"About The Abraham Lincoln Brigade " Topic

"During the Spanish Civil War (1936 – 1939) a call went out from the Republican forces for communists and socialists around the world to come to Spain and join the fight against fascism. The democratically elected populist government had been challenged by General Franco's Nationalist rebels.

As Franco had the support of Germany and Italy as well as some of the army units, the Republicans were soon at a disadvantage. Around 40,000 men and women from 52 countries responded and joined the fight on the Republican side. That number included a substantial number of Americans who become part of the XV International Brigade. The regiment was made up of volunteers from Britain, Ireland and South America alongside the American recruits.

Within the XV Brigade, the US fighters were organized into one of the best-known battalions of the Spanish Civil War: The Lincoln Battalion, also known as the Abraham Lincoln Brigade…."
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Amicalement
Armand

Not this again.

No. Just no. Someone PM me if the discussion ever gets to weapons, tactics or uniforms.

For some reason the Condor Legion just doesn't seem to get the same amount of coverage.

Some nice photos, and interesting about a black (officer?) leading white soldiers.

Grelber

Brief overview of the formation of the unit and the battles it took part in. Not sure why some people find this so objectionable, especially without reading the article. It is easy to label all foreign volunteers on the Republican side as "Commies", but any serious look at the motivations reveals many reasons for going to fight. Many of those who survived went on to fight against the Nazi regime both in uniform and as resistance fighters during WW2.

Stalin fought the Nazis too. Doesn't make him a great guy. But both sides were terribly flawed in the SCW. Both liked murdering their captives. For the Cold War, at least, it probably was better that Franco won.
Never understood why the communist persecuted so many members of the International Brigades. They did go out of their way to join the cause in Spain.

JPK

Glad you enjoyed it my friend!.

Amicalement
Armand

Old G- Because they weren't dominated by Stalinists, or even Communists. Lefties, yes. But a mish mash of origins.

And just as the International Brigades attracted volunteers to fight Fascism, a significant number of the Condor Legion (and later soldiers in WWII) weren't Nazis but joined to fight the Communists.

For some reason that gets them no respect.

I think the problem that the Condor Legion has is that it was raised by the Nazi regime rather than by individuals spontaneously volunteering. Whilst members were volunteers they came from military units, so are generally regarded as representing the regime rather than individual views. When it comes to looking at the legacy of the Condor Legion it also suffers from a lack of 1st hand accounts due to its small size, losses during WW2 and the reluctance of many Germans to write about their experiences because of the association with the regime. They certainly got respect from their opponents in WW2 for the tactical experience they had developed which led to changes in allied tactics.