Spanish Civil War

1. Spanish Civil War • Background • Lost Empire 19th Century • 1898 lose Puerto Rico, Guam, Philippines, Cuba • Alfonso XIII (1902) • Autocrat • No reforms • Moroccan War lost 1921

2. Military Coup 1923 • Miguel Rivera • Suspends constitution • Martial law • Censorship • Anti-corruption • 90 Day term • Refuses to leave • Public works; tax the rich fails • Uses loans and inflation follows

3. Rivera Resigns 1930 • Alfonso exiled after free elections choose a republic • Provisional Government calls a general election • Socialists PSOE and left win big victory

4. Republican Government • N. Zamora is PM (Moderate republican) • Radicals: • Azana, Caballero, Prieto • End Catholic Education • Women vote, Divorce legal • Azana (War Minister) massive Army cutbacks

5. Azana Takes Over (Oct. 1931) • Zamora elected president • Azana hates the Church • Religious buildings burned May 1931 • “burn all convents” • Failed Coup by General Sanjurjo • Sympathy vote leads to passage of Catalan statute and land reform • Fails due to incompetence

6. 1933 CEDA(Cath. Party) Formed • Gil-Robles • Allies CEDA with Radicals (centrist party) and Radical leader Lerroux becomes PM • Dismantle Azana reforms • General strike by leftists Oct. 1934 • CNT/FAI (Anarchist Union) center of strike • Revolt in Asturias • Crushed by Franco, Azana arrested, but acquitted • Catalonian revolt crushed • Scandals force out Lerroux

7. 1935 Left Revitalized • POUM (Marxist Workers Party) formed by Nin and Maurin (Anti-Stalin) • Prieto takes over the Socialists PSOE

8. Popular Front • Azana forms PF from Catalans, PSOE, PCE (Communists), Esquerra Party and Republican Union • CNT won’t join • Catalan autonomy, amnesty, agrarian reform, no political blacklists, damages to owners in 1934 revolt

9. National Front • CEDA, Carlists (anti: secular, political/econ reform) • Falange/Jose Rivera: oppose socialism, marxism, republic, capitalism (Model is Italy) • Falange is Sympathetic to, but not part of NF

10. Civil War Begins • Feb 1936 Election; PF 34.3%; NF33.2% • PF gets 263 of 473 seats in Cortes • CNT and Basques (strong Catholics) vote for PF • Release political prisoners, agrarian reforms, Generals transferred, Falange outlawed, Catalan autonomy

11. Popular Front Government • Wealthy flee Spain with capital • PSOE won’t join gov’t because Left Wing under Caballero oppses Prieto • Wants all liberals and non-socialists out of the government • Comintern wants a weak Bourgeois gov’t to keep POUM out

12. Azana tries to govern • Gradual reform • Catholic schools closed to prevent arson • Left wing rally suppressed and Prieto wounded • Tenants cant be evicted • CEDA is horrified and gives its campaign money to the army • 330 assassinated, 1500 wounded, 1 million strike and 160 Churches/convents Burned

13. Flashpoint • July 1936 Jose Castillo of Soc. Spec Police assassinated • Conservative leader Jose Sotelo killed in revenge • Sotelo had been threatened by Communist Dolores Ibarruri • NF won’t negotiate; radical Giral made PM and arms leftist militias

14. July 17 Nationalist Revolt • Generals Seize Islands and Franco flown to Morocco by MI6(British intelligence) • Nationalists: Clergy, Practicing Catholics (except Basques), most of Army, landowners, businessmen • Republicans: workers, peasants, intellectual MC

15. Nationalist Organization • Sanjurjo is figurehead • Mola and Franco run revolt although Franco hesitates • Moroccan Army is better so Franco gets overall command • Mola runs Peninsular Army • Civil Guard: 46,000 Join revolt, 26,000 of Assualt Guard

16. Republican Army • Left wing organizations • Some loyal generals and parts of Civil and Assault Guards • Sept. 1936 Caballero becomes PM and reorganizes: Loyal Generals and Political Commissars create order • Soviet Tanks and Planes arrive • 59,000 Int’l Brigade Volunteers(always led by Communists, angers POUM and Anarchists

17. Fascist Aid • Italian and German tanks, troops aircraft, weapons • Italy: Corps of Volunteer Troops: 50,000 • German Condor Legion: 12,000

18. 1936 • 50,000 on wrong side of lines killed • Feuds, dig own graves • July: NF capture Ferrol naval base and fascist states offer aid • Sept NF closes Fr. Border cuts off North • Alcazar palace relieved and PF humiliated • Oct. Int. Bde.’s save Madrid • 2 Years of semi-seige follows • Nov. Ger.& It. Recognize Franco Regime

19. 1937 • It. And Sp. Colonial troops flood in but Madrid holds out • Feb, L of N bans foreign volunteers • Mar. Condor Legion comes anyway • Apr =Guernica • Jul. PF offensive and also attack near Madrid • Franco counters, conquers Basques and North and Vatican recognizes regime

20. 1938 • PF takes Tereul in Jan. loses it in Feb. • Apr. Franco reaches the Sea • PF seeks peace Franco wants unconditional surrender • PF all out effort at Ebro to reconnect territory fails • Catalonia invaded and Munich Agreement demoralizes Republicans

21. The Battle of the Ebro

22. 1939 • Catalonia falls, Barcelona falls and GB and Fr. Recognize Franco in Feb. • Madrid falls with help of Falangists inside the city • War over April 1. (Some pockets of resistance • Reprisals: 30,000 executed (some say 50-200,000, forced labor, flee, internment in Fr.

23. Social Revolution • Anarchists collectivized land, industry and created councils to administer them • Soviets and Social democrats oppose them

24. Stalin’s Role • Comintern forms Int’l Brigades • Orlov of NKVD advises PF and organizes guerilla war • Orlov ousts Caballero and gets Negrin in as PM • NKVD arrests and executes leftist opponents, POUM, CNT • 2/3 of Spanish Gold reserves sent to USSR

25. Atrocities Nationalists • At least “50,000” executed during war • Beevor: 200,000 white terror and 38,000 Red terror • Aerial Bombing • Secular teachers, attackers of the Church, civilians in captured towns and unwanted (unions and PF members)

26. Atrocities Republicans • Nobles, landowners, industrialists, Church • 7000 clerics killed and 283 Nuns • Swallow rosaries, buried alive • NKVD also kills Republicans

27. Review of Causes • Fundamental tensions • Regional Separatism • Terrorism • Secular v. Church • Republicans split, liberals, socialists, communists, anarchists • Incompetent Repub. Leaders • Manipulated by Stalin, PCE, (Gold Reserves)

28. Causes • Long term imperial decline • Landowners v. peasants • Church v. Anti-clericalsim • Conservatives v. Liberal • Urban v. rural • Army’s political interference • Trad. of political violence • Corruption/fraud by landowners and the left • Separatism/anarchism • Failure of reforms, fear of communism, Soleto murder

29. Nature of the War • Brutality • Foreign intervention • Ideological war • Air power • Armored warfare experiments • Propaganda

30. Social Impact • Loss of life • End of democracy • Traditional agriculture remains • Centralized state, corruption • Cultural repression • State is isolated

31. Franco’s Spain • Chief of state • Appoints all ministers • Largely non-ideological • Runs state like the Army • Monarchists, falangists, Conservative Catholics, Army, Business, technocrats civil service support him • Church regains power, subsidized, controls education • Totalitarian? Fascist?

32. Fundamental Laws • Labor Charter • Cortes • Charter of Rights • Referendum • Law of Succession • National Movement • Organic law of the state

33. Historiography • Losers write the history! • Traditional • Idealistic Republican Struggle • Defeat opens path to larger war, larger fascist agression • Innocent democratic leftists crushed by wealthy reactionaries • WWII and Sp. Civ. War part of same conflict: Liberal Democracy v. International Fascism

34. Historiography • Morality Tale • Good v. Evil • Fascism v. Democracy • Enlightenment v. Catholic obscurantism • Communism v. Fascism • Revisionism • Desperate response to radical destruction of democracy • Alzana, Zamora, Prieto, Caballero incompetent and self destructive • Narrow PF victory leads to irresponsible politics

35. Post-Franco Revisionism • Cold War School • Blame PF failure on communists • Subversive, Stalin’s stooges • Orwell: Communists take over Republican Army • New Left • PF fails due to inaction of western democracies • Communists commit some excesses but are progressive • Just trying to prevent another Democracy from falling to Fascists • Post Franco USSR • Archives reveal PCE dominant last 18 months, coercive use of NKVD, Soviets economically exploit PF • AIM: Soviet Satellite state?