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Artists in Arms
Robert Capa and Gerda Taro, 1936. A
year later, Taro would be killed while
covering the Battle of Brunete
the POUM, wanted to fight a revolutionary war,
encouraging mass involvement by promoting a
social revolution even as war raged. Moderates
wanted to delay the revolution until after the war
was won. When the two sides clashed, Orwell sided
with the revolutionaries. Communist-led moderate
forces prevailed in this civil war within the civil
war, with the result that Orwell fled Spain for fear
of being arrested and jailed. Back in England, he
wrote Homage To Catalonia, a record of not only
his military experience in Spain but also of the
internecine political struggle that plagued the
Republic. His contempt for communism
would never leave him.
The American writer Ernest
Hemingway, too, made his way
to Spain, which was a country
TheheadquartersofthePOUMin
Barcelona, 1936. George Orwell is
presentinthebackgroundoftheimage
he knew well and loved; his sympathies were
veryclearlywiththeRepublic.Apartfromhis
newspaperreportsandhisonlyplay,The Fifth
Column, Hemingway also co-wrote (with John Dos
Passos) the 1937 film The Spanish Earth. Directedby
JorisIvensandnarratedbyOrsonWelles,thefilm’s
pro-Republican stance was unambiguous. The most
famous literary manifestation of Hemingway’s
experience of the war is, however, his novel For
WhomTheBellTolls, which tells the fictional story
of an American volunteer for the International
Brigades. Published in 1940, it was followed three
yearslaterbyafilmofthesametitlestarringIngrid
Bergman and Gary Cooper.
ForSpanishwriters,theoutbreakofwartriggered
an outburst of activity across all the literary forms.
They wished to show their support for the war
and the revolution by putting pen to paper, using
literature to promote commitment to the cause.
One such writer was Miguel Hernández, whose
commitment to the burning social issues of the
day had led him to join the Communist Party of
Spain. After the outbreak of war, he exemplified
the unity of cultural and military activity in the
Republic. He enlisted with Republican forces and
also gave poetry readings at the front to boost the
soldiers’ morale. He survived the war, but like so
many who had supported the Republic, he
fell victim to Franco’s extraordinary
vindictiveness, and was sentenced
to death before succumbing to
tuberculosis in captivity in 1942.
The International
Brigades
People from all over the
world made their way to
Spain to fight for the Republic
The Spanish Civil War attracted international attention
like no other event at that time. All over the world people
were so incensed at the Spanish generals’ grasp for power,
and at the failure of governments to intervene to save
Spain’s democracy, that they resolved to take up arms
themselves. Most of these foreign volunteers served in
the International Brigades.
The driving forces behind the International Brigades
were the communist parties, which existed in many
countries and followed the lead set by the Soviet Union.
In countries such as Britain, France, the United States and
Australia, communists assembled recruitment networks,
so that those willing to fight in Spain could be gathered
together and then sent for training and deployment in
Spain. As so many states had committed themselves to
non-intervention, the sending of volunteers had to take
place in a clandestine manner.
Altogether something in the order of 40,000
volunteers served in the International Brigades, most in
combatant roles. Typically they would fight in a unit of
their countrymen, named after a national hero. German
volunteers, for example, served in the Thälmann Battalion,
named after the imprisoned German communist leader
Ernst Thälmann. Altogether nearly 6,000 members of the
International Brigades gave their lives for the Republic.
19 NOVEMBER 1933 OCTOBER 1934 SEPTEMBER 1935 16 FEBRUARY 1936 JULY 1936
THE RIGHT
TAKES OVER
Right-wing parties are successful
in the general election; the new
coalition government begins
to undo the reforms that were
introduced by its predecessor.
UPRISING IN
THE ASTURIAS
A workers’ revolt in the Asturias
in northern Spain is brutally put
down by military forces; a key figure
in crushing the strike is General
Francisco Franco.
THE POPULAR
FRONT
To counter the power of the rightwing
ruling parties, republicans,
socialists and communists form a
coalition, which is known as the
Popular Front.
THE LEFT
TRIUMPHANT
The Popular Front is successful in
general elections that are held on
16 February; the new government
will go on to implement a program
of reform.
COUNTDOWN
TO WAR
While a number of generals
including Francisco Franco plan a
coup, there are increasing incidents
of violence and politically motivated
assassinations in Spain.
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