Would you fight for a country that isn’t your own? This is what the International Brigade did for Spain during their civil war between 1936 and 1939. Find out how Spain, almost 100 years later, is thanking them.
The Spanish Civil War was a long and tough fight between the ‘franquistas’, those who supported the Spanish dictator Francisco Franco, and the ‘republicanos’, those who were against facism. Although civil, this battle alerted other countries, as there had been a sudden rise fascism in Europe, like Germany and Italy. This caused around 30,000 people to voluntarily and dangerously travel to Spain to help with the fight against fascism. These people were the International Brigade.
Unfortunately, the war ended in 1939 with a lot of innocent blood spilt and with the defeat of the republicans, which marked the start of an almost 40-year-long dictatorship in this country. The remaining Brigadiers returned to their countries.
Between 1996 and 1999, The Spanish government offered Brigadiers to apply for Spanish citizenship, with many declining as it meant renouncing their current one. In 2007, they allowed remaining Brigadiers and their children to apply for citizenship, but this time keeping their original one.
Fast forward to this decade! The Democratic Memory Law allows descendants of the International Brigadiers to apply for Spanish citizenship yet again. This also covers the descendants of those who had to exile Spain due to the war- giving them a chance to discover their roots despite being born in a different country.
At the beginning of November, it was confirmed that 170 people were granted Spanish citizenship, 54 children of Brigadiers and 117 grandchildren.
However citizenship isn’t just a free gift, to receive it you have to prove you are actively supporting what the Brigadiers did and are fighting to keep their memory alive.
Recognition of the brave people who fought for our freedom in the past, is an essential way to remember and learn from our past mistakes as well as keep their memory alive- what do you think? Watch Lily chat about this piece of Spanish history on Monday’s programme.
