The Spanish Civil War: A Very Short Introduction

Very Short Introductions #123

by Helen Graham

Amid the many catastrophes of the twentieth century, the Spanish Civil War continues to exert a particular fascination among history buffs and the lay reader alike. This Very Short Introduction integrates the political, social and cultural history of the Spanish Civil War. It sets out the domestic and international context of the war for a general readership. In addition to tracing the course of war, the book locates the war's origins in the cumulative social and cultural anxieties provoked by a process of rapid, uneven and accelerating modernism taking place all over Europe. This shared context is key to the continued sense of the war's importance. The book also examines the myriad of political polemics to which the war has given rise, as well as all of the latest historical debates. It assesses the impact of the war on Spain's transition to democracy and on the country's contemporary political culture.

About the Combining authority with wit, accessibility, and style, Very Short Introductions offer an introduction to some of life's most interesting topics. Written by experts for the newcomer, they demonstrate the finest contemporary thinking about the central problems and issues in hundreds of key topics, from philosophy to Freud, quantum theory to Islam.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Spain, Spanish Civil War, War, Politics, Military Fiction

192 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

Helen Graham is an English historian, the Professor of Modern Spanish History at the Department of History, Royal Holloway University of London.

Reviews

[Antonomasia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wasn't even aware of the gaping crevasse in my knowledge about the Spanish Civil War until I started reading this small book, and watching this landmark early-80s Granada documentary series about it. (They really don't make 'em like that any more: 6 hour long-episodes on one event that isn't even taught in UK schools, and of course featuring lots of old chaps, then still alive, who were there in the 1930s on both sides. And it is mostly chaps, to an extent it wouldn't be in a documentary made now.)

Most of what I previously knew about the conflict came from what Spanish au-pairs told me as a primary school kid (they themselves having been small children when Franco died), and from As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning and Hons and Rebels. I was a little shocked by the extent of my ignorance - but perhaps it also reflects the way that the Spanish Civil War, once a favourite cool history topic for young people on the left (way less risky to read about it and respectfully remember fallen comrades than for those forebears who went to fight in the International Brigades) just wasn't as buzzy for personal reading or formal study whilst I was a student, during the West's quiescent, centrist lull between the falls of the Berlin Wall and the Twin Towers.

Hugh Thomas' classic The Spanish Civil War is apparently still considered the definitive general history, and (according to a couple of PhD students posting online) to be notably even handed in its approach. But it's also an 1100-page monster. The main theme of Graham's Very Short Introduction is the absolutely fucking staggering callous neglect of the Spanish Republicans by what would in a few years' time be the Western Allies, hiding behind a gentlemen's agreement, whilst in practice Hitler and Mussolini generously aided the fascist rebels at every turn (the Republicans got some bits and pieces from Stalin, but nothing like equivalent firepower). I felt outraged not only by not having known before about this disgraceful bit of history, but somehow by the events themselves, to an extent I've conditioned myself to feel only rarely about current news, and despite the obvious context of Chamberlain's appeasement of Nazi Germany. Even France, anxious in theory not to be surrounded on ever more sides by fascist governments, did little more than turn a blind eye to smugglers for a short while. (I may be using loose-tongued, unacademic language you won't find in this book, but there is little mistaking where the author's sympathies lie.) It seems frankly amazing that the Republicans held on as long as they did [see comments below], not helped by farcical situations such as their limited purchasing power bringing shipments of obsolete munitions with incomprehensible instructions in Polish. I was also entirely unaware of the significant role played by Republican Civil War veterans in the French Resistance during the Second World War, and their imprisonment in concentration camps. The Francoist state, once established, is shown to have been no less repressive than Soviet regimes especially in its earlier years and to have employed similar methods, despite its near polar-opposite esteem for the Church and hereditary aristocracy and denigration of the urban proletariat. (However, they shared a dislike of the liberal middle classes and regional nationalisms.) And perhaps there are a few parallels with modern China in its embrace of commercialism from the 1960s onwards. Its propagandist view of Spanish history as having 'started' in the 15th century with the completion of the Catholic Reconquista may have even wormed its way into my old school curriculum in a way I was not previously aware of, as I've long carried an impression of it as a dividing line not dissimilar to the Norman Conquest of England in 1066.

The above may be overly impressionistic, but I also don't want to feel compelled every time to write the sort of very long, time-consuming review which, in giving a blow-by-blow account of a non-fiction work and its subject, almost obviates the book itself.

There appears to be good, clear differentiation here between the factions on the Republican side during the war: the various liberal Republican, and socialist and anarchist groups, and the ways in which they clashed and compromised with one another - and the distinct environments of the cities, industrial areas, and rural farming areas that were technologically still emerging from the middle ages. (To avoid confusion, I think I got that last bit about the peasantry from something commentating on a Lorca play; it's not a phrase Graham uses.) As with much writing about the politics of the 1930s, aspects of the years leading up to the war seem worryingly resonant these days; Graham's description, near the end, of the SCW as a 'culture war' only adds to this. In the book there is more mention of notable women, and issues affecting women, than I would have expected from a general short history of a war. It packs plenty of social and cultural history in alongside a chronological narrative of the military conflict, the related international politics, and then more briefly, the tenor of life under Franco. The final chapter looks at the legacy of the war and Francoism in modern democratic Spain: an upsurge in commemoration and research, and 'the grandchildren's gaze' as those whose grandparents were victimised by, or involved in the Franco regime, examine the history to an extent that their parents rarely felt able to - and internationally, with its reputation as the left's 'last great cause', and one of unusual purity.

I feel like giving five stars for the book's impressive range and for its sustained interest, but don't think I'm currently in a position to do so, having read little else about the Spanish Civil War to compare.

[Darwin8u · Rating 5 out of 5]

"You may conquer but you will never convince."
- Miguel de Unamuno, quoted in Helen Graham's The Spanish Civil War: VSI



This subject and project, for me, seems like the perfect realization of the goal of Oxford Press with the VSI. Some subjects just aren't easily made for or summarized in 100-150 pages. And while Graham necessarily left much unsaid in her brief introduction to the Spanish Civil War, she covered a lot of ground and effectively introduced the subject to me.

My past experience with the Spanish Civil War was usually through the literary works of Hemingway, literary reporting of Orwell, or the historical fiction of Alan Furst (Midnight in Europe, etc). Because these are fragments of the story, beyond that I only picked up pieces here and there while reading other historical books on WWII. Graham filled in the gaps perfectly. She went over the events and issues that lead up to the military coup, described the protacted fight between the rebels and the Republic, explained the involvement of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy, and the difficulties (for the Republic) of the International Non-Interventionist embargo. She also spends an appropriate amount of time on the anti-fascists fighting with the International Brigades. She ends the book with a fascinating chapter on memory and silence in the post-Franco Spain.

The book was moving, well-paced, and wet my appetite to learn more. It also serves as a parable about how quickly Republican government can be overturned by apathy, aggression, and cultural wars between the haves and have nots, the military and civilian leadership, the church and state, etc., etc.. The Spanish Civil war also serves as a reminder about how differently things might have gone if England and France had stood with the Republic.

[robin friedman · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Spanish Civil War In The Very Short Introduction Series

The Very Short Introduction Series of Oxford University Press offers the opportunity to broaden one's knowledge and horizons in short, uniform paperback volumes on a variety of subjects. I took the opportunity to read this "Very Short Introduction" to the Spanish Civil War, fought between 1936 and 1939, by Helen Graham. Graham, Professor of Spanish History at Royal Holloway, University of London, has written a detailed study of the war, "The Spanish Republic at War: 1936 -- 1939" (2002) and a recent book on the war and its aftermath, "The War and its Shadow: Spain's Civil War in Europe's Long Twentieth Century." (2012)

The Spanish Civil War is important in its own right and as part of the tumultuous events leading to WW II. Upon reading Graham's book, I realized both the importance of this conflict and also my lack of knowledge.

The book is short, but the print is small and the text is dense. The writing style is cumbersome in places. Readers might wish to begin this book with the month-by-month chronology of the war at the end of the volume. The end material also includes an important glossary of organizations that played a role in this confusing conflict together with a bibliography, which serves the invaluable purpose of reminding readers that much remains to be learned about the Spanish Civil War beyond the pages of a "Very Short Introduction."

Graham's Very Short Introduction is passionately written. The reader can feel the tragedy of the story. Her sympathies lie indisputably with the Republican government of Spain which ultimately was defeated in the conflict and in particular with its Prime Minister, Juan Negrin. The book includes many stories and quotations from participants and observers in the conflict and it examines the political, social, and cultural aspects of the war.

Graham sees the Spanish Civil War as a conflict about the organization of society and about social change, both in Spain and in 20th Century Europe. In its opening chapter, the book examines the complex origins of the conflict and Spain's ill-starred Republic which came under attack from a variety of sources, including the military, soon to be headed by Francisco Franco. The background of the conflict is torturous indeed, and the discussion in the book could have used further elaboration.

In subsequent chapters, Graham examines the participants on both sides, together with international responses to the war. Germany and Italy intervened on behalf of Franco and the rebels while France, Britain, and the United States did little or nothing. The Soviet Union participated on behalf of the Loyalists. The Loyalists included adherents of liberal democracy but also included communists and well as other local groups that did not fully support the national government. Graham shows the reader in brief scope the complexity of the situation. She also describes the sometimes romanticized role of the International Brigades which fought on behalf of the government. She describes the horrors and atrocities attendant on the conflict and the many reasons for the final defeat of the government. Graham takes her account beyond the end of the war itself and shows how Spaniards on both sides participated in both sides of WW II. Ostensibly a non-participant, Franco's Spain provided not especially covert assistance to the Axis. Graham describes how the brutality of the War persisted in the years following WW II with prosecutions and repressions in Franco's Spain. She discusses contemporary views of the conflict and of its history while offering her own understanding of the conflict's meaning and continued significance.

The reader reviews of this book show that the Spanish Civil War continues to excite controversy. The issues for debate, include the role of the Catholic Church in the conflict and the character of the Republican government prior to the war. It is possible that Graham is overly kind to the Spanish government's fledgling attempt at democratic government before the war broke out. I thought the book offered an informed, valuable account that became somewhat polemical towards the end.

This book fills the purposes of a "Very Short Introduction" in that it explains the subject, discusses its significance, and offers a reasoned interpretation. I learned a great deal from this book and I was moved emotionally by many parts of the history. The book taught me how much I don't know about a subject I have never explored in any depth. Much is to be learned from the study of this tragic civil war.

Robin Friedman

[Roy Lotz · Rating 5 out of 5]

After the Second World War, the Spanish Civil War is the most studied and written-about war in history. There seems to be no end to the books about it—military histories, political analyses, memoires, overviews, monographs, and so on. Part of the war’s fascination is that it was a civil war: fellow Spaniards enlisting the help of foreign arms and soldiers to kill one another. A second, related element is that in many ways the war is still controversial, still contested ground, both within Spain and in the scholarly world. The final impression is of an enormous Greek tragedy, brother against brother, fighting for the soul of Europe. This is what makes Graham’s book so valuable: it provides a readable, scholarly, and level-headed introduction to this famed conflict.

The reader will not find an account of battles and troop movements here; given the space constraints, that would be impossible. But Graham tackles nearly everything else: background and aftermath, gender-relations, extrajudicial killings, agricultural and labor unrest, the wider European context, the factors that decided the war, and the major personalities. Graham is a brilliant synthesizer; she can pack pages of information into a paragraph without losing nuance. And this, combined with her cool and skeptical intelligence, makes this book very rewarding indeed. For she never merely summarizes the information, but corrects misunderstandings and debunks myths along the way, making this book valuable even if you already have a decent grasp of the events.

One thing that struck me was the difference between Graham’s treatment of the Republican side and Anthony Beevor’s. While Beevor points out the misdeeds of either side evenhandedly, Graham repeatedly goes out of her way to reject accusations against the Republican side. For example, she points out that, though there were mass killings of priests and monks on the Republican side during the outbreak of the war, these happened in spite of, not because of, their leadership; while the extrajudicial killings on the rebel side were at least tacitly approved and sometimes encouraged by the leadership. She also rejects the common claim that the Republican leadership was stupidly doctrinaire and inept, instead pinning most of the blame on England and France for their non-intervention pact.

While I did not need much convincing that, in Graham’s words, the Second Spanish Republic “constituted a political and cultural project that was ethically superior to the one represented by Francoism,” I am unsure whether this sort of exculpatory work is appropriate for a Very Short Introduction. To her credit, however, I seldom felt that Graham was being partisan; to the contrary, I found most of her points illuminating and convincing. Really, I can hardly see how she could have done a better or more satisfying job in 175 pages. This series continues to impress me.

[Jose Moa · Rating 5 out of 5]

So far all Very Short Intrductions that I have read are all little gems ,all very well organiced and structured ,going to yhe core of the subject and not wasting paper in superficial or anecdotic information and this book have not failed.
So if you want to ,in a few pages ,to know why and how the war begun and why and how the republic lost the war and the consecuences for Spain of this lost this is your book.
The author in some way was inspired by the great book The Spanish Civil War by Paul Preston.

[Diego · Rating 5 out of 5]

La capacidad sintética anglosajona no tiene igual... Apenas 200 páginas y no sobra ni falta una jodida palabra. Y todo ello con un estilo digerible, sin cifras, fechas, acrónimos o nombres innecesarios. Unos lo tacharán de sesgado, pero lo cierto es que entre el fanatismo español y el enfoque objetivo y desapasionado de los ingleses hay un abismo. Yo tengo claro con cual me quedo.

[Ted · Rating 5 out of 5]

This review will take awhile. Have started on in 5/10.

Huh. It's now 1/15/19. Taking longer than I expected.

[Gary · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you ask an American when the Second World War started, s/he will probably say December 7, 1941.* If you ask a Brit then you'll get 1939, when Germany invaded Poland. Japan went into Manchuria in 1931, and the main of China in 1937, but had occupied Korea since 1910, which points out that the Second World War was in many ways a continuation of the First World War, leading some contemporary historians (and some not-so-contemporary) that I've read to suggest that those conflicts will be lumped together into a single historical event by historians looking back on them in the future.

Point of view often colors perspective, and when it comes to something as definitively broad and global as a war, let alone one that has the word "World" in front of it, the events or dates that represent a true beginning can be a bit muddled. However, if one is looking at the Second World War as the rise and conflict of extreme populist political ideologies (Fascism, Communism, Democracy, Capitalism) then there's a good argument to be made that WWII began in 1936 as a proxy war in Spain.

The Spanish Civil War was fought on Spanish soil and spilled Spanish blood, for the most part, but it was backed by the major players of the Second World War, and the importance of that conflict--as a herald of things to come militarily (such as the rise of air power) as a warning sign of the future, as a transition between the first and second stages of what the future might deem "The 20th Century World War" and as an example of what would have happened had the forces of Fascism been victorious--is largely ignored by Western civilization and even scholars of either the First or Second World Wars. The Spanish Civil War was a proving ground for the military, political and genocidal methodologies that would overshadow it in the years to come. Almost all the major features of the Second World War that distinguish it from other 20th century conflicts--other than the scale--began in the Spanish Civil War. As such, it simply needs more attention.

Of course, one of the reasons it doesn't get that attention is that Franco won. The erasure of memory so embraced by the politics of extremism triumphed in Spain, and we are left with a legacy of obfuscation, buried facts and outright lies enforced with all the power of the state behind it as well as the complicity of the international community to endorse it. That's been changing recently, as Ms. Graham points out in her book, but it is all the more reason we should pay attention to the Spanish Civil War. We should attend not to what happened, but how what happened was ignored. That ignorance is, itself, at the heart of the issue.

At the very least, the Spanish Civil War needs "A Short Introduction" in order to get an understanding of the continuum of the first half of the 20th century. This is a very good book for that kind of beginning. Ms. Graham does an excellent job presenting the details and events of her subject. She covers all the major aspects of either side of the conflict, and describes (accurately and--I think--fairly) the impact of the civil war upon Spanish politics, but also Western European politics in later years. If you can only dedicate one book to this subject, then this is it.

The shortcomings of the book are stated outright in the title. It is a "very short introduction." Though Ms. Graham touches upon every major and most minor components of the war (the role of the Catholic church, the major political figures, etc.) and many of the relatively less important ones, a book of this length can't convey such information fully. Her references and citations are, necessarily, brief given the length of the book. Further, where Ms. Graham acts as an interpreter of events, the attitudes of the various historical figures and the characterization of the people at large, she can cite only cursory references and support to back up her ideas. I would quibble here and there with her assessments, but by and large I think she's right whenever she stops relating the cold, hard facts and starts giving her readers the cold, hard truths that those facts led up to. However, the brevity of the book, and the scope of the topic mean that certain elements (such as the role of women in the war, the interaction of the Republicans with Communist agents, etc.) are presented in a way that isn't cursory, but isn't complete either. Of course, that's not necessarily a fair criticism since it says "very short" right there in the title, and nearly any given topic I've listed here could well be the subject of a Master's thesis if not its own complete text. Nonetheless, I am deducting a star on that basis because there were certain places where a more fulsome set of references would have supported her contentions, and from time to time she leaves her arguments unsupported in a way that the length of the book did not allow. I'm confident she was well aware of that, and as I noted more often than not I think she's right in her appraisals, but the book does leave the reader hanging upon occasion, especially in an otherwise remarkably thorough piece of work.

Overall, I give this book a big recommendation as a STARTING point for one's study of the period or if one really just only has time for this one volume.

* Actually, you'll probably get "Huh? I dunno," because... 'Merica.

[Sofia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Obra essencial sobre a Guerra Civil de Espanha, para quem pretende uma visão global dos acontecimentos pré, durante e pós guerra. É um trabalho bastante completo, sem ser demasiado detalhado a ponto de se tornar maçudo, mas também bastante sucinto, sem se tornar escasso.

[Nathan Albright · Rating 1 out of 5]

Short introductions certainly have their place.  Despite long having at least some interest in civil wars, I have been surprised to find that some twenty thousand books or more have been written about the Spanish Civil War, nearly all of them by people who took the wrong side.  Reading about the Spanish Civil War is a lot like reading about the Civil War in that there are all kid of lost cause myths about the worth of the losing side and beliefs in the moral superiority of people whose political beliefs and behavior were absolutely reprehensible and whose division was a major factor in their defeat.  I have next to no sympathy for anti-Christian regimes whose ghoulish behavior about the graves of nuns and other believers demonstrates a total lack of respect for both the dead and the living, and the author is a partisan of those who I lack any sympathy for whatsoever, and that means that this is not a book I can recommend at all.  The author wants to write a short guide but cannot muster anything approaching balance, and that makes this book an unworthy addition to a large body of mostly overrated books.

This book is a short one at about 150 pages and its brevity is about the only virtue it has.  The book begins with a preface and acknowledgements and a list of maps and illustrations.  The book begins, as many books do about this subject, with a discussion of the origins of the war, which discusses the political dislocation that followed the loss of Spain's colonial empire in 1898 (1).  After that there is a look at the rebellion, leftist revolution, and acts of repression on both sides that followed the initial coup attempt by Spain's generals (2).  After that the author discusses the attempts of Spain's republic to mobilize the leftist activists of the country to defend a corrupt leftist regime and survive the threat of Civil War despite limited support from democracies that rightly saw the Spanish leftists as not being worth their support (3).  The author then turns her attention to the making of rebel Spain, which would become all of Spain over the course of the war (4).  The author tries to draw sympathy for the besieged of Madrid (5) and then discusses victory and defeat and the wars after the war (6), where the author unsuccessfully tries to consider Franco as being just like Hitler, and then manages to mess up the uses of history (7), before ending with references, suggestions for further reading, a chronology, glossary, and an index.

Among the most fundamental problems of this work (and many other works on the Spanish Civil War) is the way that it views works that present Franco in a fair and reasonable light as being acritical.  It takes a great deal of critical seriousness to adopt a view that is counter to a dominant narrative, and when that dominant narrative tends to be as biased as that concerning the Spanish Civil War, it reminds us of the way that projection has always been the stock and trade of the pseudointellectuals of the left.  When the only critique allowed is an inveterate hostility to Franco because he was able to successfully combine militarists, far-right extremists, moderates and conservatives, Catholics, and several strains of monarchists in a cohesive unity that avoided the fractious hostility shown by the left and manage to turn that cohesion into a successful military victory in a bitter civil war and several decades of peace despite the losses suffered by isolation.  Leftists like the author wish, in vain, that leftist regimes could govern as successfully in the face of international disapproval as Franco did, and that leftist amateur soldiers could fight as well as his army did.  But such wishes do not make for successful histories in times like our own.

[Alison FJ]

Helen Graham has written several longer works on Spanish history, and having just completed this "very short introduction," I will certainly turn to those. I am so unfamiliar with the details of modern Spanish history that I'll need to read a few different works before it all starts to fit together. This little volume brought me a lot closer than I could have reasonably hoped. All I wanted was a primer on the Civil War -- what I got instead was a thoughtful essay not only on what happened, but what our attempts to understand it mean for us.

"For when governments and states – even if they are liberal democratic ones – promote public remembrance, this changes the meaning and value of such remembrance." (146)

"We should not mythologize our fears and turn them as weapons on those who are different. The Spanish Civil War and all the other civil wars of Europe's mid-20th century were configured in great part by this mythologizing of fear, by a hatred of difference. The greatest challenge of the 21st century is, then, not to do this." (149)

To me, it is unsettling in general - and was unsettling while reading this book – to think about the profound success fascist regime(s) have had in reshaping their worlds through the most brazen use of violence, terror, and repression. One need not turn a blind eye to the errors, missteps, inconsistencies, and even cruelties of the defenders of the Republic to see the grave danger they fought against.

Perhaps the most scathing criticisms here are leveled at the authors of the non-intervention policies that made it effectively impossible for the Republic's defense of its existence to succeed.

For those not familiar with Spanish history, this is unlike to answer every open question (I still have many) – but I highly recommend it as a place to begin.

[Vatikanska Milosnica · Rating 4 out of 5]

a very clear and solidly organized introduction, albeit stunningly partisan

[Cris · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book made me get mad at the British for being so awful to the Spanish Republican government. Stupid apeacement and cowardly, repulsive conservatism that made them, by their lack of help and blockading of other’s help, be complicit in Franco’s victory. Only supporting democracy if you like what people choose is not being pro-democracy. All around deplorable treatment from Europe. All those years during the dictatorship we were hoping for their help and they did zero. They truly suck, the repeat performance toward the Catalan independence movement is, turns out, very inkeeping with their self-interested, unprincipled shit behavior during the Spanish civil war. Same people who brought you non interference in the Serbian genocide. 🤮

[Noah · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good history of the war, especially in its attempt to focalize the conflict through a social lens; however, it is a bit too liberal for my tastes, and almost completely ignores mentioning the actions of anarchists / communists during this period.

[Veronica · Rating 2 out of 5]

Fairly informed, but unabashedly biased and oversimplified (at least seemed so at the time I read it).

[Dario Andrade · Rating 5 out of 5]

O livro é uma boa síntese a respeito da Guerra Civil Espanhola. A autora é professora de História espanhola na Universidade de Londres.
Interessei-me por esse livro depois de ter lido “Por quem os sinos dobram”, o romance de Ernest Hemingway ambientado na guerra civil espanhola.
Conhecia superficialmente esse período histórico e o livro foi muito informativo, inclusive para esclarecer pontos obscuros ou mal interpretados. Em primeiro lugar, a guerra começou como mais um dos muitos golpes ou pronunciamientos típicos daquele período da vida política espanhola. O fracasso do golpe implicou na guerra civil, na busca de apoio estrangeiro, na prolongação do conflito e da mortandade. Além disso, o fracasso do golpe produziu um impasse: ao mesmo tempo em que os rebeldes foram incapazes de um ataque decisivo, incapacitou a reação do governo.
Em segundo lugar, a divisão mortal entre os dois blocos na política espanhola não era algo anterior à guerra, mas que se agravou principalmente a partir do momento em que começou o acerto de contas – segundo ela iniciado pelos nacionalistas – e que continuou em uma retaliação sem fim. Os rebeldes segundo ela, se comportavam como tropas coloniais.
Em terceiro lugar, o papel vergonhoso dos países neutros – principalmente Grã-Bretanha e França – que fecharam os olhos às ações de alemães e, especialmente, de italianos. De fato, a Grã-Bretanha – mais ainda do que a França – agiu para o sucesso dos nacionalistas ao congelar ativos financeiros, negar ajudar, embargar a venda ou entrega de armas, permitir a ação da marinha livre italiana no Mediterrâneo e até mesmo se omitir para que os rebeldes fossem bem-sucedidos.
Em quarto lugar, a ação dos governos estrangeiros e suas tropas foi determinante. Segundo ela, em certo momento seria até correto afirmar que se tratou verdadeiramente de uma guerra entre a Itália fascista e o governo republicano espanhol: os italianos chegaram a ter 75 mil homens engajados militarmente na Espanha. De outro lado, os russos (e em menor grau os mexicanos) foram os únicos que se dispuseram – com todos os problemas logísticos possíveis – em ajudar. Aliás, ela afirma que o papel dos russos na política da República foi menor do que se crê.
Ela também destaca algumas figuras. De um lado Franco – que ganhou protagonismo ao longo do tempo, até se tornar o caudilho incontestável – ajudado pela morte de vários líderes rebeldes e pelas vitórias militares capitaneadas pelas forças estrangeiras. Do outro lado, ela reavalia positivamente o papel do líder republicano Juan Negrin.
Há ainda, outras figuras que não conhecia, caso do concunhado de Franco, o advogado Ramon Serrano – apelidado de cuñadissimo – e com forte papel político no franquismo até o início dos anos 1940 ou do general republicano Vicente Rojo – tido como um gênio militar limitado pela falta de recursos materiais.
Por fim, ela apresenta a Espanha no pós-guerra e as terríveis consequências dos acertos de contas nas décadas seguintes.
Enfim, um ótimo livro – sintético e claro – sobre o que foi a Guerra Civil Espanhola e suas consequências.
Há, é verdade, muitas fotos, mas só dois mapas. Poderiam ter sido mais generosos nesse último item

Algumas citações utilizadas por ela

"Nossa modesta tarefa (,,,) é organizar o apocalipse". André Malraux
"Por vossa liberdade e a nossa". bandeira de soldados judeus poloneses voluntários
"Vencereis, mas não convencereis. Esta será a vitória do pior, de um ramo do catolicismo que não é cristão e de um militarismo paranoico gestado nas campanhas coloniais" Miguel de Unamuno

Gostei de uma frase dela:
"Como os historiadores também sabem, a única vantagem do olhar retrospectivo é a perigosa ilusão de obter uma visão perfeita dos fatos"

[Osama · Rating 4 out of 5]

على هامش قراءة رواية (لمن تقرع الأجراس) للكاتب الأمريكي إيرنست هيمنغواي، ولكي أفهم السياق التاريخي للرواية، قرأت هذا الكتاب وهو مقدمة قصيرة جدا للحرب الأهلية الإسبانية. وفيما يلي ملخص لأهم النقاط ..


الحرب الأهلية الإسبانية (1936-1939) اندلعت في إسبانيا بعد الفشل الجزئي للانقلاب الذي قام به قسم من القوات المسلحة ضد حكومة الجمهورية الثانية.

تعود أسباب الحرب إلى عدة عوامل، منها:

الصراع الطبقي والديني: كان إسبانيا بلدًا منقسمًا سياسيًا واجتماعيًا، حيث كان هناك صراع بين الطبقة العاملة والفلاحين من جهة، وبين الطبقة الأرستقراطية والرأسمالية من جهة أخرى. كما كان هناك صراع ديني بين الكاثوليكية المتطرفة والليبرالية العلمانية.

القومية: كانت هناك صراعات قومية بين القوميين الكاتالونيين والباسكيين، وبين القوميين في الأقاليم الإسبانية الأخرى.

التدخل الأجنبي: تدخلت ألمانيا وإيطاليا من جهة وروسيا من جهة أخرى لصالح الجانبين المتحاربين.

انقسمت إسبانيا إلى قسمين:

الجمهوريون: وهم المؤيدون للحكومة الجمهورية الثانية، وكانوا يمثلون الطبقة العاملة والفلاحين والليبراليين.
القوميون: وهم المؤيدون للانقلاب العسكري، وكانوا يمثلون الطبقة الأرستقراطية والرأسمالية والكاثوليك المتطرفين.

بدأت الحرب بنجاح الجمهوريين في السيطرة على معظم أنحاء إسبانيا، ولكن في النهاية انتصر القوميون بقيادة الجنرال فرانسيسكو فرانكو.

انتهت الحرب بفوز القوميين وإقامة ديكتاتورية فرانكو التي استمرت حتى وفاته في منتصف السبعينات. كما كانت الحرب بمثابة بروفة للحرب العالمية الثانية، حيث شهدت استخدام الأسلحة والآليات الحديثة، كما أنها ساعدت في توحيد القوى الفاشية في ألمانيا وإيطاليا.

[Manuel Pinto · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Guerra Civil espanhola é um tema que me destrói a alma, que me leva quase às lágrimas.

A Luta pelos ideais, pela liberdade e bondade humana, pela democracia, mesmo quando tudo parece perdido. O fanatismo religioso, a divisão entre "espanhóis puros" e "vermelhos desprezíveis", as execuções sumárias, as valas comuns destinadas aos esquecimento e a vergonha dos próprios familiares.
Franco violou, matou e torturou os seus compatriotas e os seus filhos, apenas porque eles queriam preservar a sua república, a sua democracia.

Nada mais é desolador do que saber que existem espanhóis que não sabem onde os país e avós estão enterrados, porque foram raptados e "reeducados" pela igreja, pelo regime.

Se França, Inglaterra, Estados Unidos tivessem ajudado a república, talvez a 2° Guerra e a ascensão do fascismo tivesse sido apenas um fenômeno fracasso previamente.


"Continuar a lutar por não haver outra hipótese, mesmo que a vitória não fosse possível, ao menos para salvar o que conseguissemos, no mínimo dos mínimos o respeito por nós próprios... Para quê continuar a resistir? Muito simplesmente por sabermos o que significaria a capitulação."

[DonHeimscheißer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really engaging and fun to read for such a heavy topic. It covered the politics clearly but also showed how the war was cultural, a clash of values and identities, not just armies. I especially liked learning about the volunteer brigades and how some Republican soldiers later fought in WWII. Short but powerful. 🇪🇸

[Beck Watts · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a super interesting read! I knew nearly about nothing about the Spanish Civil War coming into this; it is quite remarkable hearing about how the political tensions and hurt from the war have carried forward to present day Spain. As well as how intertwined the war was with European tensions leading into World War II. Difficult to hear about, but good to know.

[Liam Ó HÍceadha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good for someone looking for an overview for general knowledge or as a starting point for further reading. It's confusing seeing nationalist atrocities being condemned and then identical republican atrocities being justified within the same passage.
It lacks nuance but it's what you'd expect from a "very short introduction".

[Renee · Rating 2 out of 5]

It seemed to be more of a philosophical discussion rather than a history, and seemed to assume a basic knowledge of the war, rather than being an introduction. Still, I learned from it. But I wouldn't recommend it for a brief intro.

[Tim Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the third _A Very Short Introduction_ I have read, the previous two being on the French Revolution and film noir. I have found the series continues to impress, being very readable, well-researched, accessible, and a good springboard to further research.

This one focused not just on the Spanish Civil War itself (1936-1939), but also the causes of the war and quite a bit on the consequences and later analysis of the war and the victorious Franco regime. It isn’t a book on weapons and tactics, though they are occasionally discussed. It is more a book on overall strategies, geopolitics of the war, how it affected the rest of Europe and how Europe impacted the war, how the war affected the Spanish people, and the lasting legacy of the war.

Major themes of the book included how the war could be seen as part of an overall civil war occurring in Europe, between fascist regimes and non-fascist, liberal, pluralistic societies, representing what the author called “cosmopolitan cultural modernity,” with the former very right leaning and the latter often very left leaning, leaving many of the regimes in Europe often somewhere between the two, not fascist but not exactly pluralistic and progressive either. Another theme was looking at the war as another symptom of and consequence of appeasement, of how varying degrees of hard nonintervention as with the UK and at times soft intervention as with France enabled an arguably at the time vulnerable (and surprised and then emboldened) Germany and Italy to aid the Francoist rebels unchecked, without which the Nationalists simply would not have won. Quite a bit of time was spent on the international brigades that fought on the Republican side, such as the U.S. Abraham Lincoln Brigade (the first integrated American military unit to ever exist). Time was spent on Republican survivors of the war, such as their work in the French Resistance, fighting with Free French Forces, in forced labor camps in Vichy France, being sent to German concentration camps, as well as Nationalist volunteers who fought for the USSR against the Nazi invasion. The book looked also at how the war served as a testing ground and a dress rehearsal for World War II (at least for the Germans and the Italians though to an extent the Soviets) and how Francoist Spain aided the Axis in the war (such as providing raw materials and helping German U-boats). Also as noted, time was spent on post-Civil War Spain, exploring such topics as the role of the church, memorials to Republican war dead, and how the literature has examined the war.

I have seen criticisms of how this book only focused on Nationalist atrocities. I do not know enough to discuss any that occurred on the Republican side, though the author did talk about how the Republic did go to great lengths to observe a constitutional form of government and the rule of law, while the rebels committed many extrajudicial killings, summary executions of large numbers of civilians, and deliberately targeted non-military cultural targets. No mass executions on the Republican side were stressed as far as I can recall. The author did note that the Republicans included communists and anarchists in its ranks, though it was very much a coalition and included more traditional liberal, trade unionist, worker types as well as many socialists. There was certainly a strong perception especially in the UK that it was largely communist and anarchist, which had an impact on the UK and also France in not aiding the Republic, which often felt it had more in common with the rebels. Meanwhile, actual Italian and German soldiers fought with the Rebels, particularly large number of Italian forces on the ground and German pilots in the air.

[Keith Schnell · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was my first experience with Oxford University Press' Very Short Introduction series, of which, it turns out, there are hundreds. Before reading it, I was skeptical of anything promising to present an abbreviated version of a very complex subject, and to some extent I remain so, although an extensive list of recommended further reading should provide a starting point for readers concerned about what might have been left out in order to get the main body of the work down to precisely 150 pages. At the very least, it is in no way a context-free "Cliff's Notes," cheat-sheet level appreciation of the War, and the fact that OUP chose university professor Helen Graham, who had previously published on the subject, to write this introduction means that this book is highly readable and approachable, and is much more fluid and better organized than the Wikipedia article on the subject, which would otherwise be most readers' first introduction to the subject. One clear -- if self-admitted -- omission is a discussion of the military and economic aspects of the war itself, and its undoubted influence on German, but also and less obviously French, Italian and Soviet military doctrine in the interwar years, and how this impacted the later 1939-45 war. Of course, that's what you'd expect in a 150-page summary, as the author freely allows.

Would, though, that studying the Spanish Civil War were only an abstract exercise for historians interested in writing the comprehensive story of the 20th Century following the End of History. Sadly, it is now probably more relevant than ever. Certainly, it is relevant in Spain, where the author devotes her final chapter to the exploration of how a generation of Spanish historians untouched by the Franco regime are bringing memories of the Spanish Republic back from the dead. But also in the rest of Europe and, above all else, in the United States, where the social and political trends that brought Franco to power in Spain are, if not being replicated per se, are at least showing a bothersome resemblance to current events. In this way, in addition to being an object of study, the fascist victory in the Spanish Civil War provides a warning -- it is, as the author summarizes, proof that the arc of history does not always bend upward, that sometimes the Nazis win the war and die in bed, unpunished, 30 years later, their political heirs allowed to rule and to speed the process of forgetting.

[Kyle · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a wonderful little volume that explains the background, the Civil War itself, and the aftereffects in a short, but informative text.

As it states at the beginning, it is not going to cover the battles themselves, so if you want that, you should choose a different book.

If you are looking for a good overview of the ideologies, the leadership, and the international politics of the Spanish Civil War, then this provides it. Graham does an excellent job of telling you the important things and also of giving nuanced summaries of what was going on. Graham is very clear about how the terror and killing occurred on both sides, but that it was on the Franco side that the government and leaders were fine with it (which extended to after the war ended). The book has a heavy emphasis on Europe, and doesn't really even mention what the US government's positions were (and didn't mention Torkild Rieber), but does talk extensively of how Russia, France, the UK, Germany, and Italy interacted with Spain. This is more an observation than a criticism, as what was happening in Europe was of great importance for Spain (and arguably more important since the UK and France were the nearby great powers of the time).

I continue to be impressed by how much can be packed into these Very Short Introduction series' volumes, and this volume continues that trend.

[Cav · Rating 2 out of 5]

"On 27 July, Francisco Franco was interviewed by the North American journalist Jay Allen, whose report three weeks later on the massacre of Republican defenders in the southern town of Badajoz would catapult the Spanish war into newspaper headlines throughout Europe and America. In the July interview Franco brushed aside the reporter’s questions about the high level of resistance the rebels had encountered, declaring ‘I will save Spain from Marxism whatever the cost’. To Allen’s quizzical ‘And if that means shooting half of Spain?’, Franco replied ‘As I said, whatever the cost’."

Unfortunately, The Spanish Civil War left much to be desired for me.

Author Helen Graham is an English historian, and the Professor of Modern Spanish History at the Department of History, Royal Holloway University of London.

Helen Graham:


Graham gives the reader a brief background to the conflict in the 1st chapter. "Africanistas", the officer class opposed to Republican reform, and Republican clashes with the church are briefly touched on.
Francisco Franco's military coup is also briefly covered.

The Spanish Civil War is a hotly debated, complex, and complicated conflict. No proper telling of it can be done without examining the context and motivations of both sides; Republicans and Nationalists.
Graham failed to present this conflict in an objective and unbiased manner here, IMO. The book is written with a strong pro-leftist Republican narrative. The author writes of the excesses and dangers of fascism many times here. She paints the motivations of the Republican side in a flattering manner, while the threat of communism/anarchism and other associated leftist totalitarianism is not addressed.
The book also contains many little tidbits of partisan jargon and other writing that betrays the author's clear ideological affiliation.

Not mentioned by Graham here was the sweeping tide of the above-mentioned anti-civilizational socialism/communism, and anarchism that was gathering steam through much of Europe, riding on the momentum of Russia's successful 1917 October Revolution, which overthrew the centuries-old Romanov Dynasty. The motivations of these groups included the destruction of the established order, and the re-forging of society through the utopian lens of Marxism and "equity".
Also not mentioned were the thousands of priests summarily executed, and the thousands of churches destroyed by the Republicans in their rabid anti-religious purges.

Francisco Franco is a controversial historical figure, to be sure. Those who support him will say that his coup saved Spain from falling to the inevitable destruction of communism, and note that he presided over the greatest economic growth in Spanish history, known as "The Spanish Miracle." They would likely say that Franco established order out of the mass chaos that had engulfed Spain, and was threatening to destroy the country.
Those who dislike him will note that his Nationalists were responsible for the mass killings of thousands of people, as well, and will also note that his regime was allied with and supported by German and Italian Fascists.
"History is never tidy," as Antony Beevor once said, and Franco was ineed both of the characters described above.
I didn't feel that Franco was covered in a balanced and/or objective manner here by Graham.

Criticisms of the author's bias aside, I didn't like the formatting and presentation of this book. A marked change from other books in this series, I felt the story was not relayed to the reader in a clear, concise, and engaging manner by the author. Instead, the conflict is covered in a fairly flat and lackluster manner. Graham's telling of this complex story did not resonate well with me here, and I feel that there are better books that cover this conflict.
In fact, one could learn more about the war from its Wikipedia page, than from this book, IMO.

******************

I'm usually a fan of books in the "Very Short Introduction" collection, but as mentioned, this one did not meet the high bar established by other titles in the series that I have read.
It was a fairly run-of-the-mill book, that suffered from a glaring lack of historical and ideological context, as well as way too much biased commentary.
Thankfully this one was not any longer, or I would have put it down.
1.5 stars.

[Oskar Díaz · Rating 4 out of 5]

No tengo ni idea de si lo que cuenta aquí es objetivo, quiero creer que si, pero vete a saber. En cualquier caso me ha flipado. ¿Por qué coño esto no enseñan en la escuela?, porque, al menos que yo recuerde, a mi nadie me contó que Franco se alió con los fascistas italianos y los nazis alemanes para cepillarse un gobierno legítimo, por muy mal que este gobierno pudiera estar haciéndolo. Y tampoco me contó nadie que ni Dios en Europa ayudó a España con su puto tratado de no intervención, sumiendo al país en la más absoluta desolación, ni franchutes ni ingleses movieron un dedo.

Acojonante que se sigan dando argumentos en contra del unboxing del genocida malnacido,

En fin, que probablemente exista la otra versión de los hechos, pero es difícil que se pueda justificar tanta maldad.

Bueno, que me ha gustado mucho el libro. Me propuse entender las razones y el desarrollo de la guerra y ya me he enterado. Y mi pobre abuelo medio sordo y con metralla incrustada en el cráneo por tener que luchar a la fuerza en el bando malo. Tiene cojones.

[Blamp Head · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading notes only - not a review
___________________

Halfway through Antony Beevor's book The Battle For Spain, on the Spanish civil war... it dawned on me that it felt a bit like deciding to study a forest by taking a microscope to leaves and bark from various trees, without having a foundational knowledge of what a tree actually looked like, let alone a forest.
Even a glance at Wikipedia about the Spanish civil war would have helped beforehand, but I hadn't looked.
So this is not to say I think Beevor's book deficient, but my own knowledge certainly is. Alas. Hence my paltry attempts to start to correct this gap by reading books. Mental note - next time start with wiki then get into books.

Having now noted my complete ignorance of the topic going in, this book gave me an appreciation for how the army uprising - Franco's side - was aided heavily by Germany and Italy, while what would later be western allies retained mostly intransigent policies of non-intervention.

"Culture wars" played a great part in at least laying the foundations for conflict.

Great final chapter on the role of historians, brief discussion on how the way history is understood affects current times, and the benefit of having people with lived experience able to recount their experiences.

___________________

"We should not mythologize our fears and turn them as weapons on those who are different. The Spanish civil war, and all the other civil wars of Europe's 20th century, were configured in great part by this mythologizing of fear, by hatred of difference. The greatest challenge of the 21st century is, then, not to do this."

[Bas · Rating 4 out of 5]

4,5/5 stars

If you want to read something about the Spanish Civil War but don't want to commit to something too long, this is the book. I found it well argued, clear, powerful and informative. But not only will it give you a good grasp of the basic facts and chronology of the conflict, this book also contains some great interpretations that elevate the book to something more than just a basic introduction of the subject. Another plus point is the fact that it also deals with the legacy of the civil war in the memory of contemporary Spain and the wider world.

[Davis Guilliams · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don’t think I’m qualified to review this. I wanted to get a foot in the door of scholarship over Spain’s civil war, and I think that’s what I got. I found the analysis of contemporary European politics — especially that of the UK, France, Germany, Italy, qnd the Soviet Union — to be particularly insightful. I’ll have to read more to have a basis of comparison for the Graham’s narrative. Based on what she said qbout the state of Falangist archives in 2003, I bet the scholarship has advanced a lot since then.