The Spanish civil war Historiographic Essay In the years following World War I, Europe was the scene of rising political tensions and military power struggles. With Communism gaining power in eastern Europe, the governments and people of the western countries began to explore different forms of bureaucratic control of their country. Spain was no different. From 1936 to 1939, Spain experienced a military revolution under the guidance of General Francisco Franco. This revolt transpired not just from a military coup, but from various political and social reasons. In his book, The Politics of Revenge, Paul Preston examines the Spanish Civil War as an extension of all social and political tensions that evolved after World War I.
After World War I, the European working class began to lose faith in government and sought out reform. It became obvious that Europeans became wearied with bureaucracies. They felt they had too much power and were keeping the working class restrained. People desired a better life and all over Europe governments began to see opposition.
The most significant movement was the Bolsheviks gaining power in Russia. Preston explains that Spain had developed into “the latest battleground in an ongoing European civil war whose previous battles had been Vienna in 1934, Berlin in 1933, Lisbon in 1926, Rome 1922” (Preston 1990, 35).
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Preston’s theory is viable in that Europe was seemingly transformed into a theater of war within various states. But the Spanish Civil War was more or less a military overthrow led by General Francisco Franco.
Vladimir Lenin had gained support from the military through his campaign in Russia, but his battle was seeded in the rights of the middle class. Preston also contends that the Spanish Civil War is often ignored when discussing the evolution of the onset of World War II. Most of the researches done on the beginnings of the war fail to give credence to the Spanish Civil War and its association with the Second World War. But to neglect the Spanish Civil War in its connection to World War II is to overlook the timing of Hitler’s expansion into Poland. Preston states that Hitler used Franco and his operations to assess the response of the Western powers to the “vagaries of the Francois t cause.” So Preston argues that the Spanish Civil War was a gauge to the spark of Hitler’s war machine (Preston 1990, 35).
Another view of the cause of the Spanish Civil War was the deaths of two political leaders.
In his book Spain: The Vital Years, Luis Bolin explains the rise of General Primo de Rivera in 1923 and his influence on King Alphonso and the government. Bolin states that the King acted as a constitutional monarchy and that the previous regime of politicians that hampered the country from effective rule. Rivera’s coup was the only alternative for King Alphonso and a military dictatorship was established. There was no opposition from the political parties and the working classes. Rivera was able to settle the unrest in Spain and bring it to the verge of prosperity in 1930 (Bolin 1967, 72-3).
Most of the Spanish citizens were benefited from the stability that Rivera had brought to the country.
The working class avoided labor strikes and labor leaders had a positive association with him (Bolin 1967, 73).
During his seven year reign, Rivera halted the strife that had engulfed Spain the previous decade. However in March 1930, Rivera suddenly died. Bolin states that Rivera’s “mild and efficient dictatorship would have saved the Monarchy and avoided the armed strife that broke out in 1936” (Bolin 1967, 99).
The Essay on The Involvement Of The International Brigades In The Spanish Civil War
On the 18 July 1936, leading Generals of the Spanish Army led a revolt against the democratically elected Popular Front government of Spain. Within days the country was plunged into civil war with the Republicans fighting the insurgent Nationalists for control of the country. The various democracies of the world turned their backs on Spains plight and even hindered the Republicans by supporting ...
So Bolin believes that Rivera could have saved Spain from civil war and Franco’s dictatorship. After his death, Rivera’s successors tried to highlight his mistakes and put the blame on the King. The following succession of leaders attempted to bury Rivera and his work in the past. Bolin states that “there was no attempt to continue the work that had brought Spain to almost unprecedented heights of prosperity and internal peace” (Bolin 1967, 102).
The new leadership of the government could have invested in Rivera’s enterprises, but through selfishness and egotism failed to advance Spain’s position of welfare. Another figure that Bolin contends, whose death led to the Spanish Revolution was Calvo Sotelo. Sotelo occupied to position of minister of finance under Rivera and was very proficient in economic and administrative procedures. He was able to forge plans that helped Spain through the world-wide depression and aided the country in developing ordinances.
Bolin states that he “was as much at ease when balancing the budget as when drafting municipal and provincial statutes comparable to the best in any land” (Bolin 1967, 141).
This illustrates the importance of Sotelo in regards to the Spanish government. But Sotelo eventually became leader of the Right-wing opposition in the Spanish Parliament. He enjoyed the privilege to attend all meetings and participate vigorously in the matters of the state (Bolin 1967, 141).
Sotelo was a very important and critical figure to the country and because of his influences and his devotion to the Right, he was threatening to his opposition. Therefore Sotelo was kidnapped and murdered. Sotelo was taken from his apartment at 3: 00 a. m. on July 13, 1936. Four men that identified themselves as members if the Civil Guard, accompanied him from his apartment.
The men put him in a van and took their seats alongside him. A gunman then fired two point-blank shots to Sotelo’s neck and he was killed instantly (Bolin 1967, 31-2).
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The Republican government tried the usual cover-up but there were too many witnesses (Bolin 1967, 32).
They had eliminated a key figure of opposition to their cause. Thus with the deaths of two prominent figures of Spanish constitutional government, the Franco’s movement had separated key components of resistance. Stanley Payne argues that the weakened state of the middle class along with divisions formed within the Republican government were the prime causes that initiated the Spanish Civil War.
In his book The Spanish Revolution, Payne argues that during the months leading to the revolution the Spanish middle classes were numb to the events unfolding within the country. He claims that even though the economy was in a downward spiral, the divisions of middle class leadership and numerous factions within the political realm could offer no viable response to the revolution (Payne 1970, 216).
In a state of weakened government, a military coup is simplified. Payne points out that “revolutionaries were actually hoping to provoke the Army to revolt so as to force it into an indefensible role in which its anti leftist elements might be destroyed, leaving the middle classes without protection and opening the way to a leftist takeover” (Payne 1970, 216).
This premise accounts for the fact that the revolutionaries were presuming that the divisions of government would rely on the army to protect the symmetry of the nation, but the leftist knew they would sway the army to their side. Payne states that “the left Republican leaders soon sank into almost absolute paralysis” (Payne 1970, 219).
He claims that if the Republican leaders had made an effort to uphold the constitution and maintain the integrity of the state that the revolution might not have occurred. This was because only half of the army had joined in the revolt. Most of the Nay, Air Force, and police force had remained faithful (Payne 1970, 219).
So if the Republicans had acted swiftly and astutely, the entire course of Spanish history would have been altered. Though the Spanish Civil War was a bloody military coup, it was shaped from various reasons. The social tensions in all of Europe, the deaths of two prominent Spanish political figures, and the instability of the government led to the revolution.
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General Franco’s takeover and subsequent dictatorship were aided by these circumstances.
