Wpływ wojny domowej w Hiszpanii na aktywność terenową Komunistycznej Partii Zachodniej Białorusi i jej sympatyków w latach 1936–1939

Abstract

The Spanish Civil War (1936–1939) activated many political circles operating in the Second Republic. It also influenced the activity of the communist movement and, after the dissolution of its structures in 1938, its former activists and sympathisers. The article is devoted to the manifestations of the field activity of communist structures and the influence of the Iberian Peninsula conflict on that part of the Belarusian society which favourably received the message formulated by local communists or coming directly from the USSR. Issues such as the propaganda illumination of the war in Spain, the reception of recruitment slogans for the army of the Republic, and the problem of inspiring a financial effort in its favour are addressed. The echoes of the Spanish conflict, considered in the context of the functioning of the KPZB and its supporters, make it possible to conclude that this was an important but not a priority direction in the Communists’ activities. At the same time, they were part of the trend of growing pro-Soviet sentiments observable among the Belarusian community of the Second Republic.