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The Spanish Civil War, a major conflict that took place after an attempted coup d'état by a group of Spanish Army generals, devastated Spain from July 1936 to April 1939, and ended with the victory of the rebel troops, the overthrow of the Second Spanish Republic, and the founding of a dictatorship led by the Fascist General Fransisco Franco.
Under the presidency of Lázaro Cárdenas, Mexico offered asylum to Spanish expatriates fleeing the war. Left: "Death of a Loyalist Soldier", Robert Capa, 1936. |
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"on the Ebro they were retreating."– UTV, 99.
The Ebro is the second largest river on the Iberian peninsula, and Gandesa, about seventy miles from delta, was the site of a decisive battle between August and November 1938, which marked the beginning of the end for the Republicans The phrase echoes in Hugh's mind throughout the novel, as a sign of the guilt he feels about dallying with Yvonne; his "betrayal" of the Republicans thus acting as a correlative for his betrayal of Geoffrey. Right: Members of the Repuplican 59th battalion fire a trench mortar on the Gandesa front (uncredited). |
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Above: Propaganda posters for the Republican cause.
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