The Spanish Civil War: A Preview of World War II

In July 1936 a group of generals rose against Spain’s elected government. They expected a quick win. Instead, a brutal three-year war began, and the world’s big powers took sides.

This lesson tells how the war started, who backed whom, why Guernica shocked the world, and why historians call Spain a rehearsal for the Second World War.

1Why was Spain so divided in 1936?

Spain was a republic in the 1930s. It was also a country split by deep quarrels. Workers, landowners, the Church and the army all wanted different things.

In February 1936 a left-leaning alliance, the Popular Front, won the election. It included socialists, communists and others. Many on the right feared where this might lead.

Soon afterwards, some army officers began to plan a coup. By the end of April, General Emilio Mola emerged as the leader of the plot.

Why does this matter? The war did not start from nothing. It grew from years of anger between the left and the right.

• February 1936: the Popular Front wins the election.
• Officers plot a coup; General Mola leads the plot.
• Roots: class, Church and army quarrels.

2How did the war begin?

The rising began in Spanish Morocco on 17 July 1936. Army units there seized power. The rising spread to mainland Spain from 18 July.

The plotters hoped for a swift victory. They did not get one. The government kept control of much of the country, including Madrid and Barcelona. Spain split in two.

One side was the Republicans, loyal to the elected government. They were a mix of socialists, anarchists, communists and regional separatists. The other side was the Nationalists. They were an alliance of Falangists, monarchists, conservatives and traditionalists.

General Francisco Franco became the main Nationalist leader. He did so step by step. He rose to the top as other leaders dropped out of the picture.

Why does this matter? Franco was not the first leader of the uprising. He gradually became its chief, and later Spain’s dictator.

• Rising began 17 July 1936 in Spanish Morocco; it spread to the mainland from 18 July.
• Coup partly failed; Spain split in two.
• Sides: Republicans vs Nationalists.
• Franco gradually became the chief.

3Which foreign powers took sides?

Spain’s war soon became an international fight. Fascist Italy under Mussolini sent troops and planes to help the Nationalists. Nazi Germany sent its Condor Legion, a force of aircraft and crews.

The Republic found help from the Soviet Union and Mexico. Moscow sent tanks, planes and advisers. Spain paid for much of this with its own gold, shipped to the USSR.

Britain and France stayed out. They helped set up a Non-Intervention Committee. It was meant to stop arms from reaching either side. In practice it did very little. Germany, Italy and the Soviet Union all kept sending help.

Many ordinary people did not stay out. Tens of thousands of volunteers from other countries joined the International Brigades. They fought for the Republic.

Why does this matter? The Non-Intervention Committee is a classic exam point. It was meant to keep Spain’s war local. It failed, because the powers broke it openly.

• Nationalists: Italy and Germany (Condor Legion).
• Republic: USSR and Mexico.
• Non-Intervention Committee had little effect.
• International Brigades: foreign volunteers for the Republic.

4What happened at Guernica?

Guernica is a small town in the Basque country. On 26 April 1937 German and Italian aircraft bombed it. Germany’s Condor Legion took part.

The exact number of dead is still debated. Estimates range widely, from a few hundred to over a thousand. But the effect was clear. Newspapers around the world carried the story, and the attack shocked opinion.

The Spanish painter Pablo Picasso made a huge painting called “Guernica”. He made it for the Republic’s pavilion at the 1937 Paris International Exposition. It became one of the best known anti-war images of the century.

Why does this matter? Guernica became a symbol of bombing civilians from the air. That fear grew stronger in the war that followed.

• Bombed 26 April 1937 by German and Italian aircraft.
• Death toll debated; not precisely agreed.
• Picasso’s “Guernica” shown at the 1937 Paris Exposition.

5Why was the Republic never united?

The Republic’s side was a crowd of different groups. Anarchists wanted a social revolution. Communists wanted order and a strong army first. Socialists and regional groups had their own goals.

The quarrel turned violent. In the May Days of 1937, anarchist and communist Republicans fought each other in Barcelona. Thousands of soldiers took part, fighting over key buildings.

The anti-Stalinist party POUM was later outlawed. The Soviet-aligned communists accused it of helping the fascists.

The English writer George Orwell fought with the POUM militia. He did not serve in the International Brigades. He told the story in “Homage to Catalonia”, published in 1938.

Why does this matter? The Nationalists had one clear aim. The Republic often fought itself as well as the enemy.

• Republic: anarchists, communists, socialists, separatists.
• May Days 1937: Republicans fight in Barcelona.
• Orwell served with POUM, wrote Homage to Catalonia.

6How did the war end?

The Nationalists pushed on. They took most of the northern coast in 1937. Catalonia fell in 1938 and 1939. Madrid was cut off from Barcelona.

By early 1939 the Republic’s position was hopeless. On 5 March 1939 Colonel Segismundo Casado led a coup against the Republican government. He wanted peace terms. Franco rejected them.

Nationalist forces entered Madrid on 28 March 1939. Franco declared victory on 1 April 1939. Hundreds of thousands of Republican supporters fled Spain. Many ended up in camps in southern France. Many who stayed were punished.

Franco then ruled as dictator for decades. He held power until his death in November 1975.

Why does this matter? Spain’s war did not end in a peace deal. It ended in a total victory, and a long dictatorship followed.

• 5 March 1939: Casado coup inside the Republic.
• 1 April 1939: Franco declares victory.
• Hundreds of thousands fled, many to France.
• Franco ruled until November 1975.

7Was it a preview of the Second World War?

Many historians say yes. The same powers that backed Franco, Germany and Italy, were soon at the heart of the larger war. The Soviet Union was already an actor too.

Germany got a chance to try out its air force and crews in real fighting. Countries also saw how weak the democracies’ response had been.

Britain and France chose not to intervene. They hoped to avoid a bigger war. Some see this as the same hesitation shown later, when they tried to calm Hitler.

The Second World War broke out in September 1939, only months after Franco’s victory. Spain itself stayed officially out of it.

Why does this matter? The label “preview” is a useful summary. It is not a claim that Spain caused the later war.

• Same powers: Germany and Italy in both conflicts.
• Britain and France stayed out of Spain.
• Second World War began September 1939.
• Spain stayed officially out of that war.
• See also the Cold War.

8What are the exam traps?

• War: 1936-39. Franco won and ruled until 1975.
• Guernica: 26 April 1937; toll is debated.
• Orwell was with POUM, not the International Brigades.
• Non-Intervention: Britain and France led it, but it was ignored.
• Republic: USSR and Mexico; Nationalists: Italy and Germany.