Spain’s Civil War

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31659, 20 April 1968, Page 4

Spain’s Civil War

The Civil War in Spain. By Robert Goldston. Phoenix House. 217 pp. The best thing about this new war history is that it is eminently readable. Not only is the print large, clear and well spaced, but there ate many engaging drawings by Donald Carrick and splendid action photographs from United Press International. Above all though, Mr Goldston makes his narrative interesting—perhaps to the point where the purist might label it history, potted and I popularised. As a guide to a war which was described as the most bitter in living memory, it is excellent. The author offers a short geographical introduction and then outlines the history of Spain from the days of the conquering Phoenicians to the beginning of the 20th century i with a small handful of Spaniards still determined to stop

the clock of progress, to preserve a society in which their privileges and great wealth would remain inviolate at whatever cost to the great mass of the people. The idea of a republic burned brightly amongst certain classes but Spain had a tradition of rule by the strongest, and by law made at the whim of the powerful. On the right were the Army, Church, monarchy, aristocracy and landlords, on the left were the great semiliterate masses of peasants and workers who demanded change and expected revolution, and caught in the middle were the Republicans and Liberals placing their faith in reason and persuasion. Thousands cheered in 1931 when the monarchy was overthrown without bloodshed, but the Spanish peasantry became impatient with the endless delays of the new Republican Government in making immediate and apparent

changes in their lives and the Catholics and monarchists were soon back in power. The Socialists, Liberals and Republicans won a huge victory in the 1936 elections, but the problems which beset Spain were now almost beyond the hope of democratic solutions. General Franco led the Nationalist rebellion and the long, bitter, merciless war began.

Many of the campaigns and events are described in detail, including the rebels’ resistance in the Alcazar of Toledo, the siege of Madrid where men, women and children built fortifications to save the city, the offensive against the freedom-loving Basques and the pitiless destruction of the loyal village of Guernica. Writers, poets, artists and intellectuals of all nations flocked to the Government side and the International Brigades several times saved the Republic from defeat. Mr Goldston deals with the active roles of Hitler, Mussolini and Stalin in the war compared with the mere ideological gestures of Britain, France and the United States.

He manages to convey the horror and tragedy of the war without excessive emphasis on the cruelty and bloodiness and follows the course of the conflict fervently and yet impartially to its conclusion. In an epilogue Mr Goldston I comments that although Spanish political life continues to be authoritarian, the new generation shows increasing signs of political awakening. Strikes and student protest marches have become predictable phenomena in Spanish life but these signs of a rebirth of political consciousness are not to be interpreted as a widespread will to revolution —the disillusionment* of the civil war are still too familiar to most Spaniards. “The rising class of leaders in Spain are today more interested in economic and social realities than political theories. Above all, they are determined to avoid the dreadful blood bath of another civil war,” he says. The bibliography includes a special “suggested reading” section.