Amy Goodman & the Spanish Civil War
Peter Johnson of Longmont writes:
I found Amy Goodman's column, "Spanish Civil War Veterans Have a Lesson for America", to be a tad one-sided, and hence not as valid as it could have been. Yes, she correctly notes that Hitler and Mussolini supported Franco, but neglects to tell us why Franco was able to gain power and a popular political base. The reason was that a majority of the Spanish public had by 1936 come to realize that Stalin and the Communist International had gained the upper hand in the Loyalist/Coalition government, and were threatening to turn Spain into the first of the Soviet client-states like those that came into being after 1945. In the Battle of Barcelona in 1936, some writers have suggested that the Communists were shooting more Anarchists and Socialists behind the lines than were being shot by the Francoists at the front.
Say what you like about Franco, and there is much to despise, but a case can be made that had he not prevailed, the Spanish political landscape would have looked even worse, as the joys of Stalinism would be given free reign. Franco did not side with Hitler or Mussolini during the war, save for a volunteer-only Spanish division that fought on the Russian Front. During Franco's "fascist" reign, Spanish citizens were free to come and go, leaving the country at their own will. The same could not be said of a Soviet Spain.
Also, I think it puzzling that the "lesson" we are supposed to gather from those who fought fascism early on is not to confront it in its Islamic incarnation now, but rather focus on the home front. Tain't funny, McGee . . .
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