#22 The Spanish Civil War–Episode 4: Franco and the Nationalists (1983)

This episode focused on the nationalist side of the war. Who they were, what their beliefs were, and who their leader Francisco Franco was. 

After finishing my review of Episode 5, I realized that I had written so little for this review. The main idea that I contemplated during this episode that I would like to put down on paper is that the Nationalist side of the conflict was primarily based on three concepts: Traditionalism (societal stratification by classes, capitalism, domination of culture by the Catholic church, etc.), Patria (motherland), and Order. This final fundament of the fascist Nationalist cause was the primary difference between them and their opponents that allowed them to fight and win a military conflict. To form a functioning military, hierarchy, authority, obedience and subservience are fundamental. The anarchist revolutionaries on the opposing side with the support of individuality, free thinking, and state-opposition were the biggest deterrents to fighting a well organized military campaign. It is also why the dictator-authoritarian communist faction of the Popular Front were able to garner much of the power from their side, as they were much more suited for taking orders, carrying them out, and achieving military objectives. This together with the aide given by Stalin in the form of planes and munitions supplied with the objective of supporting the Soviet (Stalinist) version of Revolution. 

The story of the Nationalists and Franco is interesting but not nearly as fascinating as the Revolutionaries. Another interesting "what if...": if they had been able to defeat Franco and his form of fascism, how many years of upheaval would there have been in attempting to establish order following military victory? Would the libertarian-socialist principles of the Popular Front have been able to be converted into a successful peacetime government, and how would the hardships of coming out of a civil war have affected that? Would repression against Franquistas by the victors have been similar to what indeed was actually perpetrated by the fascists especially considering the policies of Stalin in the late 1930s. And most interestingly: what role would Spain have played in WWII?