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Digital History Seminar: 20th Century Spain

Letter from Felicia Browne

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Contents of this tag:
2. Asistencia social: pro inválidos
3. Tragedy of Civil War (1937)
4. Ajut als mutilats de guerra
5. Messerschmitt BF 109B1
6. Bombardement Guernica - Cinémathèque de Bretagne
8. 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. ¡MUJER...! Tu felicidad conyugal está en tus manos.
10. Obrero! Trabaja Y Venceremos
11. Repatriation of Basque Children
12. Bolchevismo, injusticia social, politicastros, masones, separatismo, F.A.I.
13. Bombing of Ares del Maestrat
14. Que Tu Familia No Viva el Drama de la Guerra: Evacuar Madrid es Ayudar a la Victoria Final
15. 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.
22. 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.
23. Monument in Tortosa
25. Pro-conferencia nacional de la dona jove
26. Wolfram Freiherr von Richthofen
27. Repatriation Committee pt 1
28. Letter from Juan F. de Cardenas
30. Congreso nacional de la solidaridad, 1938- Ana Pauker
31. Albocàsser
32. 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.
33. Bombing of La Garriga
36. Battle of Santander
38. 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.
39. Battle of Badajoz
40. Arroyo del Abroñigal
41. 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.
43. Hugo Sperrle
45. 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.
46. Evacuación
47. Troops loading aircraft for Spain
49. C.N.T. Comité Nacional A.I.T., Oficina de Información y Propaganda
50. Pro monumento Pablo Iglesias
51. Homecoming of the Legion Condor
52. Women! Keep War From Britain: Support Spanish Democrats
54. El Generalisimo Francisco Franco Todavía esta Muerto
55. Battle of Brunete
56. Bombing of Benassai
58. One Hundred Years of Solitude
59. February 1939 - Spain - Barcelona - Associated Press of Great Britain Ltd
60. Hermann Göring
62. Spanish Republican News
63. 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.
66. Felicia Browne's Anti-Fascism poster for Italy.
67. Madrid Food Line
68. Franco (1930-1939)
71. Book Jacket created by Felicia Browne for Anatole France's "The Revolt of the Angels."
72. Madge Addy Featured in the Daily Worker
74. ¡Esto es el fascismo! miseria... destrucción... persecución... y muerte
75. January 1937 - Spain - Madrid - Associated Press of Great Britain Ltd.
76. Francisco Franco's Funeral
77. Mujeres Antifacistas Espanioles
79. Frederica Montseny speaking at CNT in 1977
80. Repatriation of Basque Children
81. Sketch of Men's faces from 1936.
82. Monument in Portbou
83. 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.
85. María Pilar Landa
87. Battle of Teruel
89. Photo of Four People in Front of Supplies or Medical Van Including Felicia Browne
91. Ruins of Belchite
93. The Habana arrives at Southampton
94. Letter from Felicia Browne
95. Heart of Humanity Camp
97. Poema 17
98. 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.
99. Bombing of Barcelona
101. Evelyn Hutchins leaning against her truck.
102. Hermann Goering
103. Federació de Cooperatives de Producció Treball de Catalunya
107. Memorial in Rues
110. 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.
111. 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.
112. Experimento Stuka- Trailer Oficial
113. Franco Statue Removal
114. Evacuad Madrid
115. The Ultraleftist / El Izquierdista
116. Hacia El Ejercito Popular
118. Vilar de Canes
120. Bombing of Jaén
122. Felicia Browne holding a child
124. Women, Work for Comrades!
125. Children's Drawing of Bombing
126. Monument in Gandesa
127. ITALIAN INVASION OF ETHIOPIA 1935
128. 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).
130. North Stoneham Camp in Eastleigh
131. Ochandiano
132. Aid for Spain
133. Speakers' notes. No. 29 : International Women's Day, March 8
137. Monument in Fatarella
138. January 1940 - England - Middlesex
139. Traces of the bombing of Durango
140. Repatriation Committee pt 2
141. Hogar Español newsletter, 1944
145. Spanish Republican News
148. Repatriation Committee pt 3
150. 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.
154. Por la conquista de Euskadi y sus riquezas, el invasor siembra el terror haciendo qur sus pacíficos habitants abandonen sus hogares.
155. Sisters of Mercy Arrive to Help Feed Hungry Residents of Madrid
156. Monument in Arenys de Mar
157. Repatriation Committee pt 4
159. Kion vi feras por eviti tion? Geesperantistoj el la tuta mondo agu energie kontrau la internacia fasismo!
160. Escaping to France
163. Children's Drawing, Spanish Civil War
164. Fascist Salute
165. 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.
167. Monument in Girona
168. North Stoneham Camp
171. The Republican Left Thank the Russian People for Help (1937)
175. Monument in Vegueria de Girona
176. Repatriation Committee pt 1
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. Political Prisors Freed After Amnesty
181. Criminales!
182. In England Still
184. Monument in Banyoles
185. 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.
186. Franco Equestrian Statue
187. Monument in Cambrils
188. Basque Children pt 1
189. Monument in Tarragona
190. Help the Children of Spain
196. Monument in Viladecans
199. Basque Children pt 2
200. 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.
201. Carteles Murales
202. Spanish Civil War - 1936 (1936)
204. La marina de guerra inglesa y francesa protegen la evacuación de la población no combatiente.

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Felicia Browne Felicia Browne was a member of the British Communist party that was in Spain for the International Peoples Olympiad when the Spanish Civil War began. Instead of evacuating with others she stayed and embarked on a mission to join a malitia to fight against fascism. These are just some of the many items she left behind that show.
The first item was a collage maybe intended to be used as a poster. It features a skull and a theater mask in front of Italy. The mask of joy falling from the empty skull representing what life under fascism is like. Fascism would try and give off a reputation that it is something giving a country joy when in reality it is a terrifying dictatorship. This shows Felicia's feeling about Fascism in places other than just her own country.
Felicia also made a book jacket as an art project about Anatole France's "The Revolt of the Angels." This work by Anatole France is about the angels becoming educated enough to want to overthrow God. It was published in 1914 it could have held great meaning for her due to her commitment to the Communist Party. She would have been able to look at a book like this and seen the ideals of her communist manifesto especially the thoughts on how religion is a sign of an oppressed people. This shows the political environment and ideals influenced and sprung her into action in Spain.
Because of Felicia's artistic background she often drew what she saw around her in Spain. This drawing would have come from the beginning of her time in Spain. In it you can see some of the people she would have seen there. It depicts the expressions and uniforms of the malitia men. Some are wearing berets or flat caps and one is wearing a helmet.
The four people in this photograph, including Felicia Browne are standing in front of a vehicle that has the words 'Ayuda Medical de los Artistas de Inglaterra a las Fuerzas Internacionales Madrid' [Medical aid from the artists of England for the International Forces] place on the side. It was most likely bought with money raised by British artists in 1936. Although the country of Britain would not intervene in the Spainish Civil War, it's citizens were not afraid to donate supplies and help in anyway they could.
This was a letter written by Felicia while she was in Spain. In this letter she has finally found a militia that would let her join and now performs guard duties. Despite the difficulty of a language barrier and shortages of uniforms she still tries to perform her duties. She also mentions three Jewish men that cycled all the way from England to join the militia. This is significant due to the fact that the fascists in Spain were strong Catholics and trying to institutionalize the religion in the government.

Felicia Browne would tragically die on her first mission in August of 1936. She was shot by fascists while trying to help a fallen comrade. She was the first British volunteer to die in the Spanish Civil war. [1]