Interference From an Outside Source
In 1936, Spain was not the best place to be. Spain is located in south east of the Mediterranean Sea. Thanks to Spain’s location it has exotic weather. Spain was separated between classes in 1936. The republicans and the nationalist. The nationalist and the republicans were having conflicts with the people of Spain trying to overcome leaders. Spain did not become a country until eighteen twelve. They became a republic in 1873. Between 1873 and 1923 they were going back and forth between being a monarchy and a republic. These conflicts along with problems between the upper classes and the ones below them led Spain into a war. This paper will be about how other forces outside of Spain played a part in the outcome of the Spanish civil war.
Nationalist and Republicans
The nationalist wanted a less liberal government and the republicans wanted a more liberal government. The nationalist sent a request for help to Germany, which was rejected at first. Then after some thought and a final decision made by Hitler they decided they would help them. (Germany and the Spanish Civil War)The republicans too had help. From Mexico and the Soviet Union (Soviet Union and the Spanish Civil War). Unfortunately for the republicans that help was not enough. Like in the book For Whom the Bell Tolls there was interference from outside forces when the nationalist shot Robert Jordan’s horse as soon as they planted the explosive devises. This shows how outside forces influenced the Spanish Civil War.
Americans in the War
The Spanish civil war started when a military uprising led by Francisco Franco tried to overthrow a newly elected democratic leader of Spain. In response to this military uprising about 80 American woman joined 2,700 of their country men in a revolt against fascism (Americans in the Spanish Civil War). The reason that they did this was because they were aware of all the bad things they were doing to Jews in Germany and wanted to do something about it because the same type of segregation was going on in the United States. Both Hitler and the Fascist leader Francisco Franco had something in common they both needed assistance in a conflict. Now the American women did not fight in the war but they helped cure the sick and take care of the wounded. They had 48 hours after arriving in Spain to open a hospital and get to work (Americans in the Spanish Civil War). The day after they finished building the hospital the attacks started. It was estimated that on one attack alone there were about twenty thousand killed and wounded (Americans in the Spanish Civil War). Five thousand people were sent to the hospital. This was the first major battle against fascism. A lot of African American males were involved in this war because they were standing up for what they believed in and what was right to them. The government controlled most of the territory in Spain. The government was taken over by the by the fascist. Republican rebels controlled the rest of the areas. The people that volunteered to fight for Spain were part of the international brigades. The international brigades were republican military units in the Spanish Civil War formed by people outside of that country (Spain). These volunteers fought against Francisco Franco and the rest of the nationalist.
An Americans Perspective In The Civil War
In the book For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway Robert Jordan an American in the international brigades also known as guerrilla units along with others fighting for the republican cause such as Pablo an exasperating leader of a guerrilla band, Pilar a gypsy woman, Maria a more important character in the book because she ends up falling for Robert Jordan and she represents Spain itself because she has been through so much yet she try’s to move on and stays beautiful inside and out (Major Character Analysis) try to help their people by blowing up a bridge that leads to the fascist reinforcements (Hemingway 2). Robert Jordan is helping defend the republican cause. In the end of the book is Robert Jordan dies and that symbolizes what happened in real life which is the republican side was defeated and the nationalist won. The way he dies connects to what happened in real life because in the book For Whom the Bell Tolls Robert Jordan dies while taking his last stand to try and buy the other followers some more time. That is what happened to the republicans in the real world because the war and the final battle was their final chance, their last stand.
Assistance From Germany
At first Germany was not going to have anything to do with this conflict. After some though Hitler changed his mind. Hitler justified his decision by arguing that he was attempting to save Europe from communist barbarism knowing too that UK and USA were hostile to communism. Hitler thought that it would give him a chance to test out some of his commanders and new weapons. Hitler also knew that a nationalist victory would give him an important ally with his struggle with France and Britain. On July 27th 1936 Adolf Hitler sent 26 German fighter aircrafts to the nationalist (Germany and the Spanish civil war). Over the next couple of weeks the aircraft transported over fifteen thousand troops to Spain much more than the rest of the world offered to help the republicans. On September 1936 Adolf Hitler along with leaders from other countries such as Britain, France, Soviet Union, and Italy signed an agreement not to interfere. Although Germany signed this agreement they continued to help the nationalist by sending secretly via Portugal soldiers and weapons. (Germany and the Spanish civil war). That is pretty risky because you do not want to have other countries against you. As you can see Germany played a big part in the Spanish civil war but the nationalist were not the only ones who had help.
Soviet Union Comes Into Play
The Soviet had also signed the non-intervention agreement (Germany and the Spanish Civil War), but after seeing that Germany was not abiding by this contract the Soviet Union decided that they were going to aid the Spanish communist party. They were going to send them limited assistance (Spanish Civil War) Soviet Union was afraid that the nationalist were going to win the war so they started sending in artillery aircrafts and soldiers who had been trained in guerrilla operation. Spain knew the Soviet Union was going to get something out of this. In return for aid and weaponry Spain shipped off five hundred million dollars worth of gold to the Soviet Union. At the time Spain had the world’s fourth largest gold reserve. That is a big reason why the Soviet Union helped Spain because the more money a country has the more dominant and higher up in the importance factor it is going to be. This means a lot to any country. Even though the Soviet Union helped the republican parties they were not successful in winning the war.
Conclusion
Both sides of the war had allies and artillery. They both wanted to win the war. It was not just a fight but so much more. It meant so much to the Spaniards to enforce what they believed in. It also meant a lot to the countries outside of Spain who played a part in this war. For Germany it meant gaining a strong ally for their conflicts with Britain and France. For the Soviet Union it meant plain and simple cash. They were getting paid a lot of gold. Unfortunately for the republicans help might have come too late because they lost. The involvement of Germany and the Soviet Union definitely affected the outcome of the Spanish civil war. Germany supplied the nationalist with weapons planes and everything people can possibly need to win a war. Soviet union did the same for the republicans but just not soon enough. Although there were severe conflicts between republican parties and nationalist the war was also between the upper and lower classes also known as the rebels. In conclusion if the other countries had not interfered the outcome of the war would have been different.
