Lessons from Spain in 1936: Complacing During Crisis, Rejecting Authoritarianism & Supporting Democracies

In this episode, Alex starts by briefly discussing that President Castillo of Peru has been arrested. At this time, another Peruvian president has been lost to nefarious activity in office. Apparently, President Castillo wanted to dissolve Peru’s Congress after an impeachment trial. For the rest of the episode, Alex looks into the lessons that can be learned from the early days of the Spanish Civil War. He relates them to the current issues around the world involving complacency and the need to reject authoritarianism. He notes that the war’s brutality and divisive nature came from centuries of social tensions and inequality that left far behind the rest of Europe. Spain was a testing ground for Fascism prior to World War 2; both Germany and Italy used new ideas and gave new military technologies to aid Franco’s Nationalists in Spain. Alex also focuses on how authors like Adam Hochschild, who wrote Spain in Our Hearts, have pondered whether western pressure in Spain could have prevented Hitler from becoming emboldened. Countries like the United States, France, and the United Kingdom, failed to help Republican Spain. Instead, they were complacent and naive to the threats of fascism. Alex worries that complacency is once again an enemy to protecting free and fair governments around the world.