The success of the Nationalist cause in the Spanish Civil War Essay Example for Free

The success of the Nationalist cause in the Spanish Civil War Essay The success of the Nationalist cause in the Spanish Civil War was due primarily to the help it received from its foreign allies: For what reasons would you agree or disagree with this statement? A snapshot of 1936-1939: Britain and France tiptoe around Italys conquest of Abyssinia and their second conquest of the football World Cup. Stalin delivers a constitution, an illusion, distracting from his bloody purges. Austria and Czechoslovakia are devoured into The Third Reich. The Fair Labour Standards Act comes into play in the US fighting recession, and unemployment. The Popular Front of France makes sweeping social changes under the guidance of Leon Blum. In 1937, the 999-telephone number for emergency services is introduced in the UK. The Empire is falling apart, and Mahatma Ghandi leads a campaign of civil disobedience against British rule. The Irish Free State becomes Eire, Japan invades China. Spain has its own problems: disorganised parliamentary government a problem solved by military rule. Upon its becoming a problem, is saved by farmers, and in turn, by socialists. Yet confusion and deterioration reign and soon the actual landscape of Spain is covered with that which the weather cannot wash away. No, painting is not made to decorate apartments. Its an offensive and defensive weapon against the enemy -Pablo Picasso, 19451 In support of the reasoning that Foreign aid won the nationalists the war, using a chronology full of examples can support this.2 As the war begins, Franco is flown from Las Palmas to Morocco by an unsuspecting British pilot, Captain Babb, who visits General Sanjurjo in Lisbon the previous week. The Nationalist initiative is gained and a week later the rising begins. To apply common-sense investigative techniques to this, intervention doesnt quite begin until both forces make requests on July 20th. Hitler joins with Mussolini in providing transport for Franco and The Army of Africa to cross the Straits of Gibraltar. The importance of this act of intervention in holding the initiative shouldnt be underestimated. Francos Army of Africa, (was) composed of foreign legionnaires and Moorish mercenaries perhaps the blood-thirstiest and certainly one of the most professionalised troops at the disposal of any European nation at the time3 Within two months of German and Italian involvement, Army of African troops were involved in two separate but decisive victories. Under Colonel Juan Yague they were responsible for capturing Badajoz, and thus linking the two parts of Nationalist Spain. In Alcazar, a besieged garrison of Falange and Guardai were saved from near-certain defeat when troops reclaimed the military academy. An offensive early in 1937 in the Southern province of Malaga showed the Italian addition was having a definite impact, much better organised than the Republicans defending the city. The Non-Intervention Committee under the order of Britain put a clamp on France, the only external power assisting the Republicans after only three weeks. Arms and aircraft ceased from supply, and a week later, the Nationalists mounted a successful battle taking Majorca, Catalan troops fled, under cover of Jamie I. Surely a note of nationalist planning that ten days later an air attack badly damaged the ship off Malaga by the Straits. Majorca stricken, was thenceforth the base for many of the 660 Italian aircraft set to bomb the Republic through three years. As for the Navy, the Nationalists had few ships. Two heavy cruisers under construction were important in sea battles, weight and direction provided by the purchase of four Italian destroyers, and two Legionarii class submarines from the November of 1936. Italians manned these almost entirely, independence lessened on occasion by the presence on ship of one Spanish liason officer. Twenty-six vessels were over-all involved. Technical and logistical support was offered, also from the Germans, to the Nationalist Navy. These ships were used in long and hard convoy warfare, shore bombardment, blockade and counter-blockade, and they were deadly, as stated below, Despite a common lack of personnel, the nationalist Navy was better organised and commanded, and that would translate into a more aggressive attitude4 It is also interesting to note that Spanish naval construction was monopolised by the SECN5, it largely owned by British firm, Vickers-Armstrong. Almost all ships were designed referring to Royal Navy vessels and many British technical advisors continued to work in Spanish shipyards during the course of the war. * * * * * * * * * * * The conclusion is inescapable that the defeat and destruction of the Spanish Republic must be attributed as much to British diplomacy in the years 1936 to 1939 as to German aircraft and Italian infantry -Puzzo6 Baldwin and Chamberlains 1936 Non-Intervention committee was about as successful as the rest of their appeasement policy. While the rules of the NIC were observed by the democracies, they were openly flouted by the dictatorships7 Choking the French aide meant that the Spanish Republics only course of action was to flee into the arms of Russia. Outside of the international brigades, the Soviet Union was the biggest supporter of Caballero and Negrins defending armies. Paradoxically, their help was also a hindrance. Stalins opening gestures in the war, and much of the way through, were in their own way a form of appeasement. He had hoped to keep out of Hitlers view for as long as possible. Lee suggests he had been trying to warn Britain and France of the danger the Fuhrer represented, pulling out when it became clear they were no longer interested. Whatever the actual truth, Stalin had not supplied the Republic with enough arms to do the job properly. On October 25th, a substantial part of the third largest gold reserve in the world was transferred to Russian hands. The army of Africa while fighting for Madrid, were still occupying Spanish-Morocco without problem, aided by the Moroccan government, who had matched Italys number, sending out seventy-five thousand troops.8 Along another border, Dr. Salazar sent 20,000 Portugese soldiers to assist the generals. Portugal also provided the Nationalists with places to plot during the Civil War, and geographically, a route for the importing of arms and war materials. As touched upon briefly in the paragraph dealing with Russia, an obstruction, which benefited Franco, was the corporate factor. The Texas Oil Company, The Standard of New Jersey and Atlantic Refining, Texaco, Shell all had a stake in a Nationalist victory: while the U.S government and its people favoured cosy isolationism9, the corporate face was happy enough to supply credit, but only to the Nationalists, as was the Bank of Westminster; Britain had a big foreign investment in Spain: ownership of the Pyrite factories and mining operations for an essential ingredient in ammunition was another factor leading to its decision to play at tacit neutrality. Demoralisation must have hit hard on the 26th April 1937, when the merciless Legion Condor bombed the towns of Guernica and Durango, and Bilbao fell under heavy artillery bombardment. Hauptmann Werner Molders, an inspired and gifted combat leader and tactical leader and his crew had recently been fitted with brand new Messerschmitt Bf109Cs Ds in July 1938. More than a match for (Russian) Polikarpovs new creations, these fighters were accompanied by 6,000 men, Heinekel 51s and Junker 52 bombers. Eleven aircraft squadrons laying down a landscape of destruction from Guernica to Ebro, and far beyond. With much of the Basque mountain range already taken, the town of tradition was certainly a target, and its status as a communications centre made it more so. The ruthless destruction of people and buildings brought international condemnation and a sense of loss difficult to forget through the decades. Clearly, mass influx could be the term applied to foreign assistance in this war. The Republicans were assisted with international brigades while Eoin O Duffys Blueshirts and the young French monarchists joined with the Falange in aiding Franco. There are however a number of other factors connected with the Nationalist victory having little to do with outside involvement. The superior military organisation and structure is one such factor, they possessed a greater number of middle-ranking officers and experienced soldiers. An example of this can be found by studying The Battle of Santander, were General Fidel Davilas forces were vastly outnumbered, but won due to Gamirs soldiers being poorly trained and low on weaponry. Francos armies were better supplied, with imaginative yet solid strategies. His motto, Duty, Discipline and Order. He was careful not to let one group become too dominant, and successfully united the politically diverse. The advance on the Mediterranean coast successfully cut the Republic in two; yet before crossing the Ebro, Franco handled the decisive factor sensibly and allowed his troops time to rest and re-equip. His campaign was one fought with caution and discretion, confidence and well timed capture of opportunity. In stark contrast, the Republicans were in a state of disunity such was their ideological range, and this is typified by the situation in Barcelona in 1937 and by the civil war within a civil war on the streets of Madrid at wars close. Divisions over the primary objective of the war can only have made easier the nationalist mission. The length of Francos leadership of Spain, his keeping the Republic of World War II through to his good choice of successor are aspects of evidence of the Nationalist strength outside foreign allegiance. With a view to the statement and the scope of 1936-39 to which this essay refers, I cannot judge. Much of the corporate world acted as if their involvement was necessary, whilst seeing a Nationalist victory as something of a safe bet. I can neither agree nor disagree with the statement, these facets of fact, are inseparable. To have stopped Francos Army of Africaand its well-trained Civil Guards and police auxiliaries, would have been nothing less than miraculous once it established a strong base on the Spanish mainland. That hastily formed, untrained and virtually unequipped militiamen and women slowed up Francos armys advance on Madrid for four months and essentially stopped it on the outskirts of the capital is a feat for which they have rarely earned the proper tribute from writers on the civil war of the past half century10 Indeed, for Bookchin has not mentioned that the first rising in Madrid failed on July 1936, and was continually thwarted until the Nationalists entered on March 28th, 1939. The capital Madrid was relentlessly defended time and time again over those three years, with and without foreign aid. Perhaps not such a safe bet after all. Bibliography Picasso , Alfred H. Barr (1946) International Brigades, Legion Condor, Spanish Civil War Factbook, www.skalman.nu Spanish Civil War, http://history.acusd.edu The main events of the Spanish Civil War, www.users.dircon.co.uk Spanish Civil War, www.sispain.org Warships of the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939), Author unknown http://webforodigital.es/uphm/mgl/buques/spanishcivwar.htm Spain and The Great Powers, 1936-1941, Dante Puzzo ,Columbia University Press, 1962. European Dictatorships 1918-1945, Stephen J. Lee, Routledge. The Spanish Civil War, Hugh Thomas, Penguin, 1992 Roper-Fortune Poll, Janurary 1939, Mach 1939 , reprint. Mastering Modern World History, Norman Lowe, Palgrave 1997 Modern World History Made Simple, K. Perry, Heinemann/London, 1976 Paul Preston, The Spanish Civil War: Right Versus Left in the 1930s Oxford Concise Dictionary of Quotations, ed. Elizaeth Knowles, OU Press, 2001. Chambers Concise Dictionary, ed. Catherine Schwarz, Chambers Harrap, 1997 Encyclopedia Britannica Hutchinson Encyclopedia- The Millenium Edition, ed. Roger Tritton, 2000 World Atlas, European Map Graphics Ltd, 1996 This text may be reprinted as the user sees fit. Feedback on its facility is welcome. [emailprotected] 1 In interview with Simone Tery, 24 March, 1945, in Alfred H. Barr, Picasso (1946) 2 I have chosen to use a combination of five chronologies along with other materials for greater clearness. The components of this timeline are internet-based, www.skalman.nu http://history.acusd.edu www.users.dircon.co.uk and www.sispain.org, with addition to the chronology from The Encyclopedia Britannica. 3 After 50 Years: The Spanish Civil War by Murray Bookchin, www.spunk.org 4 Warships of the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) , Authors name not searched http://webforodigital.es/uphm/mgl/buques/spanishcivwar.htm 5 Sociedad Espanola de Construccion Naval aka The Spanish Corporation of Naval Construction, from the same source as above. 6 If Im correct, this is from Dante Puzzos Spain and The Great Powers, 1936-1941, Columbia University Press, 1962. I got it from pg. 253 of Stephen J. Lees European Dictatorships 1918-1945, published by Routledge. 7 That ones direct from Lee on the same page, it just seemed to fit right in. 8 Hugh Thomas, The Spanish Civil War, Penguin, 1992 9 Roper-Fortune Poll, Janurary 1939. Its worth noting that the same poll conducted amongst Americans at the end of the Spanish Civil War, the March edition, recorded a preparation amongst readers for war, and their involvement in it. 10 After 50 Years: The Spanish Civil War by Murray Bookchin, www.spunk.org

The Hebrew Scriptures Essay -- essays research papers

The Hebrew Scriptures Truth, scripture and revelation are three concepts that the Bible has been based on. Truth is defined as the way that things are or should be. It can relate to reality or wisdom. Truth can be communicated in a variety of ways. Literally which is facts and figures and can be shown in math and science. Figuratively which is metaphor and simile and can be shown in humanity. Symbolically in fine arts such as art, drama and music and also narratively such as stories, parables and myths. Truth can be known in the head and the heart because it communicates through reason and intuition. Meanwhile, scripture is defined as being written and taken from script. Scripture is a way for religion to permanently preserve its worth of wisdom, ways of worship and to pass traditions on intact for future generations. Finally, revelation means to reveal. It refers to the initiative of God in communicating with humans. Truth, scripture and revelation are all related because they are all forms of communicat ion that allow us to know God’s message. They allow us to see stories and events of how people lived with God in history and set an example of how we should co-exist with God in our world today.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Hebrew scriptures play a vital role in the revelation of God. There have been many events and stories in which God has expressed his message to people of the world. For example, there is the story of Abraham. In the city of Sodom, the people living during those times were living in very selfish and corrupt ways. God wanted them to renounce these sinful practices or else He would destroy their entire city. God ordered Abraham to find ten righteous people in order to save Sodom. In the end, Abraham failed so the city was destroyed by fire. This showed that God was serious about telling people that they needed to change. It gave them concrete proof that God would come through when He said that He demolish their city. Another example of God’s relationship with Abraham is shown when He orders Abraham to sacrifice his only son, Isaac. God wanted to test Abraham’s faith in Him and how loyal Abraham truly was. Abraham did end up taking his son to a mount ain to sacrifice him but at the last minute God told Abraham to stop and sacrifice a lamb instead. This event showed that God would come through for Abraham in the end because Abraham’s fa... ... rewards to those who have faith and believe in Him. We should hold true to our faith in God and believe that he will come through for us even in difficult times. If we stand strong through the trials and tests that God chooses to lay upon us, He will exalt us. As well, the example of Moses is conformant to our world today because he shows that God does not condemn those who have sinned against Him. Instead, God chooses to forgive us and look beyond our mistakes. This shows that God still has respect and compassion for those who have made mistakes. Even if we have done wrongdoing, we can still be chosen to be in the Kingdom of God. Finally, the story of David explains that we can all be heroes in the eyes of God even if we are just ordinary people. As long as we believe in ourselves and have trust in God, we can still be successful. Status or strength does not matter in the point of view of God; it is compassion and love that God looks for in each of us. We can lead normal lives but yet still be a king or a queen in the eyes of God. The Hebrew Scriptures will always have a lesson for us, no matter how much our world changes and these lessons are eternally applicable to our lives.

Frantz Fanon on “National Culture”

In â€Å"On National Culture,† an essay collected in The Wretched of the Earth, Frantz Fanon foregrounds the following paradox: â€Å"national identity,† while vital to the emergence of a Third World revolution, paradoxically limits such efforts at liberation because it re-inscribes an essentialist, totalizing, fetishized, often middle-class specific understanding of â€Å"nation† rather than encouraging a nuanced articulation of an oppressed people's cultural heterogeneity across class lines.In other words, although the concept of â€Å"nation† unfairly characterizes colonized subjects as historically unified in their primitiveness or exoticness, the term's promise of solidarity and unity often proves helpful nonetheless in their attempts at political amelioration. Fanon encourages a materialist conceptualization of the nation that is based not so much on collective cultural traditions or ancestor-worship as political agency and the collective attempt to dismantle the economic foundations of colonial rule.Colonialism, as Fanon argues, not only physically disarms the colonized subject but robs her of a â€Å"pre-colonial† cultural heritage. And yet, if colonialism in this sense galvanizes the native intellectual to â€Å"renew contact once more with the oldest and most pre-colonial spring of life of their people,† Fanon is careful to point out that these attempts at recovering national continuity throughout history are often contrived and ultimately self-defeating.â€Å"I am ready to concede,† he admits, â€Å"that on the plane of factual being the past existence of an Aztec civilization does not change anything very much in the diet of the Mexican peasant of today. † In the passage below, Fanon explains that â€Å"national identity† only carries meaning insofar as it reflects the combined revolutionary efforts of an oppressed people aiming at collective liberation: A national culture is not a folkl ore, not an abstract populism that believes it can discover the people's true nature.It is not made up of the inert dregs of gratuitous actions, that is to say actions which are less and less attached to the ever-present reality of the people. A national culture is the whole body of efforts made by a people in the sphere of thought to describe, justify, and praise the action through which that people has created itself and keeps itself in existence.

The Peace Of The Middle East - 1445 Words

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Many politicians believe that peace in the region is not possibl e, but there is a way for there to be peace between these two nations by giving Palestinians something they always wanted. After reading the article by Samer Shehata, titled Forget the Road Map, I believe his idea for a plan for peace is a viable and realistic option. In recent years the tensions and violence have risen in the Middle East due to rise of terrorism. The rise of groups, such as Al Qaeda and ISIS, caused violence and chaos throughout the Middle East which is seen as a huge antagonistShow MoreRelatedPeace in the Middle East1032 Words   |  5 Pagesagainst violent extremism in the Middle East. The President spoke about the great new era that is unfolding, founded on the equality of all people before God. This new era offers hope for the millions across the Middle East who seek a future of peace, progress, and opportunity. 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