| Usage: | He walked through the door with a glum, downcast expression, and I knew without
asking that the interview had not gone well.
Quote of the Day
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 Throughout life, our worst weaknesses and meannesses are
usually committed for the sake of the people whom we most despise.
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Article of the Day
The Spanish Civil War |
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 From 1936 to 1939, the Spanish Civil War raged as General Francisco
Franco's Nationalists overthrew the republican government. Franco's
forces were aided by Germany and Italy, who used Spain as a test site
for blitzkrieg warfare on the eve of World War II. Fierce and bloody
skirmishes characterized the war of attrition, which claimed
500,000 lives. The war's end brought a period of dictatorship that lasted until the
mid-1970s. Deemed the first "media war," it was covered by which famous authors?
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil War[nb 2] was fought from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939 between
the Republicans, who were loyal to the establishedSpanish Republic, and the
Nationalists, a rebel group led by GeneralFrancisco Franco. The Nationalists prevailed,
and Franco ruled Spain for the next 36 years, from 1939 until his death in 1975.
The war began after a pronunciamiento (declaration of opposition) by a group of generals
of the Spanish Republican Armed Forces under the leadership of José Sanjurjo against
the elected government of theSecond Spanish Republic, at the time under the leadership
of PresidentManuel Azaña. The rebel coup was supported by a number of conservative
groups, including the Spanish Confederation of the Autonomous Right,[nb 3] monarchists
such as the religious conservative Carlists, and the Fascist Falange.[nb 4][5]
The coup was supported by military units in Morocco, Pamplona,Burgos, Valladolid,
Cádiz, Cordova, and Seville. However, rebelling units in important cities such as Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Bilbao, andMálaga were unable to capture their objectives,
and those cities remained in control of the government. Spain was thus left militarily
and politically divided. The Nationalists, now led by General Francisco Franco, and
the Republican government fought it out for the control of the country. The Nationalist
forces received munitions and soldiers from Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy, while
the Soviet Union and Mexico intervened in support of the "Loyalist", or "Republican",
side. Other countries, such as Britain and France, operated an official policy of
non-intervention, although France did send in some munitions.
The Nationalists advanced from their strongholds in the south and west, capturing
most of Spain's northern coastline in 1937. They also besieged Madrid and the area
to its south and west for much of the war. Capturing large parts of Catalonia in 1938
and 1939, the war ended with the victory of the Nationalists and the exile of thousands
of left-leaning Spaniards, many of whom fled to refugee camps in southern France.
Those associated with the losing Republicans were persecuted by the victorious
Nationalists. With the establishment of a fascist dictatorship led by General
Francisco Franco in the aftermath of the war, all right-wing parties were fused into
the structure of the Franco regime.[5]
The war became notable for the passion and political division it inspired and atrocities
were committed by both sides in the war. Organized purges occurred in territory
captured by Franco's forces to consolidate the future regime.[6] A smaller but
significant number of killings took place in areas controlled by the Republicans,
normally associated with a breakdown in law and order.[7] The extent to which
Republican authorities connived in Republican territory killings varied.
This Day in History
| The Taman Shud Case: Mystery Man Found Dead on Somerton Beach (1948) |
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 On the night of November 30, 1948, passersby on Australia's
Somerton Beach saw a man they believed to be drunk or sleeping.
The next day, the mystery man was determined to be dead, which
opened the still unsolved Taman Shud Case. The dead man has
never been identified. Though investigators promptly searched
the body and found normal things like chewing gum in the mystery man's pocket,
something strange was later found, taking the case in a new—
but equally elusive—direction.
Today's Birthday
| Alexandra of Denmark (1844) |
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 Though she was of royal blood, Princess Alexandra had a relatively
normal upbringing. It was not until after she wed Prince Albert Edward
of Wales in 1863 that her father, Christian IX, was crowned king of
Denmark, and she did not ascend to the station of queen consort
until many years after that. As queen, she devoted herself to
charitable works and was beloved by the British public. |
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