Since coming to Spain I've realized just how elementary my understanding of Spanish history is.

There's 2,000 years I need to catch up on but too many squirrels, so I'm never able to focus properly.

I've been reading about the Spanish Civil war (1936-1939) - accounts from Ernest Hemingway and George Orwell. I've been told from several students that accounts of foreigners seem to be more balanced, less ideological. The Spanish Revolution was a social revolution that occurred in 1936 and was a "subset" of the Civil War.

After only a cursory overview, I've learned that in this civil war the Communists were the RIGHTMOST of the non-facists groups involved. Thousands of foreign fighters came to support the existing government (the Republican, non-Facist side) and within this group the Communists were the most conservative.

Being totally wiped out from the Civil War, Spain chose to not participate in WWII, but Franco allowed pro-Facist Spanish citizens to fight for the Nazis - only on the Eastern Front against Bolshevism - forming the Blue Squadron. Interestingly, though he supported Hitler's fight against the Bolshevists, Franco didn't trust Hitler, and (according to my students) he made a strategic decision to not standardize the train tracks of Spain to fit with the rest of Europe. This was so that German troops could not easily move into Spain via trains from France. The rails in Spain are not standardized with Europe to this day.

I read a book about the Basque country's struggle for automony and the fight against the Madrid-based government. The Basque speak another language (called Basque), and Spanish (known in Spain as Castilian) is secondary. The Basque group ETA conducted raids of terror - bombings, etc - much like the IRA.

Joining the Basque as wanting self-rule is Catalan - Barcelona. As recently as 2017-2018 votes were taken in the Catalan parliament to declare themselves independent from Spain. The motivations seem rooted from the War of Spanish Succession (1701) and perhaps as far back at the 1460s.

These tidbits only go back as far as 1936. It doesn’t consider the struggle with Elizabeth I and the battle at sea that heralded the way to British dominance (and which apparently still smarts, judging by comments from my students). I haven’t yet looked into the Inquisition, or the Muslim invasion and rule of the Iberian Peninsula which begain in 711.

Might make for good beach reading over the summer.