The Spanish Civil War of 1936-1939 underlined the importance of the sea as the supply route to both General Franco's insurgents and the Spanish Republic. There were attempted blockades by Franco as well as attacks by his Italian and German allies against legitimate neutral, largely British, merchant shipping bound for Spanish Republican ports and challenges to the Royal Navy, which was obliged to maintain a heavy presence in the area. The conflict provoked splits in British public opinion. Events at sea both created and reflected the international tensions of the latter 1930s, when the policy of appeasement of Germany and Italy dissuaded Britain from taking action against those countries’ activities in Spain, except to participate in a largely ineffective naval patrol to try to prevent the supply of war material to both sides. The book is based on original documentary sources in both Britain and Spain and is intended for the general reader as well as students and academics interested in the history of the 1930s, in naval matters and in the Spanish Civil War.
Author(s): Michael Alpert
Publisher: Pen and Sword Maritime
Year: 2021
Language: English
Pages: 256
Cover
Book Title
Copyright
Dedication
Contents
Preface
Chapter 1. Setting the Scene
Chapter 2. The Die is Cast
Chapter 3. Tangiers and Gibraltar Franco Crosses the Strait
Chapter 4. Reorganisation
Chapter 5. Off the Northern Coast
Chapter 6. War Material Comes from Abroad. The Insurgents Try to Block Merchant Traffic
Chapter 7. The War Against Traffic Continues as the Russians Send War Material to the Republic
Chapter 8. Winter and Spring 1937 inthe Mediterranean
Chapter 9. The Naval Campaign in the Cantabrian Sea
Chapter 10. Non-Intervention and the International Patrol
Chapter 11. Two Spanish Navies in Contrast
Chapter 12. 1938, Testing the Limits of British Tolerance
Chapter 13. Surrender, Evacuation and Flight
Conclusion
Appendix I. Technical Details of Spanish Warships
Appendix II. Soviet Naval Officers in Republican Spain
Notes
Bibliography
Index
Back cover
