Abstract
The historiography of Spanish civil war has traditionally focused on those persons who identified themselves with various political and religious causes that confronted one another-Left and Right, Republicans and Nationalists, Catholics and anticlericals, fascists and antifascists, reactionary elite and progressives, Communists and anarchists. More recently, historians have begun to investigate broader social categories that are less specifically political, such as workers and women. The treatment of both political and social subjects has usually emphasized social solidarities of working-class activism, radical politics, and gender militancy. These explorations have, of course, added enormously to our knowledge of Spanish civil war and revolution. Yet in search for collective identities of politics, class, and gender, historians have forgotten anonymous individuals who asserted their own interests against demands of various causes and collectivities. This article is attempt to rectify that omission, at least partially, by examining Madrid during Spanish civil war. The battle for Madrid was one of most dramatic episodes of entire conflict. It aroused attention of world, inspired thousands throughout globe to volunteer to fight in Spain, and moved writers, such as Andre Malraux and Ernest Hemingway, to create some of best examples of literature engage of 1930s. Likewise, historians have been moved by Madrid example. Robert Colodny calls it the central epic of Spanish conflict and refers to people of city as an armed community battling against fascism. Paul Preston agrees that defense of Madrid was a heroic effort which involved whole population. 1 Wartime Madrid has remained perhaps prime example of popular antifascism.2
Published Version
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