Albemarle Tradewinds August 2015 Web Final

A tale of two Civil Wars By Matt Morrison
Defender 1
Self Defense
If your church or civic
organization would like a free 1
hour seminar on the Defender 1
feel free to give Personal Security
Academy a call @ 252 312 2302.
Defender 1 is a non- lethal
self-defense tool
It is often said that history is written by the victors. But sometimes, the losers get a piece of it too. Once a society
decides to rewrite such “minority report” chapters of history based on modern cultural values considered more
morally acceptable, a difficult struggle ensues. Many opine the demise of the last vestiges of a romanticized lost time,
the disappearance of which is seen as a casualty of a teleological, politically correct rewriting of history. “Legislating
monuments doesn’t rectify injustices of the past,” according to the conservative view, “it just fumbles around with the
symbols of history, reminding us why we devise them in the first place.” But times change and old wounds are often
forced open. “Okay, yes, it’s a bit unfair to criticize our parents’ generation,” one man in favor of removing offensive
monuments said, “it’s also true that most people even today don’t complain about the monuments because they’re used
to living with them. Our parents’ generation still has some fear of confrontation… [but] years after the civil war we
cannot allow these monuments that perpetuate discrimination.”
You may be surprised to hear these are not quotes from this side of the Atlantic. They are from a 2008 New York
Times article about Spain’s decision to remove many symbols of Francisco Franco’s fascist regime. For a long time,
Spaniards embraced an impressive degree of doublethink when confronting their civil war and its aftermath, neither
denouncing Nationalist tyranny nor recognizing Republican atrocities. Too many families with grandparents on both
sides of the conflict would face too much pain. But today, 40 years since Franco’s death, almost two generations of
Spaniards have grown up without ever living under fascism thanks to Juan Carlos Bourbon’s careful maneuvering in
restoring democracy. Spain, like the United States, may have finally reached an age in which it can objectively
rediscover its civil war history without the insecurity of partisan divides.
Several years ago I was in a class with noted antebellum historian Melvin Ely. He suggested that perhaps no other
nation on earth romanticized the soldiers on a losing side in one of its civil wars the way we do. However, a well-traveled
classmate of mine quickly objected, claiming that in Spain many feel a high degree of melodramatic passion for
the Republicans while overlooking their overall mission. Perhaps because they lost to a pro-industrial, heavy-handed
regime which discounted regional identities, the Republicans simply became the pivotal alternative in popular
memory, often portrayed as a relic of a simpler, rustic agrarian utopia of former times. (Sound familiar?) Expat
correspondents, most famously George Orwell and Ernest Hemingway, especially promoted these stereotypes during
the war. But both sides committed atrocities, both relied heavily on foreign aide, and both adhered to beliefs most of us
would find objectionable today. Pre-war Spain was not as backward as commonly believed, and the supposed
Republican patriot fighting for his home was usually fighting for an extreme Marxist cause in reality. The Spanish
situation is complicated by the fact that both sides really lost in the long run with the Bourbon restoration, but besides
this there are strong parallels to American Civil War historical memory and our current discussion over monuments
and misappropriated symbols. We should take a page from Iberia and not be afraid to dissect an ugly past, while
recognizing it is the past and not being afraid to confront directly those who would use it to fuel a modern
agenda of conflict.
Useful links:
Hemingway glorifying opponents of the Nationalists & a simpler Spain:
http://www.english.illinois.edu/maps/scw/hemingway.htm
Spanish doublethink, stereotypes of simpler times, & the reality:
http://www.expatica.com/es/insider-views/local-culture/Not-Hemingways-Spain-Two-Spains-the-Spanish-Civil-War_
107532.html
NY Times article about monuments removal. Slideshow is useful for quotes:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/13/arts/design/13kimm.html?pagewanted=all&_r=2&
Orwell’s Homage to Catalonia:
http://www.george-orwell.org/Homage_to_Catalonia/index.html
28 Albemarle Tradewinds August 2015 albemarletradewinds.com