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A review by j_m_alexander
The Battle for Spain: The Spanish Civil War 1936-1939 by Antony Beevor
2.75
What a depressingly confusing and unmitigated mess human history can be.
Overshadowed be the events that followed, you might have heard of WWII, the Spanish Civil War was at least in my education a mere blurb in the text book. After having read Beevor's fairly comprehensive account of the war I have to wonder whether part of that oversight was due to the lack of anyone's ability to succinctly explain the events. I certainly learned a lot from this book, but I'm also certain that I still could not explain the varied differences between the POUM, the CNT, the Anarcho-Syndaclists, nor really any of the many smaller factions within Spain circa the 1930's.
What I can tell you is that the Spanish people seem to have been caught in a tussle that would be overrun by external forces and sacrificed at a whim. The events that transpired could have only happened at that time. The fascist governments of Germany and Italy were supporting the uprising of the Nationalists and the eventual government of Franco, but were taking advantage of this conflict to test tactics for future plans and strengthen their own positions on the continent. The Stalin government was supporting the opposing Republic for much the same reasons with less success. There was such tremendous in-fighting and political games being played that Spanish lives ceased to have much apparent value.
I think for someone so ill-informed on this topic perhaps a smaller scope would have been more beneficial; I feed educated on the war, but a little brain dead after reading the specifics of battles that I do not quite have the knowledge to appreciate. The portions focused on the inter-workings were fascinating.
Overshadowed be the events that followed, you might have heard of WWII, the Spanish Civil War was at least in my education a mere blurb in the text book. After having read Beevor's fairly comprehensive account of the war I have to wonder whether part of that oversight was due to the lack of anyone's ability to succinctly explain the events. I certainly learned a lot from this book, but I'm also certain that I still could not explain the varied differences between the POUM, the CNT, the Anarcho-Syndaclists, nor really any of the many smaller factions within Spain circa the 1930's.
What I can tell you is that the Spanish people seem to have been caught in a tussle that would be overrun by external forces and sacrificed at a whim. The events that transpired could have only happened at that time. The fascist governments of Germany and Italy were supporting the uprising of the Nationalists and the eventual government of Franco, but were taking advantage of this conflict to test tactics for future plans and strengthen their own positions on the continent. The Stalin government was supporting the opposing Republic for much the same reasons with less success. There was such tremendous in-fighting and political games being played that Spanish lives ceased to have much apparent value.
I think for someone so ill-informed on this topic perhaps a smaller scope would have been more beneficial; I feed educated on the war, but a little brain dead after reading the specifics of battles that I do not quite have the knowledge to appreciate. The portions focused on the inter-workings were fascinating.