Fighting for Spain through the Media

Abstract

The Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) possesses an historical identity distinct from other national conflicts because of its chronological position between World War I and World War II. International ideological interests came to the forefront of the Spanish conflict and foreign powers became involved in the Republican and Nationalist political factions with the hopes of furthering their respective agendas. The Spanish Civil War extended the aftermath of World War I, as well as provided a staging ground for World War II. Therefore, the Spanish Civil War transformed into a ‘proxy war’ in which foreign powers utilized the national conflict to further their ideological interests. In order to unite these diverse international socio-political campaigns, governments and rebel groups turned to modern visual propaganda to rally the public masses and move them to actively support one side over the other. Propaganda film and poster art supplied those involved in the Spanish Civil War with an invaluable political tool to issue a call to action and unite various political factions around one ideological movement.