When the Spanish Civil War broke out, Hitler and Mussolini went all-in backing Franco’s Nationalists but the big democratic powers, England and France, offered the democratically elected Republicans tepid support because they were wary of socialists and trade unionists being part of the coalition.
Their half-hearted defense of democracy emboldened the fascists and contributed to the outbreak of WWII.
Anyway, I think about this whenever I encounter anti-anti-Trump liberals. #fascism#magacoup
@JoshuaHolland It was the anarchist that scared the Hell out of them. And Stalin used one faction against another until there wasn't much left but Commie dupes and the hard core.
@gmoke Soviet influence was vastly exaggerated by Franco’s propaganda and people irrationally feared a Bolshevik revolution in Spain.
And in hindsight, it was a grave error not to back the elected Republican gov. A few years later, those democracies were reluctant allies of Stalin’s in a war that killed tens of millions. It’s possible that a robust defense of democracy against Franco’s fascists would have led to a different outcome. The half-hearted effort was consistent with appeasement.
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