Best Podcasts on the Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil War of 1936–39 was the defining conflict of the interwar period — a brutal proving ground for fascism, a graveyard for the international left, and a rehearsal for the wider catastrophe of the Second World War. The Explaining History podcast has covered the war from every angle: the pre-war social crisis, Franco’s coup, the International Brigades, Soviet intervention, the battle for Madrid, and the war’s bitter end. These are the essential episodes.
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The Road to War: Spain 1931–1936
Social Conflict in Spain, 1933
After two short years of social reform under the socialist PSOE, a new right-wing government came to power. In the following years, poverty, hunger and violence dismantled the modest gains made by Spain’s workers and peasants — setting the stage for civil war.
Spain’s State of Emergency and the Falange Party, 1934
The new interior minister declared a state of emergency, and the fascist Falange party — founded on the belief in the “bullet and the fist” — began its violent campaign against the left. A pivotal episode in understanding how Spain slid toward war.
The British Communist Party, Popular Fronts and Spain 1932–36
How the rise of fascism reshaped European left politics, and why the Popular Front strategy — uniting socialists and communists against fascism — shaped both Spanish politics and the international response to the civil war.
War: 1936–1938
Franco’s March on Madrid
After the election of a Popular Front government, the generals’ counter-revolution began with decisive help from fascist Italy and Nazi Germany. Franco’s Army of Africa crossed from Morocco to the mainland — and the war began in earnest.
Revolutionary Violence in Madrid in 1936
After the generals’ coup failed in Madrid, the city was dominated by anarchist militias, political violence, and the settling of scores. A vivid account of how war transformed the Spanish capital into a city of revolutionary chaos.
American and British Volunteers at the Battle of Jarama, 1937
Poorly equipped and barely trained, the International Brigades — American, British, French, German, Polish — sustained catastrophic casualties holding the road to Madrid open at Jarama. A story of extraordinary sacrifice for an increasingly compromised cause.
Spain, Stalin and European Communist Parties in the 1930s
Soviet intervention in Spain was never straightforward solidarity — it came with strings, control, and the NKVD. This episode explores how Stalin used the Spanish war for his own strategic purposes, and what that meant for the Republican cause.
Journalists and the Spanish Civil War
Hemingway, Orwell, Koestler, Gellhorn — Spain attracted the greatest writers of the age. Many were openly partisan for the Republic, and saw Spain as the world’s last chance to stop fascism. This episode examines the war’s extraordinary literary and journalistic record.
Defeat: The Battle of the Ebro and After
The Battle of the Ebro: Part One
In 1938, with the Republic running out of options, Juan Negrín ordered one last offensive — crossing the Ebro river to strike into Nationalist territory, hoping a bold victory would force Britain and France to intervene. The opening moves of the war’s decisive final campaign.
The Battle of the Ebro: Part Two
The Munich agreement shattered the Republic’s last hope that Britain and France would act. Reading from Adam Hochschild’s Spain in Our Hearts, this episode captures the overwhelming odds faced by the International Brigades as the Ebro offensive collapsed and the war entered its final phase.
Related Collections
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Part of the Explaining History Podcast Collections. Also explore: Fascism & the Far Right | Stalin & Soviet Terror | The Iranian Revolution | Neoliberalism & Thatcherism
Further Reading
These articles from the Explaining History archive go deeper on the history behind these episodes:
- The Italian Civil War — How the anti-fascist struggle continued into Italy’s liberation, 1943–45.
- The Nazi Camps and the ‘Workshy’ — The terror apparatus that awaited those who lost the fight against fascism.
- Britain, France and the Mandate System — The same powers whose non-intervention abandoned Republican Spain had reshaped the world after 1918.
- The Spanish Civil War: Prelude to a Global Struggle — A longform article on the origins and international dimensions of the Spanish Civil War.
