Interpretations of Guernica vary widely and contradict one another.
This
Guernica is a painting by Pablo Picasso, in response to the bombing of
Guernica, Basque Country, by German and Italian warplanes at the behest of
the Spanish Nationalist forces, on 26 April 1937, during the Spanish Civil
War. The Spanish Republican government commissioned Pablo Picasso to
create a large mural for the Spanish display at the Exposition Internationale
des Arts et Techniques dans la Vie Moderne (1937) Paris International
Exposition in the 1937 World's Fair in Paris.
Guernica shows the tragedies of war and the suffering it inflicts upon
individuals, particularly innocent civilians. This work has gained a
monumental status, becoming a perpetual reminder of the tragedies of war, an
anti-war symbol, and an embodiment of peace. On completion Guernica was
displayed around the world in a brief tour, becoming famous and widely
acclaimed. This tour helped bring the Spanish Civil War to the world's
attention.
The painting
Guernica is gray, black and white, 3.5 metre (11 ft) tall and 7.8 metre (25.6 ft)
wide, a mural-size canvas painted in oil. This painting can be seen in the
Museo Reina Sofía in Madrid. Picasso's purpose in painting it was to bring the
world's attention to the bombing of the Basque town of Guernica by German
bombers, who were supporting the Nationalist forces of General Franco
during the Spanish Civil War. Picasso completed the painting by mid-June
1937.[1] Picasso exhibited his mural-size painting at the Spanish display at the
Exposition Internationale des Arts et Techniques dans la Vie Moderne (1937)
(Paris International Exposition) in the 1937 World's Fair in Paris and then at
other venues around the world. The San Francisco Museum of Art (later
SFMOMA) gave the work its first public, free appearance in the United States
from 27 August - 19 September. The Museum of Modern Art in New York
City then mounted an important Picasso exhibition on 15 November 1939 that
remained on view until 7 January 1940, entitled: Picasso: 40 Years of His Art,
that was organized by Alfred H. Barr (1902–1981), in collaboration with the
Art Institute of Chicago. The exhibition contained 344 works, including
Guernica and its studies.[2]
Guernica shows suffering people, animals, and buildings wrenched by
violence and chaos.
• The overall scene is within a room where, at an open end on the
left, a wide-eyed bull stands over a woman grieving over a dead
child in her arms.
• The centre is occupied by a horse falling in agony as it had just
been run through by a spear or javelin. It is important to note that
the large gaping wound in the horse's side is a major focus of the
painting.
• Two "hidden" images formed by the horse appear in Guernica:
o A human skull overlays the horse's body.
o A bull appears to gore the horse from underneath. The
bull's head is formed mainly by the horse's entire front
leg which has the knee on the ground. The leg's knee
cap forms the head's nose. A horn appears within the
horse's breast.
• The bull's tail forms the image of a flame with smoke rising from
it, seemingly appearing in a window created by the lighter shade of
gray surrounding it.
• Under the horse is a dead, apparently dismembered soldier; his
hand on a severed arm still grasps a shattered sword from which a
flower grows.
• On the open palm of the dead soldier is a stigma, a symbol of
martyrdom derived from the stigmata of Christ.
• A light bulb blazes in the shape of an evil eye over the suffering
horse's head (the bare bulb of the torturer's cell.) Picasso's intended
symbolism in regards to this object is related to the Spanish word
for lightbulb; "bombilla", which makes an allusion to "bomb" and
therefore signifies the destructive effect which technology can
have on society.
• To the upper right of the horse, a frightened female figure, who
seems to be witnessing the scenes before her, appears to have
floated into the room through a window. Her arm, also floating in,
carries a flame-lit lamp. The lamp is positioned very close to the
bulb, and is a symbol of hope, clashing with the lightbulb.
• From the right, an awe-struck woman staggers towards the center
below the floating female figure. She looks up blankly into the
blazing light bulb.
• Daggers that suggest screaming replace the tongues of the bull,
grieving woman, and horse.
• A bird, possibly a dove, stands on a shelf behind the bull in panic.
• On the far right, a figure with arms raised in terror is entrapped by
fire from above and below.
• A dark wall with an open door defines the right end of the mural.
Symbolism and interpretations
extends, for example, to the mural's two dominant elements: the bull and the
horse. Art historian Patricia Failing said, "The bull and the horse are important
characters in Spanish culture. Picasso himself certainly used these characters
to play many different roles over time. This has made the task of interpreting
the specific meaning of the bull and the horse very tough. Their relationship is
a kind of ballet that was conceived in a variety of ways throughout Picasso's
career."
When pressed to explain them in Guernica, Picasso said,
...this bull is a bull and this horse is a horse... If you give a meaning to certain
things in my paintings it may be very true, but it is not my idea to give this
meaning. What ideas and conclusions you have got I obtained too, but
instinctively, unconsciously. I make the painting for the painting. I paint the
objects for what they are.[3]
In "The Dream and Lie of Franco," a series of narrative sketches also created
for the World's Fair, Franco is depicted as a monster that first devours his own
horse and later does battle with an angry bull. Work on these illustrations
began before the bombing of Guernica, and four additional panels were added,
three of which relate directly to the Guernica mural.
Picasso said as he worked on the mural: "The Spanish struggle is the fight of
reaction against the people, against freedom. My whole life as an artist has
been nothing more than a continuous struggle against reaction and the death of
art. How could anybody think for a moment that I could be in agreement with
reaction and death? ... In the panel on which I am working, which I shall call
Guernica, and in all my recent works of art, I clearly express my abhorrence
of the military caste which has sunk Spain in an ocean of pain and death.[4]
However, according to scholar Beverly Ray[5] the following list of
interpretations reflects the general consensus of historians:
• The shape and posture of the bodies express protest.
• Picasso uses black, white, and grey paint to set a somber mood and
express pain and chaos.
• Flaming buildings and crumbling walls not only express the
destruction of Guernica, but reflect the destructive power of civil
war.
• The newspaper print used in the painting reflects how Picasso
learned of the massacre.
• The light bulb in the painting represents the sun.
• The broken sword near the bottom of the painting symbolizes the
defeat of the people at the hand of their tormentors. (Berger 1980;
Chipp 1988)[5]
In drawing attention to a number of preliminary studies, the so called primary
project,[6] that show an atelier installation incorporating the central triangular
shape which reappears in the final version of Guernica, Becht-Jördens and
Wehmeier interpret the painting as a self-referential composition in the
tradition of atelier paintings such as "Las Meninas" by Diego Velázquez. In
his chef d'oevre, Picasso seems to be trying to define his role and his power as
an artist in the face of political power and violence. But far from being a mere
political painting, Guernica should be seen as Picasso’s comment on what art
can actually contribute towards the self-assertion that liberates every human
being and protects the individual against overwhelming forces such as
political crime, war, and death.[7]
Historical context
See also: Spanish Civil War and Spanish Civil War, 1937
Guernica is a town in Spain's Basque country. During the Spanish Civil War,
it was regarded as the northern bastion of the Republican resistance movement
and the epicenter of Basque culture, adding to its significance as a target.[8]
The Republican forces were made up of assorted factions (Communists,
Socialists, Anarchists, to name a few) with wildly differing approaches to
government and eventual aims, but a common opposition to the Nationalists.
The Nationalists, led by General Francisco Franco, were also factionalized but
to a lesser extent. They sought a return to the golden days of Spain, based on
law, order, and traditional Catholic family values.[9]
At about 16:30 on Monday, 26 April 1937, warplanes of the German Condor
Legion, commanded by Colonel Wolfram von Richthofen, bombed Guernica
for about two hours. Germany, at this time led by Hitler, had lent material
support to the Nationalists and were using the war as an opportunity to test out
new weapons and tactics. Later, intense aerial bombardment became a crucial
preliminary step in the Blitzkrieg tactic.[5][8]
In his journal for 30 April 1937, von Richthofen wrote:
When the first Junker squadron arrived, there was smoke already everywhere
(from the VB [VB/88] which had attacked with 3 aircraft); nobody would
identify the targets of roads, bridge, and suburb, and so they just dropped
everything right into the center. The 250s toppled a number of houses and
destroyed the water mains. The incendiaries now could spread and become
effective. The materials of the houses: tile roofs, wooden porches, and half-
timbering resulted in complete annihilation. Most inhabitants were away
because of a holiday; a majority of the rest left town immediately at the
beginning [of the bombardment]. A small number perished in shelters that
were hit."[10]
This account contains striking discrepancies from other accounts that state that
the town's inhabitants were in fact congregated in the center of town, as it was
market day, and when the bombardment commenced, were unable to escape
the inferno because the roads leading out of the center of the town were full of
debris and the bridges leading out of town had been destroyed.
Guernica's location was at a major crossroads 10 kilometers from the front
lines and between the front lines and Bilbao, the capital of Bizkaia. Any
Republican retreat towards Bilbao and any Nationalist advance towards
Bilbao had to pass through Guernica. "During 25 April, many of the
demoralized (Republican) troops from Marquina fell back on Guernica, which
lay 10 kilometers behind the lines."[11] Wolfram von Richthofen's war diary
entry for 26 April 1937 states, "K/88 [the Condor Legion bomber force] was
targeted at Guernica in order to halt and disrupt the Red withdrawal which has
to pass through here." The following day, Richthofen wrote in his war diary,
"Guernica burning."[12] The Republican retreat towards Bilbao did pass
through Guernica, before and after the bombing, and, as Beevor points out,
"At Guernica the communist Rosa Luxembourg Battalion under Major
Cristobal held back the nationalists for a time".[12]
Guernica was a quiet village. The nearest military target of any consequence
was a factory on the outskirts of the town, which manufactured various war
products. The factory went through the attack unscathed. Thus, the motivation
of the bombing was clearly one of intimidation. Furthermore, a majority of the
town's men were away as they were fighting on behalf of the Republicans.
Thus, the town at the time of the bombing was populated mostly by women
and children.[13]
These demographics are reflected in the painting because, as Rudolf Arnheim
writes, for Picasso: "The women and children make Guernica the image of
innocent, defenseless humanity victimized. Also, women and children have
often been presented by Picasso as the very perfection of mankind. An assault
on women and children is, in Picasso's view, directed at the core of mankind."
Clearly, the Nationalists sought to demoralize the Republicans and the civilian
population as a whole by demonstrating their military might on a town that
stood for traditional Basque culture and innocent civilians.[8]
After the bombing, it was through the work of the Basque and Republican
sympathizer and London Times journalist George Steer that propelled this
event onto the international scene and brought it to Pablo Picasso's attention.
Steer, who rushed to town, compiled his observations into an article that was
published on 28 April in both The Times and The New York Times, and which
on the 29th, appeared in L'Humanité, a French Communist daily. Steer wrote:
Guernica, the most ancient town of the Basques and the centre of their cultural
tradition, was completely destroyed yesterday afternoon by insurgent air
raiders. The bombardment of this open town far behind the lines occupied
precisely three hours and a quarter, during which a powerful fleet of
aeroplanes consisting of three types of German types, Junkers and Heinkel
bombers, did not cease unloading on the town bombs weighing from 1,000
lbs. downwards and, it is calculated, more than 3,000 two-pounder aluminium
incendiary projectiles. The fighters, meanwhile, plunged low from above the
centre of the town to machinegun those of the civilian population who had
taken refuge in the fields."[13]
It was through this article that Picasso was made aware of what had gone on
in his country of origin. At the time, he was working on a mural for the Paris
Exhibition to be held in the summer of 1937, commissioned by the Spanish
Republican government. He deserted his original idea and on 1 May 1937,
began on Guernica. This captivated his imagination unlike his previous idea,
on which he had been working somewhat dispassionately, for a couple of
months. It is interesting to note, however, that at its unveiling at the Paris
Exhibition that summer, it garnered little attention. It would later attain its
power as such a potent symbol of the destruction of war on innocent lives.[5][13]
1937 Paris International Exhibition
Guernica was initially exhibited in July 1937 at the Spanish Pavilion at the
Paris International Exposition.[14] The Pavilion, which was financed by the
Spanish Republican government at the time of civil war, was built to exhibit
the Spanish government's struggle for existence contrary to the Exposition's
technology theme. The Pavilion's entrance presented an enormous
photographic mural of Republican soldiers accompanied by the slogan:
We are fighting for the essential unity of Spain.
We are fighting for the integrity of Spanish soil.
We are fighting for the independence of our country and for
the right of the Spanish people to determine their own destiny.
The display of Guernica was accompanied by a poem by Paul Éluard, and the
pavilion displayed works by Joan Miró and Alexander Calder, both of whom
were sympathetic to the Republican cause.
Post-exhibition experiences
After the Paris Exhibition, the painting went on tour, first to the Scandinavian
capitals, then to London, where it arrived on 30 September 1938, the same day
the Munich Agreement was signed by the leaders of the United Kingdom,
France, Italy, and Germany. The London exhibition at the Whitechapel Art
Gallery included preparatory studies and was organized by Roland Penrose
with Clement Attlee addressing a public meeting. It then returned briefly to
France; after the victory of Francisco Franco in Spain, the painting was sent to
the United States to raise funds and support for Spanish refugees. At Picasso's
request the safekeeping of the piece was entrusted to the Museum of Modern
Art (MoMA) in New York City. It formed the centerpiece of a Picasso
retrospective at MoMA which opened six weeks after the Nazi invasion of
Poland.[1][15]
Between 1939 and 1952, the painting traveled extensively in the United
States; between 1953 and 1956 it was shown in Brazil, at the first-ever Picasso
retrospective in Milan, Italy, and then in numerous other major European
cities, before returning to MoMA for a retrospective celebrating Picasso's
seventy-fifth birthday. It then went on to Chicago and Philadelphia. By this
time, concern for the state of the painting resulted in a decision to keep it in
one place: a room on MoMA's third floor, where it was accompanied by
several of Picasso's preliminary studies and some of Dora Maar's photos. The
studies and photos were often loaned for other exhibitions, but until 1981,
Guernica itself remained at MoMA.[1]
While living in Nazi-occupied Paris during World War II, Picasso suffered
harassment from the Gestapo. One officer allegedly asked him, upon seeing a
photo of Guernica in his apartment, "Did you do that?" Picasso responded,
"No, you did."[16]
During the Vietnam War, the room containing the painting became the site of
occasional anti-war vigils. These were usually peaceful and uneventful, but in
1974, Tony Shafrazi — ostensibly protesting Richard Nixon's pardon of
William Calley for the latter's actions during the My Lai massacre — defaced
the painting with red spray paint, painting the words "KILL LIES ALL"; the
paint was removed with relative ease from the varnished surface.[15]
As early as 1968, Franco had expressed an interest in having Guernica return
to Spain.[1] However, Picasso refused to allow this until the Spanish people
again enjoyed a republic. He later added other conditions, such as the
restoration of "public liberties and democratic institutions". Picasso died in
1973. Franco, ten years Picasso's junior, died two years later, in 1975. After
Franco's death, Spain was transformed into a democratic constitutional
monarchy, ratified by a new constitution in 1978. However, MoMA was
reluctant to give up one of their greatest treasures and argued that a monarchy
did not represent the republic that had been stipulated in Picasso's will as a
condition for the painting's return. Under great pressure from a number of
observers, MoMA finally ceded the painting to Spain in 1981. The Spanish
historian Javier Tusell was one of the negotiators.
During the 1970s, it was a symbol for Spaniards of both the end of the Franco
regime and of Basque nationalism. The Basque left has repeatedly used
imagery from the picture.
A tiled wall in Gernika claims "Guernica" Gernikara, "The Guernica
(painting) to Gernika."
In 1992 the painting was moved from the Museo del Prado to the Museo
Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, both in Madrid, along with about two
dozen preparatory works. This action was controversial in Spain, since
Picasso's will stated that the painting should be displayed at the Prado.
However, the move was part of a transfer of all of the Prado's collections of
art after the early 19th century to other nearby buildings in the city for reasons
of space; the Reina Sofía, which houses the capital's national collection of
20th century art, was the natural place to move it to. A special gallery was
built at the Reina Sofía to display Picasso's masterpiece to best advantage.
When first displayed in Spain, the painting was placed at El Casón del Buen
Retiro, an annex to the Prado that housed early nineteenth century paintings
but had a large enough wall. It was kept behind bullet-proof glass and guarded
with machine guns. However, since that time there has never been any
attempted vandalism or other security threat to the painting. In its present
gallery, the painting has roughly the same protection as any other work at the
Reina Sofía.[17]
Basque nationalists have advocated that the picture should be brought to the
Basque country,[18] especially after the building of the Guggenheim Bilbao
Museum. Officials at the Reina Sofía claim[19] that the huge canvas is now
thought to be too fragile to move. Even the staff of the Guggenheim do not see
a permanent transfer of the painting as possible, although the Basque
government continues to support the possibility of a temporary exhibition in
Bilbao.[17]
Guernica at the United Nations
A tapestry copy of Picasso's Guernica is displayed on the wall of the United
Nations building in New York City, at the entrance to the Security Council
room. Commissioned in 1955 by Nelson Rockefeller, and placed on loan to
the United Nations by the Rockefeller estate in 1985,[20] the tapestry is less
monochromatic than the original, and uses several shades of brown. On 5
February 2003 a large blue curtain was placed to cover this work, so that it
would not be visible in the background when Colin Powell and John
Negroponte gave press conferences at the United Nations.[21] On the following
day, it was claimed that the curtain was placed there at the request of
television news crews, who had complained that the wild lines and screaming
figures made for a bad backdrop, and that a horse's hindquarters appeared just
above the faces of any speakers. Some diplomats, however, in talks with
journalists claimed that the Bush Administration pressured UN officials to
cover the tapestry, rather than have it in the background while Powell or other
U.S. diplomats argued for war on Iraq.[22]
According to The Washington Times in 2003,[23] the sequence was as follows:
• 1985: The tapestry copy of Guernica is hung at the U.N. Security
Council, paid for by the estate of Nelson Rockefeller
• 2003, Monday 27 January: Guernica found covered by journalists
with a baby-blue banner and an UN-logo. "It's only temporary.
We're only doing this until the cameras leave," said UN-
spokesperson Abdellatif Kabbaj. He clarified: "We had a problem
with, you know, the horse" (that is, in the background of a camera-
shoot).
• The drapes were installed Monday, 27 January and Wednesday, 29
January only. Other days of the week, including Tuesday in
between, there was no drape. On these other days the UN-Security
Council's agenda included Afghanistan, Western Sahara and
Lebanon.
On 17 March 2009, Deputy Spokesperson for the Secretary-General Marie
Okabe announced that the Guernica tapestry had been moved to a gallery in
London in advance of extensive renovations at UN Headquarters. The
Guernica tapestry is the showcase piece for the grand reopening of the
Whitechapel Gallery. It is located in the 'Guernica room' which was originally
part of the old Whitechapel Library.[24]
Spanish Civil War, 1937
In 1937, the Nationalists, under the leadership of Francisco Franco began to
establish their dominance. An important element of support was their greater
access to foreign aid, with their German and Italian allies helping
considerably. This came just as the French ceased aid to the Republicans, who
continued, however, to be able to buy arms from the Soviet Union. The
Republican side suffered from serious divisions among the various communist
and anarchist groupings within it, and the communists undermined much of
the anarchists' organisation.
With his ranks being swelled by Italian troops and Spanish colonial soldiers
from Morocco, Franco made additional attempts to capture Madrid in January
and February 1937, but failed again.
On February 21 the League of Nations Non-Intervention Committee ban on
foreign volunteers went into effect. The large city of Málaga was taken on
February 8. On March 7, the German Condor Legion equipped with Heinkel
He 51 biplanes arrived in Spain; on April 26 they bombed the town of
Guernica (Gernika) in the Basque Country; two days later, Nationalist General
Emilio Mola's men entered the town.
After the fall of Guernica, the Republican government began to fight back
with increasing effectiveness. In July, they made a move to recapture Segovia,
forcing Franco to pull troops away from the Madrid front to halt their
advance. Mola, Franco's second-in-command, died in a plane crash on June 3,
and in early July, despite the fall of Bilbao in June, the Republican
government launched a strong counter-offensive in the Madrid area, which the
Nationalists repulsed with some difficulty. This was the Battle of Brunete
(Brunete is a town in the province of Madrid).
Franco soon regained momentum, invading Aragon in August and then taking
the city of Santander (now in Cantabria). On August 28, the Vatican,
recognized the Franco government.[citation needed] Two months of bitter fighting
followed and, despite determined Asturian resistance, Gijón fell in late
October, effectively ending the war in the North. At the end of November,
with the Nationalists closing in on Valencia, the government moved again,
from Valencia to Barcelona.
Detailed chronology
January–March
January 5
Nationalist General Orgaz with 18,000 men attacks the roads north
west of Madrid in an attempt to cut the city's supply lines. Madrid
is suffering several air raids daily, and sometimes nighttime raids
as well.
January 6
Nationalists take Boadilla. The International Brigades (IBs)
defended the town; one of the few survivors of the Internationals is
Romilly, 17-year-old nephew of Winston Churchill. Romilly
volunteered despite his famous uncle's open sympathy for
Francisco Franco, like that of most of his colleagues in the ruling
British Conservative Party.
January 11
The Nationalist offensive northwest of Madrid is stopped. Both
sides, temporarily exhausted after heavy casualties, start to build
trenches and dig themselves in.
January 17
The Nationalists begin the battle to take Málaga. Three Nationalist
columns converge on the city from Sevilla and Granada.
January 19
General Enrique Líster with the IBs gains back the Cerro de los
Angeles next to Madrid. This hill overlooks the city; the heavy
Nationalist artillery there had been shelling the city. The IBs
become more and more the key units in the Republican Army.
February 5
A Nationalist army approaches Málaga. The situation in Málaga
epitomizes the worst conditions existing in the Republican zone:
perhaps 600 hostages are held on a prison ship in the harbor, and
groups of them are shot in reprisal for the air raids over the port.
The sailors' committees in the fleet and the city administration are
divided in mortal rivalry between the CNT and the Communist
Party of Spain. Like all Republican cities, there is no anti-aircraft
defense. Its militiamen, mostly anarchists, and not yet reorganized
into the new Popular Army, built no trenches or roadblocks,
because they consider this cowardice[citation needed]. The government
assigns Colonel Villalba, a professional officer, to organize the
defense, but without guns to place on the heights, without
ammunition to give his soldiers, and without the slightest
possibility of controlling the rivalries within the city, there is
virtually nothing he can do. The invading force consists of some
10,000 Moors, 5,000 Requetés (right-wing militiamen), 5,000
Italians and plentiful supplies of trucks and artillery. They have
only a few tanks and planes, but they can use these with maximum
effectiveness in the virtual absence of effective deterrents.
February 6
Nationalists start a powerful offensive in the Jarama Valley.
Nationalist General Orgaz is in command of around 40,000 troops,
most of them Spanish Foreign Legion and Moroccan cavalry,
supported by anti-tank artillery, two battalions of German-operated
heavy machine guns (German ground troops under the command
of the Condor Legion), German-operated tanks and planes (Condor
Legion), and 600 Blueshirts under the command of the right-wing
Eoin O'Duffy. The Nationalists want to cut the main Madrid-
Valencia highway. General Pozas, commander of the new Central
Army of the Republic, is planning his own offensive against the
Nationalist line and is therefore massing men and material in the
same area. Due to their own planned offensive, the Republicans
fail to fortify their high ground, and the Nationalist offensive takes
them completely by surprise. The hills are quickly lost, as are the
two principal bridges. The Republican guards on the bridges are
killed in the night by Moorish commando units. The guards on the
Pindoque Bridge manage to mine the bridge during the attack, but
it remains usable for enemy tanks and trucks. Citizens flee Málaga.
About 100,000 people begin a disorganized mass exodus along the
coastal road to Almería. The road is blocked by slow vehicles and
wounded people; for the next two weeks, the Nationalist air force
and navy bomb the road at will. German warships of the Non-
Intervention Committee participate in the shelling, sometimes in
the presence of Royal Navy vessels which do nothing to intervene.
(Until the 1960s, truck drivers continued to find skeletons of those
who fled Málaga in February 1937)
February 8
Málaga taken by Franco's troops. The militiamen resisted rifle and
grenade fire, but broke at the totally unfamiliar sight of tanks. The
Nationalists start immediately to take an enormous amount of
prisoners and to execute them. For example, participation in a
strike several years previously is grounds for execution. The Italian
military authorities are horrified at the number of executions and
the mutilations practiced on the corpses and those who were
wounded, as well as the mass rape of women.
Nationalists advance in the Jarama Valley. Soviet tanks slow down
the advance for brief periods, but the Nationalists quickly
concentrate heavy artillery fire and force their withdrawal. The
planes of the Condor Legion control the air.
February 10
The XIV and XV IBs fortify the Republican army in the Jarama.
The troops stop the Nationalist advance, but take horrible losses in
doing so. At one point the Nationalists force approximately 30
survivors of a captured British machine gun group to advance in
front of their attack; half of these men die under fire of their own
comrades.
February 12
 Air supremacy for the Republic at the Jarama front, all-out attack
on the last Republican positions. 40 new Russian airplanes arrive
at the Jarama front, giving the Republic air supremacy in the area.
These planes consist of 15 ground strafers and 25 fighters, the
fighters are nicknamed "Chatos". The arrival of these planes forces
the enemy planes to retreat. On the night of February 12,
Nationalist General Orgaz commits all his reserves to gain control
over the last key positions that still prevent his forces from cutting
the Valencia highway. Several companies of the IBs — including
British and Polish — as well as Spanish companies, were "cut to
pieces" attempting to hold these positions.
February 15
The force of the offensive in the Jarama had spent itself. As in the
Battle of the Corunna Road, the Nationalists have gained ground,
but strategic victory had escaped them. The Foreign Legion is
broken. Around 20,000 men died in the 10 days of the Jarama
Battle, two thirds of them Republicans.
February 17
The anarchist writer Pedro Orobon dies in an air raid at Madrid.
February 20
Republican General Asensio Torrado resigns.
February 21
League of Nations Non-Intervention Committee ban on foreign
national and stateless "volunteers" went into effect.
February 27
The newly formed Abraham Lincoln Battalion, part of the IBs,
consisting mostly of North Americans had arrived at the Jarama
front February 13; they are ordered to carry out a suicidal attack.
127 men die and more than 200 are wounded. Responsibility for
poorly planned attack lies on Brigade Commander Copic, who
refuses to see the wounded leader of the "Lincolns", Robert Hale
Merriman, after the disastrous, failed action.
March 5
First council of the PCE (Communist Party of Spain) in the war.
The PCE makes a declaration in favor of democracy and against
revolution and Trotskyism. The delegates sharply attack the
government and the CNT.
March 8
Strong Nationalist attack in the Guadalajara starts at 7 a.m. Italian
troops quickly break the front and, by the end of the day, dominate
the heights, from which they can "roll" downhill to Madrid. Their
plan is to advance to Madrid via Brihuega and Guadalajara. The
attacking force includes 250 tanks, 180 pieces of artillery, 4
motorized machine gun companies, about 70 planes and a large
number of trucks.
March 9–March 11
The Italians are moving too rapidly for their units to preserve
communications and supply lines. A sudden turn in the weather
catches the Italian trucks in a snow and sleet storm, just as the
Republicans begin to hold firm south of Brihuega and Trijueque.
While the Italian planes are grounded by the weather, the
Republican air force is operating at considerable risk from airfields
outside of the bad weather zone. Low-flying fighters are machine-
gunning the stalled truck columns while vintage 1918 Breguets,
which had survived the summer air battles, run bombing missions.
Vittorio Vidali and Luigi Longo, the political leaders of the IB
Garibaldi battalion (Italian volunteers on the Republican side),
mount a propaganda campaign intended to destroy the morale of
the CTV, pulling loudspeakers up to the lines and dropping leaflets
from the air, exhorting the Italian soldiers not to shoot against their
brother workers and to leave the Fascists.
March 12
The Republican forces start a massive counterattack, with the
support of 70 Russian tanks and strong air cover. The CTV has no
AA artillery, and it suffers heavily from air attack; most casualties
belong to XI Gruppo de Banderas, whose commander (Console
Liuzzi) is killed.
March 13
Improving weather allows the Italian planes to cover the
withdrawal of Division III "Penne Nere" from the Trijueque sector,
and the battle is more or less stabilized.
March 18
Republican divisions under Cipriano Mera and Enrique Lister with
60 T-26 tanks of the Pavlov Brigade take back Brihuega, causing
the collapse of the Italian front and the rout of Division I "Dio lo
Vuole", which in turn forces Division IV "Littorio" to abandon its
positions. The rout is not stemmed till the morning of next day.
March 19
The Guadalajara battle ends, the rout stops short of the bases from
which the Nationalist attack started. The Italians admit the loss of
650 killed, 1,994 wounded and some 500 prisoners, plus 90
vehicles and 25 guns. During the retreat of the Nationalists, the
Republicans capture large stocks of equipment, and a mass of
documentary evidence about the Italian intervention in Spain. The
government is hoping to lay this evidence before the
Nonintervention committee. The so-called "London Committee"
will declare itself incompetent to receive this evidence from any
source not represented in the Committee itself. Thereupon the
Spanish Foreign Minister, Alvarez del Vayo, will exhibit the
documents before the League of Nations Assembly in Geneva.
Ernest Hemingway is reporting for United States newspapers from
the battle and the war. He collected US$40,000 in the USA to buy
ambulances for the Republic. U.S. public opinion tends strongly in
favor of the Republic, but right-wing and anti-Communist forces in
the government control U.S. foreign policy.
March 31
Nationalist General Mola starts a new offensive in the north with
50,000 troops. After failing in the capture of Madrid, the
Nationalist army is concentrating in a campaign against the
Basques. In the morning hours the Condor Legion starts a new
tactic: massive terror strikes against nonmilitary targets, the
annihilation of complete villages. The small town Durango suffers
the first attack; some of the first bombs fall into the church during
the well attended morning Mass. Fighters fly low and machine-gun
the fleeing population. The Nationalists also attack a nearby
cloister, killing 15 nuns. Around 300 people die in this air raids,
2,500 are wounded, practically all of them civilians. A second air
attack takes place as fire brigades, police and ambulances from
Bilbao try to help the victims.
April–June
April 3
The CNT declares that the revolution must continue. In opposition
to the declaration of the Spanish Communist Party (PCE) last
month, which was pro-parliamentary democracy and against social
revolution, the anarchist CNT declares that "revolution must go
on" and that such a policy constitutes the greatest strength against
fascism. The anarchists control the province of Aragon and are
strong throughout all of Spain.
April 5
To tie down Nationalist forces and to help therefore the Basque
Army in the north, the Republican Army initiates a big offensive in
Brunete.
April 8
The PCE and the PSOE (Spanish Socialist Workers' Party) sign a
pact, committing them to work together. This creates tensions
between the socialist unions and Spain's strongest union, the
anarchist CNT.
General Miaja's troops attack Nationalist positions in Garabitas
and Casa de Campo.
April 11
Republican army attacks Nationalist positions in Santa Quitera.
April 14
6th anniversary of the Second Spanish Republic
April 16
The Republican government restricts the attributions of war
commissars, made under pressure of the Soviet advisors and the
PCE.
April 19
Decree of Unification: Franco declares the amalgamation of the
hard right Falange and the conservative Catholic Carlists, creating
the Falange Española Tradicionalista y de las Juntas de Ofensiva
Nacional-Sindicalista (FET y de las JONS). With this Franco is not
only the military leader of the rebellion, but also its political
leader.
April 23
Dissolution of Madrid "Junta de defensa"; the high command of
the Republican army, under the ministry of war, resumes command
of the frontlines at Madrid.
April 26
Bombing of Guernica, the Condor Legion's terror bombing of the
city most strongly identified with Basque national identity.
Gernika is nearly destroyed by close to three hours of bombing;
civilian targets hit and the retreating Basque Army are hit; military
factories are specifically not targeted, presumably because the
Nationalists intend to capture these intact. Also spared are the
Gernikako Arbola, traditional seat of the Biscayne assembly, and
the adjoining neoclassical Casa de Juntas, its modern seat. The
attack comes on a market day, so the human carnage is vast.
Initially proud of the attack, the Nationalists soon realize that they
have shocked the world; they soon spread the tale that the
retreating Basque Army destroyed the city themselves.
April 30
The Nationalist battleship Espana (formerly the Alfonso XIII) hits
a mine and sinks off the coast of Santander.
May 1
This year's parade for the international labour day is prohibited in
Barcelona. In recent weeks in Barcelona, confrontations between
city police and worker-organized Control Patrols (a sort of police
militia, in duty since the outbreak of the military rebellion in June
1936), have led to such a tense atmosphere that the regional
Catalonian Government prohibits the traditional May Day parade.
May 3
Violent incident at the Barcelona central telephone office. Without
knowledge of the Catalan government, the Catalan councilor for
public order, the Communist Rodriguez Salas, tries to take control
over the city's central telephone office, which has been controlled
since the beginning of the war by the CNT and UGT. Salas got this
order directly from the Catalan minister for inner affairs, Ayguade,
also a Communist. A company of Assault Guards storms the
building around 3 p.m., arresting everybody they can. The armed
guards on the machine gun post at the stairs on the second floor are
not informed in advance, nor is anyone else in the building. When
they see armed uniformed men coming up the stairs and hear the
yells and shouting from the first floor they shout "stop there and
don't come up" at which point a gunfight breaks out. The anarchist
 guards resist their attackers and keep control of the upper floors of
the building. This skirmish leads to fighting throughout the city.
Several hundred barricades are built; Communist-controlled police
units occupy high buildings and church towers, shooting at
everything that moves. The Communists attack not only the CNT,
they also arrest POUM members. The actions are obviously well
planned. Some police units and the Republican army stay neutral
in the fighting, although army officers, if members of CNT/FAI or
POUM, are also arrested if caught at Communist-controlled check
points. The police director of Barcelona — a member of the CNT
— together with the leader of the Control Patrols comes to the
telephone central in an attempt to get the occupying police forces
to leave the central peacefully. They have no success, instead
Catalonian prime minister Lluis Companys declares that he, like
everyone else, was not informed in advance by his minister for
internal affairs, but that he agrees all in all with the police action.
The radio stations of the CNT and FAI call hourly upon their
members to maintain public order and keep calm.
May 4
General strike in Barcelona. Gunfights throughout the city.
May 5
Companys obtains a fragile truce between the different fighting
groups, on the basis of which Rodriguez Salas, now blamed for the
police action against the telephone central, has to resign.
Communist commandos are still arresting people and the
Communist/Socialist official Antoni Sese is murdered, probably by
anarchist gunmen.
May 6
"Neutral" police troops from Valencia arrive in Barcelona to stop
the fighting. The 5,000 Assault Guards (chosen more or less
carefully for their political opinions, to ensure a "neutral" force and
the trust of both sides) occupy several strategic points throughout
the city. The workers abandon the barricades and the telephone
central is handed over to the government. When the Assault
Guards enter the city and passed by the central building of the
anarchist CNT, several hundreds of them salute the black and red
Anarchist flag on the building. Nevertheless, reprisals against the
anti-Stalinist left are starting throughout the Republic.
May 7
The fighting in Barcelona concludes, with more than 500 dead and
over 1500 wounded. Many are still under illegal arrest in several
Communist-controlled police stations, militia barracks and secret
prisons.
May 8
In Barcelona, police find the horribly mutilated bodies of 12
murdered young men. Eight of the bodies are so mutilated that they
cannot be identified. The four identified bodies belong to young
anarchists, illegally arrested together with eight friends on May 4
outside the Communist militia barracks in Barcelona, when they
were passing by on a truck with "CNT" written on it. The names of
the identified young men are: Cesar Fernández Neri, Jose Villena,
Juan Antonio, and Luis Carneras. Police also found the dead
bodies of the Italian anarchist professor Berneri and two of his
friends, who were arrested during the May incidents by
Communist militias.
May 11
The Communist parties (PCE, PSUC) accuse the POUM of
responsibility for the May incidents in Barcelona. While Spanish
prime minister Caballero opposes accusation and the concurrent
demand of the immediate removal of the Spanish minister of the
Interior, Angel Galarza for failing to uncover the "Trotskyite plot"
in Barcelona, he continues to lose power to the communists.
May 13
The Communist ministers demand the suppression of the POUM,
calling them a Fascist organization working for Franco, an
accusation the Communist press has made for several months in
propaganda campaigns against political opponents such as the
Anarchist councils in Aragon.
May 15
Largo Caballero resigns, Juan Negrín becomes prime minister of
the Spanish Republic. After fighting against domination of Spain
by any one faction — Communist, Anarchist, or left Socialists —
Caballero is left alone with no one on his side. Juan Negrín is
presented as the man of the hour, leader of the "Government of the
Victory", as the press presents him and his cabinet. There are no
CNT ministers in this new government.
May 27
The new Negrín government accepts the accusations against the
POUM and prohibits their newspaper La Batalla.
May 29
Daily air raids on Madrid continue, with the Nationalist air force
again superior to the Republican. The German airplanes piloted by
members of the Condor Legion are technically more advanced than
the Russian airplanes used by the Republic. Spanish pilots are
invited to Russia for training in Russian airplanes.
During an attack by the Republican air force against Nationalist air
bases and the port of Ibiza, the German battleship Deutschland
enters the area of the port to threaten the Republican planes. Two
Russian pilots, Captain Anton Progrorin and Lieutenant Wassily
Schmidt, drop their bombs on the Deutschland, causing severe
damage on the ship and killing 31 seamen.
May 30
German forces bomb Almería to repress Republican air attacks on
the battleship Deutschland. Because of the Deutschland incident,
Germany and Italy leave the meetings of the Nonintervention
committee. The German battleship Admiral Scheer shells the port
and the city of Almería with 200 grenades, causing 19 deaths, 55
wounded, and destroying 150 houses. German and Italian
battleships are concentrated in the Mediterranean Sea next to
Spain.
June 3
Nationalist General Mola dies in an airplane accident. Fidel Dávila
takes over as commander of his troops, attacking Bilbao.
June 6
The Basque Army loses the last of its air force: the last Basque air
fighters are shot down, the culmination of a suicidal resistance
against the Condor Legion. Totally outnumbered, the pilots were
flying day by day to relieve the soldiers in the trenches, and being
destroyed one after the other by the enemy.
June 7
Falange official Manuel Hedilla, leader of the left wing of the
fascist Falange, is condemned to death by a court martial. He had
opposed Franco over aspects of his leadership of the war effort and
the administration of the Nationalist occupied zone.
June 11
General Paul Lukacs, also known as Zalka Mate, born Bela Fankl,
dies during an inspection of the Republican lines at Huesca. His
car is hit by an artillery shell, the driver dies immediately. General
Lukacs himself is mortally wounded on his right temple and dies
several hours later.
The "Iron Ring", el cinturón de hierro, is a vast, labyrinthine
fortification around Bilbao, consisting of bunkers, tunnels, and
fortified trenches in several rings, protected by artillery. The
Basque Army had hoped to position themselves in the Iron Ring to
resist constant air raids and prevent the enemy from reaching the
Basque capital. However, the layout of the Ring was betrayed to
the Nationalist army, and since the first days of June the Condor
Legion have been able to target so accurately that the Ring is
bombed to pieces. Basque President Aquirre comes to the front; he
witnesses a horrible event at Mount Urcullu: A dried-out forest just
behind part of the Iron Ring is shelled with fire bombs from enemy
airplanes and artillery. Along a length of three kilometers, the
defenders on this part of the Ring are overcome by the smoke. The
attackers break through and occupy the heights near Bilbao, around
10 kilometers from the city. Basque General Gamir and the Basque
government decide to organize a slow retreat to Santander.
June 12
The Nationalist troops breach the "Iron Ring".
June 13
Street fights in Bilbao, uprising of Nationalist supporters. As the
army retreats, fifth columnists favoring the Nationalist side start a
riot in the city to take over control of strategic buildings and are
defeated under heavy losses by anarchist militias (the army is
already retreating). Afterwards, Basque police prevent the militias
from attacking Bilbao's prisons and killing imprisoned
Nationalists.
June 16
The POUM is outlawed and its leaders are arrested. The secret
police arrest most of the POUM leaders, though its head, Andreu
Nin, cannot yet be found.
June 17
Nin is arrested in Barcelona. His arrest is not announced in public;
Communist agents take him secretly to an illegal prison in Alcalá
de Henares, near Madrid. Nin is interrogated under torture by
NKVD agent Alexander Orlov.
An explosion aboard the Republican battleship Jaime I at
Cartagena causes about 300 deaths and the total loss of the ship.
Bilbao shelled by 20,000 shells. President Aquirre gives the secret
order to send 900 Nationalist prisoners over to the enemy, fearing
for their lives in the city after the total retreat of the Basque Army.
Juan Manuel Epalza leads the prisoners to the Nationalists in the
night to June 19.
June 18
The Basque government refuses the order to destroy factories in
Bilbao that are of value to a war effort. The Republican
government want to prevent the Nationalists from gaining control
of these plants. The Basque government refuses and is counting on
the outbreak very soon of a general European war, in which the
Nationalists will be beaten and they can gain back the plants.
June 19
The Nationalists enter Bilbao without opposition and begin
immediately to distribute food to thousands of women lining the
streets. Around 200,000 people flee the city. Thousands try to
reach the French coast by sea, but the Nationalist navy is waiting
for them in the Bay of Biscay. The bay is full of fugitive's
overcrowded boats, some sinking. The ships from the
Nonintervention Committee (in the Bay of Biscay, mostly British)
are watching the scene. Franco concedes two thirds of the
production from the mines and steel factories of the Basque
country to his German ally. Hitler needs these resources for his
own war preparations.
June 21
Soviet agents assassinate the POUM leader Nin.
[edit] July–September
July 6
The International Brigades (IBs) under General Lister launch an
offensive at Brunete, 25 km west of Madrid, to lift the siege of
Madrid and to draw some pressure off of the Basque army in the
north. The Republic launches this attack with their best troops and
equipment: around 50,000 men of four IBs (mostly the divisions of
generals Lister, Kleber and Campesino), 100 modern Russian tanks
and 100 Russian planes (about half the Republican air force). The
armament of the soldiers themselves is poor: they are supplied
with machine guns, grenades and artillery dating from World War
I.
July 8
Franco sends reinforcements to the Brunete front. With this the
Brunete offensive achieves one of it main goals, the relief of the
Basque army, giving the Republican troops in the north the
possibility of reorganizing their resistance. Franco sends 31
battalions, 7 batteries of artillery and the entire Condor Legion
(around 70 planes and several motorized units). The Condor
Legion uses their new and improved Bf 109s and Heinkel He 111s,
superior to the Russian planes.
July 9
IBs take Quijorna.
July 11
Republican troops take Villanueva del Pardillo. Nationalist
reinforcements reach the Brunete Front, artillery and Condor
Legion hammering the Republican troops without pause; both
sides are suffering horrible losses.
July 12
France opens the border. Angry at the permanent and obvious
breaks of the Nonintervention by the Fascist states, France opens
its border for several days, allowing a large amount of armaments
from several countries to pass into the Spanish Republic.
July 14
The Republic bans criticism of the Soviet Union. This censorship
is aimed especially against the anarchist and POUMist press and
follows a large number of complaints by the Communist party and
their press.
July 19
The Republican army retreats at Brunete, overwhelmed by the
Nationalist forces. Until today the Republic, at terrible cost, held
the bulge they created in taking Brunete. During this period, the
Nationalists concentrated overhelming artillery and air power on
the bulge, drawing upon supplies that had been accumulated for
the Santander offensive; the Republican had no uncommitted
reserves of men or weapons upon which to draw. Hundreds of
retreating Republican soldiers, whose lives could have been saved
by retreating while the Republican air force was still able to limit
the freedom of the Condor Legion, die under the machine-gun fire
of Heinkels and Messerschmitts. Gerda Taro, companion of Robert
Capa, is heavily injured by an accident during the retreat.
July 26
End of Battle of Brunete: Republican forces are thrown back to a
position only 5 km from where they started the offensive. The
Republic lost around 20,000 men and half their air force, the
Nationalists lost around 17,000 men.
August 2
Nationalist militia leader Hedilla, sentenced to death for opposing
General Franco, is imprisoned in Las Palmas. The death sentence
against him is suspended by General Franco.
August 6
A fierce dogfight over the town of Torrelavega results in the lost of
a dozen republican fighters, worsening the aerial support of
republicans in the North. ([1])
August 7
Private Catholic worship permitted in the Republic.
August 10
Consejo de Aragón (Council of Aragon) dissolved. Prime Minister
Negrín is working steadily to affirm the authority of his
government against all forms of regional and political dissidence.
Today the government announces the dissolution of the anarchist-
dominated Consejo de Aragón administration which had been
recognized by Largo Caballero in December 1936. The Anarchist
officials are arrested and the troops of General Lister, mostly
Communists, behave like invaders. The revolutionary efforts and
changes made by the Anarchists will be undone. The arrested
officials will be released in a couple of weeks, after the authority
of the council has been broken and central government authority
established.
August 13
Nationalist under the command of General Dávila start their
offensive against Santander, the next big city in their race towards
Gijón. The Republican forces were the XIV Corps of the Army
(Basque), XV Corps of the Army (Cantabrian), and the XVI and
XVII Corps of the Army (Asturian). They lack an airforce and are
further weakened by a dispute between the Basque prime minister
Aguirre and the commanding general of the army, Gamir Ulibarri.
August 15
SIM created; political meetings in Barcelona forbidden. The SIM
(Servicio de Inteligencia Militar) gives back the control of secret
police activities to the government, rather than leaving it in the
hands of Soviet and Communist intelligence organizations.
Political meetings are forbidden in Barcelona from now on. The
mixture of regionalism, anarchism, and defeatism, constituted a
steady drain of the Republican war effort. Also the situation was
unstable after the May incidents.
August 17
Socialist Party and Communist Party unity pact. The Communist
party had demanded the fusion of the Socialist Party with the
Communist Party, as would later happen in all Communist-
controlled countries. The government refuses this demand as not
appropriate for a democratic country. To put an end to this
demand, the government moved the involved parties to declare a
unity pact instead, leaving them independent.
August 24
The Republican Army, including International Brigades, starts a
major offensive at Belchite and Quinto. The intent is to lay the
ground for a later recapture of Zaragoza, a pro-Republican city in
the hands of the Nationalists. Belchite and Quinto, the most
important towns in their area, are defended by around 7,000
Nationalist militiamen, who turn out to be fanatically brave and
resourceful defending the towns, involving the Republican troops
in heavy streetfights.
August 26
The Republican Army at Santander breaks down under continual
attack from troops, artillery and around 250 airplanes. Ten
thousands of soldiers and civilians flee to the port of Santander.
Only a few, among them General Gamir Ulibarri and the leader of
the Basque government, Aguirre, can escape over the stormy Bay
of Biscay, where overcrowded boats are sinking. In secret
consultations the Autonomous Basque Government agreed with
the Italian allies of General Franco to surrender in Santoña, east of
Santander, on condition that the Basque heavy industry and
economy was left untouched. Around 25,000 soldiers, 3,000
officers and several hundred officials of the Basque army and
administration surrender themselves and hand over their weapons,
the Italians pacting to allow the Basque officers and civil servants
to go aboard two British ships waiting in the port. For many
Republicans in Spain this event is known as the Treason of
Santoña, as many of the Basque soldiers went then to join the
Francoist army in the rest of the Northern front[1]
August 27
The troops at Santoña are captured by Franco's troops, while
embarking to the British ships, Nationalist battle cruisers enter the
port and force the Basques to disembark. The Italians withdraw
from the port and the Eusko Gudarostea are made to choose
between being imprisoned or joining Franco's army. The
International Brigades attack at Fuentes de Ebro to establish a third
position, besides Belchite and Quinto, from which to retake
Zaragoza.
September 1
The Republican Army attacks Peñarroya and Córdoba.
September 4–5
Nationalists cross the river Deva and invade Asturias from the
East; Nationalists capture Llanes.
September 6–22
The Battle of El Mazuco; fewer than 5,000 Asturians and Basques
hold off more than 33,000 Nationalists and the Condor Legion in
and around the Sierra de Cuera.
September 7
Battle of Cape Cherchell between the Nationalist heavy cruiser
Baleares and the Republican light cruisers Libertad and Méndez
Núñez. In the early morning hours Baleares unexpectedly meets a
Republican convoy consisting of several merchant ships escorted
by Republican battleships. The biggest danger for the convoy is
not the Baleares itself, but Nationalist airplanes who might
approach after their sighting. While the convoy flees, along with
most of the escorting ships, Libertad and Méndez Núñez engage
Baleares. After losing contact with each other, they meet again in
the afternoon, and Libertad hits Baleares twice. While Baleares
then waits for her sister-ship Canarias, the retreating Republican
ships are attacked, ineffectively, by several Nationalist airplanes,
including Italian airplanes from the Non-Intervention-Committee
blockade on Spain.
September 22
The Nationalist VI Brigade of Navarre overruns Peñas Blancas.
The battle of Sella begins.
September 27
Solchaga's forces enter Ribadesella.
October–December
October 1
Nationalist forces occupy Covadonga.
The new main board of the UGT expels their member and former
prime minister Francisco Largo Caballero. Caballero is traveling
the country holding lectures against communist synchronizing and
Stalinism. The Cortez, the Spanish parliament, also expels
parliamentarians known to be close to Caballero. Prime Minister
Negrn is not willing or not able to back Caballero.
October 5
Franklin Delano Roosevelt, president of the United States
condemns the 'Nazi-Fascist aggressors' in Spain.
October 10
The Navarrese Brigades enter Cangas de Onis.
International Brigades and Republican army launch new attacks in
the South Ebro region.
October 13
The Madrid council of socialist parties, unions, etc., unhappy with
the overwhelming influence of the PCE (Spanish Communist
Party) on the Spanish government, confronts the Spanish Cortez
over the expulsion of "Caballeristas".
October 17
The Consejo Soberano decides to evacuate Asturias. The
Nationalists are gaining absolute control of Asturias and closing in
on Gijón. Asturian officials, their families and members of the
Republican army have to be evacuated quickly. Many Asturian
fighters organize a guerilla campaign from the high and
inaccessible mountains. With memories of the 1934 workers' revolt
and the its bloody suppression still fresh, Asturian villages empty
in terror at the approach of the Nationalists. The Asturian miners
practice a scorched earth policy, and from the ruins of their houses
often fight to the death with dynamite charges.
Largo Caballero arrested during a speech in the Madrid cinema
'Pardinas', in which he criticized the PCE; he is placed under house
arrest.
October 21
The fall of Gijón. Nationalists enter Gijón and plunder the city for
days; death sentences over Asturians are so frequently imposed
and carried out that the Nationalists themselves call their
jurisdiction "the machine gun". Rapes and murders are tolerated by
the Nationalists leadership for several days. There is no reliable
count of the thousands of civilians murdered during these days.
October 30
The Republican government abandons Valencia for Barcelona.
December 15
Start of the Battle of Teruel.
The Bombing of Guernica
The bombing of Guernica (April 26, 1937) was an aerial attack on the
Basque town of Guernica, causing widespread destruction and civilian deaths
during the Spanish Civil War. The raid by planes of the German Luftwaffe
"Condor Legion" and the Italian Fascist Aviazione Legionaria was called
Operation Rügen. The Basque government reported 1,654 people killed, but
modern research suggests between 200 to 400 civilians died.[1][2] Western
countries viewed Guernica as an example of terror bombing and gained the
impression that the Luftwaffe was committed to that tactic.[2] The bombing
was the subject of a famous anti-war painting by Pablo Picasso.
Guernica
Guernica (Gernika in Basque, and officially called Gernika-Lumo since
1983) had long been a centre of great significance to the Basque people.
Traditionally, the important administrative body, the Biscayne assembly, had
met in the town under an oak tree, the Gernikako Arbola; in more recent
years, the assembly has continued to meet in Guernica at the Casa de Juntas—
house of the historical archive of the Basque Country.
Autonomous Basque Country.
Military situation
Advances by Nationalist troops led by Generalísimo Francisco Franco had
eaten into the territory controlled by the Republican Government. The Basque
Government, an autonomous regional administrative body formed by Basque
nationalists and leftists, sought to defend Biscay and parts of Guipuzcoa with
its own light Basque Army. At the time of the raid, Guernica represented a
focal strategic point for the Republican forces. It stood between the
Nationalists and capture of Bilbao. Bilbao was seen as key to bringing the war
to a conclusion in the north of Spain. Guernica also was the path of retreat for
the Republicans from the northeast of Biscay.
Prior to the Condor Legion raid, the town had not been directly involved in
the fighting, although Republican forces were in the area; 23 battalions of
Basque army troops were at the front east of Guernica. The town also housed
two Basque army battalions, although it had no static air defenses, and it was
thought that no air cover could be expected due to recent losses of the
Republican Air Force.[3]
Market day
Guernica had a nominal population of around five thousand and the town is
thought to have housed numerous refugees who were fleeing into Republican
controlled territory. The raid also took place on a Monday, ordinarily a market
day in Guernica. Generally speaking a market day would have attracted
people from the surrounding areas to Guernica to conduct business.
There is still historical debate over whether a market was being held that
particular Monday: the Basque government had, prior to the bombing, ordered
a general halt to markets to prevent blockage of roads, and restricted large
meetings. There is common[who?] doubt, however, that the directive had been
received by all areas, including Guernica, at the time of the raid. It is accepted
by most historians that Monday "...would have been a market day".[4]
Luftwaffe doctrine, 1933-42
James Corum states that a prevalent view about the Luftwaffe and its
Blitzkrieg operations was that it had a doctrine of terror bombing, in which
civilians were deliberately targeted in order to break the will or aid the
collapse of an enemy. After the bombing of Guernica in 1937 and of
Rotterdam in 1940, it was commonly assumed that terror bombing was a part
of Luftwaffe doctrine. During the interwar period the Luftwaffe leadership
officially rejected the concept of terror bombing, and confined the air arms
use to battlefield support of interdiction operations. The Luftwaffe did not
practice "terror bombing" until 1942.[5]
The vital industries and transportation centers that would be targeted for
shutdown were valid military targets. It could be claimed civilians were not to
be targeted directly, but the breakdown of production would affect their
morale and will to fight. German legal scholars of the 1930s carefully worked
out guidelines for what type of bombing was permissible under international
law. While direct attacks against civilians were ruled out as "terror bombing",
the concept of attacking vital war industries-and probable heavy civilian
casualties and breakdown of civilian morale-was ruled as acceptable.[6]
General Walther Wever compiled a doctrine known as The Conduct of the
Aerial War in 1935. In this document, which the Luftwaffe adopted, the
Luftwaffe rejected Giulio Douhet's theory of terror bombing. Terror bombing
was deemed to be "counter-productive", increasing rather than destroying the
enemies will to resist.[7] Such bombing campaigns were regarded as diversion
from the Luftwaffe's main operations, destruction of the enemy armed forces.[8]
According to Corum, the bombings of Guernica, Rotterdam and Warsaw were
tactical missions in support of military operations and were not intended as
strategic terror attacks.[9]
The raid
The Condor Legion was entirely under the command of the Nationalist forces.
The order to perform the raid was transmitted to the commanding officer of
the Condor Legion, Oberstleutnant Wolfram Freiherr von Richthofen, from
the Spanish Command.[10]
Mission planning
While questions are often raised over the intent of the raid, the diaries of the
planner and commander of the mission made public in the 1970s indicate that
an attack on Guernica represented part of a wider Nationalist advance in the
area and was also designed to support Franco's forces already in place.[11]
It has been said[citation needed] that Richthofen, understanding the strategic
importance of the town in the advance on Bilbao and restricting Republican
retreat, ordered an attack against the roads and bridge in the Renteria suburb.
Destruction of the bridge was considered the primary objective since the raid
was to operate in conjunction with Nationalist troop movements against
Republicans around Marquina. Secondary objectives were restriction of
Republican traffic/equipment movements and the prevention of bridge repair
via the creation of rubble around the bridge.
To meet these objectives, two Heinkel He 111s, one Dornier Do 17, eighteen
Ju 52 Behelfsbomber, and three Italian SM.79s were assigned for the mission.
These were armed with medium high explosive bombs (250 kg), light
explosive bombs (50 kg) and incendiaries (1 kg).[12] The ordnance load for the
twenty four bombers was twenty-two tons in total. A follow up to the
bombing raid was also planned for the next day involving Messerschmitt Bf
109 raids in the area. The order was noted on April 26 by Richthofen as:
Starting at once: A/88 and J/88 for free fighter bomber mission on the streets
near Marquina-Guernica-Guerriciaz. K/88 (after Returning from Guerriciaz),
VB/88 and Italians for the streets and the bridge (including suburb) east of
Guernica. There we have to close the traffic, if we finally want a decision
against personal and material of the enemy. Vigon agrees to move his troops
for blocking all streets south of Guernica. If this succeeds, we will have
trapped the enemy around Marquina.[13]
First five waves of raid
Wave one arrived over Guernica around 1630 hrs. A Dornier Do 17, coming
from the south, dropped approximately twelve 50-kilogram bombs.
The three Italian SM.79s had taken off from Soria at 1530 hrs with orders to
"bomb the road and bridge to the east of Guernica, in order to block the
enemy retreat" during wave two. Their orders explicitly stated not to bomb the
town itself.[14] During a single sixty second pass over the town, from north to
south, the SM.79's dropped thirty-six light explosive bombs (50 kg). Vidal
says that at this point, the damage to the town was "relatively limited...
confined to a few buildings", including the church of San Juan and
headquarters of the Izquierda Republicana ("Republican Left") political party.
Waves three through five of the first attack then occurred, ending around 1800
hrs. The third wave consisted of a Heinkel He 111 escorted by five Aviazione
Legionaria Fiat fighters led by Capitano Corrado Ricci. Waves four and five
were carried out by German twin-engined planes. Vidal notes:
"If the aerial attacks had stopped at that moment, for a town that until then had
maintained its distance from the convulsions of war, it would have been a
totally disproportionate and insufferable punishment. However, the biggest
operation was yet to come."[14]
Subsequent raids
Earlier, around noon that day, the Junkers Ju 52s of the Condor Legion had
carried out a mission around Guerriciaz (Gerrikaraiz). Following this they
landed to rearm and then took off to complete the raid on Guernica. The attack
would run from north to south, coming from the Bay of Biscay and up the
course of the Urdaibai estuary.
The 1st and 2nd Squadrons of the Condor Legion took off at about 1630 hrs,
with the 3rd Squadron taking off from Burgos a few minutes later. They were
escorted from Vitoria by a squadron of Fiat fighters and Messerschmitt Bf
109Bs of Lutzow squadron, for a total of twenty-nine planes.
From 1830 to 1845 hrs, each of the three bomber squadrons attacked in a
formation of three Ju 52s abreast — an attack front of about 150 metres. At
the same time, and continuing for around fifteen minutes after the bombing
wave, the Bf 109Bs and Heinkel He 51 biplanes[citation needed] strafed the roads
leading out of town, adding to civilian casualties.
Outcome
Luftwaffe 1 kg incendiary bomb dated 1936.
The bombing shattered the city's defenders' will to resist, allowing the
Nationalists to overrun it. They faced little resistance and took complete
control of the town by April 29.[dubious – discuss] The attacks destroyed the majority
of Guernica. Three quarters of the city's buildings were reported completely
destroyed, and most others sustained damage. Among infrastructure spared
were the arms factories Unceta and Company and Talleres de Guernica along
with the Assembly House Casa de Juntas and the Gernikako Arbola.
Richthofen recorded that the bridge was not destroyed or even hit during the
raid and the mission was considered a failure as a result, although the rubble
and chaos that the raid created severely restricted the movement of
Republican forces.
Casualties
The number of civilian casualties has been debated and is a matter of
propaganda.
A recent study by Raul Arias Ramos in his book La Legion Condor en La
Guerra Civil states that there were 250 dead; and the study by Joan Villarroya
and J.M. Sole i Sabate in their book España en Llamas. La Guerra Civil
desde el Aire states that there were 300 dead[15] These sources have been cited
by historians such as Stanley Payne and Antony Beevor as well as media such
as the BBC and El Mundo.
See also the Bombs to casualty ratio next subsection.
After Nationalist forces led by General Emilio Mola's forces took the town
three days later, no effort to establish an accurate number seems to have been
made. The Basque government, in the confused aftermath of the raids, said
1,654 were dead and 889 wounded. These figures were adopted over the years
by some commentators outside of the conflict as accurate.[16] These figures are
represented in a majority of the literature from that period and up to the 1970s,
although they now are disputed.
The Nationalist junta gave a patently false description of the events (claiming
that the destruction had been caused by Republicans burning the town as they
fled) and seem to have made no effort to establish an accurate number.[citation
needed]
At an extreme low, the Francoist newspaper Arriba claimed, on January
30, 1970, that there had only been twelve deaths.
Bombs to casualty ratio
Issues with the originally released figures were raised following an appraisal
of large scale bombing raids during the Second World War. A comparison of
the Guernica figures with the figures of dead resulting from air attacks on
major European cities during the Second World War exposed an anomaly. It
came to be posited[who?] that the figures for Guernica were somewhat inflated.
Corum uses the figure of forty tons of bombs dropped on Guernica, and
calculates that if the figure of 1654 dead is accepted as accurate then the raid
caused 41 fatalities per ton of bombs. By way of comparison the Dresden air
raid during February 1945 which saw 3,431 tons of bombs dropped on the city
caused fewer deaths per ton of bombs: 7.2–10.2 fatalities per ton of bombs
dropped. Corum, who ascribes the discrepancy between the high death toll
reported at Guernica and in other cases such as Rotterdam to propaganda,
goes on to say that for Guernica:
...a realistic estimate on the high side of bombing effectiveness (7–12 fatalities
per ton of bombs) would yield a figure of perhaps 300–400 fatalities in
Guernica. This is certainly a bloody enough event, but reporting that a small
town was bombed with a few hundred killed would not have had the same
effect as reporting that a city was bombed with almost 1,700 dead"[1]
Views on the attack
The attack has entered the lexicon of war as an example of terror bombing. It
is also remembered by the surviving inhabitants and people of Basque as such.
Due to the lingering divisions of the conflict, the event remains a source of
emotion and public recrimination.
Military intentions
A commonly held viewpoint is that the involvement of the Luftwaffe in the
Civil War constituted a proving ground for troops employed later during
World War II. This view is supported by the comments of then
Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring at the Nuremberg Trials:
"I urged him [Adolf Hitler] to give support [to Franco] under all
circumstances, firstly, in order to prevent the further spread of communism in
that theater and, secondly, to test my young Luftwaffe at this opportunity in
this or that technical respect.[17]
Carpet bombing
Alongside the potential for gains in combat experience it is also thought that
various strategic initiatives were first tried as part of Luftwaffe involvement in
the conflict. Theories on strategic bombing were first developed by the
Luftwaffe with the first exhibition of "carpet bombing" in the September 1937
Asturias campaign. Comparisons between the raid on Guernica and the fate of
other cities during the conflict are also telling. As the fighting progressed into
March 1938 Italian pilots flying as Aviazione Legionaria under Field Marshal
Hugo Sperrle were involved in thirteen raids against Barcelona involving fire
and gas bombs.
The use of "carpet bombing" was becoming standard practice by Condor
Legion personnel. To illustrate this point, military historian James S. Corum
cites an excerpt from a 1938 Condor Legion report on this use of this tactic:
We have had notable results in hitting the targets near the front, especially in
bombing villages which hold enemy reserves and headquarters. We have had
great success because these targets are easy to find and can be thoroughly
destroyed by carpet bombing."[1]
On the Spanish side, threats made prior to the raid by General Emilio Mola to
"end the war in the North of Spain quickly" and threats apparently made
against Republicans in Bilbao afterwards implied a blunting of strategy and
that air raids were effective and set to become an increasingly favorite
instrument in the Nationalist war effort.
Other theories
Vidal outlines some other commonly voiced theories on the raid:[18]
• The lack of reconnaissance missions before the bombing suggests
to him that the Legion intended the destruction of the town rather
than a specific target. Reconnaissance missions had been ordered
as a prerequisite before raids around built-up areas on January 6,
1937. The intent of the order was to minimize civilian deaths and it
had been issued by Mola, then Supreme Commander of the Air
Force Salamanca.
• Since the raid appears to have ignored Mola's earlier plans for
reconnaissance prior to the raid, Vidal concludes that Richthofen
must have received direct orders from Mola or Franco.
• According to Nicholas Rankin (Telegram from Guernica, Faber
and Faber, London 2003, page 121):
It was Von Richthoven himself who selected the mix of blast, splinter and fire
bombs for this particular operation, agreed at a military conference in Burgos
the night before. Von Richthoven wrote in his diary: As it was a complete
success of our 250 kg (explosive) and ECB1 (incendiary) bombs.
• In Vidal's view, such a mission would have typically used 10-
kilogram bombs, and no incendiaries. Vidal also argues that the
22-ton load-out used in the raid represented a relatively large
quantity for an attack on the stated primary objective. By way of
 comparison, Vidal indicates sources which give total tonnage of
bombs dropped on the front during the first day of the offensive as
sixty-six.[19]
• Vidal argues that the Italians had been trying to obtain a separate
peace agreement with the Basque nationalists and were not
inclined to jeopardize those efforts by deliberately inflicting
civilian casualties.[20]
Media reporting
The first English language media reports of the destruction in Guernica
appeared two days later. George Steer, a reporter for The Times, who was
covering the Spanish Civil War from inside the country, authored the first full
account of events. Steer's reporting set the tone for much of the subsequent
reportage. Steer pointed out the clear German complicity in the action.[21] The
evidence of three small bomb cases stamped with the German Imperial Eagle
made clear that the official German position of neutrality in the Civil War and
the signing of a Non-Intervention Pact was a sham.[citation needed] Steer's report
was syndicated to the New York Times and then worldwide, generating
widespread shock, outrage, and fear.[citation needed] There was coverage in other
national and international editions also:
• The Times ran the story every day for over a week after the attack.
[citation needed]
• The New York Post ran a cartoon showing Hitler brandishing a
bloody sword labelled "air raids" as he towered over heaps of
civilian dead littering "the Holy City of Guernica"[citation needed] and
• The US Congressional Record referred to poison gas having been
the wall of the United Nations building in New York City, at the entrance to
the Security Council room. It was placed there as a reminder of the horrors of
war.
German apology
Recrimination for the activities of the Condor Legion and shame at the
involvement of German citizens in the bombing of Guernica surfaced
following German reunification in the 1990s. In 1997, the 60th anniversary of
Operation Rügen, then German President Roman Herzog wrote to survivors
apologizing on behalf of the German people and state for Germany's role in
the Civil War in general. Herzog said he wished to extend "a hand of
friendship and reconciliation" on behalf of all German citizens.[28] This
sentiment was later ratified by members of the German Parliament who went
on to legislate in 1998 for the removal of all former Legion members' names
from associated German military bases.
70th Anniversary
On the 70th anniversary of the bombing, the president of the Basque
Parliament met with politicians, Nobel Peace Prize winner Adolfo Pérez
Esquivel, and deputies from Hiroshima, Volgograd, Pforzheim, Dresden,
Warsaw, and Oswiecim (Auschwitz), as well as several survivors from
Guernica itself. During the meeting they showed images and film clips of the
bombing, took time to remember the 250 dead, and read the Guernica
Manifesto for Peace, pleading that Guernica become a "World Capital for
Peace".[29][30]

•
dropped on Guernica. This did not actually occur.[22]
During debates in the British Parliament Guernica was also
Picasso's "Secret" Guernica *
inaccurately described as an "open city" which contained no On April 26th 1937, a massive air raid by the
military targets.[citation needed]
German Luftwaffe on the Basque town of Guernica
Overall, the impression generated was one which fed the widely held public in Northern Spain shocked the world. Hundreds of
fear of air attack which had been building throughout the 1930s, a fear which civilians were killed in the raid which became a
accurately anticipated that in the next war the aerial forces of warring nations
would be able to wipe whole cities off the map.[citation needed] major incident of the Spanish Civil War.

Reaction in Spain The bombing prompted Picasso to begin painting

his greatest masterpiece... Guernica.
Nationalists claimed that Guernica had been deliberately burned and
dynamited by fleeing Republican forces, which had been using the city to
store ammunition and explosives; it was also claimed that reports of the extent
of the bombing had been exaggerated and were atrocity propaganda.[citation needed]
Although not denying that the air raid had happened, foreign journalists such
as the distinguished writer Brian Crozier (at that time a Republican
sympathiser) who were the first to arrive on the scene, believed that the effects
of the bombing had been exaggerated by judicious dynamiting on the part of
the Republican garrison.[citation needed] While Republican forces had been involved
in pursuing a scorched earth strategy in the past, (notably in Irun, which was
dynamited), Steer's reporting was supported by the reporting of other
journalists who witnessed the same levels of destruction.[23] The view that
civilian casualties had been kept to a minimum was not widely accepted.[citation
needed]
The delay in arrival of firemen from Bilbao and their supposed inaction
in containing the fires was also reported.[24]

[edit] Legacy
Steer's reports on the horrors of Guernica were greatly appreciated by the
Basque people. Steer had made their plight known.[citation needed] The Basque
authorities later honored his memory by naming a street in Guernica Kale
George Steer, and commissioning a bronze bust with the dedication:
"George Steer, journalist, who told the world the story about Guernica."[25]
Despite Francoist efforts to play down the reports, they proliferated and led to
widespread international outrage at the time.[citation needed]
Picasso's painting
Basque nationalists still[26] demand that the painting be brought to the town, as
can be seen in the slogan under this mural in Guernica.
Main article: Guernica (painting)
The painting became a timely and prophetic vision
of the Second World War and is now recognised as
an international icon for peace.
Despite the enormous interest the painting
generated in his lifetime, Picasso obstinately
refused to explain Guernica's imagery. Guernica has
been the subject of more books than any other work
in modern art and it is often described as..."the most
important work of art of the twentieth century", yet
its meanings have to this day eluded some of the
most renowned scholars.

Guernica quickly became a world-renowned symbol of civilian suffering

Four years research into an unauthenticated Picasso
resulting from conflict and inspired Pablo Picasso to adapt one of his existing drawing of a crucifixion, dated 12 May, 1934, has
paintings into Guernica.[27] The Spanish Republican Government had
commissioned a work from him for the Spanish pavilion at the Paris
provided a wealth of new information about
International Exposition. Though he accepted the invitation to display a piece, Picasso's use of symbolism. The study has also led
he remained uninspired until he heard of the bombing of Guernica. The
display of Picasso's work at the Republican Spain Pavilion during the 1937
to some remarkable discoveries about Guernica...
World's Fair reflected the impact on public consciousness. The painting went listed here are a few examples.
on to become a symbol indicative of Basque nationalism during the Spanish
transition to democracy. Today it resides in Museo Nacional Centro de Arte
Reina Sofía in Madrid. A tapestry copy of Picasso's Guernica is displayed on
 The images are being shown for the images in his work by incorporating them sideways
first time. They have never been seen or upside down. Sometimes, as in this case, he
in any prior publication about placed other images over the top as camouflage.
Guernica, or its creator.

Guernica's "Secret" Harlequins This fourth Harlequin has been concealed by

inversion, which is a common technique of
encryption in Hermetic magic.
"Experts," now agree that Picasso practised a form
of art-magic, linked to this was Picasso's Harlequin.
This Harlequin is identifiable by his triangular hat
and serrated collar. He is constructed from
In 1932 another famous twentieth century magician,
components of Punch and Judy theatre. The hat is
C.G.Jung... recognised Picasso's Harlequin as an
peaked with a crocodile's jaw and his square mouth
underworld character, a master of disguise
and face when viewed the right way up takes on the
associated with the occult. Picasso identified with
form of a traditional puppeteer's theatre.
Harlequin whom he also associated with Christ due
to the character's mystical power over death. In
The Crocodile and the Harlequin are common
Picasso's "secret" Guernica, he has invoked a
characters in Punch and Judy shows, their inclusion
number of unseen Harlequins to overcome the
in Guernica stems from Picasso's love of puppetry
forces of death
which began before the turn of the century in
represented in the
Barcelona where he saw many such shows and even
painting.
helped produce them with Pere Romeu at Els
Quatre Ghats . The figure falling across the
This is the largest
Harlequin's face which is often assumed to be a
Harlequin, which is
woman, in fact bears a strong resemblance to
cleverly hidden
Picasso, who appears to be identifying with the
behind the surface
victims of the bombing.
imagery.

The outline of the face can be seen in the lines and

The next Harlequin image is again inverted and can
background tones of the composition, the eyes and
be seen to the right of the previous Harlequin.
the tuft of hair to the right of the face are clearly
visible.
He is identifiable from his patchwork costume and
triangular hat and appears to be kneeling on the
The Harlequin appears to be crying a diamond tear
ground as if watching the puppet show taking place
for the victims of the bombing. The diamond is one
opposite.
of the Harlequin's symbols and in Picasso's work it
is a personal signature.

Guernica's Hidden Images of

Painters often rotate or invert paintings to check Death
balance and stability in the composition.
The preoccupying theme of
Picasso knew from this and from his Cubist
Guernica is of course death;
experiments that sideways or inverted imagery
reinforcing this, in the centre of
could have a powerful subliminal effect on the
the painting is a hidden skull
viewer and give a work hidden meanings and
which dominates the viewer's
magical secrecy.
subliminal impressions.
The next Harlequin is easily recognisable as the
The skull is shown sideways and
painting is rotated 90 degrees to the right.
has been ingeniously overlaid onto the body of the
horse, which is also a death symbol. The skull's
From this viewpoint, Harlequin's hat becomes
mechanical appearance seems appropriate to the
obvious as the figure appears to look upwards at the
modern weaponry used in the 1937 bombing.
sky as if in reference to the bombing.
Picasso often hid one or more related symbols
within a particular image as seen here.
This is another Harlequin, seen by rotating the
painting 90 degrees to the left.
Below the dying horse in the
centre of the painting is a
The outline of the face and traditional hat and mask
concealed bull's head
make him identifiable. Picasso hid many magical
contained in the outline of
the horse's buckled front leg. Its location infers that
that it is plunging its horns into the horse's belly
from below... the goring of the horse in the bullfight
was a favourite subject for Picasso and has strong
sexual overtones.

This image, like the concealed caricature of Hitler

(not discussed in this article) was first identified by
Mel Becraft, the inspired Guernica scholar and
author of "Picasso's Guernica, Images within
Images" (1987, 2nd Ed.)

All these findings have come about from studying

the "unauthenticated" 1934 Picasso drawing.

* Published in the interests of cultural and artistic

understanding. © Mark Harris 1995-6