From Wikipedia: The Spanish Civil War was a major conflict that devastated Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939. It began after an attempted coup d'état against the government of the Second Spanish Republic, then under the leadership of president Manuel Azaña, by a group of Spanish Army generals. The nationalist insurgency was supported by the conservative Spanish Confederation of the Autonomous Right (Confederación Española de Derechas Autónomas, or C.E.D.A), Carlist groups, and the Fascistic Falange (Falange Española de las J.O.N.S.). The war ended with the victory of the rebel forces, the overthrow of the Republican government, and the founding of a dictatorship led by General Francisco Franco. In the aftermath of the civil war, all right-wing parties were fused into the state party of the Franco regime. Republicans (republicanos) were supported by the Soviet Union and Mexico, while the followers of the rebellion, Nationalists (nacionales), received the support of Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany, as well as neighbouring Portugal. An informative website: http://www.english.illinois.edu/maps/scw/scw.htm
I have long known the general outlines of the conflict but was recently quite impressed by reading Orwell's work. Since I am not nearly as well read and versed in leftist history as many on the greater forum, I wouldn't post there but will here that in Orwell's account the thrust and effects of the mainstream CP (ie Soviet) come off as among the most brutal and treacherous in history, while the anarchist tendancies in Catalunia and Aragon are presented as the truer efforts opposing the Falangists. Is this picture, I am wondering, reasonably objectively accurate and supported elsewhere? I did look over a work by a female Soviet KGBer who was assigned to Spain in that era and by her lights the anarchists were squirrelly and unreliable at best and downright fascist-collaborationist at worst. I tend to believe Orwell. Any impressions from those more knowledgable?
Orwell is definitely a much more reliable source than a KGBer. Here's another account (Trotskyist) you might be interested in: http://www.marxists.org/history/etol...ain2/index.htm.
