Subversive Patriots

The Spanish Civil War was a conflict that exacerbated political tensions felt during the interwar period. Democratic powers were keen to avoid another global conflict and were quick to pledge neutrality in the fight between Spain’s Second Republic and Franco’s nationalist rebels. The United States was similarly eager to avoid another war, but also sought a neutral standing on the grounds that the Second Republic leaned left of American politics. It was in this context that American volunteers travelled to Spain to aid the Republican war effort. In their service and writings, these volunteers expressed their grievances against the politics of 1930s and 1940s America