Spanish Civil War
description
Transcript of Spanish Civil War
Spanish Civil War
1936-1939
A Spanish republic was established in 1931 made up of
democrats and reformist socialists
The Popular Front (antifascist) gained control of the government in 1936
Many army officers such as General Francisco
Franco found the left wing coalition unacceptable
Francisco Franco with Mussolini. Italy supplied troops and equipment to support the Fascist cause in Spain
The Spanish Civil War is often referred to as a “dress rehearsal” for World War II
German-supplied Junkers Ju-52 during the Spanish Civil War
The town of Guernica was used as target practice for Luftwaffe pilots
Guernica today
Guernica by Pablo Picasso
Innocent civilians were strafed with machine gun fire and bombs were
dropped on homes and public buildings
The republican government called on western nations to help them in their struggle against the rebel nationalist armies. France, Britain
and the US stayed neutral
Weapons the nationalists used
in the civil war
The Soviet Union provided some aid in the form of war materials and equipment
for the republican government
Spanish women also served as defenders of the republican government
International Brigade volunteer from
Liverpool, England
Private citizens from around the world joined the fight against fascism
US volunteers formed the Abraham Lincoln Brigade
George Orwell volunteered and
fought on the side of the P.O.U.M.
(Party of Marxist Unity) during the
Spanish Civil War
Orwell was seriously wounded by a shrapnel wound to the neck
On the Aragon front: Orwell is the tall figure
standing in the center, Eileen Blair (wife) is crouching in front of him
Orwell wrote Homage to Catalonia about his experiences during the civil war
“Smash Fascism”
The following images are loyalist posters urging people to fight for the government…
“Anti-Fascists! Think of those who are fighting!"
"Workers! Peasants! Unite for Victory!"
"Peasants, the land is yours"
Iron Column Fighting Brigade: "For a free humanity! For anarchy!"
Anti-Illiteracy: "Illiteracy blinds the spirit. Study, soldier"
Capra’s famous photo of a loyalist soldier at the moment of death…
Government troops (loyalists) in snow sprinkled trenches firing
on the outskirts of Madrid
A republican (loyalist) soldier takes cover in east Madrid
The war ended with the fall of Madrid in March 1939
400,000 people died in the war and Fascism prevailed in Spain
200,000 people were
executed under the
Franco regime in the
following years…
"They wrote in the old days that it is sweet and fitting to die for one's country. But in modern war there is nothing sweet or fitting in your dying. You will die like a
dog for no good reason."
--Ernest Hemingway after witnessing the brutality of the Spanish Civil War
The Franco dictatorship lasted until 1975