The German Question, Part One Hundred Twenty

"Hitler Rules Germany" Part Two/B
"Foreign Policy & The German Question" (Part Three)
"Spain Brings Hitler and Mussolini Together"

The events leading up to the Spanish Civil War are highly complex and they are well beyond the scope of this series. This article is "super" simplified, but for those interested, there are many good sources to get further information. This article is really only concerned with Germany, and how Hitler and Mussolini moved toward becoming allies, although a little background information is important.

During the early 1930s, a contentious, to say the least, bout between socialist/left-leaning/ communist groups and right wing/conservative/fascist/Catholic Church groups was ongoing in Spain. A "republic" was declared after the abdication of the king, but the situation was absolutely volatile. Eventually "rightist" elements, led by officers of the army, attempted to overthrow the "leftist" government. Unfortunately, there was not much middle ground, and the "left" frequently saw opponents as fascists, and the "right" saw opponents as "communists," and to be quite honest, there was a great degree of truth in both assertions. The clash between these forces brought other nations, or specific groups from other nations, to choose sides, although Britain and France remained (officially) neutral. During the early fighting, General Francisco Franco, a right wing officer, was named to lead a new government by the "Nationalists;" that is, the fascist-supported side.* Such an ideological war brought about atrocities by both sides.

Hitler and Mussolini saw the struggle as a chance to defeat communists, and to install another fascist or fascist-supporting leader in a key area of Europe, and they both declared their support for the Nationalist cause. Italy provided a great deal of naval support in the Mediterranean, as well as "regular" military units, deemed to be "volunteers," a term which fooled no one. Hitler mainly sent air units and equipment, as well as men to help train Nationalist military personnel. The Soviet Union mainly sent equipment and military advisers to aid the Republicans. Groups of volunteers from various countries, including the U.S., appeared in Spain, mainly in support of the Republicans.** The cooperation between Hitler and Mussolini in Spain, following on Hitler's support of Mussolini's invasion of Abyssinia, made the two fascist dictators new allies. The military lessons learned by the Germans would aid them later when World War Two started. The Spanish Civil War was eventually won by the Nationalists; that is, the fascists, although the war didn't end until 1939.

Next... "Hitler Goes Home; Austria Joins Germany"

* The pro-government (the Republic) supporters were called "Republicans" (absolutely no relation to the U.S. Republican Party).

** Ernest Hemingway's "For Whom The Bell Tolls" is about an American volunteer (played by Gary Cooper in the movie version), who supports the Republic. If you like books, please read this one, if you haven't already; it is a GREAT one. Also rent or buy the movie version, which is quite good and faithful to the book. The characters portrayed by the wonderful performers are just unforgettable.

WORD HISTORY:
Luftwaffe (Part Two)-Now I'll deal with the "Waffe" part of "Luftwaffe." For those studying German, this noun is feminine, so it is "die Waffe," and because it forms the second part of the compound "Luftwaffe," it also makes that compound noun feminine, "die Luftwaffe." Further, "Luft" is also feminine; thus, "die Luft." "Waffe" is simply the German form of English "weapon." Old Germanic had "wepnan," with the meaning "weapon," but where Germanic got the word is uncertain. All forms of the word, unless borrowed by other languages, appear only in the Germanic languages. Germanic "wepnan" gave Anglo-Saxon (Old English) "waepen," which then became "wepen," before the modern spelling. The original Old Germanic also gave Old High German "wafen," as a sound shift in some of the continental Germanic dialects changed the "p" sound to "f." In modern German "wafen" became "Waffe." Another form of the same original Germanic did not undergo the sound shift and was "wapen," and then modern "Wappen," and it means "coat of arms;" with the obvious tie to "weapon." I "suspect" this form came from the northern dialects (now known as Low German Saxon, Dutch, and Frisian), since those dialects did not experience the sound shift, nor did English (Anglo-Saxon), which, by the time of the sound shift, was already in Britain. Besides the English and German forms of "weapon," Dutch, most Low German and Frisian have "wapen," Norwegian has "våpen," Swedish has "vapen," Danish has "våben," and Icelandic "vopn."