#spanish civil war
On This Day in 1898 • 5 January • Federico García Lorca
On This Day in 1898 • 5 January • Federico García Lorca
5th January
ON THIS DAY
Federico García Lorca with his sister Isabel in Granada in 1914
On this day in 1898 the Spanish playwright Federico García Lorca whose works included The House of Bernarda Alba, Blood Wedding and Yerma was born just outside Granada.
In 1936 he was arrested and killed. Confirmation that the assasination was ordered by the military forces came in 2015 with an article in The…
Parallel Mothers
No matter how hard you try to silence it, human history never shuts up – Eduardo Galeano
This is the quote that ends Pedro Almodovar’s latest film ‘Parallel Mothers’ and it fits a film whose principal theme is the recovery of truth.
The plot is simple . Two mothers a pregnant at the same time in a hospital in Madrid. One discovers that the baby she is caring for is not hers and suspects it…
“If you had asked me why I had joined the militia I should have answered: ‘To fight against Fascism,’ and if you had asked me what I was fighting for, I should have answered: 'Common decency.“
“When you are taking part in events like these you are, I suppose, in a small way, making history, and you ought by rights to feel like an historical character. But you never do, because at such times the physical details always outweigh everything else. Throughout the fighting I never made the correct analysis of the situation that was so glibly made by journalists hundreds of miles away.”
I picked up HTC before I went on holiday to Barcelona and after I finished ‘A short introduction to the Spanish Civil War.’ George Orwell, despite being an icon for right wingers, was a trot who fought with the POUM during the Spanish Civil War.
In HTC, Orwell fondly recounts the men he served with, their military operations (or lack thereof) and vents his frustration at how the war progressed. Later, he recalls his anger at how the Republic’s government managed the water and, in his opinion, betrayed his comrades and the working class. Orwell is disillusioned with the war by the end of book but clearly still passionate about its ideals. This is a gritty account of the war, far from the glossy propaganda pictures that adorn the internet. This is an outsider’s perspective on the war but an interesting one.
“Our modest task…is to organise the apocalypse.”
Can you tell I read this after finishing Labyrinth? I studied the Spanish Civil War in school but, like most taught history, the nuances and interesting parts were skipped over. The education system made the events of 1930s Spain seem incredibly dull. Zafon’s ‘Shadows’ series, Hemingway and C.J Sansom’s ‘A Winter in Madrid’ taught me otherwise.
I’m going to Barcelona in August so I picked up Graham’s book to refresh my mind. This is an excellent overview of the Civil War and its aftermath. One can’t help but notice the similarities between 1930s Spain and now. The parallels are striking: a culture war, establishment anger at left wing social reforms and far right solidarity across borders. Parallels are often drawn between the Trump era and 1930s Germany. The Franco era has lessons for all of us.
If you’re looking to start learning more about the Spanish Civil War, this is the first book you should pick up.