We were in the town of Calella, Catalonia in 1972-73 and later on Madrid. The place where we stayed in Calella had a hill in the back where we played as kids and there were these brick laid tunnels with outlets on different parts of that hill. Growing up, I always wondered what and why those tunnels were there for, and when I studied military history and the various wars, I came to the conclusion that they were a military stronghold during the Spanish civil war.
Also note the simplistic description of the various Nationalist groups as fascists, and (as is usual in programmes about the Spanish civil war) no mention of the initial planner of the Nationalist revolt, Emilio Mola.
Short answer, popularity of communism among many teens, just like now. Plus a lot of lobby from the Soviet Union. It was also influenced by the fact that Soviet genocides and mass murders were carefully covered-up in Western media, such as the famous Walter Duranty case. Denying the Holodomor not only did not negatively affect his career, but actually got him a Pulitzer prize. The war crimes committed by the republican side is also typically under reported or skimmed over in most books about the Spanish Civil War. So yes, they joined because they were well processed by the propaganda and disinformation campaign.
It's complicated. Not every volunteer was a communist. The communists certainly had their own agenda and were a massive problem for the Republican Government, whether they knew it at the time or not. See "The Battle for Spain" - Antony Beever
For anyone else annoyed by half the documentary being blurred out, the original is called: "Lost graves of the International Brigade" with Norm Christie, available elsewhere on YT uncensored. The censorship only benefits advertisers. it is an insult to the men who fought and their memory.
Make his fight on the hill in the early day Constant chill deep inside Shouting gun, on they run through the endless grey On they fight, are they right, yes, by who's to say? For a hill men would kill, why? They do not know
Political world and political businesses are mobilizing on forces legitimate, tyranny, decisiveness, and bloodshed..while revolutionary dreams are searching of idealistic world where justice, freedom, advance, and equality are embodying . Two opposite worlds, Glory and bravery of Spanish warriors slaughtered by Spanish republican leaders in Madrid, republican leaders committed several internal purges and internal coups amongst themselves. Before republican forces crushed by Spanish conservatives and Fascist forces .
He mentions that the " Moors" were attacking . The Moors or Moroccans were part of the Spanish colonial army, 80,000 of whom fought against the Republic under Franco. They would have predominantly been followers of the Islamic faith, thus the reference to Allah 31 minutes into the video.
Aside from the blurring, a good documentary. Blurring the images, however, is just a tool to conceal the history from those who seek to understand it better. This censorship must STOP!
@@robertdelacruz2951 Here's a hint, just don't click on videos about WW2 and they'll go away, there's people who only watch funny car videos that never have one's about WW2 in their feed, it's called an algorithm and if you keep getting videos about something it's because you're doing it to yourself.
This is false information, my grandfather fought in this war and the Republicans were not freedom fighters but were fighting for a communist Spain. Franco knew that Stalin’s Soviet Union was barbaric and would not have any of it. Thats why the U.S. didn’t really side with either army. That’s why Germany and Italy assisted Franco. They didn’t want communism to spread to their doorstep.
Nope, not false, in the early 30's the king of Spain stepped down and the people of the country voted on what kind of government they wanted, one based on the old powers like the church, the wealthy land owners who were lords during the hundreds of years of the monarchy and the military that was needless to say the military arm of the monarchy, or a whole new kind of government where people had rights and could be a part of the decision making like which laws get passed and where everyone has a right to vote on public officials and representatives and the people of Spain overwhelmingly voted for a form of government that's called a republic, hence the name of their side in the conflict Republicans. It was put to the people and they chose what they wanted, it was the Fascists that was mainly Spain's military that attacked the new government put in place to overthrow it and install their own government, what would you say if the military didn't like the new president that was voted into office and attacked Washington to overthrow him and seize power? What would you call that? The kind of people who were in Spain's communist party weren't like the kind of communists your comparing them to, they were more like union workers, and if countries like the US and Great Britain had armed and backed the the Republicans then they never would have hadcto accept aid from the Soviet Union which ultimately was their downfall, the US and Great Britain didn't want to get involved because they thought the Republicans didn't stand a chance and that Spain's military that were Fascists and were backed by fascist Germany and Italy would quickly win the war and then the new and powerful Spanish fascist regime would be against them and strongly allied with Germany and Italy, they figured if they stayed out of it then when the dust settled Spain wouldn't be a natural enemy of them and want to back Germany and Italy in spreading fascism across Europe, and they were right about that but they were wrong about something that was more important, the Spanish military even though backed by Germany and Italy didn't quickly take over the country, the fact is even though the hastily assembled Republicans were mostly civilians without military experience they were winning in 1937, and they could have gone on winning and won had the US and Great Britain backed them, no one saw it coming and the world was astonished in 1937 to see what was basically a civilian militia defeating a professional military with hundreds of years of experience that was backed by two other countries that were militant, many historians believe that the US and Great Britain made a mistake in not backing the Republicans in 1937 when they were winning, it's thought that if the Republicans would have won and maintained control of Spain that the spread of fascism across Europe would have stopped right there and WW2 in Europe never would have happened, but by the end of 37 because the US and Great Britain hadn't backed the Republicans they were running out of everything, ammunition, arms, their tanks didn't run anymore, they were desperately low on medical supplies and even food, so they had no choice but to start accepting aid from the Soviet Union at a level that Moscow started sending military officer's down there to start taking over the Republican forces and it was their undoing, at first they didn't want to accept aid on that level from the Soviet Union because of all the conditions that came along with it, they were smart enough to understand that Moscow would want to install a Soviet style of leadership that wasn't the kind of communists that the Spanish Republicans were, they were all about the people's and the workers rights and the Soviet style of communism is about powerful leaders who maintain control in powerful positions and keep the people from having any kind of power over their own lives, they're just as bad as kings and emperors and fascists in that regard. Whether or not if the US and Great Britain would have backed the Republicans in 37 it would have prevented the spread of fascism across Europe and prevented WW2 I don't, but I do know this, they sat idly by and watched a country's military overthrow a government that was put in place by that country's people through a free election process, and I just can't get on board with that kind of foreign policy, because the government in Spain that was overthrown was one that Spain's people wanted after centuries of having no say whatsoever in their own lives and destinies.
We were in the town of Calella, Catalonia in 1972-73 and later on Madrid. The place where we stayed in Calella had a hill in the back where we played as kids and there were these brick laid tunnels with outlets on different parts of that hill. Growing up, I always wondered what and why those tunnels were there for, and when I studied military history and the various wars, I came to the conclusion that they were a military stronghold during the Spanish civil war.
Ask not for whom the bell tolls.
Is there anyway to turn off that blurry image that keeps appearing in the video periodically?
A lot of youtubers sadly have to blur out sensitive images if they want monetization. UA-cam loves putting down real information, sadly
Interesting that communist wasn’t mentioned once
Also note the simplistic description of the various Nationalist groups as fascists, and (as is usual in programmes about the Spanish civil war) no mention of the initial planner of the Nationalist revolt, Emilio Mola.
I'm trying to discover the past but it's surprisingly difficult when half the video is censored 😂
Half-blurred again? What waste! Clear out of War Stories, and try Battlefield Mysteries.
Short answer, popularity of communism among many teens, just like now. Plus a lot of lobby from the Soviet Union. It was also influenced by the fact that Soviet genocides and mass murders were carefully covered-up in Western media, such as the famous Walter Duranty case. Denying the Holodomor not only did not negatively affect his career, but actually got him a Pulitzer prize. The war crimes committed by the republican side is also typically under reported or skimmed over in most books about the Spanish Civil War. So yes, they joined because they were well processed by the propaganda and disinformation campaign.
Clearly history isn't your strong suit, cIown
You mean people like Tucker Carlson?
@@pnwesterner6220what a stupid response
It's complicated. Not every volunteer was a communist. The communists certainly had their own agenda and were a massive problem for the Republican Government, whether they knew it at the time or not. See "The Battle for Spain" - Antony Beever
I keep getting censored screens is the original available somewhere?
For anyone else annoyed by half the documentary being blurred out, the original is called: "Lost graves of the International Brigade" with Norm Christie, available elsewhere on YT uncensored. The censorship only benefits advertisers. it is an insult to the men who fought and their memory.
Make his fight on the hill in the early day
Constant chill deep inside
Shouting gun, on they run through the endless grey
On they fight, are they right, yes, by who's to say?
For a hill men would kill, why? They do not know
The foreign volunteers for the Republicans remind me a lot of progressives of today.
All just a bunch of commies
And The Irish Said.... "Vive La Quinte Brigada".
Nkvd exterminated thousands of stalins opponents, specially Trotskyist
Political world and political businesses are mobilizing on forces legitimate, tyranny, decisiveness, and bloodshed..while revolutionary dreams are searching of idealistic world where justice, freedom, advance, and equality are embodying . Two opposite worlds, Glory and bravery of Spanish warriors slaughtered by Spanish republican leaders in Madrid, republican leaders committed several internal purges and internal coups amongst themselves. Before republican forces crushed by Spanish conservatives and Fascist forces .
I could be mistaken, but didn't the veteran of the war claim that when "You are fighting for Allah you fight on". Please correct me
Yes he did, but he was speaking of the Moroccan forces he fought against.
@@brendanheffernan2671 and you know this how?
He mentions that the " Moors" were attacking . The Moors or Moroccans were part of the Spanish colonial army, 80,000 of whom fought against the Republic under Franco.
They would have predominantly been followers of the Islamic faith, thus the reference to Allah 31 minutes into the video.
Apologies, 21 minutes into the video.
@@alg11297
Because he paid attention to the video, that's how.
This even I can answer ! The intenational communism " ! Very clever Dr. Einstein!
Go back to your trailer park
UA-cam needs competition.
Biased against Franco
Aside from the blurring, a good documentary. Blurring the images, however, is just a tool to conceal the history from those who seek to understand it better. This censorship must STOP!
Frustrating to watch: half of the video was blurred, numerous commercials (way more than "normal") and NO mention of communism.
Oh, good. A NOT World War II story! 🤣
It was the "dress rehearsal" for World War II.
@@Jayjay-qe6um Do you really think I was unaware of that? My comment was that THIS was not WW2. Get a grip.
@@robertdelacruz2951
Here's a hint, just don't click on videos about WW2 and they'll go away, there's people who only watch funny car videos that never have one's about WW2 in their feed, it's called an algorithm and if you keep getting videos about something it's because you're doing it to yourself.
Franco was a deeeekhed
This is sickly biased and far from presenting the full story. I had expected better from War Stories.
What a pointless video, blurring everything is stupid
oLo gmo u r os funz i cnt spk wel dey r watchin me rit now i mst hide . rip
Shame on you for censoring history
As paying customer one should be able to be rid of commercials and censorship.
Good that the nationalist won if not the whole of Europe could have been communist,if I was born then I would have taken the nationalist side
This is false information, my grandfather fought in this war and the Republicans were not freedom fighters but were fighting for a communist Spain. Franco knew that Stalin’s Soviet Union was barbaric and would not have any of it. Thats why the U.S. didn’t really side with either army. That’s why Germany and Italy assisted Franco. They didn’t want communism to spread to their doorstep.
Nope, not false, in the early 30's the king of Spain stepped down and the people of the country voted on what kind of government they wanted, one based on the old powers like the church, the wealthy land owners who were lords during the hundreds of years of the monarchy and the military that was needless to say the military arm of the monarchy, or a whole new kind of government where people had rights and could be a part of the decision making like which laws get passed and where everyone has a right to vote on public officials and representatives and the people of Spain overwhelmingly voted for a form of government that's called a republic, hence the name of their side in the conflict Republicans.
It was put to the people and they chose what they wanted, it was the Fascists that was mainly Spain's military that attacked the new government put in place to overthrow it and install their own government, what would you say if the military didn't like the new president that was voted into office and attacked Washington to overthrow him and seize power? What would you call that?
The kind of people who were in Spain's communist party weren't like the kind of communists your comparing them to, they were more like union workers, and if countries like the US and Great Britain had armed and backed the the Republicans then they never would have hadcto accept aid from the Soviet Union which ultimately was their downfall, the US and Great Britain didn't want to get involved because they thought the Republicans didn't stand a chance and that Spain's military that were Fascists and were backed by fascist Germany and Italy would quickly win the war and then the new and powerful Spanish fascist regime would be against them and strongly allied with Germany and Italy, they figured if they stayed out of it then when the dust settled Spain wouldn't be a natural enemy of them and want to back Germany and Italy in spreading fascism across Europe, and they were right about that but they were wrong about something that was more important, the Spanish military even though backed by Germany and Italy didn't quickly take over the country, the fact is even though the hastily assembled Republicans were mostly civilians without military experience they were winning in 1937, and they could have gone on winning and won had the US and Great Britain backed them, no one saw it coming and the world was astonished in 1937 to see what was basically a civilian militia defeating a professional military with hundreds of years of experience that was backed by two other countries that were militant, many historians believe that the US and Great Britain made a mistake in not backing the Republicans in 1937 when they were winning, it's thought that if the Republicans would have won and maintained control of Spain that the spread of fascism across Europe would have stopped right there and WW2 in Europe never would have happened, but by the end of 37 because the US and Great Britain hadn't backed the Republicans they were running out of everything, ammunition, arms, their tanks didn't run anymore, they were desperately low on medical supplies and even food, so they had no choice but to start accepting aid from the Soviet Union at a level that Moscow started sending military officer's down there to start taking over the Republican forces and it was their undoing, at first they didn't want to accept aid on that level from the Soviet Union because of all the conditions that came along with it, they were smart enough to understand that Moscow would want to install a Soviet style of leadership that wasn't the kind of communists that the Spanish Republicans were, they were all about the people's and the workers rights and the Soviet style of communism is about powerful leaders who maintain control in powerful positions and keep the people from having any kind of power over their own lives, they're just as bad as kings and emperors and fascists in that regard.
Whether or not if the US and Great Britain would have backed the Republicans in 37 it would have prevented the spread of fascism across Europe and prevented WW2 I don't, but I do know this, they sat idly by and watched a country's military overthrow a government that was put in place by that country's people through a free election process, and I just can't get on board with that kind of foreign policy, because the government in Spain that was overthrown was one that Spain's people wanted after centuries of having no say whatsoever in their own lives and destinies.
@@dukecraig2402 nice cut and paste, what did you use for the information?
I love timeline but this is better watched uncensored elsewhere on youtube. Sorry timline but history should not be censored even if it costs money.