Spanish Civil War: The Struggle Between Fascism and Communism

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The Spanish civil war of 1936-1939 was an important conflict in Spain’s history. This war was initiated by a military revolt led by General Francisco Franco on the 17 July 1936 and ended with Franco’s victory on the 1 April, 1939. This victory resulted in the replacement of the Second Spanish Republic with the conservative dictatorship of Franco. This conflict triggered the clash of the various cultures and ideologies within Spain. One important example of an ideological clash was that of Communism versus Fascism. This clash was so important that, based on an analysis of the level of involvement of Fascist and Communist factions in said clash, one must concede that the conflict between Communism and Fascism was represented to a great degree by the Spanish Civil war.

One very important pro-communist faction that fought in this Civil War was the Spanish Popular Front coalition that won the February 1936 general elections. Led by Prime Minister Manuel Azaña Díaz, this broad coalition, like the one that won the May 1936 elections in France, was composed of communists, socialists and moderate parties. Both coalitions were encouraged to come about as a result of Soviet foreign policy. This policy, known as the Popular Front policy, was passed by the Seventh World Congress of the Communist International in 1935 to protect Russia from Fascist Germany. The Communist International, Comintern or Third International, founded by Lenin in 1919, was an international organization of communist parties. The Comintern's Spanish affiliates were the P.C.E (Partido Comunista de España), the Communist Party of Spain and the Catalan based Unified Socialist Party of Catalonia (Partit Socialista Unificat de Catalunya or P.S.U.C.). It was this coalition ...

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