Other Forces

Spain, 1937 - unwelcome visitors.

Spanish Nationalist troops enter Bilbao, June, 1937. The capture of Bilbao was the culmination of a meticulous 3-month campaign against Republican forces in the Basque Country. The result was the obliteration of independent Basque identy for decades. The Spanish Civil War was, in some respects, a useful rehearsal for the Germans and Italians for the greater war to come. However, the scope of this was limited, because General Franco and his colleagues (colonial veterans to a man) were reflexive believers in the need to grind down, occupy and suppress enemy territory. They were not particularly interested in Blitzkrieg-style thrusts at enemy nerve-centres, and the like. Since the Spanish Nationalists controlled the activities of their German and Italian (and other) allies in the war, and since their leaders were interested in the suppression of all opposing elements in any territory of operation, lessons learned by the Germans and Italains for the future general war tended to be limited to the local, low-level tactical level. Best regards, JR.