From Republicanism to Authoritarianism: Re-Viewing the Spanish Civil War

The Spanish Civil War, one of the seminal events in the 20th century that inspired deep emotions on all sides, has remained until recently a largely forgotten moment in history. Bracketed between the First World War and the atrocities arising from fascism in Germany, its history was repressed within Spain by the success and longevity of Franco’s authoritarian state and insufficiently examined by academics elsewhere. In this course, we will take a close and deep look at this crucial event in world history. We will examine what led to the sweeping changes in Spain, focusing especially on the agrarian question and the peasantry; examine the flourishing of pluralism in the early years of the republic, the class and political contradictions and gendered and religious difference(s) that emerged; and analyze the processes and factors—local and international—that ultimately led to the supremacy of the forces of order and the rise of authoritarianism in Spain. Relying on analytical materials, literary texts, art, films, oral histories, and memoirs, we will attempt to understand how and why this period in Spain’s history was so inspiring for so many individual actors from other parts of Europe and even the United States and the role of grassroots activism of which many became a part. This study will also enable us to address issues of representation (both material and ideational). We will assess the role of (other) Western state powers in the affairs of Spain in an effort to think through the extent to which their actions contributed to the ultimate defeat of the republic. In conclusion, we will address the relevance of the Spanish Civil War to what followed in Europe, as well as its contemporary significance to our understanding of social and political movements, class struggles, and the nature of the state.