Evening star., 1939-03-05
By JOSEPH M. ESCUDER.

ternational factors. AS matter
fact, they are largely an internal
reflection of the international Strug-
gle for control of Spain. In order
to give the picture. must therefore
6rst sketch the background briefly.
AS the war draws to close, it
becomes obvious that its outcome
is being determined by outside gov
ernments. Each, taking advantage
Of the deep, ng-standing social
conflict within Spain. has been try
ing to swing the victory in such a
way as to strengthen its own posi-
ton in the world scramble for Su-
premacy. Open and secret interven-
ton, on both sides, has turned a
civil war into an international war.
Fascists' Control a Question.
do not know in detail how Fas-
cist intervention affected internal
policies and events in Gen. Franco S
territory. Some cool observer is
needed to describe, from the inside,
to what extent the immense help
given to Gen. Franco by Italy and
Germany has procured political con-
troll for them.
On the Republican side, inter-
vention has been a far different
and much more complicated story.
Because Mussolini and Hitler were
so openly with Gen. Franco, every
power playing the opposite game
was afraid to match them; they
thought this might involve a risk
of war before they were fully pre-
pared This explains why France
and England held aloof. 1t also ex-
plains why Russia has played such
a strange and significant role.
The part played by Russian for
eign policy inside of Spain-that is,
In Republican Spain's internal af-
fairs-is the key to the struggle
within Republican ranks. 1t has
been frequently charged that Bar
celona was an outpost of MOSCOW
and that the Republicans are Reds" :"
How true is this? The answer is
that the fight to determine these
very questions is what has been going
on in Republican politics throughout
the war.
Russia Played Wary Game.
AS a power, Russia has played a
very wary game in the Spanish war.
1t has tried not to go very far. OPEN
ly, in its support of the anti-Fascists;
certainly it has never committed it.
self, either in words or. what is far
more important. in material, any
where near so much as the Fascist
powers for Gen. Franco. It's whole
policy has been, externally, to try to
push or maneuver the capitalist
democracies to support the Repub-
lican side. and, internally, to
control Republican government poll
cies in order to guarantee that MOTH
ing would be done that would not
please England and France.
The instrument of the Soviet for
elgn Office in carrying out this policy
is the Spanish Community party. At
the beginning of the war, it was
negligible in size and influence. The
sympathies of the great majority of
the population were shared by the
Republican, the Socialist and the
Anarcho-Syndicalist doctrines. The
considerable amounts of arms, NUM-
tions, planes and food supplies sold
to the Republican government bv
Russia at certain critical times in the
war were the basis of boasts in Com
munlst propaganda, that gave this
party its first taste of popularity
and power.
Eventually, it came to enjoy a
unique position. for the sharpening
need OF war material and supplies.
the aloofness of the democracies
and the heavy reinforcements con-
stantly provided for Gen. Franco,
made Russia seem the only hope
Ihe Communists, therefore, could
extract almost any concession from
the Republican government. Thev
mad mighty ''or else to bargain
with; and they used it.
Power a Weakening Influence.
Strange as it seems. they did not
use their power to strengthen the
reVolutlonarieS and the left in gen.
eral. On the contrary. the Soviet's
foreign policy required exactly the
opposite OF them. They therefore
maneuvered, first, to entrench them
selves In an increasingly dictatorial
position; second, to eliminate from
the political arena all possible op-
position. beginning with the left
and proceeding steadily, as oppo-
nents were disposed of, to the elimi-
nation of the moderates and the
right. At the beginning, they
worked with the conservatives
against the P. o. U. NJ, the Anar-
chists, and the Socialists led by
former Premier Largo Caballero;
but, soon enough, they were involved
In a struggle for power with the
conservatives. too.
The Communists did not hesitate
to risk the situation of constant
intrigue and strife resulting from
their drive to power, which. in my
opinion, was responsible more than
any other internal factor for the
outcome of the war.
Their first moves were to use
Russian equipment and arms as
leverage to seize control of certain
key posts and key sections of the
army, which they succeeded in re-
organizing in such way as to give
them more power. Soon after the
first material began to come from
Russia, they controlled aviation and
tanks and dominated the political
commissariat, which was supposed
to represent all sectors of opinion
in the army. In this way, they
managed to institute "check off -
system In many units of the army:
that is, membership cards and dues
for the Communist party were
handled as part of the pay roll
routine. Soldiers and plenty of
officers who were so unwise as to
demur. on the ground that they
were Republicans, or Socialists, or
Anarchists. and therefore didn't