966. Caidin, Martin. The Night Hamburg Died. New York: Ballantine, 1960. Carsten, F.L. The Rise of Fascism. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1969. Ellwood, Sheelagh M. The Spanish Civil War. Cambridge, MA: Basil Blackwell, Ltd. 1991 Messenger, Charles. The Art of Blitzkrieg. London: Ian Allan Ltd., 1991. Neumann Sigmund and von Hagen, Mark, "Engels and Marx on Revolution, War, and the Army in Society." Makers of Modern Strategy. Paret, Peter, ed. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1986. Payne, Stanley G. Fascism: Comparison and Definition. Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin Press, 1980. Sontag, Raymond J. A Broken World: 1919-1939. New York: Harper and Row, 1972. Ulam, Adam. Expansion and Coexistence: The History of Soviet Foreign Policy 1917-67. New York: Frederick Praeger, 1968.