Photos Spanish Civil War, (1936–39)

[BravoZulu]

General Moscardó showing Heinrich Himmler the ruins of the Alcázar

The Etkar André battalion of the International Brigades (Republican)

Polish volunteers in the International Brigades (Republican)

Review of Soviet armoured fighting vehicles used to equip the Republican Populist Army during the Spanish Civil War

Surrender of Republican soldiers in the Somosierra area, 1936

Women pleading with Nationalists for the lives of prisoners, Constantina, 1936

 

[BravoZulu]

On the last "American artillery position" pic above, notice the ramps placed behind the wheels. The old cannons had no recoil mechanism, so the ramps were used to absorb recoil energy and return the gun to firing position. I've no experience with artillery but I'd think the gun should have been re-laid after each shot... and most likely was not.

100% correct there @NebrHogger

 

[BravoZulu]

One of the mass graves discovered in an excavation from July–August of 2014 at Estépar (Burgos). Dating from the start of the Spanish Civil War, the grave contains twenty-six republicans who were killed by nationalists in August-September 1936.

Spanish Civil War graves. Geographic location of the graves or burial places in Spanish territory on which information is available, represented with different coloured symbols based on the level of research performed. Green: No Interventions Undertaken White: Missing grave. Yellow: Transferred to the Valle de los Caídos. Red: Fully or Partially Exhumed. Blue star: Valle de los Caídos.

Nationalist SM.81 aircraft bomb Madrid in late November 1936.

Children take refuge in a sewer during the Francoist bombing over Madrid, 1937.

A photograph which purports to show Republican militiamen shooting at the statue of the Sacred Heart of Jesus at Cerro de los Ángeles near Madrid, Spain during the Spanish Civil War.

The Puente Nuevo bridge, Ronda. Both Nationalists and Republicans are claimed to have thrown prisoners from the bridge to their deaths in the canyon.

Memorial plaque in Pamplona with the list of teachers murdered and cracked down on in the rearguard of Navarre by the Spanish Nationalists, 1936

 

[BravoZulu]

A unit of the Bulgarian International Brigade, 1937

Members of the Tom Mooney machine gun company, part of the Lincoln Battalion, in Jarama in 1937

Lt. Col. Ovidio Botella, head of the Republican Army of the Ebro Engineering Corps, poses along with two aides next to a bridge over the Ebro River destroyed by Nationalist bombings, in Mora de Ebro (Tarragona), Sept. 1938

Republican troops preparing to advance toward the line of fire during the Battle of the Ebro, Gandesa, Spain, Aug. 18, 1938.

View of the Ebro Valley, controlled by the Nationalist Army during the Spanish Civil War's Battle of the Ebro, near Gandesa, Spain, fall (undated) of 1938

Col. Juan "Modesto" Guilloto (R), head of the Republican Army's V Division, with communist political commissar Santiago Álvarez (L), during the Battle of the Ebro, Spain, Aug. 1938.

Nationalist troops advance toward the front during the Battle of the Ebro, Gandesa, Spain, Aug. 1938

 

[BravoZulu]

Italian troops take part in a Nationalist victory parade in Madrid on May 19, 1939. Military aide from Italian dictator Benito Mussolini helped Gen. Francisco Franco win the Spanish Civil War.

The International Brigades: Members of the International Brigades hang an effigy of Franco at Valdeganga, Christmas 1937.

Foreign correspondents, artists, musicians and writers got involved in the fight against fascism during the Spanish Civil War. Ernest Hemingway, in the trench, just right of centre, was among them.

 

[BravoZulu]

"REBELS TRAPPED AS GOVERNMENT MILITIA CLOSE IN ON RUINED HEADQUARTERS. -- Many famous buildings, some of the finest examples of architecture in Spain, have been reduced to masses of smoking ruins in the civil war now raging throughout the country. Seized at the outbreak of the revolution by the insurgents, the buildings have been mercilessly bombarded by Government forces. The famous Alcazar in Toledo, where the rebels held out for days against the Government, was razed to the ground. Photo shows Government militia closing in on rebels barricaded in the ruins of the Alcazar in Toledo

The photograph corresponds to a shooting carried out by national troops against two Republican fighters, in an area near the Oscense town of Almudévar, very close to Huesca, called Los Pintanos.

Spanish Foreign Legion (Nationalist) with Red Cross nurse in Irun, 1936

Spain 1938. National Zone - Madrid - Spanish Foreign Legionaries attack an enemy position in the front of Madrid

 

[BravoZulu]

Republican Militiawomen Guarding a Barricade Across a Street

El Requeté was a Carlist paramilitary organization that participated in the Spanish Civil War, fought for the pro-Franco side to defend the Catholic religion and combat the Marxist threat.

Republican militia women during the Spanish Civil War

 

[BravoZulu]

Republican Soldiers. Aragon Front, Spain, August-September 1936

Execution of Republicans during the Spanish Civil War.

Journalist Raymond Walker hastily flees to France by the border bridge with a child who escaped the Spanish Civil War. [1936].

Italian aircraft bombarding Barcelona

 

[NebrHogger]

Great topic! Keep 'em coming!!

 

[HisRoyalHighness]

Thank you for making this topic.

I've been reading "Spain in our Hearts: Americans in the Spanish Civil War, 1936-1939" and it's interesting, especially how the Soviet Union at the start sent the Republicans all manner of arms that have been rotting away in armories in exchange for the gold reserves.

Like for example in 1936: the Soviets sent Fusil modèle 1866 rifles by the tens of thousands, a rifle whose caliber has not been in production for over 40 years by the time the war kicked off. At the least the Winchester Rifles (even the Model 1866) they sent were still useful with ammunition still being made.

You got any photos of the Soviet 'volunteers' and the NKVD?

 

[BravoZulu]

Great topic! Keep 'em coming!!

Thank you for making this topic.

I've been reading "Spain in our Hearts: Americans in the Spanish Civil War, 1936-1939" and it's interesting, especially how the Soviet Union at the start sent the Republicans all manner of arms that have been rotting away in armories in exchange for the gold reserves.

Like for example in 1936: the Soviets sent Fusil modèle 1866 rifles by the tens of thousands, a rifle whose caliber has not been in production for over 40 years by the time the war kicked off. At the least the Winchester Rifles (even the Model 1866) they sent were still useful with ammunition still being made.

You got any photos of the Soviet 'volunteers' and the NKVD?

Your wish is my command lads

 

[BravoZulu]

Soviet volunteers for the Republican Forces

So

Soviet poster showing, Russian volunteer pilots for the Republican air force, during the Spanish Civil War

Soviet pilots on the Soto airfield near Madrid.

Russian volunteers who joined the Nationalist cause were given a rapturous welcome. Franco needed a command staff, and the hugely experienced White officers fit the bill perfectly.
Of the 72 Russian émigrés who took part in the Spanish Civil War on the side of the Francoists, 34 were killed. At the victory parade in Valencia on May 3, 1939, Russian volunteers marched in a separate column under the flag of the Russian Empire.

General Major Nikolai Shinkarenko Brusilov, who fought with both the Carlist Requetés and the Spanish Foreign Legion, and was wounded 6 times during the civil war.

From left to right – Vyacheslav Gurko, Vladimir Boyarunac, Mikhail Salnikov, Anton Yaremchuk, the dog “Zahar.” White Russian Volunteers of the Tercio María de Molina Requetés.

Lieutenant Constantino Goguidjonahvili, a Georgian in the Tercio Navarra Requetés, who lost his right eye fighting in Asturias

 

[Dercius]

Holding the flag of the Second Spanish Republic, Madrid.

This photo doesnt belong to the civil war. But nonetheless, has a very interesting story.
This photo is from the 14th of April 1931, the day Spanish Second Republic was proclaimed.
The man holding the flag was a military officer, Lt Pedro Mohino, who is kind of the iconic image of the triumph of the Republic over the Monarchy in Spain.
This very same officer, an Engineers Captain by 1936 was executed by firing squad on 25 August 1936, by the very same Republic, of which he became the first flag bearer.
Kind of reminder of what crazyness comes over a nation when it descends the path of Civil War.
For more info (sorry only in spanish)

Don Pedro Mohíno Díaz (1904 - 1936)

 

[BravoZulu]

Troops at rest for a meal in front of a Polikarpov I-16 'Rata' aircraft at the Els Monjos Aerodrome in the Province of Barcelona in 1938

 

[Dercius]

I

This photo doesn't belong to the Spanish Civil War. This is from the "Revolucion de Octubre de 1934", which was a Leftist Coup Against the Spanish Republic, supported by Socialist and Communists which lost the elections of 1933, joined by Catalan Local Gov.

Revolution of 1934 - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Spanish Civil war history is a very complex issue. "History" has been "built" and while one side has been whitewashed and portrayed as a democracy assaulted by fascism, the other has been vilified as another Nazi state due to being close to the axis during WW2.
The issue is far more complicated, the republic became a Socialist/Communist state, which with the past of the months became a Stalinist one. The Nationalists were a coalition of reactionary forces, conservatives/Ancient Regime Radicals(Carlists)/Monarchists and Military.

Most Historians who know a damn about the war, come to the conclusion that the only reason why the Nationalist became victorious was because the Triumph of the communist side during the Russian Civil War. Lots of people in government positions in London and US regretted not supporting the Whites during that war, and decided that this time they would. Curiously at the beginning of the war, before the "Nationalists" became the official name for the Rebellious forces, they were referred in the press as the "Whites".
Also, little is known that Nationalist side received strong support from both US and UK, apart from the very well known they received from Italy and Germany.
Some food for thought for anyone interested into such a complicated issue. If any you decide to study this war further is better to look for several sources, as some are very biased towards one side or the other. Due to this "History Building Battle" its very complicated to get a precise picture of that period. Normally you have to read all the information available on any incident as it is usually portrayed in one extreme and the opposite,(even if it doesn't make any sense due to things that only locals would know). At times it comes to the ridiculous reports of documented executions on the rearguard in 1936, attributed to a side that never hold that ground or which didn't reach the place until 3 years later.

Sorry for the OT

Great thread you have going by the way.
I will keep commenting on the photos, if I can share some info on them, or correct inaccuracies.
Keep em coming Bravo Zulu

 

[BravoZulu]

^^ Excellent stuff @Dercius , it's why I love this place. I'm very happy to have better information and constructive criticism is always welcomed. Even though the image is not from the 1936-1939 conflict I would like to keep it here as it serves as a "forerunner" event, unless you think it should go elsewhere?

 

[TIGREDELAIRE]

It´s Antonio Banderas here?

 

[Dercius]

^^ Excellent stuff @Dercius , it's why I love this place. I'm very happy to have better information and constructive criticism is always welcomed. Even though the image is not from the 1936-1939 conflict I would like to keep it here as it serves as a "forerunner" event, unless you think it should go elsewhere?

Its great to keep the photos here BravoZulu. It helps to show people how complicated is to get accurrate information regarding this period of Spanish History. How muddied the Waters really are. Lots of people from both extremes left and right tried to build a story of good vs evil, and to help their cause internationally used images because of the impact they caused, it mattered nothing for propagandists if the images were not from the war itself, or the crimes shown were commited by their own side. The arrival of the internet era only made matters worse for anyone who loves History.

Both my grandparents fought on the war. My grandfather (on my moms side) was Leftist/Socialist and fought the whole campaign 1936-1939 (including Battles round Madrid in 1936 and Ebro in 1938) on the National side ?. Thats why I always get pissed off when people go narrowminded saying this side this... that side that… looking at the issue in a simplistic way. There were good & bad people on both sides, and people trapped on one side of the front while their heart and ideals were on the other side.
Civil wars are a tragedy, brother against brother and a house torn apart.

I will keep commenting on the photos and share any info I might have on the subject.
Keep em coming guys, Great thread

 

[Dercius]

Republican Propaganda Poster
"Rise up against the Italian Invasión of Spain"

 

[Dercius]

""Enough with "Trials" and "Projects"!!
First, To win the War.""
(Republican Propaganda poster, regarding the total disorganization and house of cards the Republican side was)
Its surprising that your own propaganda ministry issues such a "motivational" poster. But things were absolutely out of control at most places most of the time, and its imposible to win a war that way.

"The Italian Invader´s Claw that wants to enslave us all"
(Republican Propaganda poster)