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As mentioned above, this essay was requested by someone with a large platform. I hope that you enjoy reading it. If you want me to continue telling the story of the Spanish Civil War in this way, please subscribe to my Substack to support my writing. I hope that you do because I really do want to continue writing this series.
I always view the Spanish Civil War as an excellent history lesson. Sometimes there are no good guys or bad guys to a conflict. Either side would take a center liberal and line them up against a wall. As far as I'm concerned, they didn't kill enough of each other.
Perhaps Hemingway fits better in Fiesta. It seems premise is too simple for a complex matter, but also fitting a complex reasoning into a premade anti premise is also too simplistic
Bravo! As good a brief (but still not too brief) summary of these much-referred-to but often misused and abused series of events as any I have come accross.
And I found it valuable to see the Hemingway clip in this context. Why? I grew up stepping over bodies in '44-45, saw MKP (= communist) mobs acting like Chinese Maoists, and I also saw mobs lynching political-police thugs in 1956 Budapest.
"Be modest in nothing as much as in adoring humans gathered." I forgot which poet said it. (Perhaps Robinson Jeffers.)
"Not all republics are created equal, nor do they all perform at an equal level." Absolutely true. Unfortunately, your article doesn't explain why these Spanish "republics" failed, nor how they differed from the features that have made the United States so stable (though I could argue that we aren't so stable at the moment, but that's a different discussion.)
As the American founders argued, democracy is not what creates a republic. It's why it's drilled into American schoolchildren's heads that we aren't a democracy, but a republic. Our system is created to allow for democracy at the local and state levels, but the radicalism that goes hand in hand with democracy is supposed to be mitigated by the checks and balances inherent in a truly republican system. At the federal level, at the state level, between the state and federal level, there are processes that slow down and push back against democracy to assure that we don't tear ourselves apart. Alas, as the US has become more "democratic" (doing away with state legislatures selecting Senators and federal regulatory agencies overreach into state governance are two examples, but also with the current ill-considered obsession with doing way with the Electoral College) the government has become increasingly unstable.
While I loved reading about the history of the fall after fall of so-called republics, I would have loved some insight into why they fell. I suspect too much democracy unchecked by republican features like the rule of law, but you didn't deal with it. Thank you for what you did provide, however. I enjoyed it immensely.
I have a stack of Stanley Payne books and have only read 1.5 of them, but man is he good
While the left temporarily lost in Spain, if you zoom out on a global scale, the left won. It's not the Spanish left who wrote the history, it's the international left. What Franco and his men fought to preserve did not survive into the second half of the 20th century. Monarchism and fascism are discredited today (even if Franco's relationship to both was complicated) and Christianity must present itself in as nonthreatening a manner as possible to avoid the left's ire
When I was in Catalonia I was shocked by just how much anarchocommunist propaganda was in the streets. If a combatant time traveled into modern Barcelona, he'd think the left had won outright.
One detail I appreciated in Oppenheimer was the commies still pledging loyalty to the Spanish Republic years after they had lost, they kept doing that up into the 60s (Burnham mentions it in Suicide of the West)
I hope as many people as possible read more about this time period, the parallels to today are far more striking than Weimar, even if it's less meme-worthy
Thanks Niccolo! I would love to see more of this. Spanish history is a favorite subject of mine.
I will add that the results of the election of 1933 - and the next election in 1936 - had a lot to do with the economic situation in Spain. By 1935 Spanish per capita income was still around 10% lower than what is had been in 1929, which partly explains the frustration of large parts of the Spanish population with the political parties of the republic. Especially considering that per capita income grew almost 30% during the 1920's.
Great research. But I couldn't get too far into the article. Kicking off with a quote from Hemingway put me off.
Hemingway in Spain was working for the Comintern. He was a recruited asset of the KGB.
In the USA, Hemingway willingly, and knowingly participated in numerous anti-American front organizations set up by the Comintern’s Willi Muenzenberg, and his operators.
The best example of Hemingway’s deep involvement with the Comintern was his KGB agent friend, Gustavo Duran. Duran, with Hemingway, and other willing accomplices in the US, was able to secure jobs in the US State Department. Hemingway insisted that the US government send Duran down to Cuba where Hemingway played drunken sub patrol games. Hemingway met Duran in the KGB-controlled Spanish Republican Army during the Spanish Civil War.
Duran was the head of the Spanish Comintern-puppet intelligence service in the sector in which Hemingway spent time. Hemingway fell for Duran, and became his life-long advocate. Anyone who was in the Spanish Civil War on the Republican side knew exactly what the Comintern/KGB involvement was. George Orwell lost his appetite for Socialism after his stint with the Comintern side in Spain.
Hemingway, on the other hand, imbibed the Comintern line and kept it going for the rest of his life.
Hemingway's status as a recruited agent for Comintern intel is not a secret, but it seems no one wants to deal with the reality of his being a traitor.
Duran's role is much less studied. I've dug up lots on Duran and Hemingway and will get it out some day soon.
Until then, thanks for your work on the Spanish Civil War.
Hit the like button at the top or bottom of the page to like this essay. Use the share or restack buttons to share this across social media. Leave a comment if the mood strikes you to do so (be nice!).
As mentioned above, this essay was requested by someone with a large platform. I hope that you enjoy reading it. If you want me to continue telling the story of the Spanish Civil War in this way, please subscribe to my Substack to support my writing. I hope that you do because I really do want to continue writing this series.
I always view the Spanish Civil War as an excellent history lesson. Sometimes there are no good guys or bad guys to a conflict. Either side would take a center liberal and line them up against a wall. As far as I'm concerned, they didn't kill enough of each other.
Perhaps Hemingway fits better in Fiesta. It seems premise is too simple for a complex matter, but also fitting a complex reasoning into a premade anti premise is also too simplistic
I loved this and would love to see more on the Spanish Civil War.
Bravo! As good a brief (but still not too brief) summary of these much-referred-to but often misused and abused series of events as any I have come accross.
And I found it valuable to see the Hemingway clip in this context. Why? I grew up stepping over bodies in '44-45, saw MKP (= communist) mobs acting like Chinese Maoists, and I also saw mobs lynching political-police thugs in 1956 Budapest.
"Be modest in nothing as much as in adoring humans gathered." I forgot which poet said it. (Perhaps Robinson Jeffers.)
Please continue this endeavor. The Spanish civil war is a fascinating subject. I re-read Orwell's Homage to Catalonia every few years.
Thanks!
"Not all republics are created equal, nor do they all perform at an equal level." Absolutely true. Unfortunately, your article doesn't explain why these Spanish "republics" failed, nor how they differed from the features that have made the United States so stable (though I could argue that we aren't so stable at the moment, but that's a different discussion.)
As the American founders argued, democracy is not what creates a republic. It's why it's drilled into American schoolchildren's heads that we aren't a democracy, but a republic. Our system is created to allow for democracy at the local and state levels, but the radicalism that goes hand in hand with democracy is supposed to be mitigated by the checks and balances inherent in a truly republican system. At the federal level, at the state level, between the state and federal level, there are processes that slow down and push back against democracy to assure that we don't tear ourselves apart. Alas, as the US has become more "democratic" (doing away with state legislatures selecting Senators and federal regulatory agencies overreach into state governance are two examples, but also with the current ill-considered obsession with doing way with the Electoral College) the government has become increasingly unstable.
While I loved reading about the history of the fall after fall of so-called republics, I would have loved some insight into why they fell. I suspect too much democracy unchecked by republican features like the rule of law, but you didn't deal with it. Thank you for what you did provide, however. I enjoyed it immensely.
This was great. Thank you for writing! Stanley Payne is the best, his bio of Franco is also terrific
I really enjoyed your essay and look forward to more on this subject!
I have a stack of Stanley Payne books and have only read 1.5 of them, but man is he good
While the left temporarily lost in Spain, if you zoom out on a global scale, the left won. It's not the Spanish left who wrote the history, it's the international left. What Franco and his men fought to preserve did not survive into the second half of the 20th century. Monarchism and fascism are discredited today (even if Franco's relationship to both was complicated) and Christianity must present itself in as nonthreatening a manner as possible to avoid the left's ire
When I was in Catalonia I was shocked by just how much anarchocommunist propaganda was in the streets. If a combatant time traveled into modern Barcelona, he'd think the left had won outright.
One detail I appreciated in Oppenheimer was the commies still pledging loyalty to the Spanish Republic years after they had lost, they kept doing that up into the 60s (Burnham mentions it in Suicide of the West)
I hope as many people as possible read more about this time period, the parallels to today are far more striking than Weimar, even if it's less meme-worthy
It sort of amuses me that "Republicans" and "Nationalists" are antonyms in the Spanish Civil War context but synonyms in the Northern Ireland context.
So someone asked you a question and you decided to answer it by presenting only one side of the story. What purpose is served by that?
Thanks Niccolo! I would love to see more of this. Spanish history is a favorite subject of mine.
I will add that the results of the election of 1933 - and the next election in 1936 - had a lot to do with the economic situation in Spain. By 1935 Spanish per capita income was still around 10% lower than what is had been in 1929, which partly explains the frustration of large parts of the Spanish population with the political parties of the republic. Especially considering that per capita income grew almost 30% during the 1920's.
Great research. But I couldn't get too far into the article. Kicking off with a quote from Hemingway put me off.
Hemingway in Spain was working for the Comintern. He was a recruited asset of the KGB.
In the USA, Hemingway willingly, and knowingly participated in numerous anti-American front organizations set up by the Comintern’s Willi Muenzenberg, and his operators.
The best example of Hemingway’s deep involvement with the Comintern was his KGB agent friend, Gustavo Duran. Duran, with Hemingway, and other willing accomplices in the US, was able to secure jobs in the US State Department. Hemingway insisted that the US government send Duran down to Cuba where Hemingway played drunken sub patrol games. Hemingway met Duran in the KGB-controlled Spanish Republican Army during the Spanish Civil War.
Duran was the head of the Spanish Comintern-puppet intelligence service in the sector in which Hemingway spent time. Hemingway fell for Duran, and became his life-long advocate. Anyone who was in the Spanish Civil War on the Republican side knew exactly what the Comintern/KGB involvement was. George Orwell lost his appetite for Socialism after his stint with the Comintern side in Spain.
Hemingway, on the other hand, imbibed the Comintern line and kept it going for the rest of his life.
Hemingway's status as a recruited agent for Comintern intel is not a secret, but it seems no one wants to deal with the reality of his being a traitor.
Duran's role is much less studied. I've dug up lots on Duran and Hemingway and will get it out some day soon.
Until then, thanks for your work on the Spanish Civil War.
Excellent article.