Notes on Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil war is an expansive and complex subject due to all the

"sides" involved, the frequent changes in power, its meaning to global politics etc !or brevit"#s sa$e %#m going to ta$e "our question as &just& about the 'SS(#s role in the Spanish Civil War

!or us to understand the actions of the 'SS( in relation to Spain, first we have to understand the political situation in )urope and *sia during the "ears preceding and during the Spanish Civil War % recentl" +made this comment, -http.//www reddit com/r/communism010/comments/0d$u2m/the3molotovribbentrop3pact /c4rhfu25 that tal$s about the 'SS(#s political position before WW%%, the first half of the comment especiall" is relevant to this question

The short stor" is that when the war bro$e out in 0467 the 'SS( was desperatel" tr"ing to arrange a "collective securit"" pact with 8ritain and !rance to fight the fascists together The 'SS( saw that the" were facing war with both 9apan and :erman" if the" couldn#t wor$ out a solution so the" were in a prett" desperate position

We should also understand that the Spanish (epublic was not necessaril" an "ordinar"" bourgeois republic Spain had a high amount of revolutionar" fervor at the time and even the (epublican government had man" Communists/*narchists in positions of power as well as high wor$ing class/peasant militanc" This is part of what would ma$e it so scar" to 8ritain and !rance %t#s worth mentioning that the 'SS( had been aiding a communist part" in Spain for "ears and had for some time been hoping for a revolution similar to (ussia#s

*fter the rise of the Na;is the 'SS( had switched their strateg" for advising communist parties around the world Whereas before all social democrats etc had been declared "social fascists" now the" advocated a "<opular !ront" of bourgeois democracies/social democrats, and more left groups to fight fascism This was basicall" influenced b" communists parties inabilit" to curb the rise of fascism in :erman"/%tal"

So, li$e their broader strateg" to all" against the fascists, their strateg" for nations with the threat of fascism was to all" against it and stomp it out wherever possible This meant that the 'SS( was for the Spanish (epublic in the time of the Civil War *lso, the communist line was alwa"s to attempt to turn the revolution into a communist one, the

point of the "<opular !ront" was simpl" to attac$ the fascist threat &first& since the" saw it as the primar" danger

So, going bac$ to when the fascist reaction brea$s out and when the !ascists of %tal" and :erman" start sending aid, the 'SS( had to consider it#s position 8ritain, !rance, the 'S, all declared "neutralit"" on the matter -though some of these nations still allowed corporations to sell arms to the fascists5

<eople don#t often reali;e that at this time the Western <owers viewed the 'SS( as a bigger threat than the fascists == the" had this view right up until about 0464 So, the 'SS( wanted to stop fascism and preserve itself against a two front war This led them to be war" about aiding the Spanish (evolution since it basicall" harmed their foreign relations with 8ritain and !rance The" actuall" sent substantial militar" aid which %#ll get to later, but the" did it secretl" at the time *lso their official stance had to be in support of a (epublic &onl"& even though their actual goal was a communist revolution )ven so, b" openl" declaring support for the (epublic and b" publicl" in some wa"s, secretl" in others, giving major aid, the" ris$ed great damage to their international position as far as all"ing with the Western <owers went

%n addition to the pressures in the west at the time of the reaction the communists had major concerns about the anarchists in Spain, who were ver" disorgani;ed militaril" and were essentiall" unpredictable in man" wa"s -in some cases the" would wor$ with the (epublic, other times the" would refuse Sometimes the"#d ta$e political power, sometimes the" wouldn#t Sometimes the"#d reali;e that the" needed peasants and pett" landowners on their side, man" other times the"#d demand collectivi;ation of ever"thing5

The relationship between the various anarchist groups, the Communist <art", the (epublican government -in its different formations5, and the 'SS( are reall" prett" complicated and it somewhat changed over time %t#s a shame that most people get their "$nowledge" of what happened from reading ">omage to Catalonia" in high school or watching "?and and !reedom" The "anal"sis" most people get from these is that the big evil communists $illed ever"one

%n realit" it was &much& more complex with bungling and hostilit" on ever" side Certainl" to blame the defeat on the Communists is basicall" nonsense == % thin$ even anarchists who had read thorough histories on this would have to agree

The "purges" of anarchists b" communists that are often blamed for the defeat of the whole left came ver" late and not in the numbers often assumed == basicall", though it was a problem, it was nowhere close to being a primar" one 'suall" people who attac$ the communists don#t mention that in man" cases this was a reaction to anarchists attac$ing communist camps and stealing ammunition/weapons -since the", refusing to participate in the popular front, were not given the soviet weapons5, the" also t"picall" don#t mention things li$e the anarchists role in the +"Casado Coup", -http.//en wi$ipedia org/wi$i/Segismundo3Casado@Casado A2s3coup3and3the3end3of3t he3war5 betra"ing communists, or the plent" of anarchists that actuall" wor$ed with the <opular !ront in various wa"s *lso % don#t mean to belittle the anarchists == the" pla"ed a major role %t#s more the "popular" modern anarchist "common sense" interpretation of the reason for the !ascist victor" % ta$e issue with and that just doesn#t match up to the facts no matter what side "ou#re on

% had &&a lot&& more stuff % wanted to mention but this comment is going to be wa" too long alread" <lease, an"one curious at all, % encourage "ou to as$ questions about this stuff because it is complicated and % will do m" best to answer !or now %#ll just leave with a little more information on the aid the 'SS( gave Spain since %#ve noticed a lot of confusion on this latel".

&&'SS( aid to Spanish (epublic&&

!irst, the" organi;ed a civilian aid campaign, even getting Soviet wor$ers to volunteer for a BC pa" reduction to help the (epublicans

DSoviet totals for the Spanish relief campaign altogether came to 00B million rubles for 0467, 01A million for 0462, EB million for 046F, and 4 million for 0464G a total of A20 million rubles, or approximatel" H0,E07,111 sterling, which too$ the form of large amounts of Soviet foodstuffs and other civilian goods shipped to (epublican Spain

*s far as militar" aid goes, it was prett" substantial

Destimates of material provided b" the 'SS( to the (epublicans var" between 76E and F17 planes, 660 and 67A tan$s, and 0,16E and 0,F4B artiller" pieces

%n addition the" provided 0B,006 = A1,EF7 machine guns, E0E,7EB=B11,111 rifles, 001,111 bombs, B11,111 grenades, and massive amounts of ammunition

%t#s worth noting that the qualit" of the weapons, though bad in some places, was overall prett" high )speciall" the Tan$s were far superior to even the ones the Na;is were able to give at the time *lso in addition to the above plane estimate 611 Soviet=model fighter planes were manufactured in Catalonia and *licante on Soviet blueprints and with the assistance of Soviet technicians, which were incorporated into the (epublican air force

If the militar" advisors/troops

D*ltogether, the number of militar" personnel was limited, and Soviet sources recogni;e little more than 6,111 in all, of whom A11, or 7 72 percent, were $illed This rate of loss was about average for the two contending armies

DIffsetting the small numbers, however, was the s$ill level of the Soviet personnel Not a single one was an ordinar" infantr"man The largest contingent was made up of the nearl" F11 air crewmen who flew in the (epublican air force, followed b" several hundred tan$ crewmen Jan" of the rest were officers, some of fairl" senior ran$K the remainder consisted of technical support personnel, nearl" all of them commissioned or noncommissioned offcers

The 'SS( also directed Communist parties around the world to organi;e and recruit the %nternational 8rigades -also sending film crews to Spain and ma$ing tons of propaganda films to encourage enlistment5, too$ in man" refugees from Spain, and trained Spanish pilots, tan$ crewmen, and other specialists in the 'SS(

* major source for the more specific stuff -numbers and some quotes5 for this comment came from the thorough "et ver" anticommunist boo$ b" Stanle" <a"ne "The Spanish Civil War, the Soviet 'nion, and Communism"

*gain, &&please as$ an" questions "ou might have about this&& -or post new threads if "ou want5 % $now % have not been super clear in this meandering comment *narchists == do not be afraid to as$ questions and press me about some concern, as long as "ou can be respectful This is a contentious topic that % feel is full of misconceptions so %#d love to help clarif" an"thing