LONGER Spanish Civil War

Sorry, if this is total ASB (feel free to let me know ;))
I only know the very basics of the Spanish Civil War (what you learn in a high school history class)--It was a conflict between the Nationalists (Fascism) and the Republicans (Communism) over who controls the nation; Germany and Italy aided the Nationalists and USSR the Republicans; This set the stage for Nazi/Fascist aggression.
So, my question/scenario is: WI the OTL Spanish Civil War became a more drawn-out heated engagement that led to a world war between the fascists and communists?
Is this possible? If so, how?
Would the "Allies" eventually intervene? If so, on which side?
 
Small fix: Republicans weren't only Communists. There was several republican factions. Most of them were leftists, but not Commies. But I don't know how the war could be longer. Probably with better and more unified Republican leadership.
 
There are several options.

You could have General Mola not die in a plane crash and his lesser political ability meaning there are lots of faction infighting among the nationalists as well, and between him and Franco. That will certainly slow down the nationalist offensives.

You could have the non-intervention committee recognise that Germany and Italy are aiding the nationalists and allow the republic to purchase arms on the open market as a response. The republic controlled most of the navy and the entire gold reserve. OTL, the gold was sent to the Soviets, who took it all as payment for their deliveries (it was almost 580 million dollars in gold). More and more modern arms for the republic could aid them a lot.
 
If you avoid the factionalism of the Republic side and has France and Britain throwing out their appeasement policies, the way may last longer

If you avoid Casado's coup it may last for a few months.
 
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If you avoid the factionalism of the Republic side and has France and Britain throwing out their appeasement policies, the way may last long.

If you avoid Casado's coup it may last for a few months.

Well, if they survive until September 1939, then the French and British can actually start supporting in the framework of what's basically WWII.
 
Small fix: Republicans weren't only Communists. There was several republican factions. Most of them were leftists, but not Commies

Firstly, equal small fix in that the nationalists were by no means all fascists either. Both sides were a complicated mixture of political/social/regional/religious/ethnic and other ideologies and identities.

Really, though, I think the OP's question needs tweaking - you don't need a longer SCW to get foreign involvement (which is what they are aiming for here). OTL the war went on for two and a half years without spiraling out into a global conflict. Whilst a Spanish Civil War still going on in September 1939 might see foreign involvement it might equally not ("let them get on with it") and might even delay or alter the starting of WWII in Europe. Plus the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact will make this complicated in 1939.

The main question, then, is how to get the powers of Europe involved beyond fighting a proxy war as OTL.

Britain would be the hardest - not only was the Government committed to non-intervention, there was very little popular appetite for war in 1936-1938 more generally. The Labour opposition is still largely pacifist in nature at this time. Moreover, whilst the mood in the general public might have been slightly inclined towards the Republicans, the Governments and powers-that-be were more supportive of the Nationalists, leading to a bit of an impasse.

France might be easier to involve - they were already quite upset about Italian and German involvement in the conflict. The problem was that the French looked to Britain for guidance.

Germany, Italy, and the Soviet Union - were all content with fighting this as a proxy war, so you would need to have a POD that would encourage them to take action.

Potential PODs:

There are quite a few though:

* Have Franco-Soviet relations markedly improve in the 1920s and 1930s, maybe at the expense of Germany. Have collaboration between the Nazis and the Soviets over trade in the 1930s fall through meaning that the Soviets see Hitler as more of a threat and France as more of an ally. This means that France could feel more confident about intervening.

* Have the French Popular Front be more stable and decisive. OTL they were worried about the potential of revolt on the extreme right in their own country, meaning that Blum could not through open the border with Republican Spain to arms trade as he wanted.

*Have Mussolini move against Albania or Yugoslavia earlier. Maybe 1936-7 after feeling confident post-Abyssinia. Internationally UK and France won't intervene beyond trying to force a compromise, but they will see Italy as much more of a threat to be countered. It might also see Mussolini be even more committed to piling troops and weapons into the SCW than he already was OTL.

*My personal favourite (I've thought about this for a timeline) - have Labour elected in 1935. Hard to do, although they did surge in the polls, but with a Labour Government softly supportive of the Republicans in place in 1936 the tensions are going to be much more present. OTL elements of the Royal Navy played a bloody dangerous political game in offering support to the Nationalists - sending them information, lying to British merchant ships trying to reach republican ports, allowing Franco to use Gibraltar as a signal base, and even using HMS Queen Elizabeth to physically block the Republicans from shelling a port that had fallen into Nationalist hands. OTL the Conservative Government was happy to let the matter lie, but with more support on the left for the Republicans (combined with a general suspicion of the armed forces in general) a Labour Government would probably have to act.
 

Cook

Banned
Have the Popular Front government of Prime Minister Blum supply military aid to the Popular Front regime of Republican Spain, either covertly or overtly, with the possibility of allowing the Republicans to reinforce the Basque Nationalists with troops by ferrying troops and armaments from Catalonia to the Basque provinces by rail through France.
 
Firstly, equal small fix in that the nationalists were by no means all fascists either. Both sides were a complicated mixture of political/social/regional/religious/ethnic and other ideologies and identities.

Really, though, I think the OP's question needs tweaking - you don't need a longer SCW to get foreign involvement (which is what they are aiming for here). OTL the war went on for two and a half years without spiraling out into a global conflict. Whilst a Spanish Civil War still going on in September 1939 might see foreign involvement it might equally not ("let them get on with it") and might even delay or alter the starting of WWII in Europe. Plus the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact will make this complicated in 1939.

The main question, then, is how to get the powers of Europe involved beyond fighting a proxy war as OTL.

Britain would be the hardest - not only was the Government committed to non-intervention, there was very little popular appetite for war in 1936-1938 more generally. The Labour opposition is still largely pacifist in nature at this time. Moreover, whilst the mood in the general public might have been slightly inclined towards the Republicans, the Governments and powers-that-be were more supportive of the Nationalists, leading to a bit of an impasse.

France might be easier to involve - they were already quite upset about Italian and German involvement in the conflict. The problem was that the French looked to Britain for guidance.

Germany, Italy, and the Soviet Union - were all content with fighting this as a proxy war, so you would need to have a POD that would encourage them to take action.

Potential PODs:

There are quite a few though:

* Have Franco-Soviet relations markedly improve in the 1920s and 1930s, maybe at the expense of Germany. Have collaboration between the Nazis and the Soviets over trade in the 1930s fall through meaning that the Soviets see Hitler as more of a threat and France as more of an ally. This means that France could feel more confident about intervening.

* Have the French Popular Front be more stable and decisive. OTL they were worried about the potential of revolt on the extreme right in their own country, meaning that Blum could not through open the border with Republican Spain to arms trade as he wanted.

*Have Mussolini move against Albania or Yugoslavia earlier. Maybe 1936-7 after feeling confident post-Abyssinia. Internationally UK and France won't intervene beyond trying to force a compromise, but they will see Italy as much more of a threat to be countered. It might also see Mussolini be even more committed to piling troops and weapons into the SCW than he already was OTL.

*My personal favourite (I've thought about this for a timeline) - have Labour elected in 1935. Hard to do, although they did surge in the polls, but with a Labour Government softly supportive of the Republicans in place in 1936 the tensions are going to be much more present. OTL elements of the Royal Navy played a bloody dangerous political game in offering support to the Nationalists - sending them information, lying to British merchant ships trying to reach republican ports, allowing Franco to use Gibraltar as a signal base, and even using HMS Queen Elizabeth to physically block the Republicans from shelling a port that had fallen into Nationalist hands. OTL the Conservative Government was happy to let the matter lie, but with more support on the left for the Republicans (combined with a general suspicion of the armed forces in general) a Labour Government would probably have to act.
Thanks a bunch for all the input :)
I guess I was oversimplifying when I grouped the two factions into Communist and Fascist (My bad).
I wasn't sure if the SCV could have expanded into a greater conflict from the start since I got the idea from a Turtledove novel.
Very interesting TLs though.
 
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