‘In origins andoutcome, the Spanish Civil War was a Spanish and not a European affair’ - Discuss.

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'In origins and outcome, the Spanish Civil War was a Spanish and not a European affair.' Discuss.

The essay question concerned considers the nature and character of the Spanish civil war from its early development to the fall of Madrid on March 28 1938, effectively ending the conflict. In attempting to answer the essay question proficiently it is fundamental to first of all divide the assessment into two sections. The first segment aims to deal with the origins of the conflict, considering the extent of European intervention leading up to the outbreak of war. The second section is concerned with the development of the civil conflict, specifically concentrating on the disposition of European involvement. Almost seventy years after the Spanish Civil War there is no consistency in the historiography of events which many believe influenced the outbreak of the Second World War. A backward almost forgotten country became the focus of a world problem. Many believe 'the Spanish conflict was only the latest and fiercest battle in a European civil war which had been raging intermittently for the previous twenty years.1'Ardent debate persists with regards to not only the foreign weight on the preparations, process and outcome, but also towards the time, interests and the scale of foreign intervention. The reality of the matter is that intervention from the Great Powers had significant consequences on the process and outcome of the civil war.

In considering the extent of intervention with regards to the foundations of the Spanish conflict it is fundamental to determine Spain's early domestic position. 'Spain in 1930 was simultaneously a moribund monarchy, a country of uneven economic development, and a battleground of ardent political and intellectual crosscurrents'2. There existed a neo-feudal society with Spain's traditional ruling elite commanding the system. The majority of the population were living off the land with roughly half employed in agriculture. The great landowners held enormous power. 'In Estremadura, La Mancha and Andalucia, 7,000 landowners owned 15 million acres, the three richest grandees accounting for about 600,000 of them.3' The Catholic Church held a domineering position in all circles of |Spanish life. 'It was also estimated to have owned up to one-third of the total wealth of Spain'4. The ever obvious disparity of land and wealth began to produce a mounting polarisation of the population. Diminutive industrial advance combined with poor state of affairs in exports expanded the number of starving which in turn lead to increased migration to larger cities, in particular the industrial Barcelona. Anarchism became the principal power within the Spanish working class, converting all to the belief that 'freedom and mutual aid were the only foundation of a naturally ordered society'5. The establishment of the CNT (anarcho-syndicalist movement) illustrates the politically aware masses who welcomed the restructuring of society centred on self-managed industry and agriculture.

Following the failure of Primo de Rivera dictatorship, elections held on the 12 April 1931 witnessed gains from anti-monarchical candidates in all large towns apart from Cadiz, which confirmed that 'Old Spain' was inept in adjusting to the modern world. The second republic had been spawned without bloodshed and 'at a time when Spain had accumulated considerable industrial progress, but also at a time when the pace of progress had clearly been declining for a decade, even before the occurrence of the worst depression in modern times'6. The anticipation for change produced a strong victory for the coalition of Left Republicans and Socialist in June 1931 elections.

The Second Republic faced great tension over the issues of land reform, the power of the church, the army, and regional devolution. 'The centralist and authoritarian representative of old Spain regarded any attempt to tamper with the traditional structure of the nation as treason.7' The vigour of traditional Spain had begun scheming in opposition to the Republic within weeks of Alfonso's abdication. Alternatively, for the working classes the reform programme was not far-reaching enough with the government doing little to improve the living conditions of the worker and landless peasant. General elections on the 19th November 1933 produced a result shock for the Republic, resulting in a sway of supremacy to the right.

The return of the right produced the deconstruction of almost all the Republic's reforms. Labour laws were revoked causing an escalation in unemployment. Landowners and Employers rejoiced by evicting tenants, putting up rents, slashing wages, firing workers and ruthlessly crushing uprisings organised by CNT. An atmosphere of hostility prevailed; the powerfully charge rising in Asturia was portentous of events to come. The elections of 1936, elected the so-called Popular Front (a coalition of centre and left-wing parties, republicans, socialist, communists, and the POUM) organised under Manuel Anzana. 'The popular front was only some 150,000 votes ahead out of nearly 10 million cast'8. The Spanish electorate was virtually split down the middle, and the leftist Popular Front coalition scarcely overcame rightist parties. Traditional Spain rejected the Cortes and began to assign an extra-parliamentary campaign. The most noticeable and dynamic was the Falange which was subsidized by the Italian government. The menacing actions of the anarchist and far left groups threatened the right with a sense of revolutionary change.

Frustrated with the rights failure to gain power through political means, the army, under Generals Sanjurjo, Mola, and Franco, led a rebellion of "Nationalists" in July against the Republic. In brief, the Republic failed, and as a consequence, both sides appealed for assistance from abroad.

The evidence seems to indicate that the whole affair had been typically Spanish. The foreign influence on the outbreak of the revolt appears to have been minimal. The history of origins indicates that civil war was a consequence of the deep polarisation in the population.

The next phase of the assessment aims to analyse the influence of foreign intervention in the process of the Civil war. The most effective way of assessing European intervention will be to examine in detail the stance and actions of each Great Power on a separate basis. 'In 1936, twenty-seven European nations formally adhered to non-intervention policy regarding the Spanish conflict9', however this proved to be negated in time. All the key European powers followed different and equally contradictory policies. 'Each great power responded to non-intervention in the way that best agreed with the policy it was already following: the fascist powers with instinctive aggression, the democracies with caution'10. Geographically Spain assumed a very valuable standing. She possessed vital naval bases on the Mediterranean, Atlantic and Balearic Islands. In addition she held large Iron ore and bauxite resources which would prove very beneficial for a war campaign.
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Hitler was not interested in territorial expansion, but in economic, military and strategic, and alliance matters, although he put the ideological factor to the forefront. Hitler decided to support the Nationalists and meet Franco's inquiry for transport planes on 25 July 1936, along the advice of Hermann Goering, the German minister for war and the officer of the 'Vier-Jahresplan'.

The war offered Germany the possibility to test the emerging airforce, with regards to a possible Second World War. In Spain, Goering saw a playground for the German army. In economic matters, the German fascists were particularly ...

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