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Digital History Seminar: 20th Century Spain

Bombing of Durango

The Bombing of Durango took place on 31 March 1937, during the Spanish Civil War. On 31 March 1937 the Nationalists started their offensive against the Republican held province of Biscay. As part of the offensive the Aviazione Legionaria and the Legion Condor bombed Durango, a town of 10,000 inhabitants that was also a key road and railway junction behind the frontline. Around 250 people are believed to have died in the bombing.

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Contents of this tag:
2. Tragedy of Civil War (1937)
3. Asistencia social: pro inválidos
4. Ajut als mutilats de guerra
5. Bombardement Guernica - Cinémathèque de Bretagne
6. Messerschmitt BF 109B1
7. Madge Addy March 2nd, 1939 Letters In another one of her letters from March 1939 she would describe their need for certain donations from the Spanish Medical Aid Committee. In one she specifically talks about how they had received 600 men that were wounded and most needed clothing. Because of the supplies sent by the Committee they were not in such a dire need for supplies that they would have been in previously had they not received the supplies. In another section of her letter from March 2nd, 1939 she describes a surgery for a man who was suffering from hemorrhages in his stomach. The doctor had to perform a three hour long surgery due to the fact that this was one of the first times that the doctor had attempted this kind of surgery and lack of better materials. The only had three needles available for the operation. The problem occured when three quarters of the way through the surgery the spinal anesthetic wore off because it was “rotten.” The result of this was that the doctor had to finish the surgery while he was awake. Later on she mentions that she hopes he will recover and that the odd tins of milk and soups they received would help his exhaustion and shock sustained after the surgery. Addy speaks very fondly of those that she was able to help during her time in Spain. She feels better knowing that the people whose lives she impacted will never forget their English nurse.
9. Obrero! Trabaja Y Venceremos
10. Repatriation of Basque Children
11. ¡MUJER...! Tu felicidad conyugal está en tus manos.
12. Bombing of Ares del Maestrat
13. Bolchevismo, injusticia social, politicastros, masones, separatismo, F.A.I.
15. Que Tu Familia No Viva el Drama de la Guerra: Evacuar Madrid es Ayudar a la Victoria Final
16. Revista Vientos del Pozo: número extraordinario homenaje al Padre Llanos
19. Ruins of Belchite The ruins of the town of Belchite mark the location of a brutal battle in which Nationalist forces were defeated by the Republic in 1937. Franco declared the site to be memorialized, while also allowing a new Belchite to be built by Republican prisoner labor. Allowing the town to stand in ruins as a memorial where his forces had been defeated could have been a tactic to compare a Republican victory with scenes of destruction and loss.
21. Guernica The bombing of Guernica (26 April 1937) was an aerial bombing of the Basque town of Guernica during the Spanish Civil War. It was carried out, at the behest of Francisco Franco's nationalist government, by its allies, the Nazi German Luftwaffe's Condor Legion and the Fascist Italian Aviazione Legionaria, under the code name Operation Rügen. The town was being used as a communications center behind the frontline. The operation opened the way to Franco's capture of Bilbao and his victory in northern Spain.
22. Wolfram Freiherr von Richthofen
25. Monument in Tortosa
26. Repatriation Committee pt 1
27. Congreso nacional de la solidaridad, 1938- Ana Pauker
29. Pro-conferencia nacional de la dona jove
30. Letter from Juan F. de Cardenas
31. Women! Keep War From Britain: Support Spanish Democrats
32. Troops loading aircraft for Spain
33. El Generalisimo Francisco Franco Todavía esta Muerto
34. Arroyo del Abroñigal
36. Battle of Badajoz
37. Madge Addy March 14th, 1939 Page 1 On March 14th, 1939 Addy talks about how she almost had to leave due to an order from England to return. Addy describes how depressed the idea of leaving would have made her. She had worked very hard and would have felt terrible to leave at that time. She had to pack her things and gave most of what she could away to those who still needed it. Fortunately she was able to stay and explain through rare telecommunication that she would feel much better in Ucles. Her duty to the hospital and to Ucles kept her from wanting to be anywhere else. Many people were overjoyed that she could remain with them. At the end of the letter she describes how Juan, the man who had to undergo the horrible surgery mentioned previously, was doing much better.
38. One Hundred Years of Solitude
39. February 1939 - Spain - Barcelona - Associated Press of Great Britain Ltd
40. Homecoming of the Legion Condor
43. Spanish Republican News
44. Hermann Göring
45. C.N.T. Comité Nacional A.I.T., Oficina de Información y Propaganda
46. Madrid Food Line
49. Battle of Brunete
50. Bombing of Benassai
52. Episode 16- Food Scarcity and Women's Daily Lives in the Early Franco Years Audio Podcast by Historias on SoundCloud discussing the Franco Dictatorship. Immediately following the Spanish Civil War, Spain faced a terrible food crisis. Suzanne Dunai examines how the policies of the early Franco dictatorship brought on this crisis and how ordinary Spaniards, particularly women, dealt with it on a day-to-day basis. From ration cards to bartering, from canning to buying on the black market, Spanish women showed a remarkable resilience as they sought to feed their families in this time of devastating scarcity.
55. Battle of Jarama The Battle of Jarama (February 6–27, 1937) was an attempt by General Francisco Franco's Nationalists to dislodge the Republican lines along the river Jarama, just east of Madrid, during the Spanish Civil War. Elite Spanish Legionnaires and Moroccan Regulares from the Army of Africa forced back the Republican Army of the Centre, including the International Brigades, but after days of fierce fighting no breakthrough was achieved. Republican counterattacks along the captured ground likewise failed, resulting in heavy casualties to both sides.
56. Evacuación
57. Walter Warlimont Photo of Walter Warilmont. Between August and November 1936, following the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War, Warlimont served as the Reich War Minister Wehrmacht Plenipotentiary Delegate to the government of Spanish General Francisco Franco in Spain. Reich War Minister Werner von Blomberg directed Warlimont to coordinate German aid in support of Franco's battle against the Spanish government forces.
58. Albocàsser
59. Pro monumento Pablo Iglesias
60. Battle of Madrid The Siege of Madrid was a two and a half year siege of the Spanish capital city of Madrid, during the Spanish Civil War of 1936 to 1939. The city, besieged from October 1936, eventually fell to the Francoist armies on 28 March 1939. Madrid was held by various forces loyal to the Spanish Republic and was besieged and subject to aerial bombardment by the rebel faction under General Francisco Franco. The Battle of Madrid in November 1936 saw the most intense fighting in and around the city when the Nationalists made their most determined attempt to take the Republican capital.
61. Bombing of La Garriga
62. Felicia Browne's Anti-Fascism poster for Italy.
64. Hugo Sperrle
67. Battle of Santander
68. Book Jacket created by Felicia Browne for Anatole France's "The Revolt of the Angels."
70. Evacuad Madrid
71. Battle of Teruel
73. The Ultraleftist / El Izquierdista
74. Sketch of Men's faces from 1936.
75. The Habana arrives at Southampton
77. Heart of Humanity Camp
78. Ruins of Belchite
81. Children's Drawing of Bombing
82. Hacia El Ejercito Popular
83. Photo of Four People in Front of Supplies or Medical Van Including Felicia Browne
84. Vilar de Canes
87. Battle of Bilbao Bilbao was the capital of the autonomous Basque area established by the Republic after the war began. The Battle of Bilbao was part of the War in the North, during the Spanish Civil War where the Nationalist Army captured the city of Bilbao and the remaining parts of the Basque Country still held by the Republic. By 11 June 1937 the Basque forces had fallen back to the city of Bilbao, which was defended by a series of rushed fortifications called the "Bilbao's Iron Ring." The Iron Ring was poorly designed for defense.
88. ¡Esto es el fascismo! miseria... destrucción... persecución... y muerte
89. Bombing of Barcelona
91. Women, Work for Comrades!
92. January 1937 - Spain - Madrid - Associated Press of Great Britain Ltd.
93. Letter from Felicia Browne
97. Memorial in Rues
98. María Pilar Landa
99. Mujeres Antifacistas Espanioles
100. Evelyn Hutchins leaning against her truck.
101. Monument in Gandesa
102. Franco Statue Removal
105. Battle of Ebro The Battle of the Ebro (Spanish: Batalla del Ebro, Catalan: Batalla de l'Ebre) was the longest and largest battle of the Spanish Civil War. It took place between July and November 1938, with fighting mainly concentrated in two areas on the lower course of the Ebro River, the Terra Alta comarca of Catalonia, and the Auts area close to Fayón (Faió) in the lower Matarranya, Eastern Lower Aragon. These sparsely populated areas saw the largest array of armies in the war. The results of the battle were disastrous for the Second Spanish Republic, with tens of thousands of dead and wounded and little effect on the advance of the Nationalists.
106. Bombing of Durango The Bombing of Durango took place on 31 March 1937, during the Spanish Civil War. On 31 March 1937 the Nationalists started their offensive against the Republican held province of Biscay. As part of the offensive the Aviazione Legionaria and the Legion Condor bombed Durango, a town of 10,000 inhabitants that was also a key road and railway junction behind the frontline. Around 250 people are believed to have died in the bombing.
107. Experimento Stuka- Trailer Oficial
108. Francisco Franco's Funeral
110. Felicia Browne holding a child
111. Bombing of Jaén
112. Franco (1930-1939)
117. Madge Addy Featured in the Daily Worker
118. Hermann Goering
119. Frederica Montseny speaking at CNT in 1977
120. Poema 17
121. Repatriation of Basque Children
123. Monument in Portbou
124. Madge Addy March 14th, 1939 Page 2 These are the last paragraphs of Addy’s letter from March 14th, 1939. She talks again about how she hopes the people she has helped will never forget their English nurse. When thinking about her time in Spain she feels she has accomplished so much and saved many lives. She has made her doctor’s actions effective with her hard work. Even the villagers who she describes as a bad lot now respect her and talk to her sometimes.
126. Federació de Cooperatives de Producció Treball de Catalunya
129. Ochandiano
130. Monument in Terrassa This monument was erected to mark the five year anniversary since the take over of the town of Terrassa by the Nationalists. Like many others, it is in memory to those who died for that cause. However, this monument also feature two soldiers. One of them is a common soldier as would have been present in Franco's army. The other is a knight from the era in which Spain was involved in the Reconquista. The intent of the monument is to equate the two types of warrior while also equating the Spanish Civil War as a "holy" conflict against a corrupting force, as was the case among crusading knights some centuries earlier when they fought the Moors.
131. Repatriation Committee pt 3
133. Criminales!
135. In England Still
138. Repatriation Committee pt 4
139. Carteles Murales
141. La marina de guerra inglesa y francesa protegen la evacuación de la población no combatiente.
145. Monument in Banyoles
147. North Stoneham Camp
149. Spanish Civil War - 1936 (1936)
153. Monument in Arenys de Mar
155. Monument in Viladecans
156. Repatriation Committee pt 1
157. Hogar Español newsletter, 1944
158. Speakers' notes. No. 29 : International Women's Day, March 8
159. Aid for Spain
163. Monument in Girona
164. January 1940 - England - Middlesex
165. Franco Equestrian Statue
167. Basque Children pt 1
168. Help the Children of Spain
169. Political Prisors Freed After Amnesty
170. Fighting Our Battle This is a news article that was written by a Spanish author in 1938. Throughout this article it is talking about how the Spanish people had been fighting for their own freedoms for the last few years. Not only did it talk about the Spanish people fighting for their freedoms it also talked about how they were receiving no support from the allies. However, Franko's rebellion was receiving support from Germany and Italy to aid overthrow the democracy government of the Spanish people.
174. Por la conquista de Euskadi y sus riquezas, el invasor siembra el terror haciendo qur sus pacíficos habitants abandonen sus hogares.
176. Monument in Vegueria de Girona
177. Monument in Valls This monument was commissioned to pay tribute to those nationalists who had given their lives during the war. As with the monument in Cambrils, it was announced as a holiday event. Balconies were to be adorned with the national flag with black ribbons tied to them and service members were to be in uniform. Such shows of force served the double role of projecting unity among the victors and reminding Loyalists of the new status quo.
178. Spanish Republican News
179. Monument in Fatarella
180. Siege of the Alcázar The Siege of the Alcázar was a highly symbolic Nationalist victory in Toledo in the opening stages of the Spanish Civil War. The Alcázar of Toledo was held by a variety of military forces in favor of the Nationalist uprising. Militias of the parties in the Popular Front began their siege on July 21, 1936. The siege ended on September 27 with the arrival of the Army of Africa under Francisco Franco.
181. ITALIAN INVASION OF ETHIOPIA 1935
183. The Pyrenees Mountain Range in France The Pyrenees (Les Pyrénées) is one of the seven great mountain ranges of France. They mark the division between France and Spain and stretch from the Atlantic to the Mediterranean coasts in the south of France, with tiny Andorra lying in the middle of the mountains. The range is 430 km (270 miles) long with its widest point of 129 km (80 miles). The highest point is Aneto Peak at 3,404 meters (11,169 ft) in the Maladeta (‘Accursed’) central Pyrenees massif, while there are many other peaks over 3,000 meters (8,842 ft).
184. Basque Children pt 2
187. Escaping to France
188. Children's Drawing, Spanish Civil War
190. Monument in Cambrils
191. Sisters of Mercy Arrive to Help Feed Hungry Residents of Madrid
192. Monument in Tarragona
193. Traces of the bombing of Durango
195. North Stoneham Camp in Eastleigh
197. Kion vi feras por eviti tion? Geesperantistoj el la tuta mondo agu energie kontrau la internacia fasismo!
201. Fascist Salute
202. Monument at Prat de Comte This is yet another monument commemorating the losses and actions of the 4th Division of Navarra. The division had been instrumental in the fighting leading up to the Battle of the Ebro, in which they suffered heavy casualties while fighting for the Nationalist army. The amount of monuments to this unit paints them as heroes to the cause, while also ignoring the losses of those they fought against.
204. Repatriation Committee pt 2
206. The Republican Left Thank the Russian People for Help (1937)

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Lasting Impact of the Legion
In addition to the potential for gaining combat experience, various strategic initiatives were devised and first tested as part of the Luftwaffe involved in this conflict. Theories on strategic bombing were first developed by the Luftwaffe, with the first demonstration of the carpet of bombs during the Asturian campaign in September 1937. As the fighting progressed in March 1938, the Italian pilots, under the command of Feldmarchall Hugo Sperrle, were involved in thirteen of the raids on the city of Barcelona, using incendiary bombs and gas bombs. These raids led to the death of thousands of civilians.

It is now known that 38 people died in 1938 because the Nazis wanted to test whether their dive bombers would be able to transport and drop bombs weighing 500 kilos – double the normal amount, which prevented them from filling up their gas tanks completely. And so they chose four small and unarmed Spanish villages, close to their air base, to destroy.

There are numerous reason's given for the Luftwaffe's participation in this civil war, however, the main reason constituted it was ideal training for troops who will be employed later in the Second World War. This point of view is supported by the testimony of Hermann Goering, who will become Reichsmarchall of the Luftwaffe, at the trial at the Nuremberg International Military Tribunal. When asked about the decision to use the Luftwaffe, he stipulated:

" When the civil war broke out in Spain, Franco sent a call for help to Germany and asked for support, especially air. We must not forget that Franco's troops were stationed in North Africa and that he could not get his troops across, because the fleet was in the hands of the Communists or, as they called themselves, time, the "legitimate revolutionary government in Spain". The main factor was to transport his troops to Spain. The Führer thought about it. I advised him to support (Franco) in all circumstances, first, to prevent the spread of communism in this region and, secondly, by this opportunity to test my young Luftwaffe. "