This work, by English historian and journalist Christopher Othen, fills a major gap in the history of the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939), the very neglected subject of the foreign volunteers who fought on the Nationalist side.

Othen’s treatment is chronological, which allows him to discuss the role of some foreign actors in the preparation for the abortive coup that initiated civil war. He gives a good account of why the coup failed, and how the Nationalists came to recruit foreign volunteers. In contrast to the Republic, which actively recruited through the efforts of the Comintern, the Nationalists made no deliberate effort to recruit foreign volunteers.

While they actively recruited Moroccan personnel, who were Spanish subjects, Nationalist leaders like Emilio Mola and Francisco Franco appealed to Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany not for troops, but for military matériel, and found that the price of arms and equipment was to accept troops as well. There were, of course, other volunteers – French, Irish, Portuguese, Russian, Belgian, Eastern European, and more, even some Americans and Britons. Among those were some men of Jewish and African descent, most of whom served individually, in the Spanish Foreign Legion or Falangist and Carlist militias, rather than in national contingents.

Othon weaves the story of the various foreign contingents into a chronological account of the larger war. He covers prewar political developments, the gestation of the coup d’etat that triggered full scale civil war, through the nearly three years of struggle, and even into the postwar era.

Many of the foreign volunteers came in singly, seeking adventure, or in the belief they were defending the Church, or desirous of fighting Communism. Germans and Italians, of course, were sent by their governments, others were prompted by the hope of gaining some political advantage back home. Othan’s coverage of the various groups is somewhat uneven, so while the Moroccans, the largest group of volunteers, receive appropriate coverage, the Irish, the French, and British contingents are treated in more detail than the much more numerous Germans and Italians, who receive relatively little attention.

Unlike most accounts of the Republic’s International Brigades, Othen’s treatment of the volunteers for the Nationalists is warts- and-all. So we get accounts of atrocities committed by the Nationalists, while he reminds us that both sides fought a very dirty war.

While a few more, and better, maps would be useful, as well as a tabular summation of the various foreign contingents in Franco’s forces, this is a major contribution to the literature of the Spanish Civil War.

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Note: Franco’s International Brigades is also available in hardcover & e-editions.

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