Spanish civil war

Essay by sillyman1000College, UndergraduateA-, March 2006

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In this paper I will be examining three short readings, all written from the authors own personal perspectives, about events involving the Spanish Civil War. The first reading, "To Tilt at Windmills", was written by Fred Thomas, a British citizen who wanted to engage in the conflict in Spain; the second reading, "Letter from an African-American Volunteer" , was written by Canute Frankson and outlines his personal reasons for fighting in this war; the third reading, "Dialogue With Death", was written by Arthur Koestler, who was a journalist imprisoned during the time of conflict. I will compare, and contrast these short readings, comparing and contrasting their individual writing styles, and personal thoughts expressed throughout.

In "To Tilt at Windmills" , Fred Thomas expresses his personal anti-fascist beliefs (he likens himself to a socialist by heart) . He witnessed first hand how the fascist ideals had begun to spread throughout regions of Europe and how it had reached out and began to evolve within Great Britain.

He became upset that Britain did little when similar activities began to occur in Spain, but only at a much greater scale. Thomas was disturbed that the government of his own native country, and those of other foreign nations, took the that non-intervention route which allowed General Franco to expand Fascist ideas. Thomas felt it important that he become involved in order to stop the repression of the citizens of Spain. In doing so, he chose to join the Communist Party who opposed the Fascist ideals being forced on the citizens of Spain. In this reading, THOMAS outlines the repeated efforts he goes through to engage himself in the conflict.

In "Letter From an African-American Volunteer", Canute Frankson is a foreign volunteer fighting in Spain against the ideals of Fascism. He is an...