The Odyssey of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade: Americans in the Spanish Civil War

by Peter N. Carroll

For over half a century, the history of the Abraham Lincoln brigade―the 2,800 young Americans who volunteered to fight for the Spanish Republic against General Francisco Franco's rebellion in 1936―has been shrouded in myth, legend, and controversy. Now, for the fist time, we have a comprehensive, objective, and deeply researched account of the brigade's experience in Spain and what happened to the survivors when they returned to the United States. (About one-third of the volunteers died in Spain). The book is largely based on previously unused sources, including the newly opened Russian archives, and more than 100 oral histories. The author charts the volunteers' motivations for enlisting in the fight against Spanish fascism and places their actions in the context of the Depression era. The battleground experiences of the brigade have never before been depicted in such vivid detail, and such battles as Jarama, Belchite, and the Ebro come alive in the participants' words. The author uses the military aspects of the war to illuminate such related issues as the influence of political ideology on military events and the psychology of a volunteer army. He also closely examines the role of the Communist party in the conduct of the war, including the "Orwell question"―allegations of a Communist reign of terror in Spain―and investigates the alleged racial problems within the brigade, the first fully integrated military unit in American history. The book continues the saga of the brigade by relating the problems of the surviving volunteers with the U.S. Army during World War II; their opposition to the Cold War, the Vietnam war, and U.S. intervention in Central America; the persecution during the Red Scare of the 1950s; and their involvement with the civil rights movement.

Genres: History, Spanish Civil War, Spain, War, Nonfiction, American

472 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 1994

Reviews

[KC Cui · Rating 4 out of 5]

the 1st third of the book was very similar to the previous book I read on the subject (Spain in Our Hearts) what was surprising was that when I got to the chapters where the Americans left Spain, there was still so much left... And then what followed was really something that merits the term odyssey. I liked how the author was able to depict all these different, contrasting postwar lives in politics, continued organizing, the arts, intrigue & disillusionment, while still following enough of the same threads from the beginning for there to be like a consistent emotional investment. My only criticism is tht I felt by the end that the war was less the formative moment for a generation of leftists and radicals' careers and political/personal convictions and more like it was something they overemphasized and blown up in their own memories because of almost a kind of narcissm. Which I don't think is the case but I came away with that a bit

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the story of the nearly 3,000 Americans who joined the International Brigades to fight on the anti-fascist Republican government of Spain during the Spanish Civil War, following the lives of many different people of diverse backgrounds before, during, and, for those who survived, after the war that turned out to be a precursor to the Second World War. Carroll interviewed hundreds of these "premature antifascists" (as the FBI would later refer to them) veterans and reconstructed their lives, debates, and controversies. This is the history of the Abraham Lincoln Battalion and what brought these idealistic fighters, most of whom were radicals and many associated with the Communist Party, to fight for the cause of Spain at a moment where Fascists seemed to be on their way to conquering the world.

The first part of the book details how the battalion (not brigade, despite the name) was formed, as mostly the Popular Front era Communist Party sought volunteers to answer the call of the Spanish Republic against the fascist rebels. They joined the diverse International Brigades fighting with the antifascist side, much like in recent years international volunteers flocked to the Kurdish YPG against the fascist-like ISIS. As the fighting continued and the American, British, and French governments not only cut off funds but specifically began forbidding foreigners from traveling to help Spain, many volunteers have to cross the Pyrenees to arrive in Barcelona and mobilize to the front. Carroll spares no details in the incredible casualty rates of the battalion early in the war, and the slog of war that kills nearly a third of all battalion members, with nearly all taking some kind of wound in their time there. Not only that, but the spirit of fighting on, despite the conditions and seemingly insurmountable odds as Italy and Germany pours resources into helping the fascist side. But, Carroll detailed the deserters, the particular pro-communist point of view of the battalion who viewed Trotskyists and Anarchists with suspicion especially after sectarian battles erupt amongst the Republican side. 

After the battle is lost, the second part of the book is what happens after the war is lost and the volunteers still in Spain arrive home. At first, and for a good couple decades, the newly formed organization, the Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade (VALB), mirrors many of the party-lines of the Communist Party, whom many still belonged to, taking the anti-imperialist neutralist position during the Nazi-Soviet Pact and then doing an about-face after the invasion of the Soviet Union. Even then, there are fierce debates within the group, and some leave the Communist Party and either join other groups or become individual anti-Communist leftists. Even in the early days, VALB struggled to bring all of the veterans under its umbrella, as it was noted by Steve Nelson, a veteran of not only the war but many different union campaigns, and estimates that roughly only a third were active at any given time. Many disappear into the safety of apoliticalness or inactivity, and indeed, a few more isolated even never realized that VALB existed until decades later when interviewed for the book. 

But the book, at its core, becomes a history of the VALB as an organization, as it faces government and military harassment in the pre-WWII days, but even during the war against fascism as suspicions of communists led many Spanish Civil War veterans to be marginalized in the military despite their obvious experience. They then face the brunt of the McCarthyist Red Scare, blacklisted and persecuted and forced to testify or go underground. Even after many left the Communist Party in the mid 1950s after the Hungarian invasion, the VALB frequented picketed Francoist Spanish diplomatic posts, and fruitlessly called on various Presidential administrations to cut off aid to Spain. They bridged to the New Left, eventually, by connecting Vietnam to Spain, and gained new respect after decades of isolation and persecution. While individuals were active as union organizers, writers, musicians, carpenters, and a host of others, many who remained politically active both at home and internationally, especially in the 1980s, when Reagan famously said after they frequently protested his arming of the Contras in Nicaragua that "most Americans supported the other [fascist] side" which was totally wrong.

This is a fascinating book. Carroll doesn't shy from the sectarian battles and arguments of the veterans, around Communism and loyalty to the party, in a fairly diverse group of fighters, that carried forward. Many lost their lives in Spain for what seemed a lost yet romantic cause, but the war that happened afterwards for the veterans who'd fought a valiant and true cause never really went away. I recognize some of the names from my other research or reading (Steve Nelson, William Herrick, Oliver Law, Harry Haywood, Milton Wolf, Delmer Berg), but many were new. I'm struck by the incredible depth that went into tracing the lives of each of the soldiers (or nurses in some cases), some of whom have been long dead and buried in Spanish soil. Indeed, the story of the Spanish Civil War will continue to captivate audiences, but what happened to those who volunteered to fight from far away and who survived is worth remembering as well.

[Jeff · Rating 4 out of 5]

Expected this book to be a history of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade's efforts in Spain. That was a small portion of the book. The main focus of the book is the individual volunteer. The author does a very good job of blending the volunteer's personal history with the times before during and after the war. They were the original ANTIFA. They were laborers, students, and intellectuals, most members of the US communist party. That affiliation marked these war veterans as subversives thru the following decades. Found it ironic, that as the US entered into WWII, these veterans struggled to join the armed forces. Once accepted, fought again to serve in theatre. Those that did, distinguished themselves in action against the Germans and Japanese. Following the war, they faced the full fury of the red scare. Their version of the VFW, the veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade was deemed a front for the communist party. Let no good deed go unpunished.

[Jerry · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 rating
heavy duty
very detailed, covers a very troubled period of history.
Much of the dialectic of the fascist and liberal views continue today.
One phase of the war is over but other continuing aspects of the war yet persist.

[Jo · Rating 5 out of 5]

As Carroll explains, the name 'Abraham Lincoln Brigade' is a misnomer. It was actually the Abraham Lincoln Battalion which fought against fascism in the International Brigades in defense of the Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War. This is a sympathetic and illuminating study of the men and a few women who put their lives on the line in Spain, detailing their motivations for going, their experiences in Spain, and their lives afterwards. Around 2,800 Americans fought in the battalion. A third of them never returned to the United States but are buried in Spanish soil. Many of the surviving veterans, Communist and non-Communist alike, suffered harassment from government agencies upon their return to the US, especially in the Red-baiting atmosphere of the Cold War years. Carroll traces the history of their organization, the Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade, and its relationship to the Communist Party USA, as well as the ongoing work the VALB did on behalf of Spanish refugees from Franco's dictatorship. What emerges is a portrait of anti-fascists who never gave up on Spain, who tenaciously fought against US recognition of the Franco regime, and who remained committed to principles of social justice and racial equality all their lives. Carroll interviewed dozens of veterans and had access to Soviet archives that were made available after the collapse of the Soviet Union. I had long wanted to find out about the Abraham Lincoln Battalion and this book has introduced me to some truly remarkable and brave people.

[Matt Fernwalt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Carroll provides an overview of the experiences of some 2,800 U.S. volunteers during and after the 1930s struggle between Loyalists and Republicans in Spain. Odyssey combines political, military, and intellectual history. Carroll analyzes the role of the U.S. Communist Party in organizing and leading the volunteers in Spain, as well as later divisions when some veterans rejected the party's positions.