THE FORGOTTEN VETERANS

When Spain erupted into brutal and bloody civil conflict during 1936 the country became, for a moment, the focal point of a watching world.

Over half a million people lost their lives during three years of bloodshed as the country was torn apart with a savagery seldom seen in modern Europe.

The conflict was a watershed in history, a fight for democracy against fascism and a testing ground for new military technology that would give the world an ominous foretaste of what would follow during the Second World War.

The conflict is also unique for the contribution of over 35,000 men and women who volunteered to help the Spanish Republic and who travelled from more than 50 countries around the globe to fight alongside their Spanish cousins on the frontline.

The International Brigades which were formed from these volunteers contained young men who decided to take a stand against fascism and who went to incredible lengths to get across the border and into Spain.

Despite the importance of the civil war and the number of Britons involved, there is a notable lack of coverage of the conflict in history books and museums, even at such a renowned institution as the Imperial War Museum.

Jim Jump, the national secretary of the International Brigade Memorial Trust, thinks there are a number of reasons for this, including the fact that the Second World War started just a few months after the Spanish conflict ended and, understandably, eclipsed it in peoples conscience. Jim claims there is also another underlying reason behind the lack of discussion of the conflict – the controversial non-intervention policy implemented by the British and French governments.

“There is a residual discomfort in recalling the war,” says Jump: “this is because of the role of British and other western democracies in cynically abandoning the Republic.”

He also thinks there was an erroneous ambivalence to the struggle that first appeared during the Cold War, in which the Republic was seen as a puppet of Stalin and, in effect, accepted Franco as an anti-communist bulwark.

The British government’s refusal to be drawn into the conflict and its non-intervention approach, despite the fact that Hitler and Mussolini both gave substantial support to Franco’s nationalists, is a shameful moment in British history claims Jump, saying : “Basically the British knew that its policy would lead to the defeat of the Republic.”

This non-intervention by Britain and France, meant that Republican troops were often left with outdated equipment and inadequate ammunition, with only the Soviet Union and some South American countries giving official help. The supplies that did manage to reach the Republican lines were usually no match for the state of the art equipment and trained men given to Franco by Germany and Italy.

Despite the lack of official British support, thousands of British men and women still made the arduous journey to Spain and, in doing so, risked arrest for breaching recently introduced laws designed to stop them.

Jim Jump believes it is important to remember the sacrifice of these people:

“They were the vanguard of a generation that defeated fascism in the twentieth century,” he says before adding: “The International Brigade veterans who have returned to Spain after the restoration of democracy, have always been enthusiastically received by ordinary Spaniards, who share the same romantic view of the volunteers as most people do in other countries.

“The IBMT would like to see the Spanish Civil War more widely taught in schools. That would help raise awareness of the International Brigades.”

The Brigades were finally withdrawn from Spain when a Nationalist victory became inevitable and thousands of demoralised Republican troops and supporters attempted to flee Franco’s advancing army, who were unleashing a wave of terror in the areas that fell to them.

Following his victory in 1939 Franco established a dictatorship which rewrote the history of the war and forced generations of Spaniards to endure another 35 years of oppression, persecution and censorship until his death in 1975.

Jim Jump believes the period was a pivotal moment in history and the lack of official help for the Republic from this country is something that should be recognised: “Maybe an apology from the British government to say its policy was wrong would be welcome – but we haven’t asked for it and wouldn’t expect it.

He believes the British veterans of Spain have become political victims of the period which has resulted in their sacrifices going largely unnoticed, especially in contrast to those that fought in the other conflicts of the twentieth century and Jim says:

“The International Brigades were a unique phenomenon, 35,000 volunteers who believed they could shape the course of history and who were the embodiment of international solidarity.

“We will not see their likes again for many, many years to come.”