The Spanish Civil War

Over the course of history many countries have a civil war (or war within a country). On July 18^th, 1936 the Spanish Civil War begun. The roots of the war were six years earlier, when Spain became a Republic (a system of government in which there is a governing group of people elected by the people). As this Republic was only six years old it was not very stable. The Republic's military was not happy with how the Republic was running their government and so attempted to take over the government. This attempt was the Spanish Civil War. The military rebels, called Nationalists put up a good fight against the rightful government, called either Loyalists or Republicans. The Nationalists attempt to take over the government in one day turned into a three-year war. The Nationalists fought with consistency and were lead by the great General, Francisco Franco. The Loyalists however were more separated in their ideas, united only in their want for the Nationalists not to seize power.

The Nationalists received help from Italy and Nazi Germany. The Loyalists got aid from the Soviet Union (a now ended country around Russia). In the end the Loyalists were not able to put up a good enough fight. Germany bombed the Loyalist stronghold of Guernica and the Nationalists defeated the powerful cities of Barcelona and Madrid. The Nationalists held control of Spain from the end of the war on April 1^st, 1939 to General Franco's death on November 20^th, 1975.

Personally, I am disappointed at the outcome of this war. The Loyalists were starting to have a successful republic at the start of the war. I find a republic to be one of the fairest forms of government and it seems much better than General Franco's complete control. Also Nazi Germany helped the Nationalists. The Nazis killed millions of people because they didn't like their religion, sexual orientation, or skin color. I find it horrible that the Nationalists came to power through the help of people as cruel as the Nazis.

The civil war has made a tremendous impression on Spanish society. During the war 600,000 people died. After the Nationalists won the war many educated people left Spain because their freedoms were being taken away. Spaniards protested how there was too much government control and the government reacted violently against protestors. At the same time there was huge growth in Spain made lots of money in a large part because of the new technologies of the time. Also, Spain became a member of NATO, a group of nations united in any war that the member nations decide is appropriate.

After General Franco's death in 1975 a new ruler was appointed, King Juan Carlos. Carlos led the way to having a political party like before the civil war. In 1977 there was a democratic election in Spain (meaning that the people voted for who they wanted to rule them). Today, Spain is very much like it was before the war. However, Spanish politicians still have views that are like those of the Nationalists and the Loyalists. In small towns there are still harsh feelings about the trying times of the civil war.

The war affected everyone in Spain, even those who weren't interested in the politics of the war. One such person is Federico Garcia-Lorca. He was a talented poet who was neutral between the Nationalists and the Loyalists although he was known to favor freedom. Before the war started he was writing a poetry work called Divan Del Tamarit in respect of ancient Arab poets from Granada. This is possibly why he traveled to Granada on vacation (just after the war broke out).

The Nationalists had seized Granada on the first day of the war. Lorca was arrested because of false rumors that he sided with the Loyalists. A couple of days later, in one of the saddest individual acts of the war, Lorca was executed by the Nationalists.

Another horrible act of war, committed by the Nationalists' supporter Germany, was the bombing of the Loyalist stronghold, Guernica. This act is the most famous part of the Spanish Civil War. It was ordered by General Franco. There was a large public effort to protest the bombing. One protestor was the famous painter, Pablo Picasso.

Only a few months after the bombing of Guernica, Picasso finished painting a huge oil painting called "Guernica." The painting, a symbol of the whole war, shows the general destruction caused by the bombing. It is made up of human and animal body parts scattered randomly across the painting. The painting is colorless to show the grief and the human and animal faces are shown to be in great pain. That pain represents the pain the horrible war caused Loyalists and Nationalists alike and in a broader sense the general tragedy of war.

Bibliography

Beevor, Antony (2006). The Battle for Spain: The Spanish Civil War 1936-1939. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson.
Graham, Helen (2002). The Spanish republic at war, 1936-1939. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Howson, Gerald (1998). Arms for Spain. New York: St. Martin's Press.