ia_2010_evans_d

=D. Analysis (500-650 words) Tips]=

 The novel ‘Homage to Catalonia’ is historically significant as it illustrates the effects of a Civil War on an individual. It is important to remember that his participation in the events were based just on his time spent in Aragon and Catalonia, which were not where the bulk of the civil war occurred. Therefore, his novel is an insight on the effect the civil war had on smaller villages in Spain. The civil war was significant at the time because of the effects it had on Britain. The signing of the policy of appeasement by Chamberlain in 1937 is proof of how the Spanish Civil War scared Britain into pleasing Hitler This novel is of great importance today as the truth about the Civil War is still being discovered; where ‘t he matter of exhumations is still controversial in Spain 70 years after’ [1] the end of the Civil War. It has been said by historians that there were “tens of thousands of victims” [2] which “still lie unidentified in mass graves around the country” [3]. Since Francisco Franco’s death in November 1975, gradually Spain has begun to investigate into the past and discover the truths of the Civil War. A recent example of an important discovery is the body is the infamous Federico Garcia Lorca who wrote a series ‘ powerful plays [such as] // Blood Wedding //, // Yerma, The House of Barnarda Alba // and // The Public //.’ [4] There are ways that the novel is useful to a historian studying the reasons for Franco’s victory. George Orwell believes the divisions of the ranks and the involvement of the Stalinist PCE was to blame for Franco’s victory: To begin, Orwell thought that it was ‘idiotic that people fighting for their lives should //have// separate parties’ [5] but this, was inevitable as everyone ‘took sides sooner or later’ [6]. The lack of the co-operation affected Orwell ‘because [he] was serving in the POUM militia and not in the PSUC. So great is the difference between two sets of initials.’ [7] There were over 7 different political parties with ‘their tiresome names – PSUC, POUM, FAI, CNT, UGT, JCI, JSU [and] AIT’ [8] and as a result ‘every subsequent reshuffling of the Government was a move towards the Right. [9] ’ Despite the fact that ‘as a militia-man one was a soldier against Franco’, and the difference between some parties were small, these differences were significant enough to prove damaging for the Republicans. An example of this was the decision to collectivize Spain’s industry and agriculture. The film ‘Land and Freedom’ [10] lively portrays a scene where an assembly was called discussing the collectivization of the land and the effects of the misunderstandings. Orwell states that ‘the expulsion of the POUM from the Catalan Generalidad, was done under orders from the USSR’ [11]. The Republic had to stay anti-revolutionary as USSR had an ‘alliance with France, a capitalist-imperialist country’ [12] which promoted a ‘French-Spanish bloc which, linked with Britain, would curtail German expansion.’ [13] This was beneficial to USSR as it isolated the Trotskyist, the CNT and the POUM who wanted an immediate revolution. This meant that the ‘PCE took the lead in improving the militia training.’ [14] The Republican army consisted of ‘junior army officers’ [15] combined with their ‘inexperience and lack of initiative’ [16] which added dramatically to the Republican’s weaknesses. Orwell highlighted that USSR tried to calm the revolution wave down but did not explain why. This was due to the Non-Intervention Committee (NIC), which was signed by Britain and France; due to their mistrust in socialism. ** At the time, Britain, like Germany was a capitalist country fighting against what USSR had created; a working class country. By 1951, not even ‘ ** 1,500 copies’ [17] had been bought in Britain which **portrays the effects of the NIC and Britain’s hostile attitude towards the civil war. The NIC also meant that the ‘denial of French aid was a great blow to the Republicans’ ** [18] ** so USSR needed to portray themselves as anti-revolutionary. However, the Republicans were restricted for armaments and forced ‘to rely on the Soviet Union as its sole means of support’. ** [19]    Orwell had a dislike for totalitarianism which is seen in his novel ‘Down and out in Paris and London’ and ‘1984. ‘Homage to Catalonia’ was his 2nd anti-totalitarianism novel. Moreover, it is because of his intense time spent between men who were all fighting for an almost //poetic// cause, and so a novel thrives on intimate details of events. A participant of the war described how he was ‘ sort of infected by the enthusiasm’ [22] during the civil war. Frank Mills statement is an example of how participants became fascinated by the war which illustrates why Orwell glorifies the war. Orwell’s enthusiasm is shown in Chapter 6 (see appendix C)
 * Importance of the investigation in its historical context:  **
 *  Critical analysis of Orwell’s views: **
 * Different interpretations of the Republican’s defeat:  **
 * Moreover, Orwell did not state that the British and French mistrust was down to Franco’s strong leadership which was reinforced by the aid of Germany and Italy. ** The bombing of Guernica emphasized to the British Hitler’s power and brutal tactics. This is portrayed in Picasso’s painting [20] . To contrast the Republican’s strength, by the end of 1936, there was roughly ’45,000 Italian troops in Spain, in addition to planes, tanks and munitions.’ [21]

[1] [], Retrieved 8th October 2009 [2] IBID [3] IBID [4] [] retrieved 10th October 2009 [5] George Orwell, 1938, Homage to Catalonia, appendix I, page 198 [6] IBID [7] IBID [8] IBID appendix I page 197 [9] IBID page 203 [10] Land and Freedom, 1995, directed by Ken Loach, produced by Rebecca O’Brien, written by Jim Allen, [11] IBID page 204 [12] George Orwell, 1938, Homage to Catalonia, page 207 [13] Patricia Knight, 1998, The Spanish Civil War, (ISBN. 0-340-70137-4) page 70 [14] Andrew Forest, 2000, The Spanish Civil War, (ISBN: 0-415-18211-5) page 60 [15] Andrew Forest, 2000, The Spanish Civil War, (ISBN: 0-415-18211-5) page 61 [16] IBID [17] George Orwell, 1938, Homage to Catalonia, A note on the text [18] Patricia Knight, 1998, The Spanish Civil War, (ISBN. 0-340-70137-4) page 72 [19] IBID [20] See list of sources - appendix B [21] Patricia Knight, 1998, The Spanish Civil War, (ISBN. 0-340-70137-4) page 66 [22]  [] Retrieved 3rd November

[1] [], Retrieved 8th October 2009 [2] IBID [3]  IBID [4]  [] retrieved 10th October 2009 [5] George Orwell, 1938, Homage to Catalonia, appendix I, p age 198 [6] IBID [7] IBID [8] IBID [9] IBID appendix I page 197 [10] IBID page 203 [11] Land and Freedom, 1995, directed by Ken Loach, produced by Rebecca O’Brien, written by Jim Allen, [12] IBID page 204 [13] Patricia Knight, 1998, The Spanish Civil War, (ISBN. 0-340-70137-4) page 70 [14] <span style="font-family: 'Times','serif';">George Orwell, 1938, Homage to Catalonia, p age 207 [15] <span style="font-family: 'Times','serif';">Andrew Forest, 2000, The Spanish Civil War, (ISBN: 0-415-18211-5) page 60 [16] <span style="font-family: 'Times','serif';">Andrew Forest, 2000, The Spanish Civil War, (ISBN: 0-415-18211-5) page 61 [17] IBID [18] See list of sources - appendix B [19]  <span style="font-family: 'Times','serif';">Patricia Knight, 1998, The Spanish Civil War, (ISBN. 0-340-70137-4) page 66