The world was outraged by the brutal bombing of a village during the Spanish civil war
Origins of the Spanish Civil War
Political Conflict Turmoil struck Spain in the early 20th century. After centuries of being ruled by a king, Spain saw a movement for democracy arise and, in 1931, triumph. The king left Spain, and a new constitution was approved. But the nation still suffered deep divisions. Many Spaniards wished to see the new democracy succeed. Called Republicans because they supported the republic, they had allies in more radical parties such as the Socialists and Communist. These groups pushed for major reforms in Spanish society. Conservative Spaniards favored the return of the king. A major group of conservatives belonged to the Fascist Party. They were violently opposed to socialism and communism. Regional conflicts deepened these divisions. Many ethnic groups in Spain, especially the people of Catalonia and the Basque region, demanded their own government. The conservatives opposed those changes,too. When the Republicans won elections in 1936, supporters of both sides began to fight im the streets Chaos loomed.
The Civil War
Leaders of the army, opposed to the Republicans' reforms, decided to act. Calling for a revolt against the government in July 1936, they chose General Francisco Franco as their commander and as the head of their government. They called themselves the Nationalists. The Republicans now renamed themselves the Loyalists (because they were loyal to the republic). They raised an army of their own to fight for their survival. The war that resulted was especially brutal and attracted international attention. Germany's Adolf Hitler and Italy's Benito Mussolini,both fascist dictators, helped the Nationalists. They even sent troops. The Soviet Union's Communist Dictator, Joseph Stalin, sent supplies to the Loyalists. But Britain and France, two major European powers, avoided involvement.
The Attack on Guernica
In the early fighting, neither side gained an advantage. Then, in the early 1937, the nationalists decided to attack Vizcaya, the Basque province in the north of Spain. The Basques were strong Loyalists. General Emilio Mola led a force of 40,000 troops to conquer the Basque country. Mola made his intentions clear with a threat; "If submission is not immediate,I will raze all Vizcaya to the ground, beginning with the industries of war. I have the means to do so." His "means" included more than infantry. With Mola was the Condor Legion, an airforce of bombers and fighters from Germany. Mola wanted to break the spirit of the Basque resistance. On the night of April 25, he met with the commander of the Condor Legion to plan an attack. That night, Mola issued a threatening warning to the Basques: surrender or else. The next day, the Basque people learned what the alternative to surrender was. On April 26, Mola attacked Guernica, the ancient city of the Basque region. He chose to attack on market day, when many people were outdoors. The Condor Legion made the three-hour attack. The Germans first dropped incendiary bombs,meant to burn buildings. Then fighter planes followed to strafe the people. A Basque diplomat described what he saw in the suffering city: "five minutes did not elapse without the sky's being black with German planes. The planes descended very low, the machine gun fire tearing up the woods and roads, in whose gutters, huddled together,lay old men, women, and children. . . . . Fire enveloped the whole city. Screams of lamentation were heard every where." The attack marked the first time in history that an air assault was used to destroy a city and its civilian population. It also served as an omen of what would come in World War II.
The Legacy of Guernica
World opinion was outraged at the brutal attack. At first the Nationalists denied that they had done anything. They claimed that the Basques themselves had set fire to the city in order to accuse the Nationalists of atrocities. But news reports proved otherwise. The horror of the attack was vividly displayed by a remarkable work of art. Spanish artist Pablo Picasso, outraged by the bombing, immediately began a painting to commemorate the suffering there. The twisted figures and screaming faces in the finished work clearly show the agony of human suffering caused by war. At a 1937 international exposition, Picasso's painting hung in the pavilion of the Spanish republic for all the world to see. By 1939, the Nationalists had overthrown the republic, and Franco ruled Spain as a dictator for nearly 30 years, Picasso's painting now hangs in a museum in Madrid,an enduring symbol of the terror of war in the 20th century.
