Notes
'The Spanish War was one of the decisive events of our epoch, everyone said so at the time it was being fought, and everyone was right.' Lionel Trilling, quoted in The Passionate War by Peter Wyde. This 2-CD set tells the story through songs and letter excerpts of two idealists starting their marriage while participating in an international effort to stop fascism in 1937-1938 before the start of World War II. George Watt went to Spain to fight with the Abraham Lincoln Battalion of the International Brigade for the democratically elected government of Spain. Ruth Rosenthal Watt remained in New York City at a job with the WPA. While fervent in her denunciation of war and active in organizing peace demonstrations, she also worked to foster public opinion favoring US involvement in Spain. She canvassed friends to send care packages to individual soldiers containing the necessities for the foxhole - coffee, cigarettes, gum, wool garments, and most importantly, news from the home front. She coped with the loneliness of being left behind, typing daily letters to George from her desk at work while avoiding the scrutiny of her boss. George learned to be a soldier at the front, to speak Spanish while handling his machine gun, to survive the fire of battle and the excruciating loss of comrades while far from the comforts of home. Music was an important part of rallying support around the world and keeping up the spirits of the troops in Spain. Songs of the period are sung in Spanish, English, German, French and Yiddish and interwoven with the reading of excerpts of letters exchanged between George and Ruth. The Spanish Civil War and the International Brigade For 1500 years the Spanish people were kept in poverty, and oppressed by a backward monarchy, wealthy landowners, the church and the military caste. In 1936 a united front of republicans, liberals, labor unions, communists, socialists, anarchists, Trotskyists and others on the left won the most democratic election ever held in Spain. The Republic started to provide relief to the suffering. The military and others on the right feared more reforms. Four generals, led by Francisco Franco, started an insurgency and attacked the Republic. They were aided by the military forces of Hitler's Nazi Germany and Mussolini's Fascist Italy and a supposed non-interventionist policy, including an embargo on arms for Spain's defense, on the part of the United States, Britain, France and other liberal democracies. Only the Soviet Union and Mexico officially came to the aid of democratic Spain. As an act of conscience, thousands of volunteers from many countries unofficially went to Spain to join the International Brigade, fighting to defend the republic and trying to stop the Second World War before it happened. The American volunteers in Spain formed the Abraham Lincoln Battalion, nearly one third died in Spain. The Spanish Republic fought valiantly against overwhelming odds for three years, but succumbed with the fall of Madrid in March 1939. Francisco Franco silenced all opposition and maintained a fascist dictatorship in Spain until his death. George Watt Like many student activists of his day, George left his home in July 1937 and traveled secretly from New York to Spain to join 2,800 Americans, 1,500 Canadians and tens of thousands of volunteers from Europe and Latin America, who made up the International Brigade. He and his traveling companions posed as tourists to evade the US and French governments' embargos on aid to the Republic. Before his departure, George had been a leader in the Young Communist League, and Executive Secretary of the American Student Union, a united front coalition of left-wing student organizations. In Spain, George served in the Mackenzie-Papineau battalion originally formed of Canadian volunteers, which also included many from the US. He was sent to Officer's Training School, and eventually became Political Commissar of the Lincoln Battalion, with responsibi
