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IT BEGAN 30 YEARS AGO ...

The tragedy of Spain

HE TRAGEDY of Spain started quite impercep-
_tibly as far as the rest of the world was con-
ae cerned. In February, 1936, the Spanish people
ree Popular Front government made up of Left
acans, Socialists, Communists, Anarchists and
likin Progressive political groups. This wasn’t to the
ge of the monopolists, the big landlords, the aris-
Toe and the army generals, so they began to mus-

T their forces against the newly-elected government.

ae July 18, 1936 the world learned that Spain’s
aus had Jaunched an armed uprising against the
Pa 8overnment. At first no one was too greatly con-
a ned, believing that the people of Spain would soon

Ush this fascist rebellion, as indeed they would have

cna it been a rebellion of generals and their few
Upporters alone,

au Soon became obvious that here was something
ta different. This was a deliberate and carefully
nee €d out plot by the reactionary forces in Spain
ne the world fascist powers—Mussolini’s Italy, Hit-
y S Germany and Salazar’s Portugal—to crush the
ung Spanish republic, as a prelude to fascism’s

‘}
©ng range plan for world conquest.

aut their plan did not come off as smoothly as they

S hoped. Even. though from the very beginning the

tae generals had thousands of crack Moorish

Hae and trained Italian “volunteers” and guns,

and S, planes and naval vessels supplied. by Hitler

and Mussolini, they were beaten back by the aroused
heroic Spanish people.

ate fascist powers, however, were not alone in

Wanting to see people’s Spain destroyed. The capita-

Wee overnments of the West, Canada included, like-

t Se did not want to see it survive. Therefore, when
© fascists began to suffer defeat after defeat, the
€stern powers played their hand.

ben spite the fact that the Loyalist government had
troll legally and constitutionally elected, that it con-
t ae most of the land and almost every major city,
the ovcnts after the fascist uprising showed it had
a Overwhelming support of the people, ‘the Western
teh nments decided they “would not take sides. Os-
t eee. to keep the civil war from spreading beyond
“no borders, they instituted the so-called policy of
preven cr vention”, according to which they would
Spee ee arms or materials of war from reaching

€r side, and invited all other governments to join.

shes War up to their necks on the side of the rebels
Wa stepping up their participation, “non-intervention
‘simply a way of preventing the Loyalists from
Betting any help.
Ee Loyalist government thus found that its border
ion Portugal was controlled by that country s reac-
boete government and the rebel generals; its northern
int €r with France was closed by the policy of “non-
€rvention”; its eastern and southern shores were
LS by fascist naval vessels as well as by
ru] Ae ships off Gibralter, scrupulously applying the
€s of “non-intervention.”

ae though the governments of the West were, in
ae helping the fascists to crush Spain, this could
a be said of the people. The whole world was in-
ee by the heroism of the Spanish people and
Xlous to see them win.

in was only moral support given. By the fall of
eS Volunteers from many countries began arriving
_ pain, the first contingent of what later came to
if, known as the International Brigade totalling more
4n 100,000 men. They came to try to even up, at
fast in part, the terrible odds Spain faced.

The Soviet Union, at that time the world’s only
rocialist country, did everything it could to assist the
fee government. Its diplomats fought tirelessly
s €xpose the open aggression of the fascist powers
aor the farce of “non-intervention.” The Soviet people
ai money and materials, But great as this assistance
ae because of the blockade and the distances in-
‘Olved, it was of necessity limited.

_ But since Germany, Italy and Portugal were already —

By JOHN BOYD

Millions of people throughout the world
today are incensed at what is happening in
Vietnam; angry at what is being done to the
people of that unfortunate land by a foreign
aggressor; marvelling at their heroic resis-
tance; wondering how and when it will all end.

Thirty years ago millions of another gen-
eration were similarly incensed at what was
happening in another land—Spain—likewise
the victim of aggression; then, too, the world
marvelled at the heroism of the Spanish
people.

Then, as now, the fate of a nation was
being decided and, although most people
were not aware of it, the future course of
world history was being charted. :

The glorious chapter written by the

Spanish people three decades ago—written
in blood—will never be forgotten by the
people of that generation. It should be retold
to today’s generation—and studied by it, for
it contains many bitter but valuable lessons. ©

‘Canadians, too, played a valiant and noble part in
the great world-wide effort to aid Spanish democracy.

Mammoth protest meetings and demonstrations
were held from one end of the country to the other;
Aid to Spain committees were organized and funds
collected: pressure was put on the government to drop
its support of “non-intervention” and come to the aid
of the Loyalist government.

Dr. Norman Bethune, with three other Canadians,
went to Spain to organize a mobile blood-transfusion
Clinic, the first of its kind in the world.

A total of 1,200 Canadian volunteers joined the In-
ternational Brigade to take part in what turned out
to be the first major stand against the onslaught of
world fascism. As members of the renowned Mac-
kenzie-Papineau Battalion, they won acclaim for their
heroism and efficiency in numerous battles. More than

600 of them were killed in action and buried in Spain. -

In the words of Dolores Ibarruri, the famed Spanish
Communist leader, when she spoke to the international
volunteers on the eve of their departure from Spain:

“They gave us everything; their youth or their
maturity; their scitnce or their experience; their blood
and their lives; their hopes and aspirations . . . And
they asked us for nothing at all...

“They gave up everything: their loves, their coun-
tries, home and fortune; fathers, mothers, wives, bro-
thers, sisters, and children, and they came and told
us: ‘We are here. Your cause, Spain’s cause is ours—
it is the cause of all advanced and progressive man-
kind’”. :

For almost three years the people of Spain fought
back. Time and again they overcame the enemy and
broke through on wide fronts. But the preponderance
of fascist armed strength and the betrayal. by the
Western democracies proved to be too much. They
fought bravely and desperately to the very end—the
last city, the last block—but eventually were over-
whelmed. On March 24, 1939, General Franco’s forces
occupied Madrid and the civil war was officially over.

Spanish democracy was strangled but its final death
throes were not noticed as much by the rest of the
world fer they coincided with new ordeals and new

tragedies as fascism continued its march of conquest; _

Hitler’s takeover of Czechoslovakia, Japan’s march
through China, the attack on Poland and the begin-
ning of World War II.

Tragic as were the events in Spain from 1936 to
1939 the years that followed were even more tragic.

Even before Madrid fell the fascist generals began
taking their vengeance on the people. Thousands of
heroic: Spanish resistance fighters and active Loyalist
supporters were executed or murdered, thousands of
others were put in jail for 10, 20 and 30 years. Some -
of them are still in jail today. Spain became one vast
prison-house of the people.

On Aug. 4, 1939, General Francisco Franco pro-
claimed himself “Supreme Chief Responsible Only
Before God and History” and set out to turn Spain
into a model fascist state. All political parties—except
the fascist Falangist Party—were outlawed; all trade
unions, student associations and other people’s organi-
zations were banned; all except the fascist news-
papers were suppressed.

Every vestige of democracy was destroyed; every
freedom taken away; every right abolished, every
expression of opposition silenced.

After 10, 15, 20 years of this complete blackout of
freedom, the world-wondered: Would democracy ever
come back in Spain? Could the will for democracy
survive?

Survive it did. In the first place, the Communist
Party of Spain continued to function without let-up.
Working under conditions of extreme hardship and
at great risk and sacrifice, the Communists published ~
illegal newspapers, leaflets and books, conducted
underground schools, worked among the workers,
peasants and students, keeping alive the embers of
democracy in the darkness of fascism.

Today, thanks to the work of the few Communists,
Socialists and other democrats over the years, there
has developed in the recent period a new democratic
upsurge in Spain. More and more workers are defying
the fascist regime, setting up their own independent
trade unions, organizing strikes and demonstrations
to enforce their demands.

Students, intellectuals and even sections of the
Church, are coming out more openly against the fas-
cist dictatorship. Only recently a congress of some
500 student delegates was held in a monastery in
Barcelona in defiance of the authorities, at which
students founded their own democratic student body.

Thirty years after the fascist attack that put their
nation in chains, the sons and daughters of the im-
mortal heroes of 1936-39 are beginning to see a ray
of hope that the way to democracy may soon be
opened again.

Given world peace, Spain will once again be free.

July 22, 1966—PACIFIC TRIBUNE—Page 5