British Government Maritime Evacuations in the Spanish Civil War, 1936–1939

Abstract

The Spanish Civil War represents the most important and brutal conflict between the two world wars. This brutality makes humanitarian efforts to alleviate suffering important, but we have much to learn about British government-backed maritime rescue efforts of adults at risk from violence behind the lines. This article provides a history of these efforts which corrects the neglect of the Francoist repression in the historiography of British diplomatic responses to the Civil War and questions the argument that UK front-line diplomats acted according to a sense of fair play. It also demonstrates the importance Francoist indifference to humanitarian initiatives.