Table Of ContentThe historical dictionaries present essential information on a broad range of subjects,
including American and world history, art, business, cities, countries, cultures,
customs, film, global conflicts, international relations, literature, music, philosophy,
religion, sports, and theater. Written by experts, all contain highly informative
introductory essays of the topic and detailed chronologies that, in some cases, cover
vast historical time periods but still manage to heavily feature more recent events.
Brief A–Z entries describe the main people, events, politics, social issues, institutions,
and policies that make the topic unique, and entries are cross-referenced for ease of
browsing. Extensive bibliographies are divided into several general subject areas,
providing excellent access points for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to
know more. Additionally, maps, photographs, and appendixes of supplemental
information aid high school and college students doing term papers or introductory
research projects. In short, the historical dictionaries are the perfect starting point for
anyone looking to research in these fields.
Historical Dictionaries of War, Revolution, and Civil Unrest
Jon Woronoff, Series Editor
The United States–Mexican War, by Edward H. Moseley and Paul C. Clark Jr. 1997.
World War I, by Ian V. Hogg. 1998.
The United States Marine Corps, by Harry A. Gailey. 1998.
The Wars of the French Revolution, by Steven T. Ross. 1998.
The Spanish-American War, by Brad K. Berner. 1998.
The Persian Gulf War, by Clayton R. Newell. 1998.
The United States Air Force and Its Antecedents, by Michael Robert Terry. 1999.
World War II: The War Against Japan, by Anne Sharp Wells. 1999.
British and Irish Civil Wars, by Martyn Bennett. 2000.
The Cold War, by Joseph Smith and Simon Davis. 2000.
Ancient Greek Warfare, by Iain Spence. 2002.
The Crimean War, by Guy Arnold. 2002.
The United States Army: A Historical Dictionary, by Clayton R. Newell. 2002.
The Chinese Civil War, by Edwin Pak-wah Leung. 2002.
The Crusades, by Corliss K. Slack. 2003.
Ancient Egyptian Warfare, by Robert G. Morkot. 2003.
The French Revolution, by Paul R. Hanson. 2004.
Arms Control and Disarmament, by Jeffrey A. Larsen and James M. Smith. 2005.
The Russo-Japanese War, by Rotem Kowner. 2005.
Afghan Wars, Revolutions, and Insurgencies, 2nd Edition, by Ludwig W. Adamec.
2005.
The War of 1812, by Robert Malcomson. 2006.
The Arab-Israeli Conflict, by P. R. Kumaraswamy. 2006.
Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical Warfare, by Benjamin C. Garrett and John Hart.
2007.
Civil Wars in Africa, 2nd Edition, by Guy Arnold. 2008.
The Northern Ireland Conflict, by Gordon Gillespie. 2008.
The Anglo-Boer War, by Fransjohan Pretorius. 2009.
The Zulu Wars, by John Laband. 2009.
Terrorism, 3rd Edition, by Sean K. Anderson with Stephen Sloan. 2009.
American Revolution, 2nd Edition, by Terry M. Mays. 2010.
“Dirty Wars,” 2nd Edition, by David Kohut and Olga Vilella. 2010.
Korean War, 2nd Edition, by Paul M. Edwards. 2010.
Holocaust, 2nd Edition, by Jack R. Fischel. 2010.
United States Navy, 2nd Edition, by James M. Morris and Patricia M. Kearns. 2011.
War in Vietnam, by Ronald B. Frankum Jr. 2011.
The Civil War, 2nd Edition, by Terry L. Jones. 2011.
Spanish Civil War, by Francisco J. Romero Salvadó. 2013.
Historical Dictionary of
the Spanish Civil War
Francisco J. Romero Salvadó
The Scarecrow Press, Inc.
Lanham • Toronto • Plymouth, UK
2013
Published by Scarecrow Press, Inc.
A wholly owned subsidiary of The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc.
4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 200, Lanham, Maryland 20706
http://www.scarecrowpress.com
10 Thornbury Road, Plymouth PL6 7PP, United Kingdom
Copyright © 2013 by Francisco J. Romero Salvadó
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means,
including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the publisher, except by a
reviewer who may quote passages in a review.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Romero Salvadó, Francisco J., 1960–
Historical dictionary of the Spanish Civil War / Francisco J. Romero Salvadó.
p. cm. — (Historical dictionaries of war, revolution, and civil unrest)
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 978-0-8108-5784-1 (cloth : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-0-8108-8009-2 (ebook)
1. Spain—History—Civil War, 1936–1939—Dictionaries. I. Title.
DP269.R6539 2013
946.08103—dc23
2012041176
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for
Information Sciences Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992.
Printed in the United States of America
Editor’s Foreword
There are all sorts of wars in this series, but some of the nastiest come under
the heading of civil wars, partly because they are so diffuse but also so deeply felt.
They are not simply between one country and another, which ends with the defeat of
one or the other, but rather pit some categories of people in one country against their
fellow countrymen. This can be quite simple, as with North against South in the United
States, or basically the city against the countryside, or even one religion against
another, in which a “neat” solution is possible. But no war was more complicated than
the Spanish Civil War, where—to simplify considerably—the urban, mostly working-
class population was at war with the rural, often less educated people surrounding
them, with the Catholics squared off against those who rejected the excessive role of
the Church, while many of these also called for a communistic, or indeed, anarchistic
state (or lack of any state), And in addition, certain regions were fighting for more
freedom from the central authority, in whatever form that might take. And, to further
envenom this free-for-all, opposing sides were supported by “volunteers” from other
nations with different goals. The war was exceptionally complicated, and also cruel,
as they were all Spaniards of some sort and hated nothing more than Spaniards of
another sort, while the outsiders had their own interests. In such conditions, a
negotiated peace was quite out of the question, meaning only one side could win, with
the other totally crushed.
This situation was thus incredibly complicated, even chaotic, and cruel from July
1936 to April 1939 until General Francisco Franco imposed his solution, and this
solution remained in place, and heavily enforced, until after his death many years later
in 1975 when once again questions could be raised and a new, more felicitous
arrangement worked out among the Spanish. It was also then that the different
versions of the war could be merged into an overall narrative. This Historical
Dictionary of the Spanish Civil War is just another part of that process, but we think
an important one, since it goes out of its way to avoid taking sides while presenting
the essential facts about the key persons, places, events, institutions and so on. That
is done first, and rather cogently, in the general introduction. Details can be found in
the very large and impressive dictionary section. Just following the many twists and
turns of the run-up to the war and the actual conflict is another major task, which is
accomplished competently in the chronology. And the key to the mass of acronyms,
which quickly substituted themselves for full names, can be found in the list of
acronyms. The maps help trace the varying fronts during the war. But, more in this
volume than others, the bibliography is a truly essential portion, not because so little
has been written—which was initially the problem—but because so much has been
written but of such incredibly uneven quality (some of which is clearly biased) that
some guide is indispensable.
This volume was written by a recognized specialist, Dr. Francisco J. Romero
Salvadó, who grew up and accomplished his earlier education in Spain. His field
specialization is Spain from the late 19th century to the 1930s, and in particular,
organized labor, liberal and authoritarian politics, Catalan nationalism and of course
the Spanish Civil War. On the latter, he has written numerous articles in learned
journals and chapters in edited collections. But he has also published a growing
number of books, in English and Spanish, devoted to one aspect or another of the
war or the war as a whole, most recently and among others The Spanish Civil War:
Origins, Course and Outcomes; The Foundations of the Civil War: Revolution,
Social Conflict and Reaction in Spain, 1916–1923; and (with Angel Smith) The
Agony of Spanish Liberalism: From Revolution to Dictatorship, 1913–1923. Having
initially taught at London Metropolitan University, he is now a reader in modern
Spanish history at the Department of Hispanic, Portuguese and Latin American
Studies at Bristol University. So, the material in this historical dictionary has already
been thought through and presented several times, and Dr. Romero proves an
excellent guide to one of the worst of wars.
Jon Woronoff
Series Editor
Reader’s Notes
Writing a book on such a fascinating but also complex subject as the Spanish
Civil War presents a stimulating challenge. Nearly 80 years later, the constant flood of
publications, debates and indeed polemics still surrounding the subject testify to its
enduring impact. The Spanish Civil War (July 1936–April 1939) was above all a
domestic conflict, a brutal fratricidal struggle. It represented the clash between
diametrically opposed views of Spain, a battle to settle crucial issues that had divided
Spaniards for generations: agrarian reform, the recognition of the identity of the
historical regions (Catalonia, the Basque Country) and the role of the Catholic Church
and the armed forces in a modern state. Much smaller in terms of casualties and
devastation than previous conflicts (e.g., the Russian Civil War), its “historical
significance” and long-lasting appeal were largely due to its unprecedented
international impact. Nobody could have predicted in July 1936 that a failed military
coup would transcend national barriers, arousing such passions and divisions
throughout Europe.
Spain became the last battleground in a European civil war, which had included,
among other events, the triumph and consolidation of Bolshevism in Russia, the rise
of fascism and the establishment of authoritarian dictatorships throughout central and
eastern Europe. In one form or another, all the great powers were involved in the
affair, and their responses dictated the course and outcome of the conflict. Yet it was
the appeal to common people that surrounded the war in Spain with special nostalgia
and romanticism. Seen by many as the first opportunity to defend democracy and
prevent the growth of fascism, the Spanish Civil War became the “last great cause.”
It developed into an almost epic struggle in which thousands of men and women from
around the world left the safety of their jobs and families and went to fight as
volunteers in a distant and unknown country. The horrors experienced by the Spanish
population due to the implementation of new and more brutal warfare techniques
were a forewarning to the harrowing scenes of World War II.
The last 30 years have seen an explosion of scholarship that has gradually been
correcting the historical distortions that were part of the legacy of the nearly 40 years
of dictatorship of General Francisco Franco. Indeed, the complexity of the subject is
demonstrated by the constant production of new monographic studies. Indebted to
them, this book intends to contribute to updating the study of what, certainly, is a
unique and peculiar event in modern history. However, it remains impossible to cover
the vast number of subjects related to this topic within the scope of this work. The
focus therefore has been primarily on military and political protagonists and events at
a domestic and international level. This dictionary only covers those foreign actors
who were in Spain (military, diplomats, intellectuals, volunteers). Other foreign
protagonists (including key political leaders such as Adolf Hitler, Neville Chamberlain
and Joseph Stalin, whose decision making was obviously crucial) will be analyzed
under the general entry of their countries.
In regard to style consistency, several points should be raised. With the
exception of the names Catalonia and Basque Country, Spanish and not English has
been used for the original names of parties, institutions, cities, and regions (e.g.,
Zaragoza instead of Saragossa). Also the original language has been respected for
foreign political parties, which are followed by an English translation in parentheses:
Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands (Communist Party of Germany). We should
remember that there are four main languages spoken in Spain: Castilian, Catalan,
Galician and Basque. In general, Castilian Spanish has been adopted unless the
names of some parties, cities or institutions in Catalonia originally used Catalan (e.g.,
Generalitat instead of Generalidad). In terms of the use of surnames in Spain,
Spaniards inherit both their father’s and mother’s surname. In practice, most people
sign with both names but only use their father’s (first surname) in a daily context.
However, those who have a common first surname (e.g., Martínez) either use both or
simply use the mother’s. In the dictionary, Spanish protagonists are addressed by
their father’s surname unless there are several entries with that surname (e.g.,
Fernández Cuesta and Fernández Sánchez) or a particular case in which someone
was always referred to by both surnames (e.g., Largo Caballero).
In order to facilitate the rapid and efficient location of information and to make
this book as useful a reference tool as possible, extensive cross-references have
been provided in the dictionary section. Within individual entries, terms that have their
own entries elsewhere in the dictionary are in boldface type the first time they
appear. Related terms that do not appear in the dictionary are indicated by See also.
See refers to other entries appearing in the dictionary that deal with this topic.
