INTERNATIONAL BRIGADES
lthough it was an internal conflict, the Spanish Civil War was a cauldron for global politics. Split down highly complex ideological lines, the war was never a straightforward clash between Franco’s right-wing Nationalists and the left-wing government of the Second Spanish Republic. The tense politics of the 1930s meant that the Nationalists received substantial military support from Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. Official foreign support for the Republic was far more subdued but the state was bolstered by the informal assistance of often inexperienced volunteers:
