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

Mr. Beevor is the author of many books on military history, including accounts of the Spanish Civil War, the Battle of Stalingrad and the fall of Berlin.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 17, 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

In Silverman’s telling, the filmmaker, Joris Ivens, a Dutchman working in the United States, is already an undercover infiltrator for Soviet interests when the Spanish Civil War breaks out in 1936.

From New York Times • Nov. 30, 2023

Tens of thousands of Spaniards fled along this route to France during the Spanish Civil War in the 1930s, while many allied forces and Jews escaped in the other direction during the Nazi occupation.

From BBC • Nov. 4, 2023

Facing an uncertain fate, he fought in the Spanish Civil War, eventually settling in Chile.

From "Endgame" by Frank Brady