The Soldiers’ Experiences of the Spanish Civil War

Abstract

Michael Seidman, «Soldiers’ Experiences of the Spanish Civil War,» asserts that the Nationalists were logistically and militarily more competent than either their Republican enemies or their 20th century counter-revolutionary counterparts-the Russian Whites and the Chinese Nationalists. This assessment is based upon a social history of warfare that concentrates on the experiences of rank-and-file soldiers in both armies. Republican soldiers felt little loyalty to a government which was unable to fulfill its «unwritten contract» to supply its population with basic necessities. In contrast, the relatively well-furnished Spanish Nationalists, whose domestic political economy functioned effectively, were able to keep the loyalty of their forces and sufficiently discipline them.