Are you on crack?
Politicians of the Spanish republic were bad? Point. Franco was better? Nope. Just changed chaos for military-enforced order through fear and repression. 40 years of dictatorial repression.
Excuse me? regionalism? Catalan Parlament is the oldest in Europe, and the Bourbon troops commanded by Phillip V had to conquer Catalonia by force in 1714. Catalonia was an independent country before (hopefully, it will become independent again). Franco needed to fuel immigration from other parts of Spain to “dilute” catalan people. He knew Spain NEEDED Catalonia and Euskadi because both are the more industrial (advanced) parts of the spanish state. This still applies, and the fear they have is that, if Catalonia and Euskadi become independent, Spain will go down faster than Greece.
We agree on that. Both sides commited war crimes, though. It’s what civil wars are about, and that’s why I say that they are the cruelest wars of all.
Wrong. The nationalcatholicism perpetuated the middle age superstitions and slowed development for 40 years. I’m not saying the religion or the catholicism is bad. My mother’s family is deeply religious and I respect that, because they really believe in God and they are good people. But the official stand of the church in Spain was helping repression and indoctrination of children. I can’t support that.
[quote=“ChewDawg”]Lots of atrocities on the Republican side too. Again, that Santiago Carillo still gets a Spanish pension and is awarded honourary degrees is complete horse shit considering his crimes:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paracuellos_massacres[/quote]
Oh, I know about Paracuellos. And I’ll give you some more examples:
- My mother’s grandfather and his two oldest sons were killed by anarchists. Abducted from home, taken to a crossroads, and killed in cold blood.
- My mother’s uncle fled the civil war, was captured in France and deported back to Spain. He had to endure an internment camp and he was scarred for life after being set free.
- My father’s uncle fled (when he was 16 years old) from Barcelona when Franco’s insurgent troops were near. He went to France, and was captured later by the nazis. He was sent to Mathausen and labelled “Rot Spanien” (Spanish Red). He had never been part of any communist activity, but they assumed that if he had fled, he was “one of them”. After Mathausen was liberated by the US troops, he returned to Paris. He couldn’t come to Spain to visit his family for 40 years, or Franco’s regime would have put him in prison.
- My father’s grandfather was a local policeman in Barcelona. He had been born in Valladolid, though. When Franco captured Barcelona, he went to work as usual, because the insurgent troops had told everyone that there would be no actions against law officers. When he arrived at the police station, military police captured him and throw him into prison for being a “collaborationist”. All he had done was his job as a LOCAL police officer (and he wasn’t even on the streets, he was a social worker in the police station).
My point is, during the war, both sides did things very wrong. It was a war, and it’s assumed to happen, as it happens in ALL wars. What came after the war was a real shame, and those were the worst years in the history of Spain. Franco didn’t enter the WWII because he KNEW that he couldn’t give anything to the Axis war effort. And if he joined, the allied troops wouldn’t have stopped at the Pyrinees. I wish he had entered WWII, and that the Allied troops had made all their way up to Gibraltar.
About unbiased books, I find very interesting the books that Paul Preston has written about the spanish conflict and post-war era.[/quote]
Great post!
Sorry about your familia, but as you yourself posit.
War is Ugly.
It affects all, bloodthirst especially.
Again it is leadership that paves the way.
A leader with weapon drawn maintaining that this is NOT how things happen in our unit. This involves force in and of itself upon victorious troopers, and it is a hard thing to manage.
How exactly does one tell one’s privates that they can’t get some?
Personally, I thank the Commonwealth.
Aussies & Kiwis & Afrikaans, on my line, I would deploy. Might be a yank or two, but they are really not one us, now are they?
It is actually surprising how far a North American voice will travel.
Hats off to the Norwegians and the Danes.
They were the best units I ever saw.
Mac-Paps? Less so.
It is what the professor wants to hear but it’s horse shit.