Conspiracy and the Spanish Civil War

Please.....:
To say that an existing communist threat in Europe during Franco's era (the 30s & 40s) was a created myth, is just shameless trash. Umm... lets see, by the 1950s half of Europe was communist. If there is brain washing it is in this book. It is very well know that there was a Russian presence in Spain, and that Spanish children in the middle of the chaos were being taken by the Russians for forced labor, etc. Franco was a military man before anything else, and although communists were hiding under people with some fair ideals and another name (as usual) Franco like many more Spaniards was not naïve or myopic and saw the eminent threat of what was happening in Spain and took action before Spain followed the desteny of many others in becoming another Russian satellite nation. Of course many "intellectuals" who live in their naïve closed world and still think that communism is acceptable and fair will attack Franco, because of what they just read in the theorycal Communist Manifesto, inferiority complexes, just fools, or what ever. Yet for the rest of us with some common sense, it is obvious that not only was communism a real threat, but it has proven to be one of the most oppressive, useless, corrupt, and destructive systems many countries have seen in modern history. Pol Pot of Cambodia (killed 2 million of his people), Kim Yang Il of North Korea (just compare the north to the south, it says it all), Stalin in Russia (needless to say), Castro in Cuba (destroyed the country in Latin America with the highest middle class per capita and one of the best economies in America, to say the least) Ceusescu of Romania who (forced women to have x amount of children, etc) In conclusion, any system that wants to control the minimum of aspects in peoples lives, does not allow its citizen to own personal property, move freely, have economic independence, propose change, or the right to decide their own destiny, and are put to work for pennies, this system (communism) is just synonym of slavery, and all communist leaders know this from day one, aside from the destruction they leave behind. Was Franco a dictator? Yes, but he was not a self centered egomaniac, he made public his military presence was a transitional one, he was not there to impose a "system" or a "monarchy" for his family to continue, he was there for Spain, took Spain out of its poverty and created the economic foundations for Spain to continue its democratic course after his departure, and that has to be admired and respected. This book tries to distort the reality of the situation to discredit this man, who given the circumstances of its moment was a great leader.

Superb study of anti-democratic, anti-communist politics:
Herbert Southworth (1908-1999) was an outstanding historian of the Spanish Civil War. His many superb books include Le mythe de la croisade de Franco (1964), and Guernica! Guernica! A Study of Journalism, Diplomacy, Propaganda and History (1977). This new book is a triumphant affirmation of his career as a historian and opponent of fascism. Based on years of careful research, and written with lucidity, wit and humour, this book is both an excellent introduction to the vast literature on the war, and a significant contribution to that literature. Southworth tells us exactly how Spanish fascists concocted the story of a `communist plot' to try to justify their July 1936 military uprising against the democratically elected government. He shows how Spain's fascists accused their enemies of the anti-democratic conspiracy that they were brewing themselves - a technique that fascists have used from Berlin in 1933 to Indonesia in 1965. Fascist propagandists throughout Europe, particularly in Britain, publicised the story of the `plot'. Too many subsequent historians have followed these propagandists and repeated their fascist fabrications. Southworth refutes in detail both the crude, open pro-Franco propagandists like Brian Crozier and the more sly anti-working class biases of Hugh Thomas. The second part of the book deals with the writings that most influenced General Franco himself. It tells the story of Franco's associations with the Entente Internationale contre la Troisieme International, which consisted of a White Russian and a Swiss lawyer. This anti-democratic, anti-communist propaganda unit purveyed the usual dreary litany of diatribes against Jews and Freemasons; it naturally backed Hitler, Mussolini and Franco from first to last, and it passed on and embellished every lie and slander about trade unions, the labour movement, socialists and communists. Southworth proves that this tenth-rate dishonest tripe had a profound influence on General Franco.