Spanish Civil War

Spain is seen as the first victim of the aggressive German Italian alliance. The Spanish civil war though essentially a conflict between the left oriented (The Republicans) and right oriented forces (The Nationalists) within the country has been termed as The Dress Rehearsal for World War- II.

Course of the Civil War

In 1931, Spanish King Alfonso XIII authorized elections to decide the government of Spain after the end of General Miguel's dictatorship, and voters overwhelmingly chose to abolish the monarchy in favor of a liberal republic. Alfonso went into exile, and the Second Republic, initially dominated by middle-class liberals and moderate socialists, was proclaimed. During the first two years of the Republic, organized labor and leftist radicals forced widespread liberal reforms, and the independence-minded region of Catalonia and the Basque provinces achieved virtual autonomy.

The landed aristocracy, the church, and a large military clique opposed the Republic, and in November 1933 conservative forces regained control of the government in elections. In response, socialists launched a revolution in the mining districts of Asturias, and Catalan nationalists rebelled in Barcelona. General Franco crushed the so-called October Revolution on behalf of the conservative government, and in 1935 he was appointed army chief of staff. In February 1936, new elections brought the Popular Front, a leftist coalition, to power, and Franco, a strict monarchist, was sent to an obscure command in the Canary Islands off Africa.

Fearing that the liberal government would give way to Marxist revolution, army officers conspired to seize power. After a period of hesitation, Franco agreed to join the military conspiracy. During 1937, Franco unified the Nationalist forces under the command of the Falange, Spain’s fascist party, while the Republicans fell under the sway of the communists.

Germany and Italy aided Franco with an abundance of planes, tanks, and arms, while the Soviet Union aided the Republican side. In addition, thousands of communists and other radicals from France, the USSR, America, and elsewhere formed the International Brigades to aid the Republican cause. The most significant contribution of these foreign units was the successful defense of Madrid until the end of the war. These brigades comprised even of anti fascist forces from Italy and Germany. Even Jawaharlal Nehru went to Spain to express solidarity of Indian freedom movement with the Republicans.

Aided by German Air force Luftwaffe and a band of 50000 fascist soldiers from Italy and lots of other support, the republicans crushed the Nationalist forces and General Franco established his dictatorship which lasted till 1975.

Why Dress Rehearsal?

The Spanish civil war was not viewed as merely a Spanish affair but as an event that impacted the whole world. It was a test of newly formed alliance (Rome- Berlin Axis) between the aggressive fascist forces and a test for their new weapons and military capabilities.
The Spanish civil war was the first theatre where the western powers displayed their so called Appeasement Policy towards fascist aggression for the first time. After this, they continued to use this policy of Appeasement well into the second world war.
All in all the Spanish civil war was the fight between fascist and anti-fascist forces much like that in the upcoming second world war.