The Battle for Spain: The Spanish Civil War 1936-1939

A well written and organized account of a confusing and incredibly brutal war. I've intended to read a comprehensive account of the Spanish Civil War for a few years, but what books I found were light on the military details or focused on the exploits of the German Condor Legion; almost the exclusion of the other involved parties - both foreign and domestic. When I learned that Antony Beevor had published a work on the war, I was happy to put it mildly. I have found his works on WWII to be well written and very fair minded. I figured if anyone could have written a comprehensive account it would be him, and I am pleased to say I was right.

le for Spain: The Spanish Civil War 1936-1939 by Antony Beevor is a much better book than the first full length book that I read on the Spanish Civil War--The Spanish Republic and the Civil War, 1931-1939 by Gabriel Jackson. Beevor is much more clear in his explanations and much more thorough in his description of the actual war. In defense of Jackson, he spent much of his book examining the pre-war history of the Second Spanish Republic as his title implies. Beevor starts by setting the stage for the drama to follow. He gives a good thumbnail sketch of the important factions--including the Carlists--followers of a century-old "lost cause" of dynastic struggle for the Spanish throne. Beevor then discusses how bitter partisan battles between the Left and the Right kept spiraling out of control. Most of the parties of the Left--socialist, anarchist, and communist--banded together as The Popular Front to win control of the Cortes (legislature). The various parties of "the Right" feared that a full blown Marxist revolution was about to occur, a fear that rhetoric from some in the Popular Front didn't calm. The result was a plot by leading generals, along with the Carlists and the Spanish Falange, to mount a coup d'etat. Beevor includes an anecdote about how the Falange ("Phalanx") was formed in a musical comedy theater. Beevor actually contests the idea that the Falange was a fascist party in the same sense as Italian Fascists or Nazis. The German and Italian fascists were populist revolutionaries, but much of the Falange was quite reactionary (in its purest sense). Yet the Falange certainly evolved into something close to its German and Italian counterparts. In fact, Beevor illustrates how both the Republic and the Nationalists had to manage a coalition of different factions. I don't remember a discussion in Jackson's book about just how Franco managed to outmaneuver other rebel leaders and become the supreme leader for the Nationalist forces and factions. Meanwhile, the anarchists running Catalonia almost started their own civil war with the Republic over the autonomy of Catalonia. Beevor pulls no punches about the brutality of both sides in the war. He makes the point that the "losers" sort of wrote the story of the Spanish Civil War because Franco's benefactors lost the Second World War. Although the Nationalists certainly engaged in more widespread repression, Beevor does not make any apologies for the Republic--whose secret police were run by the Soviet NKVD. Even more interesting is the fact that the communists maintained their own secret prisons where people freed by the actual courts of the Republic were incarcerated. So while we're on the subject of the communists, it seems clear to me that, the Republic would have been overthrown by a communist coup had it managed to win the war. Beevor never says it plainly, but the picture he paints leaves no doubts for me. The communists were at the forefront of i

This is an excellent book, which has received much well deserved praise. Rather than repeating the praise, I would like to take up a few points which I feel a good editor would have corrected: In a book of this kind there is necessarily much numerical information (men, arms etc for both sides), yet the book does not contain a single table. In this second edition there are maps, but all without scale. There are also battles described in the text which do not have any corresponding map. The German and Italian support in getting the Army of Africa across from Morocco was extremely important for the nationalists. However, the information about this support is partly too scattered and partly incomplete (relative to much other information in the book). First, tha composition of the Army of Africa is not given in the text, only in the notes (p.459) Second, the German Ju52 planes airlifted the major part of the soldiers. On p. 64 it says that Franco asked for ten planes, on p.137 it says Hitler gave twice the number asked for. I suspect I am not the only one who had forgotten the original request when I reached p. 137. How did the Ju52s reach Africa? The distance from Germany is larger than he normal range of Ju52. Thirdly, the German naval assistance. On p. 73 the "convoy of victory" was screened by two German pocket battle ships, on p.117 they screened convoys (plural). How come they were there at that time? When did they get their orders? From Hitler (as for the planes)? Population: Is not given for Spain around 1936. Latest figure for early 1900s. It says that there was a significant rise in the birth rate durin WW1 "which would have its effect twenty yers later". This later effect is not described anywere. Franco is not much described. There were probably some reasons he was the youngest general in Spain. Around one page background on Franco would have helped. Spanish regions like Old Castile and Levante are not explained; probably very few readers know what they are. Likewise "belligerent rights", what are they since they were so important? p.100: Strange to see Dia de Hispanidad translated to Day of the Spanish Race, when it would better be Spanishness. Likewise on translatios, it is again strange to see references to Spanish translations of English book in this English edition The author is a little too fond of French expressions, showing off his erudition.

The Battle For Spain: The Spanish Civil War 1936-1939 is a book that focuses on not just the causes of the conflict and military actions taken during it, but also on the ideals, goals and politics that shaped the two sides. The facts of the war have always interested me and the author does a good job of adding new and updated information. I knew that the German pilots used the war to try out new tactics, like flying in pairs and mass bombing, but I didn't know that the Stuka dive-bomber was first used in the Spain or that the 88mms were used in Spain against ground targets as while as enemy aircraft (I thought the German 88mms were first used against ground targets in the invasion of France). I knew Germany and Italy helped the Nationalists while Russia and Mexico helped the Republic but had no idea that Hermann Goring sold weapons to the Republic or that Ford, Studebaker and GM supplied 12,000 trucks to Franco! I did not know that Franco offered to enter the Second World War on the side of the Axis. I knew about the Spanish Blue Division but not about the thousands of Spanish Republicans who fought for the USSR or the French resistance. First person accounts from Russian sources add new perspectives. Now, in all the sad detail, we can watch the infighting between socialists, anarchists, republicans, Basque nationalists, communists and so many other groups within the Republican Zone. We can watch the lies, the back stabbing, the tactics of terror, the dehumanization of the enemy, the string pulling, the blackmailing, the killings and the consequences of said actions as the war rages on. And the National Zone isn't a paradise either, with war trials that started almost with the first shot and did not end till sometime in the late 1950s. The book also touches on European events and how the nations of the world reacted to (or failed to react to) the Spanish Civil War. Nothing is in a vacuum and the book makes clear the complex balance of power that the European powers were trying to weave to keep the peace. In the end the crumbling Republic would find itself a sideshow with the clouds of another World War forming on the future horizon. The amazing part is Antony Beevor's skill in linking all the major events, one by one, without being too heavy handed. His light touch allows us to swiftly understand the problems each side faced and how each side dealt (or did not deal) with them. And the aftermath that followed.

The Battle for Spain begins with a brief overview of Spanish history before plunging into the complicated political and military struggle that ravaged Spain for three years. This overview helps set the table, and prepares the reader for Beevor's evanhandedness. Beevor manages to keep clear of most of the mythologizing connected with the war, while lending his calm and occasionally understated style to the debunking of many myths promulgated by both sides. This book is very useful for the detail with which Beevor treats the political developments in Spain and internationally. Franco's political manuvering, which achieved his primacy among the Nationalists by 1937, are deftly described. The infighting among the Republicans, especially the Catalonia-Madrid squabbling and its corrosive effect on the Republican cause, are also masterfully covered. I appreciated Beevor's allowing the sheer numbers of the civilian casualties, especially those killed in massacres by Nationalist and Republican troops, to speak for themselves. Who comes off badly in this history? Franco is politically astute, and militarily obtuse. The Nationalist generals range in performance from the stolid to the careless. One of the great assets that the Nationalist cause had was the insistence of the Communist faction among the Republicans on "political offensives" that squandered the men and treasure of the Republican army. While I think highly of this book, I would recommend Ian Westwell's "Condor Legion: The Wehrmacht's Training Ground" as a companion book for those with more interest in the military aspects of the war. One unfortunate lack in the book is a comparative table of the forces and equipment supplied by the Soviet Union, Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. The maps in Westwell's book are easier to follow, but lack some of the unit detail in Beevor's. Altogether this is a superb introduction to this harrowing conflict.

This book gives a highly informative account of the l936-39 civil war in Spain. If, like me, you find this particular episode of European history complex and vague, then Antony Beevor will be of great help. He takes care to first concisely set in place all information critical for understanding the impetus behind this conflict. Beevor explains that the rebelling Nationalist generals under Francisco Franco uniformly supported an authoritarian and centralized government that served the interests of landowners and industrialists. Arrayed against them was the Republican Spanish government supported by a variety of factions, often with conflicting ideologies, but usually possessing some motivation towards a libertarian and/or decentralized government that favored the working class.While it is generally appreciated that Mussolini and Hitler greatly aided Franco and his fascist Nationalists, the book takes care to point out that Britain, the United States, and (although most reluctantly) France were all instrumental in orchestrating a fascist victory. The Spanish Republicans received significant support from only the Soviet Union. The reader can judge whether this 'support' helped or hurt the Republican cause.The book also notes that Franco relied on a foreign legion of Moroccans as his most effective and ruthless troops (by all accounts, they were gruesomely fond of bayonet work). Coupled with overt aid in the form of armaments and soldiers from Italy and Germany, this suggests that the conflict was less of an internal struggle than might normally be implied by 'civil war'.Beevor gives an unbiased treatment of the wartime propaganda efforts. These mainly consisted of one side charging the other with committing atrocities. Beevor's effort to sort the sensationalized from the reality appears sincere. Indeed, this coolheaded analysis is even more frightening in that it still produces a horribly high tally of executions and massacre. Franco's promise to, if necessary, "shoot half of Spain," was clearly a sentiment unique to neither side.The book is excellently written and faults are few. However, the maps are inadequate, and placing events in their geographical context is difficult. Moreover, the initial chapters are chockfull of newly introduced parties and factions. Their names, leaders, and political allegiances soon became for me a jumbled mess. Beevor supplies a brief but descriptive appendix of these organizations, and it should be referred to regularly. In any case, after the first 50 pages or so the reading becomes smooth and seamless.Those drawn to this book out of admiration for Beevor's Stalingrad: The Fateful Siege might be bit thrown by the difference in style, especially in the first few chapters. For me, Stalingrad read breezily, like an informative and engaging discussion, while The Spanish Civil War is more akin to a formal scholarly lecture. The author does however have an appreciation for wit, and his commentary is wry more often than dr