The International Brigades

Introduction

                     

The Spanish Civil War, which lasted from 1936-1939, is often thought of as a prelude to the Second World War, a testing ground used by the Great Powers in the great war to come. Spain had seen some major political, social and economic turmoil during the first few decades of the 20th century. Catalonian and Basque nationalism, rise of socialist and anarchist groups, a costly war in North Africa, a short lived dictatorship from 1923-30 led by General Primo de Rivera, end of monarchy, failure of second republic  all contributed to the turmoil. After gaining majority by leftist coalition in 1936 election, the situation became unstable politically, and anarchy broke out in many parts of the country , with the burning of churches and violence on the streets. The right became convinced that they were in the midst if a revolution and began to plan a counter-revolution with the military. The murder of a prominent member of the CEDA (a right wing party) on the 13th of July set off the Civil War .
          
                The country was soon split between Nationalist and Republican (Popular Front) strongholds. North Africa and northern Spain were soon under Nationalist control. Already in the early stages of the war, General Franco and his force were transported with the help of tge Germans and Italians over from N. Africa to Spain. Without their help , Franco would not have been able to move his troops. Italy and Germany were main backers of Nationalist Spain, as the stated some ideological similarities, and Spain provided good testing grounds for their new weaponry and tactics.

Western Democracies and Non-Intervention Policies

          

  The Western Democracies involved in the Civil War were mainly fueled with motives in regards to the benefits of their own countries.
               
        In France, the popular front was seen as a natural ally to Spain.However, it did not offer much support because it still wanted to remain close allies with UK who wanted to prevent the possible confrontation with Italy and Germany. Initially, the French Prime Minister, Leon Blun, agreed to help the Popular Front by sending artillery and aircraft to their aid. However, after coming under pressure from the British and the more right-winged members of his cabinet, Leon Blum withdraw his support from popular front.
            Britain, led by a conservative government in 1936, feared the spread of international communism, and was partially sympathetic to the Nationalist uprising in Spain. The Labour party also originally supported the policy of non-intervention, but when it became apparent that Italy and Germany were determined to help the Nationalist triumph, they urged for British aid to be sent to the Popular Front.
However, Britain did not send any aid to Spain.
            Britain and France set up a Non-Intervention Neutrality Act in 1936, which was to deny both participants military aid, even the legitimate government. The committee consisted of 27 members including Italy, Germany, and the USSR, which all sent military aid to the warring parties in the civil war. Initially , Hitler tried to disguise his aid to Nationalist forces by sending them via Portugal.

Soviet Union

              J. Briones. The Republican Left Thank the Russian People for Help.

         

  Comintern (Communist International) had control over the Communist Party in Spain. The Spanish Communist Party had 38,000 members in spring 1936; increased to 200,000 at the end of 1936. Subsequently, the membership grew up to 300,000 by March 1937.

         The motive behind Stalin's aid to Spain was to haul the progress of the war and to weaken Italy and Germany so the USSR would gain military advantage when a possible war between USSR and the two nations occurs. Stalin was worried by the spread of fascism in Europe and the thread it posed to the Soviet Union , was willing to send aid in order to stop the Nationalists from gaining power.The Communist takeover of Spain largely contributed of the collapse of Republican Government. The Comminst party required total loyalty to the party and accordance to authorities in Moscow. In fact, such party accordance and advantage was what the Republicans lacked. Due to deprivations caused by war, the Republicans lost the momentum and will to continue on.

                       The USSR was the main supporter and also the biggest provider of military material to the Republican forces.During the war , the USSR sent 1000 aircrafts, 350 tanks , 1500 artillery pieces, 300 armoured cars, 15000 machine guns, 30,000 automatic firearms, 30,000 mortars, 500,000 rifles and 30,000 tons of ammunition. Stalin expected to be paid in gold for the aid , as Spain happened to have the world's fourth largest gold reserves, were shipped to the Soviet Union during the conflict.

Germany

                                           Franco and Hitler, 1936

        

       The friendship between the Franco and Hitler started from the 25th of July 1936, when the Hitler agreed to support the nationalists. Immediately after the request, Hitler sent 20 transport planes to Franco. Later in the war , he provided the Nationalists with artillery , small arms, tanks and vehicles. Most importantly, he offered full support by offering the Nationalists the help of the German airforce.

                      Hitler had several far sight policies , which he was able to pursue by aiding Franco's Nationalist forces.The notion of a third fascist or fascist friendly power on France border appealed to him. Hitler also saw an oppurtunity to move closer to Mussolini and Italy by aiding the Nationalists. His aim was to keep Fascist Italy and Britain and France at loggerheads, and , therefore, secure a relatively powerful ideological and military ally. Hitler was also interested insome of the raw materials a Spain under Franco could provide for the German war industry, such as iron, copper, mercury, and pyrites.

                         "A total of 19000 Germans served in the Spanish Civil War. Of these , 298 were lost, with 173 being killed by the enemy. This included 102 aircrews , 27 fighter pilots and 21 anti-aircraft crew. A large number were killed in accidents and other died of illness. the Condor Legion lost 72 aircrafts to enemy section. Another 160 were lost in clying accidents."

                     Germany provide much more than Condor Legion. The Condor Legion represented their direct intervention in the war; the Condor Legion had no control over the armour Germany provided to Spain, which was under control of Spanish officers and staffs. The Germans also provided much of the training staff for newly arrived equipment and for Spanish artillery. It also provided modern aircrafts ( such as ME-109) to the nationalist front which were superior to Soviet aircraft provided to the Republicans.

Italy

             Oliver. The claw of the Italian invader. (Madrid City Council, 1937) 

Mussolini had already had contact with right-wing groups in Spain prior to the war, and had, in 1934, promised immediate aid in the case of a of an uprising. By aiding Nationalist Spain, Mussolini worsened relations between Italy and the western democracies, and was driven closer to Hitler. The western democracies had still hoped that they may improve ties with Italy after the Abyssinian War, but intervention in the Spanish Civil War torpedoed the notion entirely.

As a whole, Mussolini supported the Nationalists from before the Spanish Civil War. At the outbreak of war, Mussolini made a secret agreement with Franco in November 1936. This agreement stated that Italy would have Franco's support in the event of a war with France. In return, Mussolini promised to send aid to the monarchists during the Spanish Civil War.

                         As a result, the government of Italy helped the nationalist forces in Spain by sending resources and personel from the different Italian army corps. Together, they became known as the CTV (Corpo Truppe Volontarie) sending both military volunteers, aircraft and tanks. By 1937, a total of 50,000 Italians were fighting for the Nationalists. By the end of the Spanish Civil War, a total of approximately 75,000 Italians fought in Spain for the Nationalists.

                        However research show that Italy did not join the Nationalist's cause immediately when the war started.  The contacts with Italy which gained their aid during the initial period of war were established after the alzamiento.  The figures for the war material sent to the Nationalists during the war are also terribly wrong. In February 1937 the Italian CTV (Corpo Truppe Volontarie numbered about 49,700 strong; this force was frustrated and defeated at the Battle of Guadalajara. Furthermore, the mechanization offered by Italy during the war was completely inferior compared to Soviet armor (as were the Panzer Is sent by Germany).






  

The International Brigades

 

        Internationalists, unite with Spanish people. (International Brigades, 1937)



          Apart from the aid sent by the Soviet Union, relatively little real military aid came through to Republican Spain, except  in the form of the International Brigades, made up of volunteers who arrived mostly for ideological reasons.  The International Brigades, formed by a the Soviet Union's Comintern, composed of military volunteers supporting the Republicans. The group of volunteers were anti-fascists, spanning from anarchists, socialists and communists. Over the course of the Spanish Civil War, a total of 35,000 men from 53 nations volunteered for the International Brigades. However, there were never more than 800 volunteers present at one time.
                  The recruitment of volunteers of the International Brigades was organized in Paris. Here, the volunteers were organized and separated. Despite their claims of having the volunteers prepared as "properly trained menw ith good rifles, a well-equipped corps", the men who went in to war, were often defenseless, merely knowing the standard procedures of marching and turning.