| ID | 170988 |
| Title Proper | Ideological foundations of British non-intervention in the Spanish civil war |
| Other Title Information | foreign office perceptions of political polarisation in Spain, 1931-1936 |
| Language | ENG |
| Author | Ramsay, Scott |
| Summary / Abstract (Note) | In response to the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War in 1936, the British government adopted and maintained a policy of strict non-intervention throughout the conflict. Previous commentators, to varying degrees, have suggested this policy was largely a product of British hostility towards the Spanish Republic and designed to facilitate a victory for the military rebels who would subdue threats of a communist revolution. This analysis argues that historians have exaggerated British concerns about communism and that Britain saw the Republic as a viable political project that it wanted to succeed. Rather than focusing on British perceptions of only left-wing groups in Spain, this analysis also incorporates perceptions of the extreme right and fascist groups. British concerns about Spain’s political polarisation laid the foundations of the policy of non-intervention, which sought to avert risks of the conflict escalating and solidifying the broader ideological polarisation occurring in Europe during the 1930s. |
| `In' analytical Note | Diplomacy and Statecraft Vol. 31, No.1, Mar 2020; p 44-64 |
| Journal Source | Diplomacy and Statecraft Vol: 31 No 1 |
| Key Words | Spain ; Communist Revolution ; Spanish Civil War ; Spanish Civil War - 1936-39 |