Just Finished Reading: The Spanish Civil War by Antony Beevor

Back in the days of my youth I used to read Military History almost exclusively – concentrating on WW2. Doing so, I knew about the Spanish Civil War but only in the most general sense. I knew that both Germany and Russia had troops and some of their best weapons ‘in theatre’ to try them out in battlefield situations but I wasn’t aware that the Italians also had substantial forces involved too.

What I really learnt from this very well written book was the sheer horror of the war fought in Spain as well as the sheer incompetence and waste of life exhibited on both sides. After decades of slow but steady decline Spain had virtually fossilised by the beginning of the 1930’s. Being both an autocratic and theocratic state it did not tolerate dissent easily so when the Left came close to winning an election and the resultant government started timidly to bring in limited land reform the forces of the Right staged a coup – which failed. Unfortunately for the population the coup did not fail completely and the country quickly divided along political lines. Because of the weak positions of both Left and Right the violence against opposition groups in areas held by both factions was severe and brutal. Thousands of people were simply lined up and executed for having voted for the opposition. If possible the war actually made things worse. Most of the Army officers had joined the Nationalist side – led by General Franco whilst the larger Republican Army had to use militia’s from the Socialists, Communists and Anarchists. Although full of political fervour, these poorly trained and poorly armed workers died through their own inexperience and the incompetence of their officers. Luckily for the Left – at least initially - the Nationalists spent almost as much energy in political in-fighting as on the battlefield. But the writing was on the wall from very early on. The Left had a mountain to climb if it was to defeat the Nationalists. Not only where the Left badly armed but it seemed that most of the world – from Europe to the USA – did everything in their power to make sure that they failed.

Enter the International Brigades (made famous by George Orwell amongst others). These rag-tag collections of left-wing intellectuals and workers from all over the world flocked to the Republican cause and stayed in Spain until the bitter end despite their often awful treatment by their frequently Communist leadership. Although told as dispassionately as possible, Beevor’s ire at several groups involved in the conflict shines through his prose. He clearly shows the brutality of Franco and his Nationalists. He confirms time and again the ideological stupidity and viciousness of the Soviet led Communist forces who were, as often as not, their own worst enemies. He vilifies the actions and the rhetoric of the Catholic priests both inside Spain, the United States and the Vatican - and relates one speech where a priest offers the killers of any Communist one less year in purgatory for each one killed. His sympathies are, it appeared, with the Left but it would be too simplistic to leave it at that. His deepest sympathies, though this may be influenced by my own beliefs, are with the peasants and especially the Anarchists who were very badly treated by all sides.

All civil wars are recognised as being particularly nasty. In a very real sense it would seem that they were talking about the Spanish Civil War. I am not easily shocked or dismayed but parts of this book almost brought me to tears. Man’s inhumanity to his fellow men confounds me. Here amidst the examples of heroism and simple bloody-minded survival are countless examples of breathtaking and almost casual brutality on an industrial scale. It beggars belief what people did to each other in Spain in the years between 1936 and 1939. Few came away from that nasty little war with clean hands. If anything says that our species does not deserve to survive it is events like this. Knowing that we are capable of atrocities undertaken in the name of political ideology makes me despair that there is any hope for us. Read this book and weep for humanity and hope that the likes of this bloody conflict never happens again.