Spanish Civil War

The relationship between an ‘unquiet past’ and the concerns of the present has been a key feature of recent engagements with the Spanish Civil War.

The British Battalion of the International Brigades, formed to defend the Spanish Republic against the forces of General Franco, first went into battle at Jarama in February 1937. It was the beginning of a bruising, often dispiriting campaign.

In the mid-1930s many millions of British people voted overwhelmingly against any return to conflict. But events in Spain changed public opinion and by 1939 it was widely accepted that fascism could only be opposed successfully through military action, writes Richard Overy.

Julius Ruiz evaluates Franco’s role during the conflict.

David Wurtzel has been reading the diary of Lester Ziffren, the United Press correspondent in Madrid who, seventy years ago this month, witnessed the start of the Spanish Civil War.

Peter Anderson identifies the groups, the grievances and the events which started the war.

Paul Preston looks at the continued interest in the 1930s conflict, the subject of a new exhibition at the Imperial War Museum.

The rival leaders in Spain’s Civil War were as different as the causes they embodied. Paul Preston compares their contrasting characters.

It is often said that the 'ifs of history' are fascinating but fruitless. Here, Rob Stradling shows that a counter-factual consideration of what might have happened allows us new insights into the significance of what did happen.

On the 50th anniversary of the end of Spanish Civil War, Michael Alpert chronicles the ebb and flow of battle between Republican and Nationalists.