Soviet Strategy in the Spanish Civil War, 1936-39

This book examines the influence and strategic efforts of the Comintern, the agency created in 1919 by Lenin to promote world revolution, during the Spanish civil war. The author explores how Soviet actors took control of the War Commissariat and the Republican Government’s foreign radio broadcast service, in order to craft and diffuse an interpretation of the conflict that would serve Soviet foreign policy interests. This effective infiltration and control, contrary to a significant scholarly consensus, was not an accidental by product, but the result of careful planning and execution. Challenging dominant interpretations of the Spanish Civil War, the author reveals how the Comintern’s internal assessment of the nature of the war was in fact, in stark contrast with the evolving public narrative it promoted from July 1936. Rather than a genuine effort to combat fascism and ‘defend the democratic republic,’ the strategy of the Soviet government in the Spanish Civil War was specifically designed to drive a wedge between capitalist and ‘imperialist’ powers, thereby hindering the formation of a much-feared ‘all-imperialist, all-capitalist’ military alliance against the USSR. With chapters delving into key topics such as the manipulation of public narratives, the strategic deployment of propaganda, and the construction of memory, this book presents new insights for scholars of the Spanish Civil War, the Soviet Union, and collective memory studies.

Author Biography

Gustavo Martín Asensio is an independent scholar based in Spain. He studied for his Ph.D. at Surrey University, UK, and his M.A. at Regent College, the University of British Columbia, Canada. Gustavo has published several books and articles on contemporary history including The Comintern in Spain before the Civil War (2024).