Foreign Intervention - Soviet Union

“Madrid will be the grave of Fascism.”

Comintern (Communist Int’l) had control over the Communist Party in Spain. The Spanish Communist Party had 38,000 members in spring, 1936; increased to 200,000 at the end of 1936. Subsequently, the membership grew up to 300,000 by March 1937.

The Non-Intervention Committee was set up by Britain and France to impose an embargo on weapon sales to Spain. The Non-Intervention Agreement was the attempt to limit the war to a national level, to Britain and France’s fear that it would metamorphose into an international level, and that is: a general European Conflict. However, it turned out that the strategy was a pretense, as Hitler and Mussolini were flagrantly shipping arms into Spain. The non-intervention had a profound relation with the Soviet Union, with which consequents was closely related to Soviet’s aid of Spain.

The motive behind Stalin’s aid to Spain was to haul the progress of the war and to weaken Italy and Germany so the USSR would gain military advantage when a possible war between USSR and the two nations occurs. The USSR was in support of Franco’s army and it was built on the notion that a defeat of Republicans would provoke an anti-Communist feeling in Europe. Juan Negrin, a Communist sympathizer was chosen to replace prime minister Largo Caballero after Caballero objected to Communists’ attempts to take over PSOE. With this, Communists gained potential power and attracted considerable middle-class support, which opposed revolutionary surplus of the Anarchists.

The Communist takeover of Spain largely contributed to the collapse of the Republican government. The Communist party required total loyalty to the party and accordance to authorities in Moscow. In fact, such party accordance and advantage was what the Republicans lacked. Due to deprivations caused by war, the Republicans lost the momentum and will to continue on.