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Mine Were of Trouble: A Nationalist Account of the Spanish Civil War

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A necessary read for N.S. & W.N. about the Spanish Civil War 1936-'39, Nationalists vs Global Communist recruits. Here is an overview of that book as it pertains to our current situation in EU, North America. But that was the Tercio, the people from whom Kemp says he wanted to “learn first-class soldiering” (p.81). One cannot help wondering whether, in similar circumstances, he would also have been content to receive similar lessons from the Waffen SS in their crusade against Communism! Puzzling, when you think about it, how the propaganda campaign succeeded so comprehensively when pretty much all of the propaganda turns out to be rubbish (does anybody take “For Whom The Bell Tolls” seriously?). But quantity matters….

Reddit [Poem] I to my perils by A.E. Housman : r/Poetry - Reddit

Many of these men didn’t make it home. Kemp’s illustration of how suddenly a man’s life ends is carried by his dryly English commentary in a number of places. His meetings and friendships with Nationalist co-sympathizers tend not to last, as reassignments shuffle the soldiers all over the country. Apparently having done the legwork after the war, Kemp notes—with some forced detachment—on whatever engagements some of these friends were involved with after their parting, and often how they died. One of the striking aspects of the book is just how much better the International Brigades (i.e. international communism) was at media and international recruiting than the Nationalists. The Nationalists had some limited support from Germany and Italy (mainly to test weapons), but fairly limited organic support by international individuals, and almost none from Anglo-American sphere (and this little written in English). This included stupidly not supporting press visits (they were all viewed as spies by the Nationalists), ensuring they were covered badly (either ignored or made to appear evil). If there must be trouble, let it be in my day, that my child may have peace; and this single reflection, well applied, is sufficient to awaken every man to duty. — Thomas Paine Lots of interesting anecdotes and people he meets… Mannerhiem’s newphew, Kim Philby (when Kemp writes the book in the 50s it is still unknown he was a communist spy), White Russians and a whole assortment of anti communists, conversely he thought that the toughest enemies were the International Brigades specifically Germans, who had no where else to go should the Republic Fall.As I said, his story mirrors Orwell's, at least superficially, in many ways. Both were Englishmen who came to Spain and fought in the war; both were wounded in battle; both wrote accounts of their experiences which also include a historiography of the conflict. Orwell was of course the superior writer and had a much more sophisticated political education, but he saw much less combat (through no fault of his own) and his hatred of Fascism blinded him to the factional complexity of the Nationalist side, even though he was able to see the contradictions of his own with ruthless clarity. Neither endeavoured to write a book of propaganda, but Kemp felt compelled to dispute many of the atrocity claims laid at the feet of the Nationalists, and he is honest enough about things like the execution of Loyalist prisoners to make me believe he was at least trying to tell the truth as he experienced it. Now, the Spanish Civil War was one of incredible factional intricacy. The Loyalist (Left) side consisted of communists, anarchists, Trotskyists, Republicans, and God knows what else, all of whom disliked, feared and even hated each other. It was supported with equipment and advisers by Stalin, and its army by the International Brigades of foreign volunteers from all over the world. The Nationalist (Right) side was not less factionalized, though in the habit of right-wing movements it did not cannibalize itself the way the leftists always seem to: it consisted of monarchists, Fascists, nationalist/conservatives, traditionalists, and on a military plane, also had a lot of foreigners in its ranks, by virtue of the Army of Africa, which Franco brought with him from Spanish Morocco when the war began: also by the Spanish Foreign Legion. It was supported in turn by Hitler, who sent the Condor Legion, and Mussolini, who sent 20,000 soldiers. So...the reader can be forgiven if he is periodically confused that reality does not conform to something as simple as "North vs. South" or "Reds vs. Whites." However, Kemp does a credible job of keeping the central issues fairly clear. I was conscious of Father Vicente beside me; his spiritual duties finished, he was bent on seeing that we did not allow the fleeing enemy to escape unpunished. He kept on pointing out targets to me, urging me shrilly to shoot them down, and effectively putting me off my aim. It seemed to me that he could barely restrain himself from snatching my rifle and loosing off…Whenever some wretched militiaman bolted from cover to run madly for safety, I would hear the good Father’s voice raised in a frenzy of excitement: ‘Don’t let him get away – Ah! don’t let him get away! Shoot, man, shoot! A bit to the left! Ah! that’s got him,’ as the miserable fellow fell and lay twitching.”

Mine Were of Trouble by Peter Kemp | Goodreads Mine Were of Trouble by Peter Kemp | Goodreads

On that note, when we speak of the Spanish Civil War, we too often find the penetration of Communist propaganda into the conversations of even the most uninterested and uninformed commentators. This isn’t a new phenomenon by any means, however, as Kemp notes rather early in the book how the international efforts of groups like ComIntern had successfully ginned up international support for the Republicans at the expense of the Nationalists. The inferno of Guernica, commonly attributed to the Nationalists even today, was intentionally misattributed at the time—simple research and testimony is enough to reveal the truth, but the international media, like it does today, sided with communist interests at the expense of nationalist’s. This reveals the fundamental difference in their belief systems, too: for the communist, the real war is over information and clout; for the nationalist, it’s over the tangibles of culture. Thousands of foreigners, too, join the struggle. Most fight with the Soviet-sponsored International Brigades or other militias aligned with the loyalist “Republicans”. Only a few side with the rebel “Nationalists”. One of these rare volunteers for the Nationalists was Peter Kemp, a young British law student. Kemp, despite having little training or command of the Spanish language, was moved by the Nationalist struggle against international Communism. Using forged documents, he sneaked into Spain and joined a traditionalist militia, the Requetés, with which he saw intense fighting. Later, he volunteered to join the legendary and ruthless Spanish Foreign Legion, where he distinguished himself with heroism. Because of this bravery, he was one of the few foreign volunteers granted a private audience with Generalissimo Francisco Franco.Franco goes on to warn of the communist threat, especially to British education, spreading “subversive influences among our youth”. Franco had that exactly right. It is depressing to see the depths to which these “subversive influences” have degraded Britishers. And not only them, of course, but everywhere leftist subversion is allowed free reign, even Franco’s Spain, which defeated the left, but the left, like cancer or toe nail fungus or sin, returned, and now Spain is as left infected as any European, formerly Christian, society. The war never ends.

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