"No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main; if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a manor of the friends or of thine own were; any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee."

John Donne, 1624.

"If we win here we will win everywhere. The world is a fine place and worth the fighting for and I hate very much to leave it."

Ernest Hemingway, 1940.

Prior to the Twentieth century, wars were generally fought between rival clans, tribes, or nations. These groups shared a common blood, language, or culture, and fought against others who shared an alien blood, language, or culture. The wars of ideology that mark this century represent something new: warfare between groups who define themselves in terms of their shared opinions or politics. Monarchists and republicans, liberals and conservatives, even fascists and communists are hard to tell apart except by their uniforms. Your enemy might be your neighbor, or even your brother. Wars of ideology therefore gather unto themselves all of the bitterness and ferocity of a civil war. In this sense, World War 11 was really a "European Civil War". Every country in Europe was divided, to a greater or lesser degree, into factions of the left and right. These factions fought in the streets, the factories, or in political backrooms until 1936, when the first military phase of the European Civil War broke out in Spain.

The origins of the Spanish Civil War go back to at least 1923, when Miguel Primo de Rivera, Captain-General of Barcelona, led a military coup and seized control of the government. He had the tacit support of King Alfonso XIII, but his attempt to modernize and streamline the ramshackle Spanish state alienated the old nobility, the officer corps, the intelligentsia, and the business elite. In 1930, Primo de Rivera resigned. He died in exile a few months later. His son, Jose Antonio Primo de Rivera, would remain in Spain to found the Falange, a party of fascist army officers and students. The elections held the following year brought the Republicans into power, supported by the middle class and the socialists. Alfonso XIII went into self-imposed exile. A liberal constitution was adopted, giving the Basques and the Catalonians (who had supported the Republicans) a high degree of autonomy. The new republic quickly came under fire from both left and right. The Communists and the Anarchists believed that the government had not gone far enough, while the right (Monarchists, Falangists, and the church) was angered by the loss of their privileges.

The fragile government lurched from crisis to crisis, while the country became ever more deeply divided. In the elections of 1933 the right, led by the Monarchist and Catholic parties, made large gains. In order to hold on to power, the Republicans formed a Popular Front, or coalition, with the extreme left. In the elections of 1936, the left (communists, anarchists, socialists and others) took 267 seats to the right's 132. Defeated at the ballot box, military officers began planning a coup to take control of Spanish Morocco. It was to be led by Jose Calvo Sotelo, a Monarchist. On July 13, 1936 Sotelo was assassinated. Three days later the Army of Morocco, led by General Jose Sanjuro, occupied Ceuta and Melilla. This was the signal for the full-scale army revolt which broke out the next day.

Sanjuro was killed in a plane crash on July 20, and the leadership of the revolt fell to three generals: Mola in the north, de Llano in the south, and Francisco Franco in the west. By the end of September Franco would emerge as the undisputed leader, or Caudillo. The insurgents possessed three major advantages over the loyalists: they had a unified command, they could count on the support of Germany and Italy, and they had the large and well-trained Army of Morocco. The Republicans had the support of the Soviet Union, but the other powers could offer little more than encouragement, due to their own political divisions. The situation was similar to the recent war in Bosnia. With Britain, France, and America unwilling to get involved in someone else's war, the western powers settled for a naval blockade that was supposed to prevent both sides from receiving arms or assistance. As in Bosnia, the blockade hindered the legitimate government much more than it did the insurgents.

The stage was set for a protracted conflict that would kill nearly one million Spaniards, as well as tens of thousands of foreigners. Foreigners fighting for the Nationalists included the infamous Condor Legion (maximum strength about 6,000), the Italian "Volunteer" corps (about 64,000 troops plus 6,000 pilots and ground crew), and over 5,000 Portuguese. There were also about 75,000 Moroccan troops in the Nationalist army that was transported to Spain. Fighting for the Republican side were over 45,000 troops from more than 50 countries. This included 10,000 Frenchmen, 5000 Germans, 3000 Russians, 3300 Italians, 2800 Americans, 2000 British, and 1300 Canadians. It was a world war in miniature, and a dress rehearsal for the larger conflict to come.

In this issue we have all kinds of Spanish Civil War stuff, Operation FELIX problems, air units available in 1939, plus several game reports. Thanks again to all our contributors.