The German Intervention in the Spanish Civil War, 1936-1939

Added: 2026-05-11

[00:00:00]Between 1936 and 1939, a terrible civil war raged in Spain, fought between the Spanish Republic on one side and the nationalists on the other. What began as a failed military coup quickly developed into a devastating conflict that ravaged the country, claimed the lives of around half a million people, and left the population with longlasting trauma.

[00:00:22]Officially, this was a conflict confined to Spain, but unofficially, both sides received support from foreign powers.

[00:00:29]each pursuing its own ideological and geopolitical interests. In today's episode, we are going to take a detailed look at the German Reich's intervention on the side of the nationalists, which had an enormous influence on the outcome of the civil war. But why did Hitler decide to help the rebellious generals?

[00:00:48]What did he hope to gain from it? And what were the consequences both for Spain and for the rest of Europe? Before we address these questions, it would probably be useful to establish why the Spanish Civil War even broke out in the first place. And to do that, we have to go all the way back to the late 19th century. Since 1874, Spain had been governed by a constitutional monarchy in which a small oligarchic class held power. Overall, this system was fairly stable and the two leading parties, the Conservatives and the Liberals, agreed in the 1880s to share power in an effort to preserve the monarchy. They achieved this by deliberately manipulating the elections and then peacefully transferring power from one camp to the other after each electoral term. This stability was thus bought at the price of manipulation, corruption, and the deliberate exclusion of the vast majority of the Spanish population from which ultimately only this small upper class could benefit. Spain itself at that time was an agrarian and relatively backward country in which well over half the population could neither read nor write. Nevertheless, industrialization gradually began to take hold in Spain towards the end of the 19th century.

[00:02:04]initially driven largely by foreign investors. Of particular importance in this process were iron ore mining in the Basque country and textile production in Catalonia. However, this late industrialization did not take place evenly. Instead, the industrial areas were concentrated in the peripheral regions of Spain, namely in Catalonia, Valencia, Atorias and the Basque country. An industrial proletariat gradually emerged which remained excluded from political participation and derived virtually no benefit from this economic progress. The workingclass and agricultural laborers began to radicalize, organizing themselves into political movements and joining together in anarchist, Marxist or socialist parties. Around the same time, autonomist movements emerged in both Catalonia and the Basque country. This was on the one hand a consequence of Madrid's centralizing efforts but on the other hand also the result of the heightened national consciousness of the Catalan and Basque bourgeoisi. So shortly before 1900 Spain was a country marked by numerous conflicts whose stability was merely an illusion. The middle classes demanded a say in politics. The working class wanted a fair share of the industrialists profits and Basque and Catalan nationalists resisted centralism. Meanwhile, the ruling clique clung to the notion that only a hierarchical divinely sanctioned form of monarchical rule was legitimate and refused to introduce reforms or even to improve the plight of the impoverished masses. Instead, the regime typically responded to protests or hunger riots with violence, having them crushed by the army or the civil guard.

[00:03:49]Ultimately, it took a catastrophe from outside to shake the system for the very first time. In 1898, the SpanishAmerican War broke out, culminating in the loss of Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines in the USA. Spain had thus lost the last remnants of its once mighty colonial empire, and the regime had suffered a massive loss of legitimacy. In the years that followed, this led to a further worsening of domestic political problems and both the working class as well as the reform-minded military officers at the bourgeoisi demanded drastic reforms and indeed a few reforms were introduced afterwards, particularly in the areas of tax and social policy, though these did not necessarily improve people's daily lives. Meanwhile, the Spanish government sought to compensate for the loss of its colonial empire. In 1904, France granted Spain a strip of territory in northern Morocco as a sphere of influence.

[00:04:46]However, the inhabitants refused to recognize Spanish rule, leading to a brutal and costly war in 1909 between the Spanish army and the Rifian tribes.

[00:04:56]This war in Morocco was extremely unpopular in Spain, and the left actively protested against it, viewing it as a class conflict. The climax of this protest movement was the so-called tragic week in Barcelona in July and August 1909. In response to the call up orders for around 40,000 reserveists to reinforce the troops in Morocco from which the wealthy could simply buy their way out, a workers uprising erupted.

[00:05:24]This quickly took on anarchist, antic-colonial, and also anticclerical characteristics. As the clergy was seen as a major pillar of the corrupt and unjust system, the government reacted in its usual manner and had the uprising crushed by the army, resulting in around 800 deaths. Still, the conflict in Morocco would wage on for more than a decade. The military, however, refused to give up, primarily because it was so desperate to regain prestige after the humiliation in the Spanishame war.

[00:05:56]Furthermore, after 1909, Spain was governed in an increasingly authoritarian manner. Parliament was convened less frequently. The press was subjected to stricter censorship and some fundamental rights were suspended.

[00:06:10]Even the First World War failed to resolve the tensions within the country despite the fact that Spain's neutrality and its exports to both sides of the conflict led to an economic boom. The discontent was mostly brewing among the working class who benefited little from this favorable economic situation.

[00:06:30]Furthermore, after the end of the war, the markets for these goods dried up, thus leading to mass layoffs and wage cuts. In 1919, the anaro syndicicalist trade union confederac del trajo or CNT for short organized a strike in Catalonia that brought much of the region's industry to a standstill.

[00:06:50]Whilst this strike was indeed successful and led to the introduction of the 8-hour workday, it hardened the positions on both sides as the political elite finally abandoned its half-hearted attempts at reform. Instead, political violence became the order of the day. In Barcelona alone, there were hundreds of political attacks, often carried out by local anarchists. The authorities, backed by business leaders, responded with counterterrorism, leading to numerous street battles in the city. In the immediate postwar period, Spain experienced social conflicts more acute than in almost any other European country, and in the eyes of the Spanish people, the system had lost its right to exist. Its definitive end was finally brought about by another military disaster, this time in Morocco. On the 22nd of July 1921, Spanish colonial troops suffered a catastrophic defeat at Anoal against the Rifians in which over 10,000 Spaniards lost their lives.

[00:07:55]Spanish forces subsequently had to retreat to a small coastal strip and the Moroccan venture threatened to become a total fiasco. The unrest this caused in the mother country showed no sign of abating as the conflict in Morocco had now been ongoing for over a decade with no success. In the face of public outrage and mounting social problems, General Miguel Primo de Rivera ceized power in a coup d'eta in September 1923 with the approval of the king and the bourgeoisi. Spain was now under military dictatorship and Derea made it his mission to resolve the country's pressing problems and to lead it to renewed strength through his authoritarian system. Indeed, hopes in him were high and he was able to count on a broad support base. Even the socialists were prepared to support him in order to improve the situation of the working class. Only the anarchists and the communists opposed him, but their resistance was quickly broken. At first, Derea appeared to live up to his promises. In 1926, he succeeded in bringing the war in Morocco to an end, partly through the use of poison gas.

[00:09:07]Under his leadership, economic output grew, social tensions eased, and a wide-ranging infrastructure program was intended to make up for the country's backwardness.

[00:09:18]Yet, even he was unable to overcome the massive divisions in Spain. The industrialists and large land owners resisted the involvement of the socialist trade unions in regulating wages and working conditions. The military opposed any change to the old and inefficient promotion system. The costly infrastructure program led to a devaluation of the national currency which caused problems for the middle classes and in the wake of the global economic crisis after 1929 the socialists too distanced themselves from him. Deer Rivera had failed and lost the support of the elites. He admitted his failure and went into exile in 1930.

[00:10:00]After his departure, the divisions in the country flared up once more. The economic and political elites called for a ruthless dictatorship like the one in Italy, whilst their opponents sought the introduction of a parliamentary democracy. In the 1931 local elections, the socialists and the bourgeoa liberals ultimately won in most cities. To prevent any further escalation, the king fled into exile and on the 14th of April 1931, the Spanish Republic was proclaimed. It is striking that at a time when authoritarian regimes were springing up like mushrooms across the rest of Europe, a democratic republic took hold in Spain of all places. In the elections to the constituent assembly in June 1931, the socialists and Republicans secured a landslide victory thanks to the peculiar electoral system which favored party alliances. They saw themselves as reformers and modernizers which was no easy task given the problems that had been dragging on in the country for decades. Added to this was the fact that Spain too was affected by the Great Depression, albeit less severely than many other countries. As a result, unemployment rose dramatically, particularly in rural areas, which only served to heighten social tensions. The Republican government under Manuel Azana recognized that one of the most pressing problems in Spain was the agrarian question as land was distributed extremely unfairly. A tiny cast of large land owners accounting for just 0.1% of all agricultural holdings owned around a third of the total land area. Although a law was passed in September 1932 permitting expropriation and redistribution, it was scarcely put into practice. This was primarily due to fierce resistance from the large land owners, but also due to internal disagreements within the coalition over what should even happen to the confiscated land. The government had thus created the legal basis for a fairer distribution of land, but failed to implement it. The agrarian problem therefore remained unresolved whilst the republic had turned the landowners into staunch enemies and these enemies were soon joined by others such as the Catholic Church and the military. The clergy were particularly outraged that the new republican constitution no longer recognized Catholicism as the state religion. Furthermore, the withdrawal of the church's authority to teach at schools was a major source of discontent. The government launched a massive education offensive to raise the cultural standards of the citizenry. And the church was seen as an obstacle to that. Last but not least, the church also took issue with the decidedly secular and in some cases even anti-clerical stance of many Republican politicians. Although the church's influence was cailed primarily because it had traditionally been an important ally of the old monarchical elite, many reactionaries interpreted the anticclerical cause as a godless attack on the Catholic community. And as a result, the church itself became a refuge for enemies of democracy of all stripes. The military for its part was dissatisfied with the military reforms introduced which curtailed the army supremacy reduced military spending and halfed the number of divisions. In the face of the social polarization triggered by the agrarian reform, the cailment of the church's influence and the military reform, the AA government could no longer hold on. Another general election was held in November 1933 and this time the electoral system held the newly organized right to victory. The strongest party was the CEDA, a clerical conservative party that represented the interests of the upper classes and sought to establish a corporatist state similar to that in Austria. Together with the liberal part radical, the CEDA formed a government in 1934 whose short-term in office is referred to as the black years. The new government vigorously repealed some of the agrarian reforms leading to a further radicalization of agricultural workers.

[00:14:27]Furthermore, the left interpreted the CEDA's involvement in the government as a fascist seizure of power where upon unrest broke out across the country and Catalonia even declared its independence. All these uprisings and strikes were however quickly suppressed with the exception of a rebellion by miners in Atorias.

[00:14:48]This involved the socialists, the communists and the anarchists alike and could only be quelled through a massive use of force. The troops that crushed the Historious rebellion consisted mainly of Moroccan mercenaries and soldiers from the African army who were characterized by unprecedented brutality. The commanding general Francisco Franco did not shy away from using artillery and aerial bombardments.

[00:15:14]The suppression was a bloodbath.

[00:15:17]Thousands of people were murdered. Rapes took place on a large scale and widespread destruction ensued.

[00:15:24]Afterwards, peaceful coexistence between the left and the right was simply no longer possible. As the right-wing government also proved untenable, new elections were called in 1936 for the second and final time. The left-wing parties, which had united to form the popular front, emerged victorious, and Manuel Aagna became prime minister once again. This time, the Republicans set about resolving the agrarian problem once and for all. But they were not even to be given the chance to tackle the pressing structural problems of the Spanish economy and society because behind the scenes the generals were plotting a coup. Now it may seem a little strange that I have spent so much time discussing the background to the Spanish Civil War. In fact, however, it is important to me to show just how incredibly far back the problems of the Spanish Republic stretched and how impossible it was to overcome the deep social and political issues. All attempts to redress social tensions and injustices were bound to meet with resistance from the conservative elites, meaning that Spain made little progress in this regard for a very long time. In the 1930s, political tensions then reached their peak and seemed absolutely insurmountable.

[00:16:45]Tragically, the Spanish Republic thus remained a missed opportunity and its failure was to plunge the country into catastrophe. Broadly speaking, Spanish society was divided into two hostile but extremely heterogeneous camps before the outbreak of the war. On the one hand, we have the left comprising of democrats, liberals, socialists, anarchists, and communists who supported the republic or at least regarded it as the preferable alternative to dictatorship.

[00:17:16]On the other side stood the authoritarian right comprising of monarchists, the military, conservatives, the church, and the fascists.

[00:17:25]A simplified portrayal of the Civil War as a conflict between communism and fascism, as it subsequently became rather popular, can therefore safely be regarded as incorrect because both communists and fascists constituted only a tiny fraction of Spanish society prior to 1936. In any case, the civil war was initiated by the military as on the 17th of July 1936, the conspiring generals launched their attempted coup. This was however only partially successful and the majority of the country including the capital Madrid and the industrial regions remained in the hands of the republic. The plan to swiftly seize power in the country failed. This was due not least to the fact that in the eyes of most Spaniards, the republic still possessed legitimacy and large sections of the population opposed the military. The purchases had not wanted a protracted civil war, but now they had brought it about. At the outset, there was a good chance that the attempted rebellion might have been crushed. The various army commanders were at odds with each other and operating more or less independently in the territories they occupied. northern Spain, Morocco, and parts of Andalusia. Furthermore, Francisco Franco's Moroccan army was stuck in North Africa and was unable to cross over to the mainland because the fleet and most sailors had remained loyal to the republic. To make matters worse, General Jose San Huro, who was actually supposed to take charge of the uprising, was killed in a plane crash on his way back from exile. The coup would therefore almost certainly have failed had it not suddenly received outside help. At the end of July 1936, Adolf Hitler attended the Broid Festival as usual from where he followed the events in Spain with interest. Franco meanwhile turned to Germany to request assistance and sent two representatives to Broite for this very purpose and on the 25th of July they were indeed granted an audience with the Fura and appeared to have succeeded in persuading him to intervene because that very same night Hitler ordered the chief of the Luftwlafer Hermaning and the commander-in-chief of the Vermart Vanafan Blumbach to support the Spanish rebels by dispatching transport aircraft. Consequently, these transport aircraft began to ferry the Spanish troops that were stranded in Morocco to the mainland. A first contingent of German troops was also transported by sea to Spain, albeit under the strictest secrecy. This was because the Olympic Games were due to begin in Berlin in early August, and Germany as the host nation wanted to present itself as a peaceloving and cosmopolitan country.

[00:20:13]What began as a spontaneous act of assistance for Franco, who had found himself in a tight spot, would escalate into a massive German intervention in Spain. By the end of the Civil War, some 16,000 Germans were supporting the nationalist side over time. In addition to soldiers, this included pilots and tank crews. German military equipment such as tanks, aircraft, anti-aircraft guns, and rifles was also smuggled into Spain via Portugal. In total, the third Reich is estimated to have invested around 500 million rice mark in an attempt to bring down the Spanish Republic. But what prompted Hitler to lend such substantial support to General Franco and the opponents of Spanish democracy? There were several reasons for this. Firstly, Spain provided a training ground for the Nasset Luftwafer and the Viamat. Since the National Socialists had come to power in 1933, Germany had been rearming relentlessly with the clear aim of being able to wage a war of aggression in the near future.

[00:21:14]Through their involvement in Spain, German soldiers and pilots would be able to gain valuable experience that they would absolutely need. The second reason was of an economic nature. Spain was rich in raw materials that were important for German armaments such as iron ore and pyite. Whilst it is unlikely that economic interests played a major role in the decision to support Franco in July 1936, German economic involvement in Spain nevertheless continued to expand significantly throughout the course of the civil war.

[00:21:47]The key figure behind this was Herman Guring, the commissioner of the 4-year plan, which was intended to make Germany fit for war within 4 years. In Guring's view, after the end of the civil war, nationalist Spain was to become dependent on Germany and serve as a supplier of raw materials. In 1936, a front company was set up, initially tasked with organizing imports to Germany. Later, however, it also set up a network of companies so that the Germans soon had direct access to Spanish iron mines, agricultural enterprises, and other sources of raw materials. Although this was not at all to the liking of the Spanish nationalists, they reluctantly gave in because they were dependent on German arm supplies. By 1938, some 41% of Spanish exports were already going to Germany, whilst German support for the nationalists continued unabated.

[00:22:43]Thirdly, ideological considerations also played a part in the decision to intervene as the fight against Marxism had always been one of the central pillars of national socialist ideology.

[00:22:54]Although the communists had only played a marginal role in Spain, Hitler and the other leading national socialists were deeply convinced that suppressing the coup would inevitably lead to the rise of bulsheism in the country. On the 26th of July 1936, Hitler warned Yahim that a Bolevik Spain would spread communism to the other countries of Western Europe.

[00:23:18]Indeed, this fear of the spread of communism was shared by almost all members of the Nazi leadership. The British diplomat Robert Vanzitart who visited Germany in the summer of 1936 reported, "This is the constant theme of every man and woman in Berlin. Indeed, they can think and talk of little else.

[00:23:36]The obsession he means with communism is in any case endemic. But Spanish events have reinforced their thesis. The fourth and by far the most important reason however was geostrategic considerations.

[00:23:50]This was because in June 1936 the Frontier had come to power in France. A government formed by the United Parties which was also supported by the communists. Leon Bloom became prime minister and as a Jew, a socialist and a democrat, he resembled a sort of bogeyman that must have terrified the Nazis. Hitler denounced Bloom as a deliberate agent of the Soviets, Zionists, and destroyer of the world and saw his own enemy stereotypes confirmed.

[00:24:18]In Hitler's eyes, there was a danger that the French government might enter into an alliance with the Soviet Union.

[00:24:25]This was not unlikely as the USSR and France had concluded a mutual assistance pact the previous year. Czechoslovakia might also join this alliance as it was France's ally. This would have left the German Reich surrounded on three sides by enemies. A victorious Republican Spain could also have joined this alliance thereby strengthening it further. In response, Hitler envisaged an anti-communist alliance comprising Italy, Poland, several Balkan countries, and indeed a nationalist Spain under Franco's leadership. The main aim, therefore, was to keep Spain out of France's sphere of influence. The Germans hoped that this could be achieved at little cost and without a major escalation of tensions between Germany and the Western powers. It was certainly worth a try, although the Nazis were probably not yet entirely sure what they had actually got themselves into. As Ysef Gubbers wrote in his diary on the 27th of July, 1936, "We are getting a little bit involved in Spain. Not visibly. Who knows what good it will do." But now back to Spain. The transport of Franco troops from Morocco to Spain using German aircraft was a complete success. By October 1936, the rebels had conquered much of Andalusia and Extremadura and therefore controlled a contiguous territory. The nationalists achieved a victory of greater propaganda significance with the capture of the Al Kazar in Toledo on the 27th of September, a fortress that had withtood a siege by Republican troops since the start of the war. However, they were unable to take Madrid and the Spanish capital remained in Republican hands until March 1939.

[00:26:08]From the very outset, the civil war was fought with almost indescribable brutality. Numerous atrocities were committed, particularly in the early stages of the war by both the nationalists and republican sides. These massacres remain the most painful aspect of the memory of the Spanish Civil War.

[00:26:27]And even today, the exact number of victims, and the precise reasons behind them are the subject of heated debate among historians. What is certain is that the death toll resulting from the nationalist atrocities was far higher and that these were carried out systematically. As soon as any area was captured by the nationalist forces, whether or not there was significant resistance, the purge began. The victims were mostly Republican officers, trade unionists, left-wing politicians, intellectuals, or indeed anyone suspected of having supported a left-wing party. This terror continued even after the capture and even lasted well beyond the end of the war. It is difficult to say exactly how many people fell victim to these mass executions, but the figure is certainly well above 100,000 and may have been as high as 200,000.

[00:27:20]The reason for this violence was clear.

[00:27:22]In many Spanish regions, the nationalist armies were viewed as invaders by the majority of the population and received little widespread support. The aim of this targeted terror was therefore to send a clear message and to intimidate the conquered population. General Emlio Mhler, one of the leaders of the coup, summed it up as follows. It is necessary to spread an atmosphere of terror. We have to create an impression of mastery.

[00:27:49]The Republican atrocities, on the other hand, are somewhat more difficult to categorize. These were primarily concentrated in the first few months of the war and mainly targeted nationalist sympathizers, members of the clergy, or people suspected of being traitors. The death toll from the so-called red terror is generally estimated at around 50,000.

[00:28:12]Many historians believe that these murders were primarily the result of panic over the collapse of the state and civil order. Many of the murders were committed by released criminals or were spontaneous reactions to news of nationalist massacres. For example, on the 23rd of August 1936, enraged civilians and militia men stormed a prison in Madrid after learning of the massacre of 1,500 civilians in Badas and murdered 70 nationalist prisoners. In a sense, a spiral of violence thus emerged. Revolutionary tribunals, also known as Czecha, were also formed in many towns dominated by socialists and communists, and they too had nationalists executed. The extent to which the Republican massacres were in fact primarily the result of panic and chaos caused by the war, or whether they too were far more systematic than has long been assumed remains a subject of controversy to this day. What is undisputed is that both the nationalist and republican atrocities were largely the direct result of the irreconcilable social divisions in Spain that had emerged in the 1930s.

[00:29:22]Violence and extremism had become the norm and for most any compromise with political opponents was completely out of the question. Instead, they had become mortal enemies. Furthermore, the outbreak of war and the collapse of everyday order meant that the inhibitions against the use of violence were drastically lowered. Manuel Azaga, who served as president of the Spanish Republic throughout the war, wrote as early as the 1930s, "Hatred distilled over the years in the hearts of the dispossessed. Hatred on the part of the proud, little inclined to accept the insolence of the poor. hatred of opposing ideologies, a kind of odium theologicum with which one sought to justify intolerance and fanaticism.

[00:30:06]One part of the country hated the other and feared it. At the end of September 1936, Francisco Frana was finally appointed by the military hunter as general of all the armed forces and absolute head of state of nationalist Spain. On the one hand, he was chosen for his military abilities and organizational skills. On the other, however, also because he was able to secure foreign aid for the nationalist cause. After all, the Germans and the Italians had explicitly promised support to him and not to the rebels themselves.

[00:30:39]For the period following his victory, Franco envisaged an authoritarian, nationalist, and corporatist state that drew inspiration from fascist Italy while remaining deeply conservative and Catholic. Frana was a staunch nationalist who adhered to the principle of a united Spain and was not averse at all to imperialism.

[00:31:00]And as a Catholic, he was also interested in the dominance of the church in his new state. Whilst Franco and the nationalists commanded a tightly organized and experienced army, the republic initially struggled to mount a proper defense. Instead, the defense was primarily makeshift and led by spontaneously formed and poorly organized militias. It was only after the nationalists had failed to capture Madrid that the Republican government managed to establish a reasonably effective defense. The militias began to be integrated into the regular army in October 1936 and could now be organized along military lines. By the autumn of 1937, the republic had managed to field around half a million men, meaning it was only about 100,000 short of the nationalists.

[00:31:49]Far more serious, however, was the qualitative difference because the Francoists had established a tightlyun military state and their artillery and air force remained superior throughout the entire war. Added to this were further problems such as domestic political tensions, technological shortcomings, the lack of an efficient war economy, and an inadequate chain of command. All of which ensured that the Spanish Republic was fighting an uphill battle from the very start. Equally serious was the fact that the nationalists received far greater support from abroad. In July 1936, Benito Mussolini also intervened in the conflict alongside Hitler. Like the Germans, Mussolini was driven by ideological motives as he too wanted to prevent the spread of communism in Western Europe or at least a left-wing Franco Spanish alliance. But he certainly had imperialist aims as well as he sought military bases in the Balaric Islands with which he intended to challenge France's dominance in the Western Mediterranean. The fact that he was serious was evident simply from the fact that Italy intervened in Spain, even though at that time it was still waging a terrible and costly war in Abiscinia and was consequently diplomatically isolated. Although Italy and Germany did not intervene jointly in the Spanish Civil War, their almost simultaneous involvement was nevertheless an important step towards a reproachment between the two states. In November 1936, the so-called Berlin Rome Axis was announced, and from then on, Italy and Germany would become allies.

[00:33:26]Ultimately, Italian aid to Franco was to prove even more substantial than that provided by Germany. At its peak, there were as many as 50,000 Italians in Spain. And whilst German casualties remained minimal, around 4,000 Italians lost their lives. Italy also supplied the nationalists with tanks, aircraft, vehicles, artillery and rifles worth roughly 6 billion la which was roughly one and a half times as much as the German expenditure. Republican Spain meanwhile was abandoned by its most obvious allies Britain and France.

[00:34:01]Whilst London's decision to remain neutral was driven in part by a fear that the war might spread to the rest of Europe and the desire for international deescalation, a far more significant factor was its openly hostile attitude towards the Spanish left-wing government. In the eyes of British decision makers, the republic was incapable of bringing the social unrest in the country under control and would be powerless to prevent a potential communist revolution. The Aza government was constantly compared in the Foreign Office under Anthony Eden to the Kirinsky government in Russia in 1917.

[00:34:38]Consequently, it was deemed to have absolutely no chance of survival. When the military coup then broke out, it was tolerated, indeed even welcomed by London. That's because they hoped that the Spanish military dictatorship would at least restore order in the country and protect British trade interests as well as investments. A British intervention in support of the legitimate government was therefore never even considered. This also left the French government's hands tied because although it was certainly sympathetic to the Republicans, it did not wish to intervene without Britain's cooperation. Leon Bloom's attempt during a visit to England to persuade the British to abandon their neutrality fell on Deaf ears. But France too had much to lose by intervening in the civil war as the country was deeply divided politically and an uprising by the political right would not have been unlikely. Moreover, France was also determined to preserve peace in Europe as a whole. The French government therefore brought about the formation of the non-intervention committee in August 1936 in which 27 countries participated including Germany and Italy. In France's view, it was better to at least deny the coup plotter's external aid, thereby giving the republic a chance to crush the uprising. But as we already know, this endeavor was completely in vain, and the western democracy's confidence that Germany and Italy would honor their agreement and stay out of the conflict was quite frankly naive.

[00:36:08]However, the republic was not entirely on its own. In the autumn of 1936, in the face of French and British neutrality, the Soviet Union intervened on their side. At that time, Soviet foreign policy was driven by the principle of collective security, which aimed to contain Nazi Germany and sought a reproachment with the Western European powers. A victory for the nationalists in Spain would have meant that their ally France would be surrounded by three hostile states, and this had to be prevented. And so the USSR began supplying the Spanish government with military equipment, weapons, and oil.

[00:36:45]Furthermore, the Soviets began to increase their influence over the Republic. And over the course of the Civil War, the Republic increasingly became dependent on Soviet military assistance. Another important consequence was that the Spanish Communist Party, a splinter group prior to 1936, had grown to 250,000 members by the end of the year. However, Soviet aid was never sufficient to secure victory for the republic, and in the summer of 1938, Joseph Stalin withdrew his support entirely. Overall, Soviet aid was also anything but a blessing, as Stalin sought by every means to secure a monopoly on supplies to the republic.

[00:37:25]What is more, in September 1936, the Soviets negotiated the transfer of 70% of Spain's massive gold reserves to Moscow, where they were placed in safe custody and served as payment for Soviet supplies. However, the Soviets charged a fortune for the transport and the safekeeping of the gold. And moreover, the Pacetta's lack of gold backing led to rapid inflation, which the Soviets exploited by raising the prices of arm supplies.

[00:37:53]So this was certainly no selfless aid.

[00:37:56]In addition to the USSR, the republic also received support from Mexico, which refused to join the non-intervention committee and despite its limited resources, sent the Spanish government 20,000 rifles, food, and ammunition during the course of the war. Following the victory of the nationalists, Mexico also declared its willingness to take in 50,000 political refugees from Spain.

[00:38:20]Although the Mexican intervention is on the whole little more than an anecdote, Mexico nevertheless deserves full recognition in my eyes simply because it was a rare showing of integrity at a time where all major democracies failed in their moral duty. In addition to help from the Soviet Union and Mexico, the republic received support from brave men and women who volunteered to fight for the legitimate government. In addition to the famous international brigades organized by the comment, these included brigades from Tostitzia elia, an Italian resistance movement, as well as international militia men who had already taken up arms for the republic following the attempted coup. In total, over 40,000 people from more than 50 countries, primarily from France, Germany, Poland, Ukraine, Italy, America, and Great Britain, fought for Spanish democracy and risked their lives in the process. It is quite telling that not even 1,000 foreign volunteers were to join the nationalist side in Spain.

[00:39:22]People who were prepared to fight for a cause found the opportunity to take individual action against the advance of authoritarians and fascists in Europe.

[00:39:32]But even that was unfortunately not enough. Hitler and Mussolini had made it their mission to help Francisco Franco to victory by any means necessary. From November 1936 onwards, Bellin and Rome sent delegations to Franco, thereby effectively recognizing his provisional nationalist government. At the same time, the Condor Legion was also deployed to Spain, a German air force unit under the command of Hugos Bella.

[00:39:59]In total, some 19,000 Germans were to fight in this legion with pilots being rotated regularly to allow as many men as possible to gain the necessary combat experience for the coming war in Europe.

[00:40:11]The Condor Legion fought on all fronts and provided indispensable support to the nationalist side, enabling them to carry out their ground offensives. In every major battle from 1937 onward, it played a key role in ensuring that the nationalists advance continued. Overall, however, Italian support was significantly greater and also more important. But despite that, Hitler was not interested in matching the extent of Italian support. That's because the German Reich wanted to embroil Mussolini as deeply as possible both politically and militarily in the Spanish Civil War.

[00:40:48]On the one hand, this was to strengthen the German Italian alliance through shared entanglement. But on the other hand, the Germans wanted to gain a free hand in central Europe. For years, Italy had been the biggest obstacle to a possible annexation of Austria by Germany. And the hope was that Mussolini would finally abandon his resistance when he realizes that without the R, he would be completely isolated diplomatically.

[00:41:14]Any hopes that the civil war would at least soon be over vanished by early 1937 at the latest because although the nationalists were able to capture the city of Malaga in February, the Italian troops failed in another attempt to occupy Madrid one month later. And so Franco turned north to bring at least the Basque country and the Snorius under his control. These regions were not only an inconvenient threat to the nationalists rear but were also economically significant. The Condor Legion was also involved in this operation with devastating consequences.

[00:41:49]On the 26th of April 1937, in coordination with the Francoist command in Salamanca, 30 German and three Italian bombers attacked Gerika, reducing the Basque town to rubble and ashes. Several hundred civilians lost their lives in the attack. The original target was probably a nearby bridge over the River Oak intended to block transport routes for the Republicans.

[00:42:14]However, this bridge remains completely undamaged. Instead, the bombs struck the town center. It is not possible to say with certainty exactly why Gernika was destroyed. It is plausible that this bridge was indeed the target, but that precise bombing was simply not feasible, leading the pilots to subject the surrounding area to mass bombardment. It is even more likely, however, that the Germans were testing the effect and scale of the simultaneous use of incendiary and high explosive bombs in Gernnika because as early as the end of 1936, the Condor Legion had begun to systematically bomb Spanish towns and villages with the aim of breaking the enemy's morale. At the end of March 1937, the Condor Legion together with the Italian Legionary Air Force had attacked Durango, completely destroying the town and machine gunning down civilians. Durango thus became one of the earliest examples in Europe of systematic aerial bombardment against a completely defenseless civilian population. In the month of April 1937 alone, the Germans had dropped five times as many bombs on the city of Bilbal as they had dropped on England during the entire First World War. And even after Gerika, the Condor Legion continued its attacks on Basque and historian towns, although none were as devastating. The bombing of Gerika was a flagrant violation of international law as the Hake Convention on Land Warfare prohibits attacks on undefended settlements. But Gernika was also a bitter foretaste of what was soon to come in Europe on a far more devastating scale. Modern aerial warfare was to primarily wipe out the distinction between combatants and non-combatants which would lead to previously unimaginable suffering and destruction during the Second World War. For the nationalist generals, the primary aim of the destruction of Gernika was to break the morale of the Bases who were putting up resistance by destroying one of their most important cultural centers. Due to the international outcry sparked by the bombing, Franco denied for decades that there had been explicit Spanish authorization for it, claiming instead that the Bas had set the city on fire themselves. Germany's shared responsibility was also long concealed as the nationalist's victory was not to be portrayed as the result of foreign intervention. Another significant event in April 1937 was the further consolidation of Franco's power. The Spanish right-wing parties ranging from conservative monarchists to downright fascists were forcibly merged under his leadership into a single party. the Spanish traditionalist philantip which became the only legal party in the nationalist zone. With this, Franco began to build his dictatorship and set his conservative new state in motion.

[00:45:06]His state structure relied primarily on the military, the aristocracy and oligarchy as well as the church and made it its primary task to immediately undo the few achievements that the republic had made. The church became one of the most important pillars of the new system. And already in autumn of 1937, the Vatican granted Franco diplomatic recognition. And while the nationalists were thus able to effectively unite, the republic continued to disintegrate. By 1937, there had been several changes of government and the various factions drifted further and further apart.

[00:45:40]Instead of focusing on a common goal, namely saving the republic, Republicans, liberals, socialists, anarchists, and communists became entangled in a destructive power struggle. The communists benefited most from this rivalry, gaining popularity and a strong following thanks to Soviet support and greatly increased their influence. This constant internal division within the republic was to prove one of the main reasons for its defeat at the hands of the nationalists. The defenders of the Republic never managed to overcome their differences and establish an effective defense strategy that made full use of all available options. They did not even make use of the possibility of waging a guerilla war against the superior nationalists. As a result, they were only able to delay the inevitable, the complete destruction of democracy in Spain. Meanwhile, the German Reich had every interest in ensuring that the Spanish Civil War dragged on for as long as possible. Hitler's strategy of securing Mussolini's allegiance by getting him more involved in Spanish affairs had borne fruit. Italy was now even more diplomatically isolated and a reconciliation with France or Britain now seemed impossible. In November 1937, Italy joined the anti-common pact alongside Germany and Japan. While Mussolini was getting his hands dirty in the civil war, Hitler exploited the international focus on Spain to press ahead with his revision of the Treaty of Versailles with regard to rearmament and the annexation of Austria and Czechoslovakia.

[00:47:12]Franco's general military strategy of waging the war persistently and in small steps therefore worked entirely to Hitler's advantage. At the same time, Germany remarkably interfered very little in Spanish domestic politics, for Hitler did not care which system came to power after the end of the civil war. Be it a military dictatorship, an authoritarian regime, or a monarchy, Spain had never played a major role in German strategy anyway, and it had been assigned to the Italian sphere of influence. What mattered was that the Spanish regime was friendly towards Germany and continued to supply it with raw materials. Let us now briefly wrap up the end of the civil war. In the autumn of 1937, the nationalists succeeded in completely capturing the Basque country and Atorius. Even more devastating was the fact that in April 1938, the nationalist army managed to break through the Republican defenses and advance to the Mediterranean Sea at Vidaros. The Republic was thus split in two with Catalonia being completely cut off. Confidence in the Republic's victory to win the war had reached an all-time low. And yet in July the Republic launched a final major offensive on the Ebro which lasted until November but ended in defeat. The Republican army was thus left entirely on the defensive by the end of 1938. At the latest, Hitler too was keen to see a swift end to the civil war. Following the Munich conference and the resulting collapse of the Frontier in France, the Spanish civil war had lost its significance for German geostrategy. nor was there any longer any need for it to serve as a distraction from German aggression. Germany therefore increased its arms deliveries once more to help the nationalists take over the last remaining Republican territories but not without first extracting further economic concessions.

[00:49:02]And with that the final phase of the war could begin. Catalonia was conquered in just a few weeks. And on the 26th of January 1939, nationalist troops marched into Barcelona. President Azana resigned and fled into exile in France. In March, a hunter led by Colonel Seahisando Cazardo and the socialist politician Julian Bstero ceized power in Madrid and attempted to negotiate a peace settlement with Franco. However, this was out of the question for the dictator. On the 28th of March, he captured Madrid and 4 days later on the 1st of April 1939, the Spanish Civil War was declared over. Francisco Franco had triumphed.

[00:49:42]Once the fighting had come to an end, it was time for the members of the Condor Legion to return home. On the 6th of June 1939, a grand victory parade was held in Berlin. Whilst the deployment of the German fighters in 1936 had taken place under the strictest secrecy, their return was now celebrated in full view of the whole world. Hitler was now clearly confident enough to admit that he had deceived the international community 3 years earlier.

[00:50:10]The civil war was devastating for Spain.

[00:50:12]An estimated half a million people lost their lives, though fewer than half of them died as a result of combat. Far more were murdered in massacres, fell victim to bombing, starvation, or disease, or were executed. After the war, around 300,000 Spaniards left the country and never returned. Large parts of the country were destroyed, and reconstruction was to take years. In 1939, the Franco dictatorship began in Spain, lasting until the 1970s and continuing to shape the country to this day. Franco's victory was to a large extent also the result of German intervention with the airlift of the African army in 1936 being the most significant contribution. German armed supplies were also indispensable as was the Condor Legion whose air support greatly helped the nationalists advance.

[00:51:03]However, one should not overestimate the German role because Italian support was far greater in numerical terms, whilst Soviet support for the republic was only of moderate help. The non-intervention of the Western democracies did the rest to enable the end of the Spanish Republic. The Second World War would in all likelihood have broken out even without the Spanish Civil War, but it is certainly possible to argue that it hastened its outbreak. For one thing, Mussolini's Spanish adventure tied him closely to Germany and prevented a reconciliation with the Western powers.

[00:51:36]Italy thus became dependent on Germany in terms of foreign policy and consequently abandoned its opposition to the annexation of Austria in 1938.

[00:51:46]The division of Europe into an alliance system between the Axis and the Allies was thus complete. Furthermore, Hitlerant Mussolini concluded from the non-intervention of Britain and France that the Western democracies were too weak and cowardly to stand in the way of the fascist dictators. They thus felt emboldened to pursue further aggression such as the German invasion of what remained of Czechoslovakia in March 1939 or the Italian occupation of Albania in April 1939. Consequently, Hitler assumed that the Western powers would do nothing to prevent the impending invasion of Poland and regarded the Anglo French guarantee as a bluff. Without the Spanish factor, it is therefore quite possible that the Second World War would have broken out several months or even years later. For Hitler, the intervention in Spain had paid off. The members of the Condor Legion were able to gain combat experience with minimal losses. German access to Spanish iron ore and pyrite deposits was secured.

[00:52:44]What the Nazis perceived as the threat of communist expansion in Western Europe had been halted and the feared encirclement of Germany did not materialize.

[00:52:53]Following his victory, Franco clearly sided with the Axis powers. Spain had already joined the anticomatan pact in March 1939 and signed a treaty of friendship with Germany in which both powers pledged to maintain benevolent neutrality in the event of a conflict.

[00:53:09]And indeed when the second world war broke out in September 1939, Spain declared its neutrality. For Franco, the idea of Spain, a country which was still reeling from the civil war, joining the European conflict only became appealing after France had signed the armistice in June 1940. And it appeared that Germany was on the verge of victory. On the 23rd of October, the first and only face-to-face meeting between Franco and Hitler took place in the French border town of Andai, where the possibility of Spain entering the war was discussed. In return, Franco demanded German support for the capture of Gibraltar, parts of French Morocco, parts of the French colonial empire, food deliveries, as well as military and financial assistance. Hitler, who was anything but enthusiastic about Franco's character, was however under no circumstances willing to agree to any specific concessions. Since Franco, for his part, was not satisfied with the vague German promises regarding the postwar period either, the meeting ended in a deadlock.

[00:54:13]Spain became of interest to Hitler one last time in November 1940 when he ordered the planning of a German surprise attack on Gibraltar in order to significantly hamper Britain's access to the Mediterranean. Although Franco initially agreed in principle to this plan, he nevertheless called it off just one month later. This was because the Spanish dictator feared for the country's precarious supply situation and that another war would be highly unpopular in Spain. The fact that Hitler continued to refuse to offer him any concrete concessions in return for joining the war only strengthened Franco in his decision. Thus, the popular image of Franco as having steadfastly preserved Spain's neutrality and resisted German influence despite constant German pressure is misleading.

[00:54:59]Franco was generally interested in entering the war. It was simply that Hitler did little to meet his demands.

[00:55:07]By then, at the latest, Hitler had lost complete interest in Spain. For by that point, the German military was already deeply immersed in planning for the impending war of annihilation against the Soviet Union. In comparison to that vast ideological and racial struggle, Spanish concerns no longer mattered.

[00:55:27]All right, then. Dakashun for watching.

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