Franco’s forces had significant military advantage over the loyalists since they had armed forces, weapons, and allies to assist them and that caused the outbreak of the civil war. On the other hand, the loyalist army lacked everything, even mundane and necessary objects such as field glasses and maps (1227). German soldiers and armies fought against Spanish peasants, anarchist workers, shop clerks, and foreign volunteers—many of who did not speak Spanish—and leftists did not fare well (1227). For the republican loyalists, it was impossible to only count on their countrymen. They depended on receiving arms, weapons, and general supplies from the western democratic countries (1228). Britain for example, did not want to go to war; the British government wanted to …show more content…
Spain was unyielding however. The loyalists defeated 100,000 Italian soldiers in a spring 1937 battle. In the air however, because Spain at that time did not have warplanes, they could not fight back the Italians. Mussolini’s pilots destroyed and cut off the supply lines in the air. As mentioned before, Spain was used as a military training and testing ground; the alliance was a double-edged spear for Spain. Hitler sent planes, guns, munitions, and other supplies through Portugal, and even gave military training to the nationalist forces (1228). The German pilots dropped bombs on the loyalist forces, but also innocent civilians. And on April 26, 1937, German and Italian planes bombed a small town called Guernica, and killed 100 innocent residents (1228). The Nationalists continued to march forward and attacked the capital, Madrid at the end of August 1937. In the north, the Nationalists reached the Atlantic Ocean, and cut off the loyalist Basque province from France, and cut off their supply lines (1229). By October, Franco controlled the entire north coast, including the Mediterranean Sea, which cut off Catalonia and more supply lines for the Loyalists
In the 1860’s the United States weren’t united because of the issue of slavery. The civil war was never just about getting the union back together, but about making it count and getting rid of slavery. The south wanted their slaves and would say they are “-the happiest, and in some, the freest people in the world”. (Doc 5) However, the north knew that was not true because of Harriet Beecher Stowe's “Uncle Tom’s Cabin”. In 1854 when the Kansas-Nebraska act was passed it caused some issues. Anti-slavery supporters were not happy because they did not want expansion of slavery, but the pro-slavery supporters weren’t happy because they wanted slavery everywhere for sure. (Doc. 7)The Kansas-Nebraska act caused trouble before it was even passed, Senator Charles Sumner argued against and attacked pro-slavery men causing Preston Brooks to beat Sumner with a cane. The south praised Brooks while the north felt for Sumner. (Doc 8) In 1858 during his acceptance speech Lincoln said his famous line, “A house divided
Francisco Franco (1892-1975) was a lifelong military leader. He rose through the ranks until the early 1930s, when he found himself, a right-wing monarchist, in the middle of a left-wing republic. He was demoted, but later rose up again, and by 1935 he had been named chief of staff of the Spanish Army, a position he used to get rid of left-wing figures and their military institutions. When the left- wing social and economic structure of Spain began to fall, Franco joined the rebellion. He soon led an uprising and took control of Spain after the Spanish Civil War (1939). From then unti...
Thomas, Hugh. The Spanish Civil War (4th ed.). London: Penguin, 2003. Print.
Brenan, Gerald. The Spanish labyrinth: an account of the social and political background of the civil war. 2. ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1974. Print.
For generations students have been taught an over-simplified version of the civil war and even now I am just coming to a full understanding of the truth. The civil war was a terrible rift in our nation, fought between the northern states (known as the union) and the southern states (the Confederate States of America). The people’s opinions were so divided over the issues of the civil war that, in some families, brother was pit against brother. Eventually, the south succumbed to the north and surrendered on April 9th, 1865 but not before the war had caused 618,000 deaths, more than any other war in U.S. history.(1) In truth, many believe this horrible war was fought purely over the issue of slavery. Nothing could be further from the truth. I am not denying that slavery was a major cause and issue of the civil war, but social and economic differences as well as states’ rights were just as important issues and I will be discussing all three.
The 1850's were a turbulent time in American history. The North and South were seeing total different views on the issue of slavery. The North saw slavery as immoral and that it was unconstitutional. The south on the other hand saw slavery as their right. The South viewed African Americans as lower human beings which justified slavery. "The 1850's was a time of attempted compromise when compromise was no longer possible." This quote best describes this time period, because Americans were trying to compromise their views to prevent a large conflict, but there were many events which made a compromise impossible.
The war is the unfolding of miscalculations." -Barbara Tuchman Lasting from 1861 to 1865, the Civil War is considered the bloodiest war in American history. However, the Civil War had seemingly been a long time coming. There were many events that took place within the fifteen years leading up to the Civil War that foreshadowed the eventual secession of seven “cotton states” from the Union.
Historians concerned with American Loyalists during the second half of the eighteenth century have produced two brands of scholarship that encompass the broad, disjointed Loyalist narrative. The first juxtaposes the Loyalists in America with the Patriot rebels within the framework of numerous burgeoning American movements increasingly bent on the separation of certain areas from the British Empire and the removal of their communities from the dominion of British Parliament and the Crown. This particular framework places Loyalists in a political environment characterized by various forms of separatism coupled with a decentralized network of rebel governments known as Committees of Correspondence. These Committees of Correspondence in charge
There were several issues that contributed to the split between the northern and southern states. Among these were the deep social, economic and political differences. The split could be traced as far back as the early 1800’s, just as the industrial revolution was beginning. It’s effects on the north and the south caused the economic split. As the north was becoming more industrialized; the south began to rely heavily on slave labor. This was one of the main reasons, as the southern view on slavery differed greatly from the North. These views were based on drastically different interpretations of the constitution.
As a general rule, Spanish people feel rigidly bound by their sense of honor. This is one major conflict inherent between the Spanish people and entering the war. First Spain had no appreciable quarrel with any country involved in the war, save the Russians. The Russians had given aide the defeated Republicans during the Spanish civil war; the Russians were consequently despised. Whereas the Germans had helped Franco into power, by sending men, planes, and officers to help the war effort, therefor they were close allies. To further complicate things Germany began the war a friend of the Russians. As for the Allies, General Franco had received some military training in France, under the guidance of Marshals Petain, and Foch, who had been badly humiliated by the Nazis. And stemming from his time in France he developed a great respect for the military traditions of the French. Therefore helping the Nazis would be to stab the French in the back. An idea repugnant to General Franco "No Spanish hidalgo would have done that."1 (A hidalgo is a child that inherits nothing from the family their life choices being the church, or soldering.) Concerning the Americans and British, Spain had absolutely no argument with them at all. The Americans and English were sending valuable raw materials to Spain in an effort to keep her neutral.2 So as a whole the Spanish people felt torn, they didn't want to help the Germans because they were allied with an enemy, and fighting a friend. Furthermore Spain did not want to fight America or Britain. To compound things further Spain did owe Germany. They had helped Franco to power by supplying soldiers, pilots, and machines while he lead his troops to victory over the republicans of Spain.
... has still not been identified to this day. This sudden attack left the American populace speechless and in utter resentment of the Spanish, and as outrage broke a rallying cry did too, “Remember the Maine, to hell with Spain.” However, Spain at the time was blamed for the explosive occasion and war quickly followed between Spain and America, and the Spanish-American War was fought on Spanish territories such as Cuba, the Philippines, Guam, and Puerto Rico. The overpowering and overwhelming military of the United States crushed Spain in all of their fights, causing the war to come to an end in mid July.
Spain was conquering territories all around the world. Although one made the United States more nervous than the rest; Cuba. The United States feared spain controlling a territory so close to home. It was clear it was not the best idea that a Eastern country controlled something so close, so they kept a close eye on it. Once they realize their differences United States discharged a battleship from the Great White Fleet to Cuba, the U.S.S. Maine. Once the maine arrived there was a few more conflicts between the two countries. After 2 weeks of arriving in Havana Harbor in Cuba, The Maine was mysteriously destroyed by an explosion. As soon as the Yellow press was informed they forced the thought of the explosion being an act of terrorism. This is supported in “Document A: New York Journal”. The New York Journa...
Preston, Paul. The Spanish Civil War: Reaction, Revolution and Revenge. New York: W.W. Norton &, 2007. Print.
For 113 days during the summer of 1898, the United States was at war with Spain. Neither the president of the United States, nor his cabinet, nor the the queen of Spain, nor her ministers wanted the war wanted the war. It happened eventhough they made their best efforts to prevent it. It happened because of ambition, miscalculation, and stupidity; and it happened because of kindness, wit, and resourcefulness. It also happened because some were indifferent to the suffering of the world’s wretched and others were not (O’Toole 17). By winning the war the United States proved the the rest of the world and to itself that it could and would fight against foreign nations. For many years, world power had been concentrated in the countries in Europe. Nations such as Great Britain, France, Germany, and Spain had the most influence in global affairs. But a shift in power was gradually taking place as the United States matured. The young nation gained wealth and strength. Its population grew immensely, and many people believed it would become a major world power (Bachrach, 11) Spain was one of the many European countries that had territory in the United States. Spain controlled mostly some islands off the coast of Central America. The most important of these were Cuba and Puerto Rico. The United States was led to believe that the Spanish mosgoverned and abused the people of these islands. In fact, Spain did overtax and mistreat the Cubans, who rebelled in 1868 and again in 1895. Thus, the American people felt sympathetic toward the Cuban independence movement. In addition, Spain had frequently interfered with trade between its colonies and the United States. Even though the United States had been a trading partner with Cuba since the seventeenth century, Spain sometimes tried to completely stop their trade with Cuba. In Spain doing so, this sometimes caused damage to U.S. commercial interests. The United States highly disagreed with Spain’s right to interfere with this trade relationship. (Bachrach, 12) The United States was also concerned that other trading and commercial interests were threatened by the number of ships and soldiers Spain kept in the area. If the United States had to fight a war with Canada or Mexico, these Spanish forces could quickly mobilize against the United States.
On April 19th, 1898, The United States impulsively waged a war with imperialist Spain that would forever change our country for better and for worse. There are many different factors that led to the war, but in my opinion, one key cause is of much greater importance than the others. As a result of the war, American became known as an imperialistic nation and a world power. How could such a “little” war have such a large impact on American society at the turn of the 20th century?