Spain In Our Hearts: Americans in the Spanish Civil War, 1936 - 1939; Adam Hochschild

Spain In Our Hearts: Americans in the Spanish Civil War, 1936 - 1939

Adam Hochschild

April, 2016

Mid-1936 to early 1939 -- how the press can "build a story"
NYT -- more headlines than:

• FDR
• Great Depression
• rise of Nazi Germany

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The Americans

p. 3 - 4: Robert Merriman, west coast, Californian moved to Nevada

• straight-shooter; athlete
• ROTC, UC Berkeley economy major
• Marion Stone, in Russia, reading Pravda, p. 46

p. 13: Louis Fischer --Philadelphia slums

• journalist, crossed over to activist
• wrote for The Nation

p. 19: Milly Bennett -- San Francisco

• teams up with the Merrimans (Robert and Marion Stone)
• journalist

p. 41: Lois (19 y/o) and Charles Orr -- Kentucky

• Orr - university economics professor
• studying global economy
• Europe; planned next to go to India
• while in Germany / France intrigued with Spain

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Importance of names

The Republic: democratically elected government but Popular Front wins parliament

• Republicans: liberals, socialists, communists
• but "Republicans" because elected to "Republic" -- a democratic govt

Military rebels: self-named the Nationalist

• military generals -- concerned that the Popular Front is the Spanish version (or will become the Spanish version) of the Russian revolution
• far-right fascists -- much strong connotations than generally used in English (I have to re-read that; I don't understand that note now)

The other problem: Nationalists -- military generals -- extreme atrocities.

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The reason the Spanish Civil war is so hard to understand:

1) I did not understand European situation in the 1930s
2) the names of the adversaries were confusing

The author got it exactly right, p. 41: "The conflict in Spain, remarkably, was at the same time, both a right-wing military coup and a left-wing social revolution."

p. 47: Stalin / Russia -- anxiety, concern about helping the Republic. The Spanish Civil War was probably confusing to Stalin / Russia, also.

p. 48 - 49: The Non-Intervention Committee in London, a sham

England pre-occupied with shocking romance between King Edward VIII and svelt American socialite Wallis Simpson

Franco: lower-ranking general

• great planner
• opportuniistic
• when higher ranking generals killed, he took lead -- waited until he saw whether revolution would have chance to succeed

No country willing to help Republic except Stalin/Russia.

Franco: Hitler / Mussolini competed to provide most support

• Mussolini: took Ethiopia -- wanted to enlarge circle of influence

p. 47: quick, nice summary of Stalin's concerns, anxiety (see above.

Hitler: saw advantages

• training for war
• U-boat base on Atlantic Coast
• Spain: crucial source of raw materials -- copper, iron ore, sulfur, etc.

Stalin saw all of this; he waited in vain for Britain or France to aid the Republic; never happended -- p. 49

Finally Russia sends aid. 

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1931: unrest forced the king to flee elected government. Monarchy ends and strong military ends.

February, 1936: Popular Front wins election.

• liberals, Socialists, communists
• Army generals displaced
• many Army generals move to Morocco; known as the Nationalists

July 17, 1936: revolution begins; Army officers in Spanish Moroccoa -- Melilla --

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Chapter 4

The revolution started in Spanish Morocco -- quickly spread to south and west Spain.

Three areas where Republic held -- the three large cities:

• Barcelona -- Catalonia
• Madrid
• Valencia

Fischer: already in Spain covering the war for The Nation

Sept 15, 1936: the Orrs -- enter the most revolutionary part of Spain -- Barcelona / Catalonia -- p. 50

NANA: North American Newspaper Alliance

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Prologue

Starts with John Gates and George Watts 

• swimming in the Ebro
• survive

Among the 2,800 Americans

• picked up by two war correspondents
• Herbert L. Matthews, NYT
• Ernest Hemingway, NANA

750 died / 2,800 volunteered
highest death rate for US soldiers in any 20th century war

Mid-1936 to early 1939 -- how the press can "build a story"
NYT -- more headlines than:

• FDR
• Great Depression
• rise of Nazi Germany

American volunteers: informally called Abraham Lincoln Brigade

Hemingway's FWTBT -- published the year after Franco's victory.

Many survivors continued to protest US government later
civil rights
Vietnam

Many Abe Lincoln "soldiers": communists
author tries to explain it -- unsuccessfully -- page xix

A "memoir" of sorts -- of Americans involved in the war plus three Englishmen

Prologue ends with "the banks of the Ebro River."

Importance of Ebro River: last battles -- Republicans slaughtered / lost the war.

HEMINGWAY was at that important battle. Practically drains the entire Iberian peninsula; runs northwest to southeast, into the Mediterranean.

From wiki: The Battle of the Ebro (Spanish: Batalla del Ebro, Catalan: Batalla de l'Ebre) was the longest and largest battle of the Spanish Civil War. It took place between July and November 1938, with fighting mainly concentrated in two areas on the lower course of the Ebro River, the Terra Alta comarca of Catalonia, and the Auts area close to Fayón (Faió) in the lower Matarranya, Eastern Lower Aragon. These sparsely populated areas saw the largest array of armies in the war. The results of the battle were disastrous for the Second Spanish Republic, with tens of thousands of dead and wounded and little effect on the advance of the Nationalists. 

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Chapter 1: The Roots / Merrimans to Moscow

Story starts -- continued elsewhere.