1. Spanish Civil War
Why significant?

2. National
"A brutal conflict that polarised Spain, pitting the Left against the Right, the anti-clericals against the Church, the unions against the landed classes and the Republicans against the Monarchists" (BBC website)

3. International A "dress rehearsal" for World War Two:
Fascism against Communism,
Aggression against Appeasement.

4. Humanitarian
Up to 500,000 people were killed in just 3 years.

5. Cultural
Picasso's Guernica, Orwell's Homage to Catalonia, Hemmigway's For Whom the Bell Tolls, Laurie Lee's A Moment of War – artists and writers saw the conflict as a battle for civilisation and culture against the forces of darkness.