Spanish+Civil+War


 * By Aaron and Jabari**
 * Grades 5 and 6**

The Spanish Civil War was known to be the testing grounds of World War II because other countries feared to become communist or fascist. Franco, a soldier in World War I, was the cause of the Spanish Civil War. Franco was a fascist dictator. He hated communism.

After World War I, Franco was promoted to general. He had more power over the military. There was an Austrian revolt. Franco sent a small fleet to go take care of the communist problem. When it was over, Franco had killed all the hostages; even women and children. Franco had a parade in his honor for taking care of that issue. Since he killed the hostages, his friends called him “the Butcher”.

Franco was celebrating his victory with the parade when a soldier murmured “I do not think he’s so great!” Franco took a pistol and shot him in the head. Franco did not go to jail for this because it was a law that if a soldier made a bad comment about a great authority it could be punishable by death. After that Franco received several promotions. Franco became a dictator and showed that he was a fascist.

Franco wanted to rule more land so he bombed Madrid. He needed more bomber planes so he asked Hitler, a dictator of Germany, to assist him. Hitler said yes and sent 30 pilots and 30 planes. The people in Madrid were forced to go in the subway underground to resist being bombed. When Franco bombed Madrid there were doctors who came to heal the wounded. The doctors were confused about when to go out and heal the wounded because of the waves of attacks. When Franco bombed the city of Guernica he was a crueler dictator than before because Guernica was a small city which couldn’t defend itself from bombing.

The Lincoln Brigade was an American force which was trying to overrule Franco and stop fascism from spreading. The people who volunteered had very different backgrounds. Over eighty African Americans volunteered, such as Oliver Law who commanded the Lincoln Battalion. Oliver Law was born in 1899 in Texas. He fought in World War I and was an active communist. Oliver Law was killed in battle on July 9th of 1937 when leading an attack on Mosquito Ridge.

The Lincoln Brigade went into battle in Brunette, west of Madrid, in July of 1937. Brunette was the key point on the front west of Madrid. If that area was captured by Rebels, then they could cut off troops from coming from the west. The Rebels had been gaining a lot of military success. The Lincoln Brigade was accompanied by the Washington Battalion. The battle in Brunette was close to Madrid. It was very important to the Loyalists that the Rebels be stopped, or the Rebels would break through to Madrid.

The Loyalists had been planning an offence on the Rebel forces in Brunette for two months. The Loyalists had tens of thousands of troops under their control. They were supported with more than 100 tanks and 100 aircraft, all of them from either France or Russia. France, although still neutral, was secretly sending military material to the Loyalists.

In July, the Loyalists started the march to Brunette through the desert. It took them two days to get past the road. The soldiers were worn out and some even died. The Loyalists yearned for water and rest. When they got to Brunette, the battle began. The Loyalists lost the battle.

The Battle of Teruel took place in 1938. The city was controlled by the Rebels, but the Loyalists took it in January. Franco’s troops attacked the city with air support from Germany, and got the city back in February. In April, 1938, the Rebels went to the Mediteranean, cutting what the Loyalists controlled in two.

In July, the Rebels went south towards Teruel along the coast towards Valencia, but were stopped along a system of fortifications defending Valencia. The Loyalists went all out when they were trying to take control of their territory in the Battle of Ebro. The Battle lasted from July until November, 1938. Even though they fought hard, the Loyalists lost.

Franco’s troops beat Catalonia in a devastating campaign in January and February, 1939. Then Barcelona was taken by Franco’s troops on January 26. In March, Madrid surrendered to Franco. Then in February the Loyalists surrendered unconditionally. In September of the same year, Hitler invaded Poland.

The Spanish Civil War was the testing ground of World War II because a fascist dictator won the war. Hitler and Mussolini saw Franco winning as a sign that they should start taking control. They gained more information about what weapons and military tactics to use, and they thought it would be ok to govern their people with fascism.



Image source: http://libcom.org/library/the-tragedy-of-spain-rudolf-rocker http://www.xtimeline.com/evt/view.aspx?id=115901