The War That We Really Should Understand

Let's definitely review this posting, considering how the latest tanks, warplanes and, missile systems are being sent to Ukraine by the west. More has been added to it. The war in Ukraine is a proving ground for the world's latest weaponry. It is about how the Spanish Civil War acted as such a proving ground to get the world ready for the Second World War.

There is a war that tends to get buried somewhere among memory of the many, many wars of the Twentieth Century. Falling between the two world wars, it seems like just a minor hill between two great mountains. But, given how history tends to repeat itself and we tend to reenact it, often without realizing it, this long-ago war is something that the whole world should be aware of today.

Some readers may have not even heard of the war to which I am referring. It is the Spanish Civil War of 1936-39.

The Spanish Civil War was between the ruling Republicans, and the uprising Nationalists. The Republicans, in contrast with those in the U.S., were leftward in economic slant. The Nationalists who rose up against them were rightward and generally supportive of the Catholic Church. The best-known name to emerge from the Spanish Civil War was that of General Francisco Franco. He would lead the Nationalists to ultimate victory, and then lead Spain until his death in 1975.

This was the era of dictators in Europe, and many saw this conflict as being not between right and left, but as between democracy and dictatorship, with the ruling Republicans representing democracy and Francisco Franco being the would-be dictator who was trying to replace it.

The way that Spain was divided by the war was not neatly defined. Both the population and the military was split between the two sides. In general terms, the Nationalists controlled the western part of the country, and steadily advanced against the Republicans, who eventually held only the southeastern part of the country.

The course of the war somewhat resembled the "Reconquista", against the Moors, that we saw in the posting on this blog, "When The Moors Ruled Spain", except that the Reconquista proceeded from north to south while the Spanish Civil War proceeded from west to east. But Franco emerged as the strong leader that was congruent to Ferdinand and Isabella, after the Reconquista.

If the Spaniards had fought out the war themselves, until one side or the other won, it may have ended up being of no lasting global significance. But that was not the way the war turned out. What is so important about the Spanish Civil War is that so many other nations got involved in it, on one side or the other.

Two nations sided with the ruling Republicans, the Soviet Union and Mexico. The Republicans supported a leftward view of economics, and the Communists naturally wanted them to triumph. Mexico had undergone it's own revolution, against Porfirio Diaz in 1910, who allowed a few people to amass great wealth at the expense of the rest of the people.

While it is the Russian Revolution of 1917 that is considered as the real beginning of world Communism, it was predated by the Mexican Revolution seven years before. Land redistribution was a central component of the Mexican Revolution, and it wanted the Spanish leftward party, the Republicans, to win in the civil war taking place in it's former colonial power.

A force of Communist sympathizers, known as the International Brigades, sent volunteers from many nations to support the Republican side.

The Nationalists, led by Francisco Franco who were trying to overthrown the Republican government, had more international support than the Republicans.

Hitler and Mussolini were consolidating their power and saw Franco as a potential future ally. Mussolini sent supplies, as well as air and ground forces in his support. But not all Italians sympathized with Franco, and some joined the other side. The Nazis sent the force known as the Condor Legion in support of Franco. It had army, air force and, navy elements.

It was not the outcome of the Spanish Civil War that was so significant about it. What it did was to give the nations that would soon be engaged in the Second World War a chance to gain combat experience with the latest weapons and tactics. The Condor Legion became adept with the use of modern tanks, planes and, submarines, even though the victorious Franco never turned into the ally that Hitler had hoped for.

One thing that came out of the Spanish Civil War was the Pablo Picasso painting "Guernica". The surreal painting is about the Luftwaffe and Italian Air Force bombing of the town in northern Spain by that name. Several hundred civilians were killed. Franco had requested the bombing of the Republican-held town, and it turned out to be the prototype of the mass bombing of civilians in the soon-to-come Second World War.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guernica_(Picasso)#/media/File:PicassoGuernica.jpg

Now that the nations in the brewing global war had gained combat experience with the latest land, air and, sea weapons and tactics, the Second World War began a few months after the Spanish Civil War had ended. 

So why should we be so concerned about the Spanish Civil War today? One reason is Catalan separatism. Many in the area of Catalonia that is centered around Barcelona would like to be a separate country, and that was an issue in the Civil War as Catalonia was on the losing Republican side. Catalonia voted for independence in 2017, which the central government declared illegal, but which certainly brought back memories of the Spanish Civil War.

Mercenaries from other countries are joining both sides of the war in Ukraine, in the same way as in the Spanish Civil War. But the most important reason for reviewing the Spanish Civil War is the advanced weaponry that is being tried out by both sides, that has been sent by other countries. For Ukraine it is tanks, warplanes, missile systems, and anti-missile systems. For Russia it is combat drones. The battlefield is one of the greatest proving grounds for the latest weaponry and tactics that the world has ever seen. This is repeating the history of the Spanish Civil War providing valuable battlefield experience to both sides before the Second World War.

What is mostly new in the Ukraine War is drones. This is very much the war of the drone. Lethal and inexpensive drones are changing warfare. Tanks, long a staple of ground warfare, have proven to be very vulnerable to drones. Just as the Spanish Civil War was a testing ground for modern aerial bombing so the Ukraine War is for drone warfare. 

Electronic warfare is also being perfected in the Ukraine War. Modern society is very dependent on services like phone and GPS. But phone towers can be taken out relatively easily by explosive drones. It is a simple matter to zero in on a phone tower because that is where signals come from. GPS can be either jammed or spoofed, tricked into giving incorrect coordinates. Even before the Ukraine War, Russian forces have proven adept at manipulating GPS in the Syrian Civil War. For that matter GPS satellites can be shot down.