This year marks the 75th anniversary of the conclusion of the Spanish Civil War of 1936-1939, a national conflict with profound international reverberations.

The Spanish Civil War was one of the major proxy wars of twentieth-century Europe, pitting an alliance of right-wing military and paramilitary insurgents backed by the Axis powers (Germany and Italy), against the democratically-elected Popular Front government supported by the USSR. The democratic powers (France and Great Britain), espoused a policy of neutrality, a course of action actively opposed by thousands of their citizens who enlisted as volunteers in the International Brigades, a global organisation whose membership stretched from New York to Shanghai.

In Portugal, the outbreak of hostilities was doubly welcomed by the Estado Novo (headed by António Oliveira de Salazar) as both a pretext to radicalise the regime and a unique opportunity to replace the democratic Spanish Republic with a form of government that was ideologically compatible with Salazar's dictatorship. The international ramifications of the Spanish conflict were both wide-reaching and profound. On the one hand, insurgent victory encouraged fascist expansionism, confirmed the appeasement policy adopted by the democratic powers, the political isolation of the USSR and the failure of international diplomacy. On the other hand, the greatest victim of this transnational war fought within the Spanish borders was Spain's civilian population.

To mark the 75th anniversary of this seminal event, the Instituto de História Contemporânea will host an international conference that will feature the participation of several distinguished scholars.

The Instituto de História Contemporânea invites the submission of papers (guerracivil.ihc@gmail.com) on any theme concerning European intervention/non-intervention in the Spanish Civil War. 

The acceptance of conference papers will be decided on 30 September 2014. The full conference programme will be announced on 9 October 2014.

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Contact:

Rúben Serém

Instituto de História Contemporânea

Faculdade de Ciências Sociais e Humanas

Universidade Nova de Lisboa

Av. Berna, 26 C

1069-061 Lisboa

guerracivil.ihc@gmail.com