Germany, Italy Were All For Spanish Civil War

In July 1936, a civil war began in Spain when a group who called themselves the Nationalists, led by General Francisco Franco, used force to overturn the left-wing government of the Spanish republic. Like Hitler, Franco admired Italy’s Benito Mussolini, and the dictatorship Franco sought to create in Spain was modeled in part on Mussolini’s fascist dictatorship. Only a few nations took sides in the conflict: the Soviet Union’s Communist government backed the Republicans, while Italy and Germany supported Franco’s Nationalists. Although most nations did not take sides, some of their citizens did. Nearly 3,000 Americans, known collectively as the Abraham Lincoln Brigade, joined about 40,000 volunteers from 52 countries to serve in international fighting units that supported democracy.