Spanish Civil War: Was defeat for the Republic inevitable - Essay Example

Spanish Civil War: "Was defeat for the Republic inevitable?" Introduction On 14 April 1931, the Second Republic was declared in Spain ending the monarchy. Five years later military uprisings in Spanish Morocco and the major cities of Spain sought to oust the Popular Front government elected in 1934. The government armed the population and a coup was prevented but civil war broke out. Finally, on April 1, with Madrid, Barcelona and Valencia in Nationalist hands, President Francisco Franco (a general) declared the war over and himself head of state. The end of the war was followed by vicious reprisals against Republicans. Further as Paul Preston notes the battle has continued in the historiography of the period. The following discussion will examine the question whether or not the defeat of the Republic was inevitable. The sources for the analysis will include a variety of primary sources including a painting, a novel, a journal, and a newspaper article. Secondary sources will be employed to add context to these primary sources. Together this historical evidence will be mined for the causes of the Republican defeat in the spring of 1939. The conclusion will then return to the inevitability of the Nationalist victory. Images, Accounts and Icons Comparing the aerial bombing of Guernica to the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki or the Allied firebombing that engulfed Dresden, Oxford Professor Raymond Carr describes it as merely a minor act of vandalism. However,viewed in the context of 1936 it was a terrifying, revolutionary and effective operation. According to Preston, “Guernica was the first total destruction of an undefended civilian target by aerial bombardment.” (Preston, 2006, 5) Precise casualty figures remain a subject of debate amongst historians but on the seventieth anniversary of the attack the BBC summarized historical opinion, “The figures for the number of casualties in the bombing are still disputed, but most historians think between 200 and 250 people were killed and many hundreds wounded. “ (BBC, 2007) Also, Guernica was the historic capital of the Basque nation and as such its destruction was designed to terrorize the Basque and undermining their resistance to the Nationalist forces. A second element of Prestons description of the event is also significant. Guernica was attacked by the Condor Legion, German aircraft and aircrew seconded to the Nationalist forces to aid in their victory and gain experience in aerial bombardment. Simply put, they were military professionals. Technologically, the Republicans could not match them. Guernica had no anti-aircraft defenses and the Republicans were unable to field an air force capable of attacking the raiders and disrupting the waves of bombers before they reached Guernica. Technologically, the Republican forces were not as advanced as their Nationalist opponents. The same was true on the ground. The Nationalist forces were equipped with numerous tanks provided, again, by Germany and also Italy. The Republicans had few tanks and few antitank weapons. The Republican forces were outgunned. The novel For Whom the Bell Tolls also captures this technological disparity. When El SordoSordo and his troop of bandits are trapped on a hill they are able to hold off their mounted attackers. However, the stalemate is inevitably a defeat for El Sordos band as they helplessly await the Republicans use of mortars or aircraft to destroy them. Eventually, and inevitably, the máquina arrive and aerial bombardment destroys El Sordos band. Again, unchallenged technologically superiority results in a Nationalist victory. The military and technological unsophistication of the Nationalists opponents is also apparent in the respect they accord to Robert Jordan and the explosives that he is there to plant. They treat his explosives and detonator with the awe and reverence usually reserved for religious relics. In technological terms the Republicans were outgunned by their Nationalist opponents. The Nationalists were also far better organized than the Republicans. El Sordo has no political awareness or interest. He does not support the Republican cause he simply fights the Nationalists because they have healthier horses that are more desirable as plunder. His interest is purely personal. He is unaware of, and uninterested in larger strategic plans and objectives. On the other hand, the Nationalist forces were largely members of the Spanish armed forces, military professionals trained in strategy and tactics, and accustomed to following orders and military discipline. Their foreign advisers, from Italy and Germany were also military professionals also , experienced in questions of strategy and tactics, and accustomed to the rigid, hierarchical discipline of an army in the field. They were motivated to spread the fascist revolution and professionally committed to experimenting with, and conducting, military operations with an eye on efficacy. Their Republican opponents were idealist and emotionally committed but they were a disparate group with diverse aims and objectives. In 1937 the Republicans attempted to reorganize their forces along more military lines (militarization) and met opposition from many of their constituent units. The article written by an uncontrollable anarchist entitled “Day Mournful and Overcast...” is beautifully written but at the same time captures the resistance to militarisation from the anarchists within the Republican ranks. To be understood it requires but one, admittedly long, quotation: There is no hierarchy, there are no superiors, there are no harsh orders, but rather camaraderie, goodness and friendship among comrades, a joyful life amidst the disasters of war.... But when you find yourself surrounded by officers and everything is hierarchy and orders; when in your hands you hold the wretched soldiers pay, scarcely enough to support your family in the rearguard, while the lieutenant, captain, commander and colonel are all receiving three, four, ten times as much - without contributing one whit more enthusiasm, knowledge or courage - life has a bitter taste to it, for you realise that this is no Revolution, but a few individuals taking advantage of an unfortunate situation at the expense of the people. (An Uncontrollable, 1937) It can come as no surprise that the author uses the nom de plume, an Uncontrollable and, along with his comrades, opposed militarization to the extent of taking up arms against the Republicans sent to militarise them. The Nationalists had the support of the German and Italian armed forces. The Republicans also had foreign supporters who were willing to come to Spain to fight to defend the Republic. However, few had the professionalism of their German and Italian counterparts amongst the Republicans. From the United States came 2,800 Americans proudly dubbed the Abraham Lincoln Brigade. From Canada came the Mackenzie-Papineau Brigade, named after the leaders of the 1837 rebellion in British North America. Volunteers also came from the United Kingdom, among them the peripatetic, brilliant but less than healthy, George Orwell. They were all dedicated and courageous but they could not match the professionalism and technological superiority of the Nationalists German and Italian supporters. The Soviet Union did send professional soldiers to support the Republican cause, but they were decidedly inferior to the Republicans foreign supporters. First, the Red Army was still reeling from the purges and show trials held earlier in the decade that had seen some of their best and brightest sentenced to death or exile. Also, these Stalinist exporters of the one true revolution spent as much time rooting out heretics in “sordid power struggles”within the Republican ranks as they did fighting fascism. (Preston, 2006, 6) Also, the very foreign government (Soviet) support that the Republicans had labeled them as questionable to the other foreign governments that might have supported them. The British actually facilitated General Francos trip from the Canary Islands to Spanish Morocco at the beginning of the military revolt. France, despite being led by a left-wing coalition Popular Front government, adopted a policy of non-intervention to preserve its unity. Thus, the Republicans were largely abandoned by geographically proximate allies who, ideologically could have supported their struggle against fascism. While governments dithered the Republicans did generate widespread support amongst artists, writers and intellectuals. As already noted both George Orwell and Ernest Hemingway wrote about the Republican struggle sympathetically. However, the most iconic support for the Republicans and expression of outrage at Nationalist depredations was an image, Pablo Picassos oil painting entitled simply, “Guernica”. The painting was huge, a mural, measuring three meters tall and almost eight meters wide. It was commissioned by the Republican government of Spain and first publicly exhibited at the “Spanish display at the Exposition Internationale des Arts et Techniques dans la Vie Moderne (1937) Paris International Exposition in the 1937 Worlds Fair in Paris. Guernica. Oil on canvas. 349 x 776cm/ 137.5 x 306 inches. Source: http://www.artnewsblog.com/famous-paintings/guernica/index.htm. Picasso himself was loath to comment on the precise meaning of any of his works, but late in his life, while the military still governed Spain he made one of his few direct and linear comments on “Guernica”: "These are animals, massacred animals. Thats all as far as Im concerned.... My whole life as an artist has been nothing more than a continuous struggle against reaction and the death of art. In the picture I am painting — which I shall call Guernica — I am expressing my horror of the military caste which is now plundering Spain into an ocean of misery and death." (“Guernica... Questions of Meaning”) To its creator “Guernica” spoke to “an ocean of misery and death.” Simple words from a rarely straightforward man. While critics and scholars may debate endlessly the precise meaning of the javelin in the horse in the centre of the picture it would be redundant to question the helplessness and agony of the dismembered and distorted representations of humanity, and the broken swords in their hands, in this iconic image. “Guernica” fully captures the physical agony and psychological shock of the first total destruction of an undefended civilian target by aerial bombardment.” (Preston, 2006, 5) Conclusions The Republicans were supported by artists, intellectuals and writers throughout the world. From across the globe committed foreign nationals flocked to the Republican banner. Within Spain anarchists, socialists, communists and Basque and Catalonian nationalists fought and died to defend the Republic. Regardless, the Nationalists defeated the Republicans and exacted vicious revenge in the years that followed. Does this mean that the Republican defeat was inevitable? Not necessarily. However, it does demonstrate that in the twentieth century an organized, disciplined and technologically superior armed force assisted by qualified, foreign military advisers could not be stopped by an armed force that was ill-organized, frequently divided and technologically inferior despite its dedication and commitment and the widespread support of artists and intellectuals across the globe. References British Broadcasting Corporation. (April 27, 2007). “The Legacy of Guernica”. Web. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6583639.stm. Hemingway, Ernest. (originally published 1940) For Whom the Bell Tolls. Orwell, George. (originally published 1938). Homage to Catalonia. Picasso, Pablo. (painted 1937). Guernica. Oil on canvas. 349 x 776cm/ 137.5 x 306 inches. http://www.artnewsblog.com/famous-paintings/guernica/index.htm. Preston, P. (2006). The Spanish Civil War. Reaction, Revolution and Revenge. 3rd ed, revised and updated. London: HarperCollins. Public Broadcasting System (PBS), Treasures of the World. “Guernica... Questions of Meaning”. Web. http://www.pbs.org/treasuresoftheworld/a_nav/guernica_nav/gnav_level_1/5meaning_guerfrm.html. Uncontrollable (pseudonym). (March 1937) “A day Mournful and Overcast...” Reprinted from Iron Column. Web. http://flag.blackened.net/revolt/spain/iron.html. Read More