"The People's Army in the Spanish Civil War Review" Topic

"Many excellent books have been written about the Spanish Civil War. From the classics by Hemmingway and Orwell to secondary studies by Preston, Beevor et al. There have been memoirs, and biographies and organisations like the International Brigades Memorial Trust ensure we do not forget the sacrifices that so many people from around the world made in defence of democracy.

What we don't have are many military histories of the conflict. Charles Esdaile's ‘The Spanish Civil War: A Military History' is a recent contribution as is a new book by Alexander Clifford 'The People's Army in the Spanish Civil War', which focuses on the wider People's Army, not just the International Brigades…"

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Amicalement
Armand

Whose people? The Socialists? The POUM? The Anarchists? The International Communists? The Trotskyists? The Stalinists? The Carlists? The Fascists? The Nationalists? The followers of Jose Antonio? The Basques? The Andalusians? The Militant Catholics? The Catalans? Which Catalans? The "Novios de la Muerte? The Moors? The Heretics? The Democrats? The idealists? The integralists? The Royalists? The ……????

Barely skimming the review, I'd guess the socialists', republicans', and (increasingly) communists', ie The Government's people. Maybe I should actually read it though 😉

Legionarius-
Perhaps you should read the book, an find out.

If you want to know "whose people?" you could take time to read the subtitle: "A Military History of the Republic and International Brigades 1936-1939. Seems pretty straightforward to me.

(smile)

Amicalement
Armand

Having just finished Long Live Death on the Spanish Civil War guessing it's Communists, most of the international brigades were on their side.

Coming to this thread very late as I've just finished reading this book. First things first – the People's Army is an English translation of Ejercito Popular, full name Ejercito Popular Republicano. In other words, the spanish Republican army formed after the chaos of initial resistance to the Army uprising.
That early period is very much glossed over in the book, with little or no credit given to the militias. The anarchists and POUM are largely dismissed out of hand with, for example, no credit given to the Durruti Column's part in saving Madrid (not even rating a mention in the index)! Okay, it pre-dates the formation of the EPR but if Madrid had fallen then, would there have been an EPR? Similarly, the internal fighting to remove the POUM is glossed over in passing.
I also found the references to under-equipped Republican units somewhat inconsistent when reference is also made to the best – Communist – units being given access to the best equipment. Although the author clearly understands that the quality of Soviet armoured vehicles provided to the Republic far exceeds that of the Nationalist Panzer I and CVB33/35s and that advantage was squandered by tactical misuse, no criticism of those tactics is made.
Where the book excels is in detailed accounts of the three Republican campaigns of 1937/8 – Brunete, Belchite and Teruel. Very full and balanced accounts with input from both sides of the battles and I found this part a valuable addition to my books on the War. I was able to buy the book on remainder at a very reasonable price and I am glad I did so.

thanks for this review MacColla, and for clearing up the question. I'll likely skip this one but it sounds useful for those interested in Republican government forces mid to late war.

Nice input, MacColla.

Nothing's perfect, but you'd think that the POUM would get more attention, if only because it has some, *ahem* quite famous people in it…
:)