IB History Spanish Civil War: Effects of War Notes

Key Questions

1. What were the social and economic effects of the war?
2. What were the short term and long term political effects of the war?
3. What territorial changes took place as a result of the war?
4. What was the impact of the war on the role and status of women?

Human Cost

1. The Spanish Civil War resulted in a devastating loss of life, with approximately 100,000 Republican fighters and around 70,000 Nationalist soldiers killed during the conflict.
2. After the war, Franco initiated a campaign of political repression, known as the “White Terror,” which led to the deaths of an additional estimated 40,000 to 200,000 individuals.
   1. Roughly a quarter of a million people fled Spain into exile, with many seeking refuge in camps in France.
   2. Thousands of Republicans and suspected sympathisers were imprisoned for years in concentration camps and jails across Spain.
   3. Many children of Republican families were removed from their parents for “re-education,” often being placed with Nationalist families or in orphanages where they were taught to reject their parents’ political beliefs.
3. These events left deep social divisions and bitterness that endured in Spanish society for decades.

Economic Cost

1. The war severely damaged Spain’s economy, destroying roughly 10–15% of the nation’s wealth and leaving per capita income in 1939 nearly a third lower than in 1935.
   1. Much of Madrid’s industrial infrastructure, including 70% of its factory machinery and its tram network, required complete reconstruction.
   2. One-third of Spain’s merchant fleet was unusable, and high inflation took hold due to wartime spending and the overprinting of currency.
2. Franco reversed land reforms introduced by the Republicans, which kept agriculture inefficient and left many labourers unemployed or underemployed.
3. Spain faced large foreign debts, and the shortage of skilled workers after the war made economic recovery slower.
   1. Attempts to secure loans from Britain and Germany were hindered by demands for repayment of existing debts and wartime assistance before new investment was considered.
4. The outbreak of World War Two created some economic opportunities, as Spain leveraged neutrality to gain trade agreements with Britain and France, but German exploitation of Spanish resources also weakened the economy.
5. Spain experienced famine in 1946, and by that time industrial output was still below 1918 levels.
6. Aid from Argentina helped in the short term, and in later decades, particularly during the 1950s and 1960s, economic reforms and global trade integration led to industrial growth and the development of a strong capitalist economy.

Political Effects

1. Franco emerged as the unchallenged ruler of Spain, maintaining an authoritarian dictatorship until his death in 1975.
   1. His regime justified its rule as a defence against Communism and used the “White Terror” to suppress Republican supporters, including intellectuals, writers, and artists.