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.
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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)