Why did the church support the Fascists in the Spanish civil war?

Question

I know some of the clergy didnt, but i have read that the church in Ireland raised money and blessed the Blueshirts (volunteers who fought for the Fascists) before they set off for Spain.

Answer 1

Not quite so:

Support from the West, the economic transformation of Spain in the 1960s and the subsequent peaceful transition to democracy after Franco’s death have created the impression that somehow his regime was not fascist, or at least different from fascist Italy and n**i Germany. In reality, Spain suffered under its own form of military-clerical fascism which, especially in its early years, was just as brutal as Hitler’s or Mussolini’s regimes.

Yet despite massive repression people would eventually fight back, an experience that is often forgotten when recalling this terrible period in Spain’s recent history.

During the Civil War, Franco’s military strategy was based on a slow and systematic destruction of the enemy, rather than ending the war quickly. His aim was the annihilation forever of what was termed the “anti-Spain”.

In territory occupied by his armies anyone known for their left wing ideas, such as a union member who had refused to grovel to the boss or the priest, was shot.

At least 100,000 were executed. Once the war ended thousands more were slaughtered and hundreds of thousands were imprisoned.

Between 1940 and 1942 alone it is calculated that 200,000 people died as a result of executions, mistreatment and hunger caused by the new regime’s economic policies. Over 400,000 fled into exile — 9,000 of them would later perish in n**i death camps.

But such terror cannot be understood by citing figures alone. Daily life for the defeated was unbearable. Punitive ­legislation meant that personal property of the defeated could be confiscated, however miserable. The loss of your house, or a small plot of land, or even a sewing machine, could mean absolute destitution. Those identified as “reds” were denied work and harassed.

Under the all-pervasive umbrella of “National Catholicism”, the church totally controlled education and public morals. It preached and helped enforce total acceptance, as god given, of class differences and unfettered exploitation. And it made sure that women were legally subordinated to men.

Franco also set out to eliminate all vestiges of any culture or symbol that was not truly “Spanish”. Thus the Basque and Catalan languages and culture were totally repressed.

Above all, Franco’s regime aimed to guarantee unhindered exploitation of the working class. A fascist charade of “vertical unions”, which included both workers and bosses, made sure that discipline was maintained. Wage levels and working conditions, already poor by Western European standards, plummeted, while profits soared.

Resistance

http://www.socialistworker.co.uk/art.php...

http://www.geocities.com/irelandscw/band...

Answer 2

Think about it, the Fascists had money and power. The resistance did not. The church wanted power and was afraid of what the fascists would do if they didn't side with them. It always boils down to money, power, and the military threat.