The Spanish Civil War

Dan Snow's History Hit

History Hit

History

4.7 • 12.9K Ratings

🗓️ 5 October 2025

⏱️ 63 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Why did Spain spiral into civil war in 1936? Today, we delve into the grinding class conflicts and ferocious political divisions that split Spain in two, from the dictatorship of the 1920s to the ambitious and divisive government of the early 1930s. We explore why democracy unravelled in Spain, and how foreign intervention - or lack of it - turned a bungled coup into a full-blown conflict that killed half a million people, and gave rise to the regime of Francisco Franco.

We're joined by Helen Graham, Professor of Modern European History at Royal Holloway and author of 'In the Shadow of Defeat: Radical Lives After the Spanish Civil War'. She explains how important international players were in shaping the conflict, and how crucial it was to the broader course of European history.

Produced by James Hickmann and edited by Dougal Patmore.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello, folks, Dan Snow here. I am throwing a party to celebrate 10 years of Dan Snow's history hit.
0:06.1	I'd love for you to be there. Join me for a very special live recording of the podcast in London, in England on the 12th of September to celebrate the 10 years.
0:14.1	You can find out more about it and get tickets with the link in the show notes. Look forward to seeing you there.
0:29.2	This episode is brought to you by Specsaver's home visits. Do you or a loved one struggle to make it to the opticians on your own? Specksaver's team of specialist mobile opticians
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1:19.2	visits.
1:24.0	In the 1930s, Europe was racked with tension.
1:29.7	Authoritarianism, nationalism, communism, all thriving amidst the wreckage of catastrophic economic dislocation.
1:41.6	In 1936, a brutal conflict erupted in Spain.
1:45.6	It was a civil war that would tear the country apart,
1:48.1	claim hundreds of thousands of lives,
1:50.4	and establish a nearly four decades-long right-wing dictatorship.
1:55.0	It also offered a chilling preview of the global war that was to come.
2:04.6	The Spanish Civil War, a violent clash of ideologies. Neighbors turned on neighbors.
2:06.6	Cities were bombed to rubble.
	...

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