Essay Component “The Spanish Civil War was won by the Nationalist forces based mainly on greater international support, to what extent is this statement true?
The Spanish Civil War lasted 3 years and detailed the struggle between socialist republic and the traditionalists of Spain. There is no doubt that a lack of international support to the Popular Front from outside of Spain contributed to the fall of the republic with indirect causes of inter-government fighting and the collision of ideologies also stemming from international obligations.
The international situation that accompanied the Spanish civil war heavily undermined the Republics ability to stifle the Nationalist advance. International relations, a lack of aid, overseas propaganda
…show more content…
The British and French governments remained neutral, the tensions between European nations at this time was also reaching dangerous levels hence the Non-Intervention Agreement was proposed in 1936. The document was to place an embargo on the supply of arms to Spain in the hope that the situation in Spain would not spread or engulf the entire continent into war. The agreement was refused by Germany, Italy and Portugal which continued to aid the Nationalists by supplying arms, food and military assistance. This severely disadvantaged the Republic who received no official aid from other European governments. This disparity is shown by the subsequent advance of the Nationalist forces who controlled a third of Spain by August 1936. It was not until October that the Soviet Union agreed to supply arms to select parties of the Popular Front. This supply of arms from the Soviet Union however was restricted to the Communist party of the Popular Front, the Anarchists, Syndicalist and less extremist socialist groups did not receive any aid from Russia. This aspect of the war would have further intensified the inter-party feuds within the Republic as the government of Spain was required to surrender its gold reserves to the Soviet Union, worth in