Spanish Civil War

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Having fun of visiting Spain during the Franco era, I can add few things to this discussion. The Republic was not synonymous with communists or anarchists. They were just part of it. It was doing much better than system that preceded it and was fairly democratic. One cannot judge Spanish Republic by the chaos that ensued after Franco started fighting it. When I visited Spain in seventies it was very backward and continuing to fit the stereotype of "Africa's bridgehead" in Europe. The development of Spain after the death of Franco is staggering. I still have pesetas with "Franco Caudillo de España por Gracia de Dios". He was a mass murderer and dictator and excesses committed by Republicans do not absolve him. His political skills came into play in orchestrating his own succession in Spain. He understood that the Socialist Party was the best one to insure the stability  of Spain and stopped persecuting Socialists during his last years. This is why Socialist gained power after his death. He cleverly eliminated right wing fanatics by packaging them as Division Azul and shipping them to Eastern Front. 
The fact that Eastern Europe had a problem with communism and West with fascism is nicely replicated in this discussion. However communism cannot be used to whitewash fascism and vice versa.

Edited by cavalry4ever - 27-Jul-2011 at 14:47