The Spanish Civil War - Based On The Television Series

The Spanish Civil War - Based on the Television Series (1982) by David Mitchell – Granada

Some civil wars are complicated.

The Spanish Civil War appears to have regarded “complicated” merely as a starting point.

David Mitchell’s The Spanish Civil War, published by Granada in 1982 and based on the television series, tackles the bitter conflict that tore Spain apart between 1936 and 1939, setting military events alongside the extraordinary political, social and international forces surrounding them. The war began after a military uprising against the Spanish Republic failed to take control of the whole country, leaving Spain divided between Republican and Nationalist forces.

And then things became considerably worse.

Spain became a battleground involving not simply two armies but monarchists, conservatives, socialists, communists, anarchists, Falangists, regional movements, trade unionists, foreign volunteers and enough competing political factions to make drawing a simple diagram almost impossible without purchasing a considerably larger piece of paper.

General Francisco Franco gradually emerged as leader of the Nationalist forces, while the Republican side contained an unusually broad coalition whose members did not always agree with one another even while confronting the same enemy. The Nationalists received substantial assistance from Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy, while the Republic received support from the Soviet Union and foreign volunteers serving in the International Brigades.

Britain and France, meanwhile, pursued an official policy of non-intervention, demonstrating one of international diplomacy’s oldest traditions: standing nearby insisting that nobody should interfere while quite a lot of interference is already taking place.

Mitchell’s account follows the military campaigns while also explaining the politics behind them, which is essential because the Spanish Civil War cannot really be understood simply by following arrows across a map.

There were sieges, street fighting, aerial bombardment, political killings, competing governments, ideological struggles and foreign involvement. There were also civilians attempting the fairly reasonable task of remaining alive while entire towns, institutions and communities were being pulled apart around them.

The conflict became internationally symbolic almost immediately. Supporters and observers abroad interpreted it through competing political lenses, and thousands of foreign volunteers travelled to Spain to fight for the Republic. Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy used the war partly as an opportunity to employ military equipment and tactics that would soon appear on a much larger scale in the Second World War.

The consequences were devastating.

The Nationalists ultimately won the war in 1939, and Franco remained Spain’s ruler for decades afterwards. The fighting, political repression and associated violence killed vast numbers of people, while hundreds of thousands fled the country as refugees as the Republican position collapsed. Precise totals remain debated, which is hardly surprising given the circumstances in which records were created and destroyed.

The book also benefits from its connection with the television series, giving it the character of a visual history rather than merely a dense political narrative. Photographs, contemporary material and chronological explanation help make sense of a conflict in which almost every straightforward statement seems to require another paragraph beginning, “However…”

Published in 1982, this Granada edition runs to around 200 pages and includes illustrations, chronology and an index, making it a substantial but manageable introduction rather than the sort of history that requires its own dedicated shelf.

It is ideal for readers interested in twentieth-century history, Spain, military history, European politics or the turbulent years immediately preceding the Second World War.

It is also an excellent book for anyone who once thought the Spanish Civil War consisted simply of “Franco versus the Republicans” and then made the dangerous mistake of trying to understand exactly who everybody else was.

Sold by Crappy Old Books, where ideological disputes are discouraged, historical disagreements are permitted, and ownership of the means of book production remains firmly with whoever happens to be operating the printer.

ISBN: 0246123206
Condition: Good

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