The Red Book About Spain

In line with their virulently anti-Communist identity, the Nazis and the mass media they controlled were absolutely clear, despite all evidence to the contrary, that the military revolt against the Second Republic was a legitimate act of self-defense against a Communist conspiracy. The main Nazi party newspaper, the Völkischer Beobachter, interpreted the assassination of the monarchist leader José Calvo Sotelo a few days earlier in this way, and the murder of members of the clergy in the Republican zone immediately after the coup only confirmed the supposed uncontrollably destructive force of “Bolshevism.” For the Nazis, events in Spain thus became the first episode in the much greater global conflict between “international Bolshevism” led from Moscow and the self-proclaimed defenders of “Western civilization,” of which the Third Reich claimed to be the champion.

Following the official recognition of Franco’s government on 18 November 1936, Joseph Goebbels’ Ministry of Propaganda strengthened its control over information about Spain. All media were required to refer to the legitimate government of the Republic as “Bolshevik” and to the Francoists as the “Nationalist government of Spain.” This Manichean image was bolstered by continual reports in the press and a growing number of partially falsified travel and eyewitness accounts of battles and, above all, the atrocities committed by the Republican “red hordes.” The Red Book About Spain (Das Rotbuch über Spanien), compiled by the Nazi propaganda organization Antikomintern and published in June 1937, was an important component of this campaign. It consisted of images, such as the one shown here, and evidence of the supposed Bolshevik conspiracy in Spain. As well as selling 100,000 copies in four months, it became the starting point for many other anti-Communist publications.

Following Franco’s victory and the return of the Condor Legion, the Nazi regime decided to abandon its previous secrecy and celebrate German intervention in Spain as a great victory. In this way, it emphasized its claim to leadership in the struggle against international Bolshevism.

SB