Eighty-five years since the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War
Eighty-five years ago, on July 17, 1936, the Spanish army led by General Francisco Franco launched a fascist coup aimed at toppling the elected government of Spain’s Second Republic. Workers and peasants across Spain responded with an armed insurrection, setting up factory committees and forming militias to fight the fascist troops. The Spanish Civil War of 1936–1939 had begun.
The Spanish Civil War was one of the great battles between the international working class and European fascism in the 20th century. Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy sent tens of thousands of soldiers to join Franco. While the British, French and US ruling classes maintained a policy of non-intervention, blocking military aid to the Republic, there was mass sympathy in the international working class for the workers’ uprising against fascism. Tens of thousands travelled to Spain to fight Franco. The anti-fascist International Brigades numbered nearly 60,000 volunteers from 53 countries.