In July 1936, Francisco Franco led the first revolt that sparked the start of the Spanish Civil war. After the election of February 16, 1936 and the election of Republican Manuel Azana, things began to heat up between the Republican and Nationalist side of Spain. This was mainly because of the controversial new reforms Manual wanted to bring to Spain. Some of these reforms were making free speech and divorce legal, limiting the influence the Church had in the government, shutting down religiously run schools and giving women more rights.
The Fascists of Spain were made up of Nationalists, while the Socialists and Communists supported the Republican government. Over the course of three years, the streets of Spain were ravaged by war, and many countries choose to stay neutral and not intervene because of high tensions in Europe over the rising power of Adolf Hitler. The countries that chose to become involved were Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany on the Nationalist side, and the USSR and Mexico aided the Republicans. While many world leaders chose to turn a blind eye, people from around the world were inspired to travel to Spain and volunteer themselves TO fight, hoping to make an impact on the war in support of the Republicans. A multitude of these volunteers were believed to be Canadians, as there were up to 1700 volunteers, but many went unrecorded
After 1937, these Canadians had to be smuggled into Spain because of the the Foreign Enlistment Act, passed by the Canadian government in 1937 to prevent Canadians from joining the Spanish war. In the early stages of the war, Canadians joined an American Battalion of the International Brigades, called the Abraham Lincoln Battalion. This was before the Canadians established the International Brigades Mackenzie-Papineau Battalion. It was named after two Canadian leaders of the Rebellions of 1837, William Lyon Mackenzie and Louis-Joseph Papineau.
127 our experts are availableright now
An important individual in the war was Canadian physician Norman Bethune. He was along the front lines as a Surgeon and played a huge part in raising funds and support for the Republicans in Spain. September 23,1938 was the last day in Spain for a majority of the Canadians as Juan Negrin, who was Prime Minister at the time, withdrew all international volunteers in an attempt to persuade Nationalists to withdraw Italian and German troops. This attempt failed and shortly after, Madrid, one of the last Republican cities and the most important due to it being the capital, fell to Nationalist troops. When the Canadian volunteers returned home they were severely disrespected and mistreated by the Canadian government, because they had gone against their wishes by volunteering. Many were almost put in jail, but to the average Canadian in 1939, they came home heroes. The brave actions of these Canadians may have been swept under the rug by the Canadian government, but they played a large and important part in developing Canada’s political and personal identity.
The Spanish Civil war is very similar to other conflict that is happening in today’s world, an example of this being the Syrian civil war. This horrific war has been ongoing since March 2011, and many countries do not want to involve themselves too deeply because of it being risky politically. Learning about the effects and impact of the Spanish civil war on Spain is important to understand how to approach countries that are divided in modern times, and how they can be supported better. Examining the outcome of extreme Fascism and dictatorship on the Spanish society can be seen as very influential in today’s governments and political parties. The Spanish Civil war has had a much bigger impact on today’s world than people may realize, and the outcome of the war has motivated many to take a stand against Fascism in politics in the present day. Some of these defenders are even the descendants of Republican Spaniards and volunteers from around the world, and are following in the footsteps of their ancestors in the fight against Fascism. The people of Spain went through a tremendously difficult time during the war, but keeping the history alive and teaching the younger generations what happened and how to prevent this from happening again, keeps Spain a strong and united front for the future years.
Learning about this war and Spain’s past history is very interesting to me because I will be living in Spain for much of 2019 and 2020. Understanding how and why Spain is the country it is today is and seeing how a society different than mine has changed throughout time will be an important part of my exchange. This war may not have directly impacted my life, but to many Spanish girls it has shaped their future. Women played a large part in the civil war and were on the front lines alongside the men. After Francisco Franco won the the war and became Prime Minister on April 1, 1939, mothers, sisters and wives of executed Republican men were publicly humiliated and many murdered. The most common punishments were rape, murder and torture, their heads were shaved, and politically active women were imprisoned for many years. The women that lived through these ordeals suffered physical and psychological problems, and did not have a source of income to support their families while their husbands were dead or in prison.
On November 20, 1975 Francisco Franco died, ending his military dictatorship that lasted 37 years. The people of Spain have since moved on and the government is a Parliamentary Constitutional Monarchy, the Prime Minister is Pedro Sánchez and the Spanish Socialist Workers Party is in power.
References
- https://www.britannica.com/event/Spanish-Civil-War
- https://www.bl.uk/world-war-one/articles/the-spanish-civil-war
- http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/1931893.stm
- http://www.historyplace.com/worldhistory/genocide/stalin.htm
- http://canadiancrc.com/onv/international_brigades.aspx
- http://www.spanishcivilwar.ca/topics/participation-canadiansw.htm
