Spanish Civil War practice questions:

2006 Question 2.

Compare the views about the Spanish Civil War expressed in Sources A and B.

Compare the sources overall and in detail. 5

Source A: from a letter written by a young American member of the International Brigade, 1938.

Somewhere in Spain

In the event of my death will someone please mail this letter to my mother?

Dear Mom

In Spain there are countless thousands of mothers like yourself who never had a fair chance in life. One day the Spanish people did something about that. They got together and elected a government that really gave some meaning to their lives. But it didn’t work out the way the poor people expected. A group of bullies decided to crush and wipe out this wonderful thing the poor people had accomplished and drive them back to the old way of life.

Don’t let anyone mislead you, Mom, by telling you that all this had something to do with Communism. The Hitlers and Mussolinis of this world are killing Spanish people who don’t know the difference between Communism and Rheumatism. And it’s not to set up some Communist government either. The only thing the Communists did here was to show the people how to fight and win what is rightfully theirs.

I was always proud and grateful that you were my Mom.

Your son

Will

Source B: from a speech by Winston Churchill in the House of Commons, 19 July 1937.

It is well known that ordinary guarantees for safety and order had largely lapsed in Spain, that it was not safe for people to go out at night over large areas, that murders and outrages were rife. Constitutional parliamentary government was being used …. to cover the swift, stealthy and deadly advance of the extreme Communist or anarchist factions. They saw, according to the regular programme of Communist revolutions, the means by which they could obtain power. It was when confronted with a situation like that, that this violent explosion [the Civil War] took place in Spain.

2006 Question 2 Sample Answer:

Source A is contemporary with the Spanish Civil War (1936 – 1939). It was written by a young American who fought for the International Brigades; he was therefore a direct participant in the Spanish Civil War. Source B is also contemporary with the Spanish Civil War, but was written by Winston Churchill, a politician who was not personally involved in the fighting. Churchill was a known anti-Communist. (COMPARISON OF ORIGIN)

The, perhaps somewhat naïve, author of Source A believes that the Spanish Republic was a ‘wonderful thing’ and a genuine expression of popular will. Churchill, however, believes that law and order had broken down under the Spanish Republic and that life was unsafe for the Spanish people. (COMPARISON OF CONTENT – EVIDENCE IN BOTH SOURCES)

The author of source A rejects the identification of the Republic with Communism – ‘Don’t let anyone mislead you, Mom, by telling you that all this had something to do with Communism’. He also claims that the Spanish people are largely unaware of Communism – ‘Spanish people who don’t know the difference between Communism and Rheumatism.’ Churchill, on the other hand, believes that the newly elected Spanish government of 1936 was a disguise to cover the advance of Communism or anarchism – ‘ Constitutional parliamentary government was being used …. To cover the swift, stealthy and deadly advance of the extreme Communist or anarchist factions.’ (COMPARISON OF CONTENT – EVIDENCE IN BOTH SOURCES) Furthermore, the author of Source A believes that attempts to claim that the Republic was Communist are misleading; all the Communists had done was to show the people how to protect themselves – ‘The only thing the Communists did here was to show the people how to fight and win what is rightfully theirs.’ Churchill, however, thinks that the Civil War began with resistance to a Communist attempt to seize power – ‘They saw, according to the regular programme of Communist revolutions, the means by which they could obtain power. It was when confronted with a situation like that, that this violent explosion [the Civil War] took place in Spain.’ (COMPARISON OF CONTENT – EVIDENCE IN BOTH SOURCES)

The author of Source A regards the nationalists a ‘bullies’ trying to ‘crush’ and ‘wipe out’ the Republic. Churchill does not refer to the nationalist side in the Civil War at all; neither does he mention Hitler or Mussolini, both of whom had intervened on the Nationalist side. The author of Source A believes that Hitler and Mussolini were the real aggressors. (COMPARISON OF CONTENT – EVIDENCE IN ONE SOURCE BUT NOT THE OTHER)

Overall, therefore, the sources show opposing political perspectives, particularly about the influence of Communism in the Spanish Civil War. (ANSWER)