Final Paper....... Finally. (No pun intended)

THE INTERNATIONAL BRIGADES IN THE SPANISH CIVIL WAR

Although the International Brigades comprised an interesting and historically significant component of the Spanish Civil War, few official documents exist as a result of official national policies, the wide variety of languages of participating volunteer fighters, and the generally tumultuous history of Europe during the decades of the 1930’s and 1940’s. Estimates of participation and contributions vary widely pointing to the overall deficiencies in historical records. This is quite unfortunate because, in fact, the records which do exist show that the Spanish Civil War drew 35,000 volunteers from more than 50 countries to support the Spanish Republic.

The Spanish Civil War was waged between the Republicans and the Nationalists from July 1936 to April 1939. Fraser M. Ottanelli of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archives reported that the conflict broke out in July 1936 in Morocco where Spanish army garrisons disarmed loyal Republican Officers and declared the region for the Rebels. This group of right-wing generals proclaimed themselves to be the new authority. The revolt quickly spread across the Strait of Gibraltar to the mainland areas of Mallorca, Old Castile, Navarre, Aragon and South Andalusia.

The uprising was primarily supported by the large landowners of Spain, the clergy and wealthy members of the Catholic Church, and some financiers and industrialists because they felt threatened by the elected Communist government's plans for reform. The nationalist generals controlled some of the most effective and competent units of the Spanish army. Helen Graham in The Spanish Civil War explained that in the early stages of the war, the level of support for the nationalists varied by region, but the country quickly divided into distinct zones. The rebellion tended to fail in large urban areas with organized labor movements that supported progressive Republican reform. Southern Spain with the high concentration of landless peasants and the northeast seacoast that held strong anti-centralist sentiments also remained Republican. Rural northern and western Spain supported the military coup of the Nationalists. However, splintered areas of loyalty were scattered throughout Spain.

Only seven days into the coup, international intervention became a factor in the conflict. Both Nationalists and Republicans received help from abroad. From the earliest days, foreign fighters played key roles in support of the rebel Spanish Nationalist army. Graham stated that units of the Army of Africa, comprised of the Spanish Foreign Legion and Moroccan troops, crossed the Strait of Gibraltar and arrived in southern Spain throughout the summer months. According to the British Broadcasting System (BBC), full divisions of Italian troops fought on the rebel Nationalist side. Hitler contributed German aircraft, tanks, artillery and communications equipment, along with the crews needed to operate these contributions. German and Italian ships terrorized the Spanish southern and eastern coastline against Republican shipping.

The Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archives reported that the Republican army had few friends, but Czechoslovakia and Mexico did send arms. The Soviet Union provided the most effective support through tanks and aircraft. Thousands of citizens from many countries and political parties arrived in Spain. Exiles from Germany, Italy and East European countries, driven from their own countries by dictatorship, were the first to arrive.

John Simkins of Spartacus Educational noted that many of the volunteers who joined the Republican forces were fighters experienced in fighting against fascism and had personal scores to settle. The largest contingents came from France, Germany, Poland and Italy. Additional volunteers were from England, Ireland, Scandinavia, Hungry, Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia. A smaller but significant number came from the United States, Canada, Mexico, Cuba, South America, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand. Most served in the International Brigades and the international medical service. Women were also active supporters of the International Brigades, serving in Medical Units.

The British were well represented in the International Brigade. Bill Alexander in Memorials of the Spanish Civil War explained that even though Britain officially declared a position of neutrality, young and idealistic Britons were drawn to fight against the forces of the dictator, Francisco Franco. Although an exact figure cannot be assessed because of the Nonintervention Agreement of the British Conservative Government, the Spanish Civil War drew an estimated 2,400 British volunteers into the International Brigade. Because keeping records and names was dangerous and difficult under British law, volunteers entered Paris for “no passport” weekends where they enlisted in the International Brigades.

British volunteers came from all areas of the British Empire, mostly from industrial areas. They were accustomed to the heavy labor and discipline of working in factories and pits. Alexander also reported that British intellectuals, academics, and writers played a small but significant role in the Spanish Civil War. They had deep abhorrence for the burning of books in Nazi Germany, persecution of individuals, and the philosophy of fascism. They had the means to go to Spain to use their talents to sway the world for the Republican cause. Famous author and journalist George Orwell was one such individual. Orwell, a committed socialist, went to Spain in December 1936 to report on the Spanish Civil War, but soon joined the struggle against the rebel Nationalist Army and became a member of the Lenin Division in Barcelona.

Nobel prizewinner, American author Ernest Hemingway also covered the Spanish Civil War. As described by the Teachers' Virtual School, a part of the Association of Teachers, Hemingway went to Madrid in February 1937 to report on the Spanish Civil War. There he spent most of his time with the International Brigades. His writings advocated international support for the Popular Front Government of the Republicans. In March 1938, Hemingway wrote the play The Fifth Column promoting the cause of the Republicans.

The Swedish Academy for the Nobel Prize in Literature notes that afret the war, Hemingway wrote his famous For Whom the Bell Tolls which deals with Republican partisans. In other works after the war, Hemingway wrote about the role of the International Brigade:

The dead sleep cold in Spain tonight. Snow blows through the olive groves, sifting against the tree roots. Snow drifts over the mounds with small headboards.

For our dead are a part of the earth of Spain now and the earth of Spain can never die. Each winter it will seem to die and each spring it will come alive again. Our dead will live with it forever.

Over 40,000 volunteers from 52 countries flocked to Spain between 1936 and 1939 to take part in the historic struggle between democracy and fascism known as the Spanish Civil War.

Five brigades of international volunteers fought on behalf of the democratically elected Republican (or Loyalist) government. Most of the North American volunteers served in the unit known as the 15th brigade, which included the Abraham Lincoln battalion, the George Washington battalion and the (largely Canadian) Mackenzie-Papineau battalion. All told, about 2,800 Americans, 1,250 Canadians and 800 Cubans served in the International Brigades. Over 80 of the U.S. volunteers were African-American. In fact, the Lincoln Battalion was headed by Oliver Law, an African-American from Chicago, until he died in battle.

The idea of an international force of volunteers to fight for the Republic was initiated by French Community Party leader Maurice Thorez. With the support of Joseph Stalin, an international recruiting center for the International Brigades was established in September 1936 in Paris and a training base at Albercete in Spain. Simkins further reported that fighters were usually smuggled in groups from Paris over the Pyrenees and then taken to the International Brigade headquarters at Albacete. There they were processed and divided up by nationality into the different battalions that comprised the Spanish Republican Army's International Brigades.

The International Brigades provided Communist countries the opportunity of supporting the Spanish Republican Army without intervening directly or risking alienation of Britain and France, both of whom had declared non-intervention status in order to limit foreign involvement in the war. Communist leaders also seized the occasion to counter German and Italian help for the rebels. Communist International (ComIntern), an international Communist organization dedicated to the overthrow of the international bourgeoisie and for the creation of an international Soviet republic, recruited and organized the International Brigades. They seized their opportunity to try to establish a stronghold in Spain.

The Spanish Civil War served as a lesson in the international context in which future wars would be fought. The conflict resounded around Europe and Britain as a symbol for the struggle of two world views that is still playing out today. People from countries who valued democracy saw Fascism as a deplorable menace that had to be crushed. They saw themselves as having the obligation to defend the Spanish Republic from the savage aggressor or the ideology would eventually crush all democratic countries. Defending Spain was a matter of self-preservation for all free people. Franco and the Nationalists represented the new Fascist world order. Hitler saw Spain as a testing-ground for Germany's newest weapons and tactics that he would use during World War II. The Spanish Civil War showed the world how airplanes could be used to bomb cities and this strategy received the attention of the world via the news media. Propaganda was a powerful force that drew attention to the drama of the conflict as portrayed by the respective cause. The International Brigade was a signpost of how future wars would be fought – a system of allies and coalitions as evidenced today in Iraq.


Condor Legion Forces of Germans & Italians




French members of the International Brigade (Madrid, 1937)




Spanish Civil War Posters
Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archives
http://www.alba-valb.org/

http://www.alba-valb.org/curriculum/index.php?page=images&special=on&start1=1

Seville: 23 June, 2007

I'm pretty sure if you wanted to compare Seville to any town in the USA, that town would have to be Phoenix, Arizona. I can't remember having ever sweat as much as I did in Seville, in any other place in the world except Phoenix and surrounding areas. I looked at a thermometer that was on a light up board, and it was something like 33 degrees Celcius. I have no idea exactly how hot that is in Farenheit, but I can tell you that its a lot hotter than San Antonio. I'd made the ungodly choice of wearing a black t-shirt to go walking about town, and 30 seconds after stepping off that bus I was regretting it immensely. Never again will I wear a black t-shirt in Seville; providing I ever actually go there again. I really doubt I will ever go back. That town was much too hot for my liking. I may be from Texas, but I hate hot weather. It makes you sweaty, sticky, and smelly. I don't really have a problem so much with being smelly, but sweaty and sticky, now that an entirely different matter. I love cold weather. For me, winter is the greatest time of year.

Seville, it was like someone had just burped in your face. It smelled bad, and it was really hot. It felt like my friend Travis had just burped in my face. I know what you're thinking, "How does this kid know what it feels like to be burped on in the face?", you obviously don't know anything about the very weird people I hang out with. We get our laughs from making each other as uncomfortable as possible... and cracking jokes about the dumbest things.

Sorry for ranting, I'll get back on topic now. When we arrived in Seville, the whole town had that Arizona ghost town feel. There was no one walking around the streets, it was dusty and hot, and it was entirely too quiet. All you needed was some tumbleweeds blowing across the street and the sound track to "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly" and you'd like you were in the scene of an old Western movie - providing you pretended there were no cars parked on the side of the road.

Torremolinos: 22 June, 2007

When we got to the dreary looking building that looked like some sort of Eastern European, Post-communist apartment block, we off-loaded all of our stuff we began to have doubts about this place. The beach was nice, and the air smelled like it should in any coastal city - salty. We walked into the first big room and waited to be handed our keys and meal cards. The whole scene had the same feeling as that of walking into a mental hospital. The floors were old dirty tile, the walls were this ugly off-whiteish paint, and the lights were very dim. The whole building smelled old, like a nursing home, except it didn't make me want to vomit.

We were handed our keys and we each walked to our respective rooms. My first impression of my room was "Hey, this isn't too bad. It has a nice view." This impression lasted all of another 5 seconds until I looked around a wall and saw my bed. Actually, I need to clarify, it wasn't really a bed. It was more like a fold out couch, but instead of being folded out, it was folded up. The couch didn't fold out into a bed like the couches back in the USA do, it folded upwards into a bunk bed. Upon seeing my bed, I believe the first words out of my mouth were "You have got to be s****ing me!" I tossed my bags on the floor next to this beast of Spanish engineering and climbed onto the top bunk. The mattress was hard and uncomfortable, the pillow was so soft that my head risked being swallowed hole if I lay onto it. This wasn't too bad, I guess, but the worst part of this bunk was that it wasn't made for a 6foot 1inch tall body. I pulled myself as far to the front end as I could, but my feet still stuck off the edge. In hind sight, I suppose it could have been worse. The bed could have had a footboard and I could have had to curl up my legs in order to fit, but there wasn't a footboard so I was able to allow my feet to dangle off the edge.

Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. I guess this round went to the dreary looking building that I'd be calling home for the next two nights.

Pamplona & Barcelona: June 16th and 17th, 2007

Pamplona was a really cool city. I got to see where they do the running of the bulls, and the place where they have the bullfights. A couple of us walked into where they have the bullfights, and some guy jumped onto a forklift and chased us back out into the street and then started yelling at us - we had no idea what he was saying though. Met up with Sarah and her group and we spent the next hour or so just walking around the back streets doing some shopping for people. Then we met up with the group, boarded the bus and drove another 4 or 5 hours to Barcelona.

Barcelona was a very interesting city to say the least. The first night we got there Real Madrid and Barcelona were playing for the Spanish league cup (Those are Spanish soccer teams for those of you who don´t know much about European soccer), so we weren´t allowed to leave the hotel because rumors were spread that if Barcelona lost than there´d be a riot. The next day we toured around the city for a couple of hours, and then we were allowed out on our own to walk around and shop. That was fun, and I got to see alot of the downtown area, which was really pretty.

That night I decided to go bar hopping with some friend since I hadn´t gone out in the last few night (I was feeling sick, remember?). We hit up an Irish pub where I had a Guinness, and then we walked around looking for other places. We found a few, but they were all really expensive. Some of the group decided to go back early, so they took a cab, but I decided to stay out a little longer. Those of us who stayed went back to the Irish pub for about another hour, and then one of my roomates and I decided to take a taxi back to the hotel.

Ok, this is where the story gets really really funny- assuming you have a very childish sense of humor. As my roomate and I were walking up Las Ramblas (one of the main shopping\bar streets) some woman came up and grabbed me and asked me if I´d like to pay her for sex. Now, I´ve never even talked to a hooker, much less had one come up and grab me, so I was in complete shock. The only thing I could get out of my mouth was "hell no", and I freed myself from her and continued walking. As my roomate and I were walking down the street we had 2 more hookers proposition us, another one try to grab my roomates butt, and then a male prostitute proposition us. All of this happened in about 5 minutes, so once we got a cab we told him to floor it and get us to the hotel in a hurry.

The ride home was fun. The driver was pretty cool, and he was speeding and doing all sorts of maneuvers you´d see a NASCAR driver do. We were weaving in and out of traffic, cutting people off, etc - like I said in one of my last posts, Spanish drivers are insanely crazy. It was alot of fun though. He got us there at the rate of 21€, and we ran to our hotel rooms and went to sleep.

The next morning we left for Valencia, which you read about the other day.

Bilbao & San Sebastian: June 14th and 15th, 2007

I need to get caught up, so bear with me. The next two posts are late. Whoops...


There´s not really much I can write about San Sebastian. I got sick while we were in Bilbao on June 14th, and was pretty much exhausted, so everything from the 14th and 15th is a huge blur.

We got into Bilbao sometime in the early afternoon. It was extremely hot, and I felt like dying. I was sweating profusely, and I wasn´t exactly the most coherent person in the world. I walked to the Farmacia to get some medicine, but they didn´t accept credit cards and I was out of cash. It was at this point that I got separated from my group, and spent the next few hours either walking around the back streets or sitting under the trees in the middle of a park. I met up with some other people from my group and joined them for lunch, and then we walked the Guggenheim museum and met up with our whole group. We toured the museum, then drove to San Sebastian.

Upon arriving at San Sebastian, I immediately headed for my room, changed into some shorts and slept for the next 20 hours. When I woke up, my group was out touring the city while I stayed behind in the hotel to rest. I spent the next few hours reading, drinking alot of water, listening to my MP3 player, and watching indoor soccer on the television. Once my friends got back, one of them walked to the gas station with me and I bought a sandwhich, some chips and a soda. I ate and drank those, and then walked to Sarah´s room for a little while and hung out for a couple hours. Around midnight I went back to my room and went back to bed.

Valencia: June 19th, 2007

Its been a few days since I updated. Was sick the whole time we were in San Sebastian, which sucked; but at least I got caught up on sleep.

Anyway, today´s blog is supposed to be about my surroundings. This much, I can tell you, its hotter than hell here in Valencia. I never knew a port city could get this hot. Someone said it was like 35 degrees Celsius, and the air is very dry. The air seems pretty clear here, there's not very much smog. Its a clear day, the sky is very blue and the sun is beating down mercilessly on everyone. There was a fountain that was really cool looking and it shot water 15-20ft into the air, but the whole area smelled like stagnant water, that was kind of gross.

It seems like everywhere we go in this country, the people speak a different form of Spanish. Its really annoying because I can barely speak and understand one dialect, much less four. Its frustrating at times, but somehow I seem to be able to scrape by. The food isn´t too bad. I´m sick of ham, but other than that, everything is is pretty good. I´ve tried Paella, blood sausage, sangria, pastas, and God only knows what else. I really like it here, the people are nice enough, the weather isn´t moody like in San Antonio, and its alot easier to get around here... even if the drivers seem like they are intent on hitting anything and everything that gets into their path. The metros (subways) are really easy to use, and they´re cheap. I wouldn´t recommend using Taxis though, they´re really expensive and some of the drivers don´t really seem like the nicest people.

Thursday: Burgos, 13 June, 2007

Today I have to write about the connection between Spain and San Antonio. Why the hell should Texans care about this place? Well, for one, most of South Texas culture is a spin off of Spanish culture. Alot of our food, customs, language, etc comes from Spanish culture. Granted, the cultures have changed alot over the years, and they´re not completely alike, but theres a noticible similarity. And this is why you should care.

I´m out of stuff to say, and others need to use the computer so I´m going to get off here and go grab a beer at the bar.

Madrid: June 12th, 2007

We left San Antonio around 12:00pm central daylight time on Jun 11th, and started our 4 hour flight to Newark, New Jerzey. Needless to say, after a night of very unfitful sleep, I slept most of that flight. We arrived in Newark, and then roamed around and killed time for a couple of hours until our flight to Madrid began to board. Like the previous flight, this one was packed. I sat next to my best friend Sarah, and chit chatted about nothing until we pulled away from the terminal. As we were pulling away, the Captain came on the intercom and said we´d be delayed an hour because there was a long line of planes ahead of us. A groan went up from everyone on the flight, it was loud enough that I´m pretty sure the folks up in the air control tower heard it. I chuckled and pulled out one of the two books I had brought along and began to read it.

I have no idea how much time actually passed until the Captain came back on the intercom and said we were preparing to take off, but almost as soon as he said it we began to taxi onto the runway and were in the air in less than 5 minutes. The flight was uneventful. Once again, I could not sleep, so I decided to watch the inflight movies and listen to my MP3 player. The 6 hour flight from Newark, New Jerzey to Madrid, Spain passed by like a lifetime. I tried as hard as I could to sleep, but the combination of the freezing plane cabin, people talking, and having to sit upright in an uncomfortable airplane chair made it entirely too hard to sleep. I´m pretty sure I´d have had an easier time sleeping in the fires of hell, atleast there I wouldn´t be so cold I was shivering and my teeth wouldn´t be chattering.

We arrived in Madrid around 12:00pm Greenwhich Mean Time, and went through customs and sat around waiting for our luggage to be delived to us via a carousel, not too uncommon from the ones like back in San Antonino. Two of the people in our group were missing their bags, so we had to wait for them to talk to the airline about where they were. In the mean time I went to minibar and grabbed a couple beers and sat down with the group and began to drink them. After an hour or so, the two people who´s bags had been missing walked up to the group with their missing bags and we boarded a bus and headed off to the hotel.

We took some time to refresh at the hotel and then headed off to the Royal Palace. It was hot, but not like south Texas. It wasn´t as humid as South Texas, thank god. The palace was nice and cool. After walking around the palace for an hour or so, we headed off on a driving tour of the city for a while. I fell asleep after 2 nights of no sleep, so I cant´really say what all went on during the tour.

Finally, we went to dinner. The food tasted weird, and I have no idea was alot of it was, but atleast the second course had steak. A definate God send. I had a cold beer to wash it all down, and then walked around the town listen to the sound of the cars and people chatting.

Anyway, I´m running out of time at the cafe so I have to leave. I´ll update again tomorrow.

San Antonio: 4 June, 2007

Sitting here in a classroom in Texas, I've been given an assignment to do before I leave for Spain to go on this "grand adventure." The first order of business for this 5 week long assignment is to write down my hopes and dreams for this trip to Spain. I'm not too sure what exactly I hope to gain from this trip, other than getting out of the USA for a much needed vacation. Unlike normal college students who go someplace on vacation and relax, I'm taking college courses while in Spain. This blog happens to be my first assignment, and I'm pretty sure its boring you to death. In all seriousness though, I'm going on this grand trip to Spain in order that I may be able to better understand the world around me, and be better able to adapt to it in a more graceful way. With the creation of the internet, and globalization happening at a more frenzied pace, one must be able to quickly adapt to the world around them, or they're going to quickly learn that they're well and truly screwed. I hope that by going to Spain, I will be better able to understand a culture that is quite different from the one I'm used to. The culture I've grown up with in my family is one that is mixed Irish Catholic and Czech; not exactly that close to Spanish culture like my Hispanic friends. These are my hopes for the trip.

My dreams, those are another matter. I'm hoping to find some rich Spanish girl, grace her with my Texan charm, get married and spend the rest of my days lounging around on the Spanish coast drininking the finest Spanish wines, doing absolutely NOTHING. Just kidding, I really want to visit the famous sites and take in the historic culture. I've read about so many different places, people, and events in Spanish history and now its time for me to go see and experience some of them first hand. And like any Aggie fan, I definately want to drink some beer.

All in all, I'm excited about this trip, but I'm definately not looking forward to the traveling part. I'm not big on flying over the ocean, I'm not big on flying for more than a couple hours, and I really don't like going through Customs and Immigration; those guys scare me. They always seem like they hate their job, and they aim to take it out on you, the unsuspecting tourist. Ohh well, I guess I'll just have to suck it up and deal with it. I've got to look on the bright side, an hour or so of annoyed Customs and Immigrations officials, and then 3 weeks in Spain.