References To The Spanish Civil War
"Spanish Bombs" praises the heroism of Republicans – who ranged from centrists to revolutionary anarchists and communists – in the Spanish Civil War, a major conflict that devastated Spain from July 17, 1936 to April 1, 1939 and ended in the victory for the Nationalists. It should also be noted that several thousand foreigners fought in this pre-World War II war, mainly the International Brigades supporting the "leftist" group, while Hitler and Mussolini gave military and financial support to the Nationalists. The Nationalists ranged from centrists to Carlists and fascists- under the leadership of Francisco Franco, who ruled Spain for the next 36 years. Many locations and people associated with the Spanish Civil War are mentioned in the song lyrics. Andalucia was one of the first regions of Spain to be overtaken by Franco's National faction in 1936. The Costa Brava in the Republican stronghold of Catalonia contained ports important to the Republican effort. Federico García Lorca, (referred to in the song as Federico Lorca), was a well-known poet from Andalucia who was killed by a firing squad during the war. The Guardia Civil (or "Civil Guard") is a military police force under the control of both the Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of Defence of Spain.
The line "They sang The Red Flag, they wore the black one" contains references to both the red flag as a symbol of socialism and the socialist anthem The Red Flag, as well as the black flag of the anarchists. The Confederación Nacional del Trabajo (CNT), the Anarcho-syndicalist labour union, also flew the red and black flag of anarchist-communism.
Read more about this topic: Spanish Bombs
Famous quotes containing the words civil war, spanish, civil and/or war:
“To the cry of “follow Mormons and prairie dogs and find good land,” Civil War veterans flocked into Nebraska, joining a vast stampede of unemployed workers, tenant farmers, and European immigrants.”
—For the State of Nebraska, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)
“Wheeler: Aren’t you the fellow the Mexicans used to call “Brachine”?
Dude: That’s nearly right. Only it’s “Borracho.”
Wheeler: I don’t think I ever seen you like this before.
Dude: You mean sober. You’re probably right. You know what “Borracho” means?
Wheeler: My Spanish ain’t too good.
Dude: It means drunk. No, if the name bothers ya’ they used to call me Dude.”
—Jules Furthman (1888–1960)
“He was high and mighty. But the kindest creature to his slaves—and the unfortunate results of his bad ways were not sold, had not to jump over ice blocks. They were kept in full view and provided for handsomely in his will. His wife and daughters in the might of their purity and innocence are supposed never to dream of what is as plain before their eyes as the sunlight, and they play their parts of unsuspecting angels to the letter.”
—Anonymous Antebellum Confederate Women. Previously quoted by Mary Boykin Chesnut in Mary Chesnut’s Civil War, edited by C. Vann Woodward (1981)
“Both parties deprecated war; but one of them would make war rather than let the nation survive; and the other would accept war rather than let it perish. And the war came.”
—Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865)