Your Children Will Be Next

Both these monographs scrutinise issues of cultural history and, more precisely, the effects of propaganda during and after the Spanish Civil War. Stradling's re-examination of the opposing Republican and Nationalist campaigns of aerial bombardment challenges widely-held views. In line with most of the historiography, the author asserts that throughout the war Nationalist aviation tactics may have included ‘deliberate terrorism against civilians’ (p. 55). Yet he correctly points out the failure of the literature to confront seriously the issue of Republican bombing of Nationalist cities, which he feels was equally or even more intentional as Nationalist bombardments. His meticulous examination is a significant contribution to the historiography. He provides the most thorough history of the bombings which occurred in the first few months of the civil war in the town of Getafe and questions whether the deliberate destruction of its residential area by Nationalist aviation actually happened. His examination of the Gernika devastation is also excellent, even if he is too quick to characterise the justified outrage of the Republican defenders as ‘propaganda’ (p. 218). His coverage of the lesser-known Nationalist air attacks on Lérida, Granollers, and Alicante is exemplary

Ancient history · Battle · Historiography · Nationalism · Outrage · Political science · Politics · Spanish Civil War · Terrorism · History · Law · Spanish History and Politics