Spanish Civil War (1936–1939) and economically prostrate It took years to recover from the first condition and decades to recover from the second See also international brigades; ISABELLA; nonbelligerence Suggested Reading: Wayne Bowen, Spaniards and Nazi Germany (2000); Wayne Bowen, Spain During World War II (2006) SPANISH CIVIL WAR (1936–1939) Social and political fissures in Spanish society came to a head in 1934, as the rise of the Nazis to power in Germany and the allure of new European fascist ideologies for the Spanish right led the left to revolt The resulting Popular Front government proved unstable and unable to maintain social order That frightened Spain’s propertied classes and traditionalists The Civil War itself began as a revolt of elements of the colonial army in July 1936, led by Francisco Franco Within Spain, many of the propertied were relieved at the impending overthrow of the Popular Front The rebellion was thus supported by Carlists and Falange, conservative Catholics and the church hierarchy, and by “captains of industry” and landowners On the Republican side, the Popular Front coalition drew upon an eclectic mix of peasants, workers, democrats, socialists, communists, anarchists, and assorted imported romantic and ideological adventurers While Franco’s forces said they fought for the Catholic Church, tradition, and the Fatherland, the watchword of the anticlericals and social reformers on the side of the Republic was “it is better to die on your feet than to live on your knees.” That Mexican Revolution slogan of Emilio Zapata was made famous in Spain by a female anarchist revolutionary widely known as “La Passionaria.” While the rebels made headway in rural areas, they initially failed to take control of most cities or industrial areas That encouraged spontaneous armed resistance by peasants and workers, who later became well-organized Restoring the status quo antebellum was not enough for the lower classes: as the military rebels moved hard right to pick up support, the Popular Front moved into full revolutionary mode under pressure from peasants, workers, and ideologues within the government The “red terror” that followed from that shift leftward was especially vicious toward Catholic clergy The status quo Western democracies declared neutrality, an act of “passive intervention” for which they have been criticized from the left ever since Why did they it? In Britain and France many in the governing elites saw the Republic as a reprise of Alexander Kerensky’s ill-fated 1917 regime in Russia, and worried about national and private assets should “the left” win the war In addition, democratic opinion in the West was alienated by the revolutionary terror in Spain in the second half of 1936 About 55,000 were killed, including nearly 7,000 Catholic clergy Although that provoked a rebel or Nationalist (“Nacionales”) terror in response, the massacres helped excuse Western refusal to support the Republic directly French policy was most complicated as the Spanish war deeply divided France internally That tendency encouraged Hitler to support the rebels to continue the war and thereby preoccupy the Western powers, not out of ideological affinity for Franco It was hoped by the Popular Front government 1017