Spanish Civil War

American  

noun

1. the civil war in Spain 1936–39.

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Spanish Civil War British  

noun

1. the civil war in Spain from 1936 to 1939 in which insurgent nationalists, led by General Franco, succeeded in overthrowing the republican government. During the war Spain became an ideological battleground for fascists and socialists from all countries

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Spanish Civil War Cultural  

1. A war fought in the late 1930s in Spain. On one side were the Loyalists, Spaniards loyal to a recently elected government in the form of a republic; on the other side were fascists (see fascism), led by General Francisco Franco. The Soviet Union sent aid to the Loyalists, some of whom were communists; the German and Italian fascist dictators, Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini, supported Franco. The Spanish fascists won the war and set up Franco's long rule of Spain as a dictator.

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Many Americans favored one side or the other in the Spanish Civil War, particularly people of left-wing sympathies, who supported the Loyalists. The Abraham Lincoln Brigade included Americans who traveled to Spain to fight in the Loyalist cause.

Example Sentences

In 1936, Lam joined the Republican army, made antifascist posters and defended against the Nationalist forces of Francisco Franco, before fleeing the Spanish Civil War for Paris in 1938.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 31, 2026

Spain’s fascist ruler Francisco Franco erected the Arco de la Victoria to celebrate his victory over the Second Republic in the Spanish Civil War.

From Salon • Nov. 5, 2025

She learned how to play the cuatro from her father, whose family took refuge in Venezuela during the Spanish Civil War.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 11, 2025

It was from the military bases in this territory that in 1936, Gen Francisco Franco launched a coup against the Republican government, starting the Spanish Civil War.

From BBC • Dec. 25, 2023

It was suddenly cool to know stuff, to expatiate on the causes of the Spanish Civil War.

From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides