With the news that David Simon is possibly looking into making a series based on the the foreign volunteers in the Spanish Civil War, I'm curious to know more about the conflict.
>Why does it seemingly get significantly less attention than other civil wars in in major countrise.
>Was it really the first large scale use of WWII-era fighter planes and tactics?
>Why didn't the Spanish join in to help the Axis during WWII?
>How competitive was the war as a whole? Was there ever a legitimate chance for the Nationalists to lose?
>How big of a role did the foreign volunteers play in the war as a whole and what major battles were they a part of?
>Are there any good books, films or shows that over the Spanish Civil War that you know of?
>Why does it seemingly get significantly less attention than other civil wars in in major countrise.
Because it happened immediately before the largest conflict the world has ever seen, which tends to overshadow it quite a bit
>>Was it really the first large scale use of WWII-era fighter planes and tactics?
Pretty much, yes.
>Why didn't the Spanish join in to help the Axis during WWII?
Partially because Franco was a fairly shrewd politician who didn't want to get too involved in the war unless he was 100% sure it was winnable (though he did send about a division's worth of men to fight for the Germans), and partially because Spain was just barely out of civil war in 1939, and therefore on fairly shaky footing. Getting involved in the war was basically inviting the Allies to start supporting any and all resistance groups in Spain, and a lot of Franco's resources (and some of Germany's too probably) would have been spent guarding its own borders and people.
>>966969
>>966969
This post covers it pretty well.
>Why didn't the Spanish join in to help the Axis during WWII?
To add to this they did send some volunteers to fight.
>How competitive was the war as a whole? Was there ever a legitimate chance for the Nationalists to lose?
Absolutely especially in the initial stages before the Nationalist leaders died off expect for Franco.
>How big of a role did the foreign volunteers play in the war as a whole and what major battles were they a part of?
It was mainly just a moral boost. The most important participants were the non volunteer foreigners, the Pilots and technical experts from the Soviet Union, Germany and Italy (who also helped blockade the republic and sent 50K soldiers over)
>>966922
>Why does it seemingly get significantly less attention than other civil wars in in major countrise.
As mentioned previously, it was massively overshadowed by WWII which happened right after it.
>Was it really the first large scale use of WWII-era fighter planes and tactics?
Sort of. In terms of the air war, absolutely. On the ground though it was mostly infantry, not a ton of tanks.
>Why didn't the Spanish join in to help the Axis during WWII?
Spain wasn't in any position to fight against the allies after the civil war, which is the big reason. If they did, the North African and Mediterranean campaigns would have gone very differently I imagine.
>How competitive was the war as a whole? Was there ever a legitimate chance for the Nationalists to lose?
Eh, kind of, but not really. They did in the very early stages but once the Germans airlifted the Army of Africa over to Spain from Morocco, it really tipped the scales in favour of the Nationalists. Plus they had the bulk of the officer corps intact too.
Anyone know any good books, movies or documentaries about the Spanish Civil War?
Also, would the country have been better if Franco and the Nationalists/Falangists lost?
>>967182
The Battle for Spain by Antony Beevor is pretty good for covering the military aspect of it.
And personally I doubt it would have been better if Franco and the Nationalists lost. The Republicans would have fallen into infighting and another civil war pretty quickly after, leaving the country even worse off.
>>967182
>Also, would the country have been better if Franco and the Nationalists/Falangists lost?
The answer to that depends on how they would have won it in the first place. It probably would have been better off if the coup was crushed initially or say had the Non Intervention pact been upheld and the best nationalist forces stayed trapped in Africa due to the loyalist navy. Had they somehow won during the later years unless it was due to Franco-UK intervention they would probably fall to the Stalinists and there would be a second mini civil war.
How many fighter pilots and later aced in WWII had previously served in combat flight missions during the Spanish Civil War? I know Spain never technically got involved with WWII and the Axis, but was there a large portion of Spanish Civil War vets from other countries that ended up fighting in the Second World War too?
>>967221
Quite a few German fighter pilots from the Condor Legion became aces, most notably Adolf Galland. Some from the Italian Aviazione Legionaria too probably.
I don't know much about the exploits of foreign volunteers of the Spanish Civil War in WW2, but I do know that some Spanish Republican troops that fled abroad did join the Free Freench forces and took part in WW2 (IIRC some of the first French troops to enter Paris in 1944 were actually Spanish).
Then of course on the other side was the Blue Division of the German Army, consisting of Spanish volunteers. Pic related.
Did the Germans help the Spanish Nationalists simply to keep communists from potentially gaining power in Spain or did they actually expect to steamroll the opposition and for Franco to back them in future wars?
>Why didn't the Spanish join in to help the Axis during WWII?
There are lots of strategic reasons, but Franco's intense catholicism was a big factor. The poor treatment of Christian and especially Catholics by the Nazi made most people in Spain fairly unfriendly towards increasing German power. The time Italy threatened the Pope did not help with Axis relations with Spain either.
Although everyone was fascist, none of the Axis powers were the right kind of fascist to really jam with Franco. This was pretty mutual: Franco hated the neo-paganism of the SS, and both the Germans and Italians looked down on the slavish devotion of Spain to the Catholic Church.
>>967583
They simply Want to take down a allied of france
>>967652
I suppose that makes sense.
That then makes me wonder, had the Nationalist lost the war, would Spain have inevitably joined WWII on the allied side and had some kind if impact?
>>967583
To prevent the spread of Communism and to test out and train their military in a modern setting.Not sure about their alliance expectations.
>>967652
That doesnt really seem to be the case given how much effort France went into sinking Republican Spain. They did not see the Republic as an ally or a potential one.
>>967793
>That then makes me wonder, had the Nationalist lost the war, would Spain have inevitably joined WWII on the allied side and had some kind if impact?
Depends on how they won and which faction came out on top. Chances are though that it would have joined the war in the same way that Latin American countries did ie jumping on the bandwagon when there was no risk and the defeat of the Axis was garunteed.
