Why Did the Nationalists Win the Spanish Civil War?
Achilleas Sarantaris 2/10/11
| Republicans | Nationalists | Political Strengths/weaknesses | *Caballero’s rule weakened because Republicans were politically divided due to different ideologies; communists vs. socialists who believed revolution should be postponed, anarchists who believed war could only be won through revolutionary policies. *Terror tactics to control increasing population led to resistance*’May Days” street fighting: communists and socialists vs. anarchists enhanced disunity | *main strength was their unity. Franco would assume political and military command because Nationalists wanted unified command. Falange Espaniola Tradicionalista, Franco’s new merged party, had 1,070,000 members.*Supported from the church which opposed the left*Franco gained power and authority from his victories in the battlefield | Military strengths/weaknesses | *Lacked strong military leadership, no unified command; anarchists and Basques refused to be led by a central command structure. Loyal army officers were not trusted by the Republic.*Dependent on hazardous ineffective militia units, different fronts operated separately | *Even though initial disunity, Africanistas contained the best troops in the country thus they could cover other forces.*Key to success was unified command. Franco’s leadership was accepted by other right-wing parties, including Italians.*Sound communicators, military equipment and large amount of junior officers together with Franco’s ability as a military leader were decisive factors. | Economic advantages/disadvantages | *Under anarchist control utilities worked by workers’ committees, collective farms set up. However they could not supply the needs of the republic to fight the war. *Production in Catalan fell by 2/3 between 1936 and 1939.*Due to Non-Intervention Committee trade only with USSR, which led to the entire gold reserves of Spain being used
| Republicans | Nationalists | Political Strengths/weaknesses | *Caballero’s rule weakened because Republicans were politically divided due to different ideologies; communists vs. socialists who believed revolution should be postponed, anarchists who believed war could only be won through revolutionary policies. *Terror tactics to control increasing population led to resistance*’May Days” street fighting: communists and socialists vs. anarchists enhanced disunity | *main strength was their unity. Franco would assume political and military command because Nationalists wanted unified command. Falange Espaniola Tradicionalista, Franco’s new merged party, had 1,070,000 members.*Supported from the church which opposed the left*Franco gained power and authority from his victories in the battlefield | Military strengths/weaknesses | *Lacked strong military leadership, no unified command; anarchists and Basques refused to be led by a central command structure. Loyal army officers were not trusted by the Republic.*Dependent on hazardous ineffective militia units, different fronts operated separately | *Even though initial disunity, Africanistas contained the best troops in the country thus they could cover other forces.*Key to success was unified command. Franco’s leadership was accepted by other right-wing parties, including Italians.*Sound communicators, military equipment and large amount of junior officers together with Franco’s ability as a military leader were decisive factors. | Economic advantages/disadvantages | *Under anarchist control utilities worked by workers’ committees, collective farms set up. However they could not supply the needs of the republic to fight the war. *Production in Catalan fell by 2/3 between 1936 and 1939.*Due to Non-Intervention Committee trade only with USSR, which led to the entire gold reserves of Spain being used