The Spanish Civil War, begun in July 1936, was a preliminary round of World War II. Hitler's and Mussolini's cooperation with General Franco resulted in the Axis agreement of October 1936 and the subsequent Pact of Steel of May 1939, immediately following the end of the Civil War. This study presents comprehensive documentation of Hitler's use of the upheaval in Spain to strengthen the Third Reich diplomatically, ideologically, economically, and militarily. While the last great cause drew all eyes to Western Europe and divided the British and especially the French internally, Hitler could pursue territorial gains in Eastern Europe. This book, based on little-known German records and recently opened Spanish archives, fills a major gap in our understanding of one of the 20th century's most significant conflicts. Its comprehensive treatment of German-Spanish relations from 1936 through 1939, bringing together diplomatic, economic, military, and naval aspects, will be of great value to specialists in European diplomacy and the political economy of Nazi imperialism, as well as to all students of the Spanish Civil War.

The author of Fighting for Spain delivers “a military history focused on three major battles, Brunete, Belchite and Teruel . . . meticulously researched” (Historical Novel Society). Why did the Spanish Republic lose the Spanish Civil War—and could the Republic have won? These are the key questions Alexander Clifford addresses in this in-depth study of the People’s Army and the critical battles of Brunete, Belchite and Teruel. These battles represented the Republic’s best chance of military success, but after bitter fighting its forces were beaten back. From then on, the Republic, facing the superior army of Franco and the Nationalists, aided by Germany and Italy, faced inevitable defeat. This tightly focused and perceptive account of the military history of the Republic and its army is fascinating reading. As well as providing a broad overview of the strategy and tactics of the People’s Army and its Nationalist opponents, Alexander Clifford quotes vivid eyewitness testimony to give the reader a direct insight into the experience of the frontline soldiers on both sides during these three critical battles. Their recollections reveal to the reader what it was like to fight in the scorching heat of the plains around Brunete, in the shattered streets of Belchite—still ruined to this day—and in the frozen hills of Teruel.

This monumental book offers a comprehensive history and analysis of Republican political life during the Spanish Civil War. Completed by Burnett Bolloten just before his death in 1987 and first published in English in 1991, The Spanish Civil War is the culmination of fifty years of dedicated and painstaking research and is the most exhaustive study on the subject in any language. It has been regarded as the authoritative political history of the war and an indispensable encyclopedic guide to Republican affairs during the Spanish conflict. This new edition includes a new introduction by Spanish Civil War scholar George Esenwein, an updated bibliography featuring books on the Spanish Civil War published since 1987, and seventy-three photos of the war's participants.

The scope of this book is confined to the international aspects of the Spanish civil war. It is primarily a study in international relations at a crucial period in the inter-war years. The separate military campaigns of the civil war itself, the political situation in Spain, and the historical forces that gave rise to the conflict have only been sketched in the opening chapters as a background to the diplomatic relations which took place among the European nations as a result of the civil war. The history and causes of the conflict itself are dealt with fully and authoritatively in the publications of scholars such as Gerald Brenan, Salvador de Madariaga, E. Allison Peers and Franz Borkenau in England, Alfred Mousset and Robert Brasillach in France and E. J. Hughes in the United States. It is the most serious handicap in dealing with contemporary history that it is impossible to write a definitive work because all the necessary documentation has not appeared. Nevertheless, many new facts have emerged in this study on the basis of mate rial published in the last ten years. Stories that were thought to be true at the time can now be supported or refuted by document ary evidence. There is proof in Serrano Su er's memoirs, for example, relative to the plotting of the civil war by the Spanish generals which corroborates the account of General Mola's secretary, Jose Ibarren.

Spain and the Great Powers in the Twentieth Centuryexamines the international context to, and influences on, Spanish history and politics from 1898 to the present day. Spanish history is necessarily international, with the significance of Spain's neutrality in the First World War and the global influences on the outcome of the Spanish Civil War. Taking the Defeat in the Spanish American war of 1898 as a starting point, the book includes surveys on: *the crisis of neutrality during the First World War *foreign policy under the dictatorship of Primo de Rivera *the allies and the Spanish Civil War *Nazi Germany and Franco's Spain *Spain and the Cold War *relations with the United States This book traces the important topic of modern Spanish diplomacy up to the present day

A revealing look at Nazi involvement in the Spanish Civil War, their economic ambitions, how it came to be, and how they operated. Pitting fascists and communists in a showdown for supremacy, the Spanish Civil War has long been seen as a grim dress rehearsal for World War II. Francisco Franco’s Nationalists prevailed with German and Italian military assistance—a clear instance, it seemed, of like-minded regimes joining forces in the fight against global Bolshevism. In Hitler’s Shadow Empire Pierpaolo Barbieri revises this standard account of Axis intervention in the Spanish Civil War, arguing that economic ambitions—not ideology—drove Hitler’s Iberian intervention. The Nazis hoped to establish an economic empire in Europe, and in Spain they tested the tactics intended for future subject territories. The Nazis provided Franco’s Nationalists with planes, armaments, and tanks, but behind this largesse was a Faustian bargain. Through weapons and material support, Germany gradually absorbed Spain into an informal empire, extending control over key Spanish resources in order to fuel its own burgeoning war industries. This plan was only possible and profitable because of Hitler’s economic czar, Hjalmar Schacht, a “wizard of international finance.” His policies fostered the interwar German recovery and consolidated Hitler’s dictatorship. Though Schacht’s economic strategy was eventually abandoned in favor of a very different conception of racial empire, Barbieri argues it was in many ways a more effective strategic option for the Third Reich. Deepening our understanding of the Spanish Civil War by placing it in the context of Nazi imperial ambitions, Hitler’s Shadow Empire illuminates a fratricidal tragedy that still reverberates in Spanish life as well as the world war it heralded. Praise for Hitler’s Shadow Empire “A fascinating, beautifully written account of a plan for the German economic domination of Europe that was pushed in the 1930s by the Nazis but above all by non-Nazi and more traditionally oriented German economic bureaucrats. Barbieri makes us think again about the relationship between economics and racial policies in the making of Nazi aggression.” —Harold James, author of Making the European Monetary Union “Hitler’s Shadow Empire recasts our understanding of the German and Italian interventions in the Spanish Civil War. In this brilliant debut, Barbieri shows that informal imperialism played a more important part than fascist ideology in the way that Berlin looked at the conflict. Barbieri also has a keen ear for the continuing echoes of the Civil War for Spain—and indeed for Europe—today.” —Niall Ferguson, author of The Ascent of Money

Many major world events have occurred since the last key anniversary of the beginning of the Second World War, and these events have had a dramatic impact on the international stage: 9/11, the Iraq War, climate change and the world economic crisis. This is an opportune moment to bring together a group of major international experts who will offer a series of new interpretations of the key aspects of the origins of the Second World War. Each chapter is based on original archival research and written by scholars who are all leading experts in their fields. This is a truly international collection of articles, with wide breadth and scope, which includes contributions from historians, and also political scientists, gender theorists, and international relations experts. This is an important contribution to scholarly debate on one of the most important events of the 20th century and a subject of major interest to the general reader, historians, students and researchers, policy makers and conflict prevention experts.

A detailed account of the war describes Republican political life during the period and recounts the rise of the Spanish Communist Party