Foreign involvement in the Spanish Civil War

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The Spanish Civil War had large numbers of non-Spanish citizens participating in combat and advisory positions. Foreign governments contributed large amounts of financial assistance and military aid to forces led by Generalísimo Francisco Franco and those fighting on behalf of the Second Spanish Republic.

A Republican T-26 tank in the streets of Madrid.
A Republican T-26 tank in the streets of Madrid.

Contents

[edit] Arms embargo and the Non-Intervention Committee

The British government proclaimed itself neutral; however, the British ambassador to Spain, Sir Henry Chilton, believed that a victory for Franco was in Britain's best interests and worked to support the Nationalists. British Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden publicly maintained the official policy of non-intervention but privately expressed a preference for a rebel (nationalist) victory - or so he supposedly told his French opposite number, Delbos.[citation needed]. Admiral Lord Chatfield, British First Sea Lord at the time of the conflict, was an admirer of Franco and, with or without Government support, the British Royal Navy favoured the Nationalists during the conflict.[1] As well as permitting Franco to set up a signals base on Gibraltar, the Germans were allowed to overfly Gibraltar during the airlift of the Army of Africa to Seville. The Royal Navy also provided information on Republican shipping to the Nationalists, and HMS Queen Elizabeth was used to prevent the Republican navy shelling the port of Algeciras. The German chargé d'affaires reported that the British were supplying ammunition to the Republicans, as well as passing on information about Russian arms shipments to the Germans. During the fighting for Bilbao the Royal Navy supported the Nationalist line that the River Nervión was mined, telling British shipping to keep clear of the area - and were badly discredited when a British vessel ignored the advice and sailed into the city, finding the river unmined as the Republicans had claimed.[1] Despite this, Britain discouraged activity by its citizens supporting either side.

The Anglo-French arms embargo meant that the Republicans' only foreign source of matériel was the USSR while the Nationalists received weapons from Italy and Germany and logistical support from Portugal. The last Republican prime minister, Juan Negrín, hoped that a general outbreak of war in Europe would compel the European powers (mainly Britain and France) to finally help the Republic, but World War II would not commence until months after the Spanish conflict had ended. Ultimately neither Britain nor France intervened to any significant extent. Britain supplied food and medicine to the Republic, but actively discouraged the French government of Léon Blum from supplying weapons. The American Ambassador to Spain was to later condemn the League of Nations Non-Intervention Committee, saying that each of their moves had been made to serve the cause of the rebellion, and that 'This committee was the most cynical and lamentably dishonest group that history has known.'[1] Winston Churchill, initially an enthusiastic supporter of non-intervention, was later to describe the workings of this committee as 'an elaborate system of official humbug.'

[edit] German and Italian intervention

Both Fascist Italy, under dictator Benito Mussolini, and Nazi Germany, under dictator Adolf Hitler, violated the embargo and sent troops, aircraft, and weapons to support Franco. The Italians provided the "Corps of Volunteer Troops" and Germany sent the "Condor Legion".

Nazi Germany also helped the propaganda war with a gift of a Telefunken transmitter for the newly created national radio service.

The Italian contribution amounted to over 60,000 troops at the height of the war, and the involvement helped to increase Mussolini's popularity among Italian Catholics, as the latter had remained highly critical of their ex-Socialist fascist Duce.[citation needed] Italian military help to Nationalists against the anti-clerical and anti-Catholic atrocities committed by the Republican side worked well in Italian propaganda targeting Catholics. On July 27, 1936 the first squadron of Italian airplanes sent by Benito Mussolini arrived in Spain.[2]

It has been speculated that Hitler used the Spanish Civil War issue to distract Mussolini from Hitler's own designs on and plans for Austria (Anschluss), as the authoritarian Catholic, anti-Nazi Vaterländische Front government of autonomous Austria had been in alliance with Mussolini, and in 1934 the assassination of Austria's authoritarian president Engelbert Dollfuss had already successfully invoked Italian military assistance in case of a Nazi German invasion.

[edit] Foreign volunteers

Republican propaganda pays homage to the International Brigades.
Republican propaganda pays homage to the International Brigades.

In addition, there were a few volunteer troops from other nations who fought with the Nationalists, such as some Irish Blueshirts under Eoin O'Duffy and the French Croix de Feu. António Salazar organised a Portuguese volunteer formation known as the Legião Viriato, numbering 20,000 men of which 8,000 were killed during the course of the conflict [3]. Although these volunteers, primarily Catholics, came from around the world (including Ireland, Brazil, and the USA), there were fewer of them and they are not as famous as those fighting on the Republican side, and were generally less organized and hence embedded in Nationalist units whereas many Republican units were composed entirely of foreigners.

[edit] Soviet aid

Due to the Franco-British arms embargo, the Government of the Republic could receive material aid and could purchase arms only from the Soviet Union. To pay for these armaments the Republicans used US$500 million in gold reserves. At the start of the war the Bank of Spain had the world's fourth largest reserve of gold, about US$750 million,[4] although some assets were frozen by the French and British governments. The Soviet Union also sent more than 2,000 personnel, mainly tank crews and pilots, who actively participated in combat, on the Republican side.[5] Nevertheless, some have contended that the Soviet government was motivated by the desire to sell arms and that they charged extortionate prices.[6] Later, the "Moscow gold" was an issue during the Spanish transition to democracy. They have also been accused of prolonging the war because Stalin knew that Britain and France would never accept a communist government. Though Stalin did call for the repression of Republican elements that were hostile to the Soviet Union (for example, the anti-Stalinist POUM), he also made a conscious effort to limit Soviet involvement in the struggle and silence its revolutionary aspects in an attempt to remain on good diplomatic terms with the French and British.[7] Mexico also aided the Republicans by providing rifles and food. Throughout the war, the efforts of the elected government of the Republic to resist the rebel army were hampered by Franco-British 'non-intervention', long supply lines and intermittent availability of weapons of widely variable quality.

[edit] International and intellectual support for the Republic

Volunteers from many countries fought in Spain, most of them on the Republican side. About 32,000 [8] men and women fought in the International Brigades including the American Lincoln Battalion and Canadian Mackenzie-Papineau Battalion, organized in close conjunction with the Comintern to aid the Spanish Republicans. Perhaps another 3,000 [9] fought as members of the CNT and POUM militias. Those fighting with POUM most famously included George Orwell and the small ILP Contingent.

'Spain' became the cause célèbre for the left-leaning intelligentsia across the Western world, and many prominent artists and writers entered the Republic's service. As well, it attracted a large number of foreign left-wing working class men, for whom the war offered not only idealistic adventure but also an escape from post-Depression unemployment. Among the more famous foreigners participating on the Republic's side were Ernest Hemingway and George Orwell, who went on to write about his experiences in Homage to Catalonia. Orwell's novel Animal Farm was loosely inspired by his experiences and those of other members of POUM at the hands of Stalinists when the Popular Front began to fight within itself, as were the torture scenes in 1984. Hemingway's novel For Whom the Bell Tolls was inspired by his experiences in Spain. George Seldes reported on the war for the New York Post. The third part of Laurie Lee's autobiographical trilogy ('A Moment of War') is also based on his Civil War experiences. Norman Bethune used the opportunity to develop the special skills of battlefield medicine. As a casual visitor, Errol Flynn used a fake report of his death at the battlefront to promote his movies. Despite the predominantly leftist attitude of the artistic community, several prominent writers such as Ezra Pound, Roy Campbell, Gertrude Stein, Salvador Dali and Evelyn Waugh sided with Franco.

[edit] United States and the Spanish Civil War

American veterans.
American veterans.

The U.S. saw Soviet involvement in the 1931 ouster of the Spanish monarchy, though there is little evidence of significant involvement. The U.S. was thus hostile to the new Republican government. Tensions escalated when the Manuel Azaña government expropriated the pro-fascist ITT Corporation. When the Civil War erupted after the failed right-wing coup, Secretary of State Cordell Hull moved quickly to ban what would have been legitimate arms sales to the democratically elected Popular Front government, forcing the Popular Front to turn to the Soviet Union for support. From the outset the Nationalists received important support from some elements of American business. The American-owned Vacuum Oil Company in Tangier, for example, refused to sell to Republican ships and at the outbreak of the war, the Texas Oil Company rerouted oil tankers headed for the republic to the Nationalist controlled port of Tenerife,[10] and supplied gasoline on credit to Franco until the war's end.

At the same time, the automakers Ford, Studebaker, and General Motors provided a total of 12,000 trucks to the Nationalists. After the war was over, José Maria Doussinague, who was at the time undersecretary at the Spanish Foreign Ministry said, "without American petroleum and American trucks, and American credit, we could never have won the Civil War."[11]

While not supported officially, many American volunteers such as the Abraham Lincoln Battalion fought for the Republicans, as well as American anarchists making up the Sacco and Vanzetti Century of the Durruti Column.[12]

[edit] Use of the Spanish Civil War as weapons testing ground

Germany and the USSR used the war as a testing ground for faster tanks and aircraft that were just becoming available at the time. The Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighter and Junkers Ju 52 transport/bomber were both used in the Spanish Civil War. The Soviets provided Polikarpov I-15 and Polikarpov I-16 fighters. The Spanish Civil War was also an example of total war. The killing of civilians (for example, the bombing of the Basque town of Gernika by the Legión Cóndor, immortalised by Pablo Picasso's painting, "Guernica") foreshadowed the terror bombings on Poland, the Netherlands and United Kingdom by Nazi Germany, and the Bombing of Dresden in World War II and other major German cities by the Allies.


The extent of foreign involvement in the conflict has led some commentators (most notably Paul Preston) to view it as part of a wider integrated European Civil War.

The total amount of foreign military and financial aid is difficult to calculate exactly.[13] Total aid is also difficult to determine as both sides purchased as much matériel as they could privately.[14]This article uses an exchange rate of five United States dollars for a British pound which was the going rate in 1936–39.[15]

[edit] Nationalists: foreign personnel and material

[edit] Germany

The government of Nazi Germany participated covertly in the conflict via a body of volunteers from the ranks of the German Air Force (Luftwaffe) and Army (Wehrmacht Heer) known as the Condor Legion (Legion Kondor). These men went as volunteers after resigning their rank from the German services. Members of the German Navy (Kriegsmarine) also participated. Probably a total of 16,000 German citizens fought mostly as pilots, ground crew, artillery men, in tanks, and as military advisors and instructors. About 10,000 Germans were the maximum at any one time. Perhaps 300 were killed.[16]

[edit] Italy

The government of Fascist Italy participated in the conflict via a body of volunteers from the ranks of the Italian Royal Army (Regio Esercito]), Royal Air Force (Regia Aeronautica), and Royal Navy (Regia Marina) formed into an expeditionary force known as the Corps of Volunteer Troops (Corpo Truppe Volontarie, CTV). The maximum number of Italians in Spain, at one time, fighting for the Nationalists, was 50,000 in 1937.[17] Probably a total of 75,000 Italians fought in Spain for the Nationalists.[18] Italians also served in the Spanish-Italian Flechas Brigades and Divisions. The airborne component of Aeronautica pilots and ground crew were known as "Aviation Legion" (Aviazione Legionaria) and the contingent of submariners as Submarine Legion (Sottomarini Legionari). 6,000 Italians are estimated to have died in the conflict.[19]

[edit] Other nationals

  • The Portuguese furnished about 20,000 troops for the Nationalist Side in the Viriato Legion (Legião Viriato). About 8,000 Portuguese died.[20]
  • About 600 Fascist Irishmen served in the Irish Brigade under General Eoin O'Duffy.
  • A few Frenchmen and some central Europeans fought for the Nationalists.[21]
  • Probably 75,000 Moroccan Regulares fought in the Nationalist ranks.[22] Spanish Morocco was an independent protectorate at the time so the Moroccans were not Spanish citizens.
  • Despite its name, the Spanish Foreign Legion, fighting on the Nationalist side, was mostly Spaniards.[23]

[edit] German and Italian material

German aid to the Nationalists amounted to approximately £43,000,000 ($215,000,000) in 1939 prices. This was broken down in expenditure to:

  • 15.5% used for salaries and expenses,
  • 21.9% used for direct delivery of supplies to Spain and
  • 62.6% expended on the Condor Legion. (No detailed list of German supplies furnished to Spain has been found).[24]

The Italian Government sent large amounts of material aid to the Nationalists. This aid included:

  • 1 cruiser
  • 4 destroyers
  • 2 submarines
  • 763 aircraft,
  • 1,930 pieces of artillery,
  • 100,000's of pieces of small arms,
  • tons of bombs and
  • millions of rounds of ammunition.[25]

Italian warships also participated and after the war, Italy presented a bill for £80,000,000 ($400,000,000) in 1939 prices to the Francoists.[26]

[edit] Republicans: foreign personnel and material

[edit] Soviet personnel

The Soviets claim to have 537 "Volunteers" who served in Spain.[27] The maximum number of Soviets in Spain at any one time is believed to have been 700, and the total during the war is thought to have between 2,000 — 3,000. Estimates for Soviet pilots who took part in the conflict are given at 1,000.[28]

[edit] International Brigades

Polish volunteers.
Polish volunteers.

Probably 32,000 foreigners fought in the International Brigades[29] (which probably never exceeded 20,000 at any one time). An estimated 3,000 volunteers fought in other Republican forces during the conflict. Additionally, about 10,000 foreigners participated in medical, nursing, and engineering capacities.[30]

The International Brigades included 9,000 Frenchmen of whom 1,000 were killed, 5,000 Germans and Austrians of whom 2,000 died, and also about 3,000 from Poland at the time. The next highest number was from Italy with 3,350 men. Then came the United States (2,800 men with 900 killed) and Britain (2,000 with 500 killed). There were also 1,500 Czechs, 1,500 Yugoslavs, 1,200 Canadians, 1,000 Hungarians and 1,000 Scandinavians about half of whom were Swedes. The rest came from a "claimed" 53 countries. Seventy-six Swiss were killed and Ninety Mexicans fought. [31] Perhaps 3,000 of the volunteers were Jewish.[32]. About 200 volunteers were from Palestine (of Jewish and Arab origin).[citation needed]

[edit] Sources of material

The Republic sent its gold reserve to the Soviet Union to pay for arms and supplies. That reserve was worth £63,000,000 ($315,000,000) in 1939 prices. In 1956, the Soviet Union announced that Spain still owed it $50,000,000.[33] Other estimates of Soviet and Comintern aid totaled £81,000,000 ($405,000,000) in 1939 value. The German military attached estimated that Soviet and Comintern aid amounted to:

  • 242 Aircraft,
  • 703 pieces of artillery,
  • 731 tanks,
  • 1386 trucks,
  • over 69,000 tons of war material, and
  • over 29,000 tons of ammunition. [34]

Much of this material was purchased in France, Czechoslovakia, the United States, Britain and Mexico.[35] Mexico furnished $2,000,000 in aid, and another $2,000,000 came from the United States for humanitarian purposes.[36] President Lázaro Cárdenas saw the war as similar to Mexico's own revolution although a large part of Mexican society wanted a Nationalist victory. The rest of Latin America sympathized with the Nationalists or was neutral.[37]

Modern research conducted after the collapse of the Iron Curtain shows that Poland was second after the USSR in selling arms to the Republic. In the autumn of 1936, indeed, Poland was the only nation to offer arms to the Republic in any quantity. At that time the Republic was in great need as the Nationalists were at Madrid.[38] The Republic was continuously swindled and short-changed in its purchases.[39]

The Republic also made poor buys for ammunition. The arms trade has a standard that with every rifle, 1,000 rounds of ammunition are included; with every machine gun, 10,000 rounds are included; and with every artillery piece, 2,400 shells should be included. Otherwise the hardware quickly becomes useless for lack of ammunition. A great bulk of the purchases fell far short of this standard.[40]

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c Beevor (2001)
  2. ^ Speech delivered by Premier Benito Mussolini. Rome, Italy, February 23, 1941
  3. ^ Thomas (2001), pp.794
  4. ^ Spartacus Schoolnet
  5. ^ Compass 1996
  6. ^ Ascherson
  7. ^ Preston (1986)
  8. ^ Thomas (2001) p. 942
  9. ^ Thomas (2001) p. 942
  10. ^ Beevor, p.138
  11. ^ Beevor, p.138
  12. ^ Beevor (2006), p.126
  13. ^ Thomas (1961), p. 634.
  14. ^ Thomas (1961) p. 638.
  15. ^ Howson, p xi
  16. ^ Thomas (1961), p. 634.
  17. ^ Thomas (1961) p.634.
  18. ^ Thomas (1986), p. 985
  19. ^ Thomas (1961) p.634.
  20. ^ Thomas (1961) p. 635.
  21. ^ Thomas (1961) p. 635.
  22. ^ Thomas (1986), p. 985.
  23. ^ Thomas (1986), p. 94.
  24. ^ Thomas (1961) p. 634.
  25. ^ Thomas (1961) pp 634 & 635.
  26. ^ Thomas (1961) p. 635.
  27. ^ Thomas (1961) p. 637.
  28. ^ Thomas (1986), p. 984
  29. ^ Soviet and Comintern sponsored
  30. ^ Thomas (2001) pp 941-2
  31. ^ Thomas (2001) pp 942-3
  32. ^ Thomas (1961) p. 637.
  33. ^ Thomas (1961) p. 635.
  34. ^ Thomas (1961) p. 643.
  35. ^ Thomas (1961) pp. 636, 640-643, inclusive.
  36. ^ Thomas (1961) pp. 637-638.
  37. ^ Howson, p 165
  38. ^ Howson, p 111
  39. ^ Howson, pp 109-110
  40. ^ Howson, p 109

[edit] Sources

  • Hugh Thomas, The Spanish Civil War, 1961 (1st Ed)
  • Hugh Thomas, The Spanish Civil War, 1986 (3rd Ed)
  • Hugh Thomas, The Spanish Civil War, 2001 (4th Ed)
  • Antony Beevor, The Spanish Civil War, 2001 (Reissued)
  • Beevor, Antony, The Battle for Spain, Penguin Books, 2006.
  • Gerald Howson, Arms for Spain, The Untold Story of the Spanish Civil War, 1998
  • Neal Ascherson, How Moscow robbed Spain of its gold in the Civil War, Guardian Media Group, 1998: review of Gerald Howson, Arms For Spain. Accessed 12 October 2006.
  • Spartacus Schoolnet: Soviet Union Series on the Spanish Civil War. Accessed 12 October 2006.
  • Compass: The Soviet Union and the Spanish Civil War, April 1996, No. 123 (published by Communist League, UK). Accessed 12 October 2006.
  • Paul Preston, A Concise History of the Spanish Civil War, (London, 1986), p.107

[edit] See also

[edit] Military forces and Aid

  • Fuerza Aérea Nacionales (Arma de Aviación) - Nationalist Air forces
  • Aviación de El Tercio - Spanish Foreign Legion Air forces
  • Fuerza Aérea de la República Española (FARE) - Second Republic and Soviet Air forces

[edit] Military operations

  • Operation Ursula - Uboat
  • Operation Rügen - Legion Kondor
  • Operation Bodden - Abwehr

[edit] Economic Aid and Dealings

  • Sociedad Hispano-Marroqui de Transportes (HISMA)
  • Rohstoff-Waren-Kompensation Handelsgesellschaft (ROWAK)
  • Rio Tinto Mining Concern