The Spanish Civil War: The Opening Act of WW2
...er the Republic or the Fascist. Two nations who came to the support of Franco’s fascist were Germany and Italy. Both Italy and the Germany provided the Spanish rebels with bombers to air lift the Moroccan army to Spain. In addition, they sent many of their troops to aid in the fighting. At first one would think that Germany and Italy’s objective was to simply support their fellow fascist and fight against what they thought was the evil Bolshevik regime. However, Germany and Italy’s objective was not quite as superficial as that. They had devised a clever scheme that they believed would supply them with enough knowledge, confidence and support in order to obtain what these two countries wanted more than anything else, expansion. Germany and Italy realized that in their quest for expansion they would ultimately meet with resistance which could lead to a war of great proportions. They wanted to prepare for the worse, so when they were faced with the adversity of resistance they would know exactly what weapons as well as what military tactics to use against their enemies. The battle grounds of Spain became Germany and Italy’s laboratory. Here the Germans would be able to freely test the strength of their army, weapons, and military tactics. One example is the attack that occurred on a small rural town when fighting against the Basque country. They went through the streets armed with machine guns and killed about 2,5000 of the 7,000 inhabitants. The Germans also tested the effects of terror bombing on the Spaniards. The Spanish navy remained loyal to the Republic but the Germans and the Italians also tested a weapon that would weaken the Spanish Navy significantly; these weapons were the submarines used along the Mediterranean. Although about 900,000 people fell victim to the Spanish Civil War neither Hitler nor Mussolini feared that their involvement would deteriorate their army or deplete their supplies. They knew they had the upper hand in this war due to their strong army as well as their advanced weapon’s technology. However, neither Germany or Italy sprang into the war in Spain, they cautiously became involved once they noticed that neither the French nor the English seemed to want to get involved. Hitler also took advantage of the fact that their involvement would gain an ally in the eastern Mediterranean. Hitler saw the importance of this ally in this crucial area due to it’s close proximity to Gibraltar. Hitler also exploited the Spanish Civil war in order to gain Nazi support. He convinced the landowners that they would too meet the same ill fate as the communists did in Russia. These scare tactics worked and many wealthy and upper class citizens including many members of the British ruling class joined Hitler in fear that everything they owned would be handed over to the landless farmers. However, this most likely isn’t the only episode where Hitler used the tactic of blaming the people’s strife on the communist. The burning of the Reichstag was another. When the Reichstag burned Hitler protested, “It is a sign from heaven. This is to beginning of the communist rising” (The Burning Of The Reichstag 367). Hitler called for a mass execution of the communist. In addition, in one single night he rounded up about 5,000 communist and charged them with arson. Marius Van Der Lubbe was executed for setting the fire. Goering, a general under Adolf Hitler once said as witnessed by the chief of the German staff Franz Halder, “The only one who really knows about the Reichstag is me, because I set it on fire (367)”. Although it remains a mystery till this date it remains a popular belief that the feeble minded Lubbe did start the fire but others say Georing’s men hampered the fire services from putting out the flames. Regardless of who set the flame, Hitler exploited the fire to gain support for the Nazis. The Nazi’s propaganda against the communist worked during the time of the Spanish Civil War. He was even able to convince Neville Chamberlain that the nazis were the heroes and destroyers of the ever so ominous communist. Chamberlain sided with Hitler after Hitler assured him that he was willing to maintain peace. Not longer after their encounter Hitler double-crossed Great Britain. Two other countries that joined forces and got involved in the war efforts were both Mexico and Russia. These two countries came to the support of the left, in particular the communist. As mentioned previously, Germany and Italy’s army had the obvious upper hand as George Orwell illustrates in his novel, “Homage to Catalonia”. George Orwell was an English man who goes to Spain as a journalist. Here he is introduced with the political party known as the POUM( Workers’ Party of Marxist Unity) and joins in the effort to rid Spain of the Fascist. In the novel George Orwell was frustrated due to the lack of weapons and the fact that the weapons they were able to obtain were archaic and much or less worthless. Orwell states this when talking about his fellow soldiers, they “sounded as pathetic as the cries of kittens. It seemed dreadful that the defenders of the Republic should be this mob of ragged children carrying worn-out rifles which they did not know how to use” (Orwell 19). He also states, “the majority of the rifles were scrap iron…about one rifle in ten was not bad, however” (34). In fact, the first casualties he witnesses in war were due to self inflicting wounds due to bad artillery and insufficient training. He narrates the story about the time he was almost killed by friendly fire as he was taking a photograph of his fellow soldiers. One of his comrades accidentally shoots at him; this incident as well as one previously stated demonstrates the grim future as well as the huge challenges that faced the left. Their worn down tattered rifles which were antiques by the time they reached the soldiers as well as a few tanks given to them by Russia were of little use when up against automatic machine guns which killed more people in the war than any other weapon. They were also up against powerful telescopes that could show the whereabouts of their enemies from far away ranges. These were just some of the weapons that Germany and Italy tested against their adversaries. The only countries that came to the aid of Spain against the Fascist were Russia and Mexico. Germany and Italy were becoming juggernauts but the Western powers did nothing to stop both Hitler’s and Mussolini’s wild rampage across Europe. When Hitler’s army invaded the Rhineland or when Italy invaded Ethiopia, they were met with no opposition by the French, British or anyone else for that matter. This reluctance to act opened Pandora’s box and unleashed eminent danger throughout Europe. Hitler saw an open door left by the cautious Western Powers and took advantage of the situation facing the economically torn Western Powers. Hitler sought control of Europe by taking control of smaller countries across Europe, as the rest of the countries stood idle. Why were the Western powers so aloof and reluctant to end Germany’s and Italy’s expansion efforts? Why did they stand idle with their arms crossed and allow Hitler to do as he so pleased? The answer is that both France and England were facing extremely difficult financial burdens and their countries leaders believed that it would be in the best efforts of the French and English citizens that they avoid war at all means. They remembered with fear what the Great War had done to their once prosperous nation. The war had killed their countries people and sent them on a economic downward spiral. The first world war was so financially detrimental to Great Britain because during the war, materials we being bought overseas. To further add to the already damaged economy they made the huge mistake of handling the general strike inappropriately and they reincorporated the gold standard. The country was also facing a crisis due to the decreased demand for coal. People were turni...