BETWEEN THE ROCK AND THE REICH

Pro-Franco book a bestseller in Spain (Giles Tremlett, April 22, 2003, The Guardian)

A controversial, revisionist history of the Spanish civil war which claims it was sparked by a leftwing revolution and that Winston Churchill was crueller than General Francisco Franco has proved a surprise publishing success.

The Myths of the Civil War, by the former communist guerrilla turned Franco apologist Pio Moa, has outraged the Spanish left and many mainstream historians with its attacks on the icons of the period. [...]

"Franco did not think he had rebelled against a democratic republic but against an extreme danger of revolution ... Undoubtedly, he was right," Moa states.

"Franco's victory saved Spain from a traumatic revolution ... his regime saved it from involvement in the world war, modernised society and established the conditions for a stable democracy," he adds.

Moa paints those who joined the International Brigades in the late 1930s to fight Franco as a bunch of lawless, anti-Spanish communists.

He lashes out at historians who have written about Franco and the civil war, including the British author Paul Preston, and claims there is a leftwing academic plot to demonise the dictator.

Moa, who in 1976, the year after Franco died, helped found an armed communist revolutionary group, now blames modern rightwing politicians for not defending the dictator's reputation. "The right will swallow anything just so that it does not seem itself to be Francoist," he complains.

We, on the other hand, are unabashedly pro-Franco. The funniest part of the story is just to look at the claims that Mr. Tremlett cites with apparent disbelief:

* Franco fought a dangerous revolution

* Franco kept Spain out of WWII

* Franco established the conditions in which democracy could eventually flourish

* Those who fought with the International Brigades were "anti-Spanish communists"

* Leftwing academics have demonized Franco

* Conservatives, who should defend him, are afraid of being branded fascists

Not only are these points all true, they're basically inarguable. Posted by Orrin Judd at April 22, 2003 11:04 PM