The best English language review of the Republican campaigns during the Spanish Civil War. The author has presented a convincing review of campaigns and the contribution of the International Brigade. – Very Highly Recommended.
NAME: The People's Army in the Spanish Civil War, A Military History of the Republic and International Brigades, 1936-1939 FILE: R3113 AUTHOR: Alexander Clifford PUBLISHER: Pen & Sword BINDING: hard back PRICE: £25.00 GENRE: Non Fiction SUBJECT: Spanish Republicans, Spanish Nationalists, Kondor Legion, International Brigades, Nazi Germany, Franco, Blitz Krieg, terror bombing, T26, Pkw1, Me 109, Stuka, Heinkel, surrogates, Spanish Foreign Legion
ISBN: 1-52676-092-4
PAGES: 315 IMAGE: B3113.jpg BUYNOW: tinyurl.com/tsnfj6m DESCRIPTION: The best English language review of the Republican campaigns during the Spanish Civil War. The author has presented a convincing review of campaigns and the contribution of the International Brigade. – Very Highly Recommended. The Spanish Civil War was an important part of the story of the rise and fall of German National Socialism but has received relatively little attention in English language publications. For the German Kondor Legion it was a welcome opportunity to try out the concept of Blitz Krieg and the range of new weapons available to the German military. It is always tricky playing the 'what if' game, but Franco and the Nationalists were losing until Hitler authorized the air bridge to bring Spanish North African troops to Spain under Franco. Without that influx of fresh and well-trained troops the Nationalists might have lost but the more likely scenario would have been a very much longer bloody civil war. How it might have affected the German Nazis is even more debatable. The German military would have lost the chance to show off their new equipment and tactics to the World and not gained valuable lessons from exposing them to hostile fire. How much of a loss that might have been is highly debatable. What is often overlooked is that the British had the opportunity to observe German equipment and tactics in action both through military attaches and volunteers fighting in the International Brigades. There have been equally contentious debates as to the benefits or otherwise of the Soviet intervention and the International Brigades. The author has provided a convincing review of the three great offensives launched by the Republican People's Army in 1937. In doing this, he has also provided close analysis of Republicans and Nationalists and reassessed the contribution of the International Brigades in a blow- by-blow account of each campaign and battle. The author's presentation is supported both by first-hand testimony, that provides insight into the experience of what was then modern warfare, and by a very useful photo-plate section. Franco was in a good position with his North African mercenaries and trained troops, with generous support from Hitler in the direct intervention of German panzer and aviation forces with the most modern equipment. The provided a cohesive force. Against him, the Republicans had direct Soviet support but was a far more diverse group of military personnel and equipment, However, the Soviets supplied better armoured vehicles that should have performed better in action and showed some of the deficiencies in the German equipment that was still based on what were really training tanks that were not equal to battle tanks technically. This is a very valuable book in any military history library.