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Popular Front and Spanish Civil War Overview

May 6, 2025

Lecture Notes: Popular Front and Spanish Civil War

Popular Front in France

  • Objective: Confront and defeat fascism in France.
  • Outcome:
    • Failed to establish due to the inability to adopt a revolutionary social program.
    • Middle-class resistance to property threats.
    • Socialists cautious not to lose support.
    • Compromise among ideologically incompatible partners, fragile and unsustainable.
    • Strained relations between Socialists and Communists, influenced by events in the Soviet Union.

Spanish Civil War: Overview

  • Background:
    • Spanish Left had popular backing and resources of the state.
    • Deep divisions within the left and societal polarization.
  • Political Context:
    • Second Republic (1931) brought by the Left, rejected by extreme Right.
    • Society divided by Catholic values vs. socialism.
    • Traditional power-elites opposed republicanism.

Build-up to Civil War

  • 1931 Elections: Left's short-lived triumph.
  • 1933 Elections: Right regains strength.
  • 1934 Asturias Strike: Suppressed by Franco, foreshadowed brutal civil conflict.
  • 1936 Elections: Popular Front wins narrow victory, but internal division weakens government.

Spanish Civil War

  • Start: Military uprising begins July 1936 in Morocco, spreads to mainland Spain.
  • Divisions:
    • Spain split between republicans and rebels.
    • External support for Nationalists: Germany, Italy, Portugal.
    • Lack of aid from Western democracies.
  • International Brigades: Volunteers fight for the Republic but limited impact.

Course of the War

  • Attritional Conflict:
    • Nationalists' slow advances.
    • Significant battles, like the siege of Madrid.
    • Nationalists gain strategic regions by 1937.
  • Franco’s Leadership:
    • Gradual and ruthless, aimed at eradicating republican resistance.
    • By 1939, Franco declares victory.

Aftermath

  • Impact on Spain:
    • Over 200,000 dead, widespread execution and repression.
    • Dictatorship under Franco until 1975.
  • European Implications:
    • Limited effect on broader European politics.
    • Influenced leftist acknowledgment of military necessity to combat fascism.
    • Western democracies avoided deeper involvement.

The Arms Race

  • Context:
    • Meeting in Berlin on 5 November 1937 involving Germany's military commanders.
    • Strategic allocation of steel for military purposes, indicating rearmament priorities.

Conclusion

  • Spanish Civil War: Demonstrates deep ideological divides and external influences in pre-WWII Europe.
  • Popular Fronts: Highlight the challenges of coalition governments in polarized political climates.
  • Arms Race: Prelude to the militarization that would escalate into global conflict.

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