The Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) represented the defining social issue of its time. With fascist r-mes already established in Germany, Italy and Portugal, alongside militarist authoritarian states such as Japan, many millions around the world perceived the fascist danger in Spain and responded to the call. They knew that a fascist Spain, supported by the other fascist nations, would pose a threat to Western democracy in the rest of Europe. Such an axis of forces could only be a threat as well to the young socialist Soviet Union. A fascist victory in Spain would embolden the world''s anti-democratic reactionary entente among Junkers, capitalists, colonial imperialists, feudal latifundists and the Church.
Once the war broke out, volunteers streamed in from many lands, representing various political tendencies-Communist, Trotskyist, Socialist, anarchist, syndicalist, Republican- reflecting the different strands of domestic politics within Spain itself. From the Unit
