Course Description:
In this course, students will break down the Spanish Civil War into two main sections. The first section will give students a general overview and fundamental understanding of the Spanish Civil War. The second section of this course will invite students to take a deeper analysis and examination of multiple participants in the conflict.
Proposal:
The adage that history is written by the victors is often used, but never has it been less correct than in the case of the Spanish Civil War. A majority of the historical literature on the subject has been around the “lost cause” of the failed Republican state rather than the victorious Franco regime. An examination of the Spanish Civil War allows an in-depth analysis of the war, as well as an analysis of how the war is perceived or looked at by current and past historians or societies. This course will be an effective historical pedagogy because it gives students exposure to in-depth historical analysis and historiography. This is key because this class will give students, both undergraduate and graduate, an experience that will help set them up for success in their future as historical scholars if they so choose.
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The Spanish Civil War is a valuable topic for students to develop an understanding around for several reasons. The Spanish Civil War is often neglected, glossed over, or entirely omitted from many historical courses or discussions because the Second World War is a much more lucrative and global topic for examination and dissection. The Spanish Civil War offers a wide variety of questions and subjects for consideration, representing everything from gender and sexuality relations to military technologies and everything in between, there is generally a subtopic or focus for everyone to enjoy or find valuable. This course will assist in giving students the tools and experience with the historiographical analysis that they will be able to apply in other courses to great effect. As educators of history, we can hardly ask students to have already mastered all the myriad tools and skills as graduate students, much less as undergraduates. As there are many facets, factors, and actors to this conflict, there are many relatively easy ways that students can apply and test their skills without needing to spend an inordinate amount of time and research on a more difficult topic.
The start of this proposed course will entail an overview of the Civil War at the beginning of the semester before transitioning into a more in-depth analysis of various actors and participants in the War. I chose to divide the study of the Spanish Civil War in this manner so that students who are not familiar with the Spanish Civil War or the actors, or even those who are, will have the opportunity to take a more in-depth examination of various aspects of the Civil War before moving into examining the repercussions that it left. Having a foundational overview, in the beginning, will also allow me to ask students, particularly graduate students, towards the middle and end of the semester to examine the historiography of the articles and books that were used. In particular, I am curious to see what students think of my decision to go with Michael Alpert‘s Republican Army over other choices.
Discussions will be 35% of students’ overall grades with either an incomplete or complete grade, as long as students are participating in a meaningful and significant manner, they will receive a “complete.” Discussions are given such a high impact on students’ grades so that they will both be taken seriously, as well as highlight the significance and value of historical discussion and discourse without any “right” or “wrong” answers. I am a firm believer that students who truly engage and participate in discussions will come away with a deeper understanding of the topic at hand, as well as testing out thoughts in a small and contained version of the marketplace of ideas.
The first section of the class will focus primarily on an overview of the Spanish Civil War to build content familiarity for students, as well as time for them to process and put some of the information that they are reading through different historical lenses and perspectives. It is in this first section of the class that students will read Michael Alpert’s Republican Army and several different historical essays and writings that will allow them to have some level of understanding of the events of the Civil War. Alpert’s book is a general account of the Spanish Republican Army that will give students a perspective of those fighting in the war. While this choice does limit the viewpoint and narrative that students will be exposed to, I intend to encourage dialogue and discussion from students on the biases and omissions. This type of discussion is predicated on Sam Wineburg’s historical reading as both a rhetorical artifact and a human artifact. Students will be asked to discuss Alpert’s intentions, motivations, assumptions, and worldview when he wrote this book. Michael Alpert’s book is accessible through the Axe Library as an e-book, which will not incur any additional costs for Pittsburg State students, a fact that I am sure many students will appreciate.
Alpert’s book will be supplemented with several articles, with an emphasis on either looking at the Civil War from a different group’s perspective or looking at the Civil War from different aspects. Mackay brings some historiography to the topic to enhance students’ comprehension and give them several more tools to use when performing historical analysis. The other provided articles offer students different perspectives on the course and motivations of the war. I think these different perspectives will be valuable for students in understanding that there is more than one “truth” depending on the point of view of the author. Completing the overview, students will be provided with two articles outlining the political parties as they were seen in 1936.
The first assignment that I will ask students to do will be a short book review based on Michael Alpert’s Republican Army. I am going to have a minimum of around 1000 words for undergraduate students and 1500 for graduates, with more of an emphasis on historiography for the graduate students. I will be asking students to do this book review for two main reasons, the first being that it is great practice for historical writing, as well as a starting point to gauge potential growth. Secondly, students will utilize their critical examination regarding Alpert’s book to have a meaningful discussion following completion. The book review will be worth 20% of students’ grades based on a 5-point scale. The work will be graded on completion, critical thinking, and demonstrating comprehension of the topic. All students will be asked to display and share their reviews while graduate students will be asked to present some details about their historiography so that undergraduate students have a chance to begin familiarizing themselves with the concept.
As part of the second portion of the class, students will be reading Abel Paz’s Story of the Iron Column: Militant Anarchism in the Spanish Civil War, translated by Paul Sharkey, Christopher Othen’s Franco’s International Brigades: Adventurers, Fascists, and Christian Crusaders in the Spanish Civil War, as well as several articles; including Thorpe, McLellan, Sanchez, Rolfe, Navarro, and Sullivan. These works will assist students in understanding the experiences, motivations, and perspectives of several different actors and participants in the Civil War. Paz’s accounting of the Iron Column is an interesting first-hand account of some of the activities of one of the more radical militant anarchist groups, of which Paz and his historical work are very representative. Paz goes through some of the lore and campaigns of the Iron Column which provides an excellent and very unorthodox approach to history that most students will be familiar with. The last section of the book goes into more detail about resistance by the Iron Column and other more radical groups to integration into a larger army with different political goals. This diverging of political goals and the resistance it caused speaks to some of how and why the Republic fractured and failed to resist Franco. Othen provides a counterpoint to Paz by giving examples and perspectives of a wide variety of people who chose to fight for Francisco Franco and the Nationalist regime in opposition to the Republican coalition.
I chose these books to be the focus of the second half of the class as they will hopefully inspire and incite questions that will lead to more in-depth discussions. Paz and Othen do incur a modest cost, the lowest available being $9.99 each on Google Books for an electronic version, and I feel this is justified in the unique perspectives these two books offer.
The second major assignment that all students will complete is another book review, this time based around either Paz’s Iron Column or Othen’s Franco’s International Brigades. I will require undergraduate students to have approximately 1500 to 2000 words for their book review, although if they do go above 2000 words while still giving a high-quality piece, I will not penalize them. Graduate students will be asked to remain between 2000 and 3000 words and will have more emphasis on looking deeper at Paz’s biases and blind spots. Graduate students will prepare a presentation of their work, whether that takes the form of discussion groups, lecture style, or other media that reflects appropriate instructional methods, to share with the class. This paper will be worth 25% of students’ grades, both graduate and undergraduate.
The final paper that I will be asking undergraduate students to write will be to write a position paper on some of the major causes for a Franco victory in the war. I will be relatively loose on this assignment and am not necessarily looking for the “right” answer insomuch as for the effort and thought put into research and writing the paper. This paper will be worth 25% of students’ grades including a brief discussion and description of their paper on the final day.
The second portion of this class will delve more into the various actors across the two major factions, or loose coalitions, of the Civil War. At the start of this section, I will require the graduate students to begin writing their final papers. Graduate students will have two different options for their final paper, also worth 25% of their grade, either an in-depth analysis and discussion of a single group that participated in the war or a comparison and contrast of two groups participating in the war. Students will be able to choose from the following list: Ejército Popular, Popular Front Coalition, CNT-FAI, UGT, Generalitat de Catalunya, Ezuko Gudarostea, International Brigades, FET y de las JONS, Requetes/CT, CEDA, Renovacion Espanola, or the Army of Africa. I am very open to any student who would like to discuss any group that was not mentioned, as long as they can give some justification as to why they chose it. I am giving students these options as I feel I will get a higher-quality paper if the student feels passionate about the chosen topic. I will be looking for a discussion on the political, social, and military aspects of the chosen group(s). This paper will be at least 2500 words and graduate students will be asked to present their work during the last week of class in any manner that reflects appropriate instructional methods. The graduate students will be graded upon their in-depth analysis of their chosen group(s) with a focus on looking more at the role that gender, race, class, or religion played in their group.
After re-reading Wineburg several times, I wanted to highlight the most influential passage for my grading ideology; “In her view, factual knowledge and interpretation are bound together, so interwoven that it is impossible to disentangle the two.” Here Wineburg mirrors my thoughts on what is valuable for students to learn and understand from a history class, either undergraduate or graduate. To be clear, I am valuing the interpretation and analysis work that the students will be creating, particularly through various lenses, rather than solely focusing on the strictly hard-factual papers that many undergraduate classes require. I will be grading students based on their understanding and ability to interpret, analyze, and communicate their work. This more interpretation-focused rubric necessitates a slightly looser structure than if I were solely looking for the “dates and names.” Students will be graded based on a 5-point scale. Grades will be broken down as follows, 5 (90-100%) Exemplary is work that goes above and beyond given expectations, 4 (80-89%) Exceeds Expectations is work that exceeds expectations in several given criteria, 3 (70-79%) Meets Expectations is work that meets several however did not meet all given expectations, 2 (60-69%) Does Not Meet Expectations is work that shows some effort but did not meet the criteria, 1 (1-59%) Unsatisfactory is work that shows very little effort and does not meet any expectations, 0 (0%) is for work that is not turned in.
The expected outcomes for this class for undergraduate students include brief experience with historiography, extended experience with historical scholarly writing, and the opportunity to see what graduate papers entail and can manifest as. This experience and knowledge will help work in other classes and identify those students who would pursue graduate degrees in history. For graduate students, the class will allow for more practice in in-depth historical analysis, research, and writing skills. Graduate students will also gain and refine their experience in public speaking through formal presentations. Beyond these skills, I am hoping students will be able to walk away with more understanding, and more questions, about the Spanish Civil War. Class Activities and Assignments:
Class activities will be centered around weekly discussions of provided articles as well as assigned readings. Discussions are designed to promote critical and inquisitive thinking by individuals and groups. Students will be asked to contribute at least one substantive piece to the discussion, as well as several other contributions that helped progress or develop the discussion.
Both undergraduate and graduate students will be expected to complete and turn in three (3) assignments. While graduate students will have the same number of papers as undergraduates, they will be asked and expected to display more analysis and thoughtfulness in the crafting of their arguments and papers. In addition, graduate students will be asked to prepare a short presentation of their papers and findings for undergraduate students.
- The first paper will be a book review of Michael Alpert’s The Republican Army in the Spanish Civil War: 1936-1939 and should be between 1500 and 2000 words. Graduate students will be asked to go more in-depth with their analysis and have more of a discussion on the historiography and human rhetoric of Alpert than the undergraduates will. By this, I mean that graduate students will be expected to discuss at length the influence that the worldview or perspective of the authors may have had on their writings and arguments.
- The second paper will consist of another book review, this time students have the choice of either Abel Paz’s The Story of the Iron Column: Militant Anarchism in the Spanish Civil War, or Christopher Othen’s Franco’s International Brigades: Adventurers, Fascists, and Christian Crusaders in the Spanish Civil War. This review will again be between 1500 to 2000 words. Graduate students will be asked to examine Paz’s or Othen’s work as both rhetorical and human artifacts as described by Sam Wineburg.
- Undergraduate students will be asked to complete a position paper for their final paper. This paper will be between 2000 and 3000 words and will ask students to explain why Franco was victorious, or why the Republican cause failed.
- Graduate Final Assignment: Graduate students will be asked to complete both of the other papers and will be tasked with writing an analysis or comparison of one to two splinter groups within the Civil War from the following list: Ejército Popular, Popular Front Coalition, CNT-FAI, UGT, Generalitat de Catalunya, Ezuko Gudarostea, International Brigades, FET y de las JONS, Requetes/CT, CEDA, Renovacion Espanola, or the Army of Africa. Students can choose another participant in the conflict that was not present on the provided list but must give justification for their choice.
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