Life and Death of the Spanish Republic The Spanish Civil War Part 2, The Wider Picture Life and Death of the Spanish Republic The testimony of Henry Buckley, British columnist for the Daily Telegraph in Spain, 1931-39.

“Non-intervention”

“The recently released Special Operations Executive (SOE) personal file of Major Hugh Bertie Campbell Pollard (HS 9/1200/5) sheds new light on the man who helped fly General Franco from the Canary Islands to Morocco, leading ultimately to the overthrow of the democratically elected republican government and thirty-six years of brutal dictatorship. Contrary to the previous portrayal of Pollard, a genial, rough-and-ready gung-ho ‘adventurer’ who flew the future Caudillo to Morocco on a whim, the files reveal Pollard to have been an experienced British intelligence officer, talented linguist, and firearms expert with considerable firsthand experience of wars and revolutions in Mexico, Morocco, and Ireland.” GRAHAM D. MACKLIN: MAJOR HUGH POLLARD, MI6, AND THE SPANISH CIVIL WAR The National Archives, Kew

Handout: The flight of the Dragon Rapide Note the timing The plane had left London several days before the shooting of Calvo Sotelo It was going to pick up Franco from Las Palmas in the Canaries It was already at the airport waiting for Franco to board when Sotelo was shot…

Condor Legion The Condor Legion, under the command of General Hugo Sperrle, was an autonomous unit responsible only to Franco. The legion eventually totalled nearly 12,000 men.

Guernika April 7 1937

Handout: The Burgos junta passport See how the British were already recognizing a passport issued by the rebellion in Burgos Note what the German passport holder says about the willingness of the banks to provide credit for Franco The Republic was already being disregarded by the big power centres and the banks of Europe “Non-intervention” was a complete fiction: there was full support in European power politics for the rebellion against the Republic

Italian troops, armour, aircraft November 1936 Mussolini sent to Spain 130 aircraft, 2,500 tons of bombs, 500 cannon, 700 mortars, 12,000 machine-guns, 50 tanks and 3,800 motor vehicles.

The attitude of France The Republican government tried to buy arms from France but was unsuccessful in getting much help. “In conditions such as we have them at present, the truth of the matter is - and events have proved it - that the arming of a government can really only be done by another government. To be really effective, aid must be governmental.”  - Leon Blum, French Prime Minister, 6 Dec 1936

“Non-intervention” Blum considered that any action on the Franco-Spanish border on behalf of the Republican Government would bring imminent danger of retaliation by Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany against France. “Non-intervention” agreement signed with Britain with the main intent to prevent these countries being drawn into war with Germany. Eventually “Non-intervention” agreed by all major powers (including Germany and Italy!)

International Brigades

Aid from Soviet Russia

Still flying: the last Polikarpov 1-16 “Mosca”

Protester in London against non-intervention 1937