Spanish Civil War
In theory the Spanish fascist dictatorship lasted from 1936 to 1939. During this period the inhabitants of Spain were divided into two main groups, the fascists and nationalists who where also named Francistas or Falangistas sided together against the republicans or in fact anyone opposed to Franco's regime.
When the monarchy toppled in 1931 and the republicans took over Franco wasted no time in creating a makeshift army in Morocco in order to invade Andalucia. He insured that Fascism spread rapidly through out Spain with the help of his army.
The Spanish Civil War was not like most civil wars when there are 2 armies fighting each other. In this war there were no properly formed military groups. The people who fought were civilians with no formal training, in the early stages, people were fighting against their neighbours and they were even killing members of their own families.
In no time Franco had a hold on most of central Spain, the Basque region and the south. However in Catalunya it was a completely different story. Franco managed to ban Catalan in the streets and to remove every symbol of the "nation within a nation". He removed its flags and emblems. However there was one thing that Franco dared not touch. This was the Barcelona Football Club. The support for this great club was so vast that he dared not remove it. So instead he created a football club called the Espanyol this club became the symbol of fascism whilst Barcelona was the symbol for the republicans. Yet the Espanyol team never managed to have the same success as Barcelona. So this was a major source of hope for the Republicans and for the Catalans alike.
For all those who fled to Catalonia during the war Barcelona was the best way to integrate into the Catalan society. By speaking about how Barcelona had won a match the people became united and knew on whose side they were.
As the war went on and Franco and his regime gained more territory his Falngists became stronger and more skilled. The following true story shows how the Francistas managed to gain control of most of Spain by torturing and murdering civilians.
It was 1935, a year before the start of the Spanish Civil War, the setting, the small village of Gaucin found in the Andalusian mountains of Southern Spain.
The Spanish Civil War had broken out and nobody could be trusted for fear of being turned over to the Francistas. Everybody lived in fear of Franco's regime, well all those who opposed his fascist ideology. At the time the country couldn't have the laid back approach to life it now has. Those who could run fled, others simply hoped they would go unnoticed and tried to lead a 'normal' life. Many fled to Catalunya where they where safe from the fascist army. Other's fled to neighbouring countries such as Portugal, France and Gibraltar.
Now back to the quaint mountain village, there was a man called Emanuel Galvez who lived with his wife Manuela and their 6 children. The couple managed a shop, which didn't make much profit, but it put the bread on the table. Well the eldest of the 6 children was my grandmother also called Manuela she was 12 at the time. They were your usual family, no political links even though they were opposed to Franco they dared not manifest or speak of politics. However in the Falangists eyes there was one crime Emanuel had committed, he was literate.
One day the Francistas went to Gaucin. They went into the shop and completely ransacked it destroying everything the family had. Mr Galvez was beaten in front of his wife and children and then taken. Manuela was then left with 6 children and no source of income. This was the last time that Emanuel was seen by his family.
Manuela decided she had to leave and look for somewhere she could work and be safe. So she left the 5 youngest with relatives in Gaucin and took the eldest. She and Manuela jr. left Gaucin they travelled 34 miles at night on a donkey to La Linea de la Concepcion(the town on the Spanish side of the Gibraltarian border. Once there they stayed with some relatives. At the time the border was closed so in order to be allowed to cross you had to request a pass from the Spanish government, this normally took a couple of months, during which Manuela and her daughter lived in hiding. When the passes finally arrived there was only one. Manuela was determined not to leave yet another child behind, so they devised a plan. Manuela was to hide under the blanket of a paraplegic whilst crossing the border. Fortunately for them the plan was successful and they were able to pass through into Gibraltar unharmed.
Manuela and her daughter were later reunited with the other siblings after World War 2, Emanuel Galvez was neither seen nor heard of again. To this day the family do not know what happened to him. In recent years the Family have contacted the Spanish government to find out what happened to him however they received a letter saying that they have no records of him and were not able to give any further information.