Americans went to fight for Spain along with 40,000 men and women from around the world. These international brigades were organised primarily by the communist movement in an attempt to counter Franco’s military superiority. Seeing Red: Stories of American Communists, 1983
For a few brief months in Catalonia 1936 history’s only anarchist experiment flourished. And it was a women from the far side of Europe who reported its rise and its final defeat to the world. An Anarchist’s Story: Ethel McDonald, 2006
‘Spain is the place where the future of the world is being determined. It’s not just another local difficulty.’ ibid. Professor Mike Gonzalez
Radical thinkers like Ethel McDonald, now 27 years old and with 8 year’ anarchist activism behind her, quickly picked up on the importance of what was happening in Spain. ibid.
Spain was the arena for a showdown between Left and Right. ibid.
‘We supported the concept of loyalty, honesty: those are the basic values of anarchy.’ ibid. witness
For ten extraordinary months in ’36 and ’37 the region of Catalonia became the centre of one of the most radical revolutions in world history. ibid.
‘This is the kind of international that will united the human race.’ ibid. Ethel
While Ethel hid out in Catalonia trying to find a way home she was becoming famous in her native land. ibid.
The fate of volunteers trapped in Spain attracted international criticism. ibid.
‘I helped anarchist comrades in and out of prison.’ ibid. Ethel
All Into Action Now: Defend Spanish Republic! Land and Freedom 1995 starring Ian Hart & Rosana Pastor & Frederic Pierrot & Tom Gilroy & Iciar Bollain & Marc Martinez & Andres Aladren & Sergi Callega & Paul Laverty et al, director Ken Loach, newspaper headline
Spain 1936: In February a coalition of socialist, republican and other left wing parties were victorious in the general election. They proposed a series of democratic reforms. The big landowners, industrialists, churchmen and army officers feared the growing power of the working class. ibid. captions
July 18th: There was a military uprising led by the Fascist General Franco against the democratically elected government. Government supporters formed militias to defend themselves. Organised by trades unions and political parties, they went to fight for their democratic rights against the Fascists. ibid.
If Franco wins the war, it will be a major boost for fascism everywhere … We are one class of people. ibid. lecturer
A people’s army … There’s no saluting, we elect the officers and everything is discussed and voted on. ibid. Carr
2017: A mass grave is revealed; it is but one of two thousand mass burial sites across the nation. This is the legacy of General Francisco Franco, victor of the Spanish Civil War. After taking control of the country in 1939 he consolidates his hold on the nation. Dictators’ Rulebook s1e4: Francisco Franco, National Geographic 2018
The Spanish people move to establish a republic. And weeks later a general election is held: the majority of seats are won by left-leaning parties. ibid.
November 1933: Spain swings to the right as a coalition of conservative parties wins the next election … The right-wing government turns to Franco who welcomes the chance to restore order. ibid.
The pendulum swings and the right-wing government is ejected … A military coup is the ultimate gamble. ibid.
Franco intensifies his attack on civilians. ibid.
There’s a buried history that haunts the nation, a conflict that tore apart my family and countless others … For three years between 1936 and 1939 men, women and children were slaughtered in a savage civil war. Spanish Civil War with Michael Portillo s1e1, Discovery 2018
Separate anarchist movements preached a radical brand of independence: no God, no state, no master. ibid.
1936: The last free election in Spain for 40 years … The leftist popular front won. ibid.
Republican planes looked obsolete. ibid.
The rebels had superior troops … The rebel generals had powerful backers: Hitler and Mussolini. ibid.
Around 80% of British volunteers were manual workers. ibid.
Franco could not concentrate on sacking Madrid. ibid.
The rebels were united under General Franco and had Hitler and Mussolini on their side, and the Catholic Church blessed their crusade against a regime that they described as dangerous, degenerate and Stalinist. Spanish Civil War with Michael Portillo s1e2: War Without Mercy
His [Franco’s] conquest of the Basque country was achieved by overwhelming airpower of Hitler’s Condor legion. ibid.
Once again the Republic was turning on itself. ibid.
Franco’s armies marched into the Republican heartland of neighbouring Catalonia. ibid.
Their defeated opponents were put to death. ibid.
Franco’s forces finally entered Madrid on 28th March 1939. ibid.
One of the most savage civil conflicts Europe has ever seen. The civil war lasted from 1936 to 1939. It cost perhaps half a million lives. It ruined cities, towns and villages. For some – the victors – it was a crusade against godless revolution; for others – the defeated – it was a struggle against the forces of reaction that had oppressed Spain for generations. The Spanish Civil War still haunts the world’s imagination. The Spanish Civil War I: Prelude to Tragedy, Granada TV 1983
On July 13th 1936 a group of army officers rebelled against the government of the Spanish Republic. Workers took up arms to fight the rising. And what began as a military coup led to almost three years of civil war. For both sides, political opponents became enemies to be hunted down and killed. ibid.
The monarchy had fallen without violence … He went unresisting into exile. ibid.
A powerful and deeply conservative church hostile to change; an army accustomed to having the last word in politics; a possessing class determined to defend its privileges. ibid.
One source of this left-wing opposition was anarchism, gathered round its trade union CNT, born during the bloody social conflicts of Barcelona in the early years of the century. The CNT’s creed was anarcho-syndicalism, the belief that revolution would lead to total workers’ management. ibid.
They rejected all governments, monarchies or republics. They fought for a society of equal cooperating human beings freed from the curse of private property, god and bosses. ibid.
In 1936 with elections approaching once more, most of the left united in a popular front; the anarchists did not join but supported the popular front in order to rescue their own imprisoned supporters. ibid.
A climate of violence allowed the Falange to flourish. ibid.
The civil war became the battlefield for international ideologies. Before then it was Spain’s own revolution and counter-revolution. Justice was swept away by random brutality. The Spanish Civil War II: Revolution, Counter-Revolution and Terror
Around the country some sections of the army stayed loyal to the Republic. So did half the Spanish people. A pattern for the division of Spain was set. ibid.
The coup became a civil war, and the resistance became a revolution. ibid.
‘A lot of hatred had been accumulated.’ ibid. Peasant
The anarchists had more than half a million supporters all over the country. ibid.
The War provided the opportunity to achieve a freedom and justice that they argued was impossible under bourgeois democracy. They claimed that war and revolution were inseparable. ibid.
Industry was collectivised, women were liberated, abortion was legalised. Barcelona celebrated its freedom. This was a revolution. ibid.
At the front the Republican militias were getting beaten. ibid.
Picasso’s painting Guernica … For nearly fifty years it has echoed in the conscience of the world. Spain in the 1930s was in many ways still struggling out of the nineteenth century, but it found itself the arena and battlefield of ideologies of the twentieth. The Spanish Civil War III: Battleground for Idealists
Franco had appealed to the Fuhrer for help. ibid.
As France closed its borders, the Spanish republic felt let down. ibid.
For two generations the Spanish Civil War has been remembered for the international brigades. ibid.
In Catalonia some anarchists feared their revolution was being taken over by communists. ibid.