There are numerous comparisons that can be made between the conflict in Syria and the Spanish Civil War. Both conflicts feature a ruthless dictator, appalling loss of life, war crimes and the massive displacement of tens of thousands of refugees. However, such superficial comparisons apply to many other conflicts. Merely in terms of...
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Lily Margaret Powell was born in March 1913, one of nine children, at Cwm Farm, Llangenny, where her father farmed a small Welsh hill farm. She attended the village school, leaving home aged 16 to train as a nurse, first in Essex, later in London at St Giles’, Camberwell, and St Olave’s, Rotherhithe –...
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The unsung story of the British ships and seafarers who defied fascist bombs and u-boats – along with British government indifference – to trade with Republican Spain.
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Her reputation as a ground-breaking war photographer long overshadowed by that of Robert Capa, Gerda Taro is the focus of a new book* that powerfully asserts the importance of her work in the Spanish Civil War, writes Jim Jump.
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How much does Spain’s 15-M movement owe to past political struggles? The protests that broke out on May 15, 2011 reveal an interesting convergence of the old and the new. On the one hand, the encampment at the Puerta del Sol in Madrid (Acampada Sol) was a 21st-century revolution driven by social media like...
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The recent popularity of public commemorations of violent events from the Spanish Civil War and the Franco dictatorship has rubbed some academic historians the wrong way. “We’ve known about these events for years,” they say. “We’ve written dozens of books and articles about them. We know almost all there is to know about the...
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Parte primera: los relatos en declive (Version in English.) La crisis económica que muchos pensaron pasajera se vuelve interminable. Algunos aún se aferran al recuerdo de las últimas crisis españolas y confían en que queda poco para salir. Otros ven el camino de Grecia, o incluso el de otros países del sur que sufrieron...
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The economic crisis in Spain, which many thought short-lived, appears to have no end in sight. Everyone has a story—a narrative of the crisis that points to some responsible party, and claims to know whose feet should be held to the fire to begin finding some solutions.
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Summary of the essay “Political surveillance measures against the soldiers of the rebel army: ‘Franco’s soldiers’ and their gradual hostility to and rejection of the war, December 1937-1939,” which received an Honorary Mention in the Graduate category of the 2012 Watt Award. In July 1936 the military forces stationed in Africa rose against the...
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Summary of the essay “El abrazo mortal de Franco: La participación de las tropas marroquíes en la Guerra Civil Española,” which earned an Honorary Mention in the Undergraduate category for the 2012 Watt Award. Although the Spanish Civil war is an extensively studied topic, the role of Spain’s neighboring country Morocco in this conflict...
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