yr12_scw_Commemorating

Historiography of the Spanish Civil War From “International Socialism Journal (1995)” by Andy Durgan  ·  ** Gerald Brenan **, Lived in Andalusia form the 1920’s onwards. //He argued that agricultural reasons are the cause of the Spanish Civil war.// Brenan saw very clearly the centrality of Agrarian question to the conflict. Attempts, albeit very limited, to undermine the power of the landed oligarchy in souther Spain by the Republican government had met with the stiffest resistance by the land owners. The 2 million landless farm labourers of Andalusia and Estremadura, in turn, provided one of the main bulwarks of revolutionary working class politics during these years. It was by no coincidence that the occupation of these areas by Franco’s armies was accompanied by ferocious repression. Anarchims had deep roots among these landworkers, as it in Barcelona, and Brenan’s explanation as to why this was the case is of particular interest.”  ·  ** Paul Preston **. The most substantial work published to date on the Second Republic. = the most prolific of present day British Specialists in modern Spanish History. His book “The coming of the Spanish Civil war” Centres on the struggle between the two main political formations during the Republic, the Socialist Party (PSOE) and the reactionary Catholic CEDA and reflect the author’s sympathies for he moderate socialist leader Prieto and the left Republican Azana. - “The Spanish Civil war in Context 1931-1939” = Book is generally sympathetic to the Popular Front.  ·  ** Hugh Thomas ** - He gives too much credit at times to dubious francoist sources in an attempt to be ‘objective’. Thomas was later on the advisor of Margaret Thatcher  ·  ** Gabriel Jackson ** – His book “The Spanish Republic and the Civil War” has been the main rival to Hugh Thomas. The book is written from a liberal pro-Republican standpoint.  ·  ** Raymond Carr ** – The doyen (most senior) of experts in on Modern Spain, in his “The Civil War in Spain”, has written a more compact and analytical account which emphasizes the failure of the liberal reformers to break the hold of the ruling classes Marxist Analysis  ·  ** Pierre Broué ** and **Emile Témime**. “The Revolution and Civil War in Spain” = The best overall account of the war and revolution in the opinion of this reviewer. (Out of print in English for 20 years)

Two Sections 1) Brou é = deals with the revolution and political divisions in the Republican zone, 2) Témime = about the military struggle, the international dimension and events in the Francoist zone.  ·  ** Ronald Fraser ** “Blood of Spain”, alongside the latter. Fraser has woven together the results of over 300 interviews with participants in the war to form what is not only a brilliant and vivid description of events but also clear defence of the view that only a revolutionary war could have defeated Fascism. Pro Revolution  ·  In the 1960’s and 1970’s, partly as the result of the work of the historians such as **Pierre Broué** and **Burnett Bolloten** and more significantly as a result of the rise in revolutionary politics, = The importance pf the revolution began to be recognized again.  ·  “Trotsky was harsh in his treatment of his revolutionary socialist POUM on whom he ultimately placed the blame for the revolution’s defeat.” = A Durgan form Journal of Trotsky’s studies.  ·  ** George’s Orwell’s classic Homage to Catalonia ** = essential reading for anyone wanting to get a general idea about the POUM’s position and provides and eloquent defence of the revolution.