Defining WWII, Holocaust, and Spanish Civil War History

Posted on Oct 19, 2025 in History

The Spanish Civil War and Its Aftermath

The End of the Conflict

Franco: Madrid fell to the Nationalists, marking the end of the Spanish Civil War. The Spanish government was modeled on General Franco’s own version of autocratic fascism until his death in 1975.

Key Figures and Events

Manuel Azaña: Leader of the Republican team. In 1936, the Socialist Popular Front, led by Manuel Azaña, won elections in Spain. Their reforms included:

  • Granting women the vote.
  • Giving land to poor peasant farmers.
  • Reducing the size of, and spending on, the army.

Sides in the Spanish Civil War (Starting July 17, 1936)

  1. Right-Wing (Nationalists): Fascists and Monarchists (led by Franco, supported by Germany and Fascist Italy).
  2. Left-Wing (Republicans): Supporters of the new Socialist Republic.

International Brigades

In October 1936, Republican forces began receiving aid from Communist Russia. At the same time, volunteers from around the world formed the International Brigades (e.g., James Maley) and headed to Spain to fight and protect the socialist government.

World War II: Key Events and Alliances

Major Alliances

  • Allies: USA, UK, Soviet Union (spelled as Soviet Union, not ‘soviet unuin’).
  • Axis: Germany, Italy, Japan.

Critical Turning Points

  • Operation Barbarossa (June 1941): Nazis invaded Russia. By October, they were only 60 miles from Moscow.
  • Pearl Harbor (December 1941): Japanese forces attacked the US naval base in the Pacific, bringing the US into the war. Winston Churchill said this was the moment he realized the Allies would win the war.

Major Battles of WWII

The Battle of Britain (July–September 1940)
A battle between the RAF and the German Luftwaffe for control of the skies. The Nazi invasion was thwarted in September when the RAF bombed the barges.
The Battle of the Atlantic (1940–1945)
Nazi U-boats, hunting in the ‘Wolf Packs,’ sank merchant shipping that was bringing food and supplies to Britain.
Battle of Midway (June 1942)
After several Japanese victories, the US Navy stopped the Japanese advance at the Battle of Midway.
Battle of Stalingrad (August 1942–January 1943)
The Russians destroyed the German Sixth Army, and the Soviet army started to advance towards Berlin. Russian losses were huge.
D-Day (June 6, 1944)
British, American, and Canadian forces invaded France and began fighting their way towards Berlin. A Nazi counterattack failed to stop their advance.

The End of the War in the Pacific

Americans advanced across the Pacific, facing fierce resistance, especially at Iwo Jima and Okinawa. In August 1945, Americans dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Japan subsequently surrendered.

The Holocaust and Antisemitism

Definitions

  • Shoah: The Hebrew word for the Holocaust.
  • Aryan: The Nazi name for the master race—ideally fair-haired, blue-eyed, physically superior, and ruthless.
  • Ghettos: Areas in a town or city where Jews were forced to live, isolated from the outside world by walls and barbed wire. (Between 1939 and 1943, hundreds of thousands of Jews were forced into more than 400 ghettos in Eastern Europe.)

Antisemitism: Hatred Towards Jews

Antisemitism is a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred towards Jews. Historically, this hatred manifested in several ways:

  1. Romans (AD 70): Romans forced Jews to leave their homeland. Jews settled in North Africa, Spain, Eastern, and Western Europe.
  2. Middle Ages (During the Crusades): Christian armies on their way to the Holy Land attacked Jewish communities. Jews were blamed for Christ’s death and for not accepting Christianity.
  3. Late 19th Century: They said Jews were inferior and posed a threat to the racial purity of a nation.

Hitler’s Reasons for Antisemitism

Hitler blamed Jews for two main reasons:

  • He blamed Jews for inventing Communism and controlling the Soviet Union, arguing that Karl Marx was Jewish and many of Russia’s early revolutionaries were Jewish.
  • He blamed Jews for Germany’s defeat in World War I.

The Scale of Persecution

Approximately 6 million Jews were murdered in the Holocaust.

Groups Persecuted by the Nazis

Groups persecuted by the Nazis included:

  • Roma (Gypsies)
  • Slavs
  • People with disabilities
  • Political opponents
  • LGBTQ+ individuals

Jewish Resistance

Examples of Jewish resistance include:

  • 20,000–30,000 Jews fought in Partisan groups in forested areas of Eastern Europe.
  • Jews faced enormous difficulty finding hiding places to avoid being sent to camps or ghettos.

Kristallnacht

Kristallnacht: Nazi pogrom throughout Germany a