Entrenching Democracy: Education and Cultural Participation in the Spanish Republican Army,1936–1939

Abstract

This article examines the mobilizing and legitimizing function of educational and cultural activities in the Spanish Republican Army during the Spanish Civil War, 1936–1939. Education and cultural participation played a crucial role in the Republican government’s attempts to co-opt left-wing revolutionary forces emboldened by the war and unite antagonistic constituencies in an inclusive, government-led war effort. Such attempts converged on the construction of a new conscript army, where investment in education was not solely a matter of military expediency but also a means to implement, in the crucible of war, important aspects of a reform programme initiated with the proclamation of the Spanish Second Republic in 1931. Consequently, the Republican Army did not only serve as the Republic’s armed defence force but also as a laboratory of political education in which both civil and military authorities could negotiate, articulate and disseminate new notions of Republican citizenship.

Drawing primarily on army records and trench journals from the Army of the Centre, the article shows how Republican educators and cultural workers employed a diverse range of techniques to deliver a reform programme designed to profoundly change Spanish politics and society. It also examines largely neglected questions of reception. Where soldiers’ engagement was forthcoming, educational activities could equip individuals with experiences and skills that were – and were understood to be – empowering. Yet in quantitative terms, rank-and-file engagement with educational activities was uneven and often quite limited. Contextual factors on all levels – international, national and local – impacted in various ways on soldiers’ educational and cultural participation, but ultimately it was the impending defeat of the Republic that undermined most soldiers’ willingness to engage. As a positive progressive vision of a future Republic faded among the debris of destroyed buildings, enthusiasm for a Republican educational programme inevitably faded too.