Conflict	Spanish Civil War
Date	17 July 1936  – 1 April 1939
Place	Continental Spain, Spanish Morocco, Spanish Sahara, Canary Islands, Balearic Islands, Spanish Guinea, Mediterranean, North Sea
Result	Nationalist (rebel) victory Dissolution of the Second Spanish Republic Beginning of Franco's dictatorship
Combatant1	Republican Popular Front CNT/FAI UGT ERC Basque Army (1936–1937) ---- Supported by: International Brigades (1936–1938)
Combatant2	National Falange Carlists (1936–1937) CEDA (1936–1937) Alfonsists (1936–1937) Army of Africa Supported by: (CTV) (Condor Legion) Portugal (Viriatos) Foreign volunteers
Commander1	Manuel Azaña Julián Besteiro Francisco Largo Caballero Juan Negrín Indalecio Prieto Vicente Rojo Lluch José Miaja Juan Modesto Juan Hernández Saravia Buenaventura Durruti Lluís Companys José Antonio Aguirre * Manfred Stern "Kléber"
Commander2	José Sanjurjo Emilio Mola Francisco Franco Miguel Cabanellas Manuel Goded Llopis Gonzalo Queipo de Llano Juan Yagüe Manuel Hedilla Manuel Fal Conde José María Gil-Robles y Quiñones
Strength1	450,000 infantry350 aircraft200 batteries(1938)
Strength2	600,000 infantry600 aircraft290 batteries(1938)
Casualties3	~500,000 killed :450,000 fled
Notes	}}

The Spanish Civil War was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939. The war began after a ''pronunciamiento'' (declaration of opposition) by a group of conservative generals under the leadership of José Sanjurjo against the Government of the Second Spanish Republic, at the time under the leadership of President Manuel Azaña. The rebel coup was supported by a number of conservative groups including the Spanish Confederation of the Autonomous Right, monarchists such as the Carlists, and the Fascist Falange.

Following the only partially successful coup, Spain was left militarily and politically divided. From that moment onwards Mola's successor, General Franco, began a protracted war with the established government, as loyalist supporters of the centre-left Republican Government fought the rebel forces for control of the country. The conservative generals (''nacionales'') received the support of Nazi Germany and the Kingdom of Italy, as well as neighbouring Portugal, while the Soviet Union and Mexico intervened in support of the Republican government.

Bloody purges occurred in pieces of territory conquered from the republic in order to consolidate Franco's future regime, while similar killings took place in areas taken by the Republicans. The Civil War became notable for the passion and political division it inspired. Many civilians on both sides were killed for their political or religious views, and after the War's conclusion in 1939, those associated with the losing Republicans were persecuted by the victorious Nationalists.

The war ended with the victory of the rebel Nationalists, the overthrow of the Republican Government, and the exile of thousands of Spanish Republicans, many of whom fled to refugee camps in Southern France. With the establishment of a conservative dictatorship led by General Francisco Franco in the aftermath of the Civil War, all right-wing parties were fused into the structure of the Franco regime.

Background

Constitutional monarchy

The century preceding Spain's Civil War was a turbulent time for the nation, which underwent several internal conflicts and revolts among the reformists and conservatives who jockeyed for control. A liberal tradition that first ascended politically with the Spanish Constitution of 1812 sought to abolish the monarchy of the old regime and to establish a more ideologically compatible state. Between 1812 and the Civil War more than a century later, Liberalism's reformists attempted to realign the political system in a way that would accurately reflect Spain's societal realities.

The increasing power of liberals was felt strongly between 1868 and 1874, when a popular uprising led to the overthrowing of Isabella II. Her replacement, King Amadeo I, met a similar fate when he abdicated in 1873 as the monarchy faced mounting political pressure. The First Spanish Republic was soon proclaimed, but the restoration of the Bourbons came in December 1874 while the military quelled demonstrations. While universal male suffrage was introduced in 1890, the resulting elections were dominated by ''caciques'', local political bosses. Carlists – supporters of Infante Carlos and his descendants – opposed all liberal measures, while Anarchism became popular among the Spanish working class to a degree not seen anywhere else in Europe.

In the first two decades of the twentieth century, the industrial working class grew in number. There was a growing discontent amongst Basque and Catalonian people, where much of Spain's industry was based, that the government failed to represent their interests. Spain's socialist party, the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) and its associated trade union, the ''Unión General de Trabajadores'' (UGT), gained support. A related anti-clericalism arose that was influenced by men such as republican Reformist Party founder Alejandro Lerroux, who argued that the church was inseparable from the systematic oppression felt by Spaniards.

The military was keen to avoid the fracture of the state, and frowned upon regional nationalism. Resentment of the military and conscription grew with the disastrous Rif War, and culminated in the confrontations of Tragic Week that followed on Barcelona's streets. Animosity directed toward the military and government led to the establishment of the National Confederation of Labour (CNT), an anarchist-controlled trade union. After the formation of Comintern in 1919, a growing fear of Communism emerged, and the ideology was repressed by the government through military means. The Socialist PSOE split, with more radical members founding the Communist Party in 1921.

In 1923, Miguel Primo de Rivera seized power in a military coup, and governed Spain as a military dictatorship. He instituted new polices, including a sweeping programme of public works, and attempted to defend the agrarian-industrial monarchist coalition formed during the First World War. His support faded, but following Rivera's resignation in January 1930, there was little support for a return to the pre-1923 system, and the monarchy's backing of the military government caused it to forfeit democratic credibility.

The municipal elections of April 12, 1931 were supported little in major cities, and large numbers of people gathered in the streets of Madrid. King Alfonso XIII abdicated, lest he become then cause of an ensuing "fratricidal civil war." The Second Spanish Republic was formed.

Second Republic

The Second Republic had the broad support of all segments of society. Republican Niceto Alcalá-Zamora was made the Prime Minister of the republic. Elections to a constituent Cortes in June 1931 returned a large majority of Republicans and Socialists who formed a coalition of members with differing goals. The state's financial position was poor, and an opposition composed of Catholic movements such as the Asociación Católica de Propagandistas, catastrophic monarchists including Carlists and the Renovación Española, and Fascist organisations fought republican and socialist measures.

Those parts of the CNT willing to cooperate with the republic were forced out while it continued to mount opposition to the government. The opposition gained the support of the church and military, which felt alienated by increasing regional autonomy granted by the central government, and saw governmental reforms aimed at boosting army efficiency as a direct attack. The General Military Academy in Zaragoza, directed by Francisco Franco, was closed by Minister of War Manuel Azaña.

On December 9, 1931, a new constitution, the Spanish Constitution of 1931, was declared. The document was reformist, liberal and democratic in nature, and welcomed by the Republican-Socialist coalition. It appalled landowners, industrialists, the organised church, and army officers. The 1931 constitution removed any special Catholic rights, as the new government believed it was necessary to break the control the church had over Spanish affairs.

On 18 October 1931, Gil Robles the leading spokesman of the parliamentary opposition, called for a crusade against the republic. In October, both Alcalá Zamora and his interior minister, Miguel Maura, resigned, and Manuel Azaña became Prime Minister. Reformist Party founder Alejandro Lerroux, who had sought Azaña's position, felt alienated and led his Radicals to join the opposition, leaving the Prime Minister dependent only on the socialists.

By the end of 1931, King Alfonso, in exile, ceased attempting to prevent an armed insurrection of monarchists in Spain. Azaña declared that Spain had 'ceased to be Catholic'; although statistically justifiable, his remarks were politically unwise. Spanish Catholics enlisted in the opposition.

In August 1932, an unsuccessful uprising by General José Sanjurjo quickly disintegrated, and while Socialists stood by Azaña, the left as a whole fractured, while the right coalesced. Gil Robles set up a new party, the tacitly Fascist Spanish Confederation of the Autonomous Right (, CEDA) to contest the 1933 election. The poll resulted in an overwhelming victory for the right, with the CEDA and Radicals together winning 219 seats, and outspending the Socialists, who campaigned alone.

Between 1934 and 1936, Spain entered a period deemed the "black two years" due to the rising tension and violence before the start of the war. Radicals became more aggressive, and conservatives turned to paramilitary and vigilante actions. The Socialist opposition began to propagate a revolutionary ideal. President Niceto Alcalá-Zamora declined to invite the leader of the CEDA, Gil Robles, to form a government and instead invited the Radical Republican Party's Lerroux to do so. The government set about removing price controls, selling state favours and monopolies, and removing the land reforms, which resulted in growing malnourishment in the south of Spain. The agrarian reforms went largely unenforced.

The first anarchist protests came on 8 December 1933, and were crushed by force easily in most of Spain. Both Carlists and Alfonsist monarchists prepared for fighting, the former undergoing military drills in Navarre. Open violence occurred in the streets of Spanish cities. Lerroux resigned in April 1934. Parts of the Socialist Party attempted to prevent the move towards Bolshevism they saw in the movement, leading to ruptures within the party's structure.

In September, Gil Robles' CEDA announced it would no longer support the Radicals' minority government; it was replaced by a Radical Party cabinet that included three members of his CEDA. A mostly unsuccessful UGT Socialist worker strike was followed by months of retaliation, repression and torture of political prisoners. Robles once again prompted a cabinet collapse, and five members of Lerroux's new government were conceded to CEDA. Farm workers' wages were halved, and the military was purged of Republican members and reformed; those loyal to Robles were promoted – Francisco Franco was made Chief of Staff.

In 1935, Azaña and Indalecio Prieto started to unify the left,staging large, popular rallies, in what would become the Popular Front. Lerroux's Radical government collapsed after two large scandals, including the Straperlo affair. However, Zamora did not allow the CEDA to form a government, and called elections, which were narrowly won by the under-financed Popular Front. Figures on the right began planning to overthrow of the republic. The republicans were left to govern alone; Azaña led a minority government. Acts of violence and reprisals spiralled, and in April parliament replaced Zamora with Azaña by appealing to a constitutional technicality.

CEDA turned its campaign chest over to Emilio Mola, whose organizational skills made him a formidable planner. The Fascist Falange expanded massively. Prieto did his best to avoid revolution, but Communists quickly took over the ranks of socialist organisations, which scared the middle classes. Several generals determined that the government had to be replaced if the dissolution of Spain was to be prevented. Their actions would lead to the military coup that started the Spanish Civil War.

Military coup

Preparations

The republican government had been attempting to remove suspect generals from their posts, and so Franco was sacked as chief of staff and transferred to command of the Canary islands. Goded was sacked as Inspector General and made general of the Balearic islands; Emilio Mola was moved from head of the Army of Africa to be military commander of Pamplona in Navarre. However, this allowed Mola to direct the mainland uprising. General José Sanjurjo became the figurehead of the operation, and helped to come to an agreement with the Carlists. Mola was chief planner and second in command. José Antonio Primo de Rivera was put in prison in mid-March in order to restrict the Falange. However, government actions were not as thorough as they might have been: warnings by the Director of Security and other figures were not acted upon.

On 12 June, Prime Minister Casares Quiroga met General Juan Yagüe, but Yagüe managed to convince Casares of his loyalty to the Republic. Mola began serious planning in the spring. Franco was a key player because of his prestige as a former director of the military academy and as the man who suppressed the Socialist uprising of 1934. He was well respected in the Army of Africa, Spain's toughest military force. He wrote a cryptic letter to Casares on 23 June, suggesting that the military was disloyal, but could be restrained if he were put in charge; Casares did nothing, failing to arrest or buy off Franco. On July 5, an aircraft was chartered to take Franco from the Canary Islands to Morocco. It arrived on July 14.

On 12 July 1936, in Madrid, members of the Falange murdered Lieutenant José Castillo of the Assault Guards police force. Castillo was a member of the Socialist party. The next day, members of the Assault Guards arrested José Calvo Sotelo, a leading Spanish monarchist and a prominent parliamentary conservative. Calvo Sotelo was shot by the Guards without trial. The killing of Sotelo, a prominent member of Parliament, with involvement of the police, aroused suspicions and strong reactions among the government's opponents on the right. Massive reprisals followed. Although the conservative Nationalist generals were already in advanced stages of a planned uprising, the event provided a catalyst and convenient public justification for their coup. The Socialists and Communists (lead by Prieto) demanded that arms be distributed to the people, before the military took over. The Prime Minister was hesitant. Franco's plane landed in Gran Canaria on July 14.

Beginning of the coup

[[File:Guerra Civil Española.svg|thumb|350px|General map of the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939). 10px Main Nationalist centres 10px Main Republican centres 25px Land battles 25px Naval battles 25px Bombed cities 25px Concentration camps 25px Massacres 10px Refugee camps ]] The uprising's timing was fixed at 17 July, at 5:00 p.m.; this was agreed to by the leader of the Carlists, Manuel Fal Conde. However, the timing was changed: the men in Spanish Morocco were to rise up at 5:00 a.m. and those in Spain itself starting exactly a day later, so control of Spanish Morocco could be achieved and forces sent to Iberia from Morocco to coincide with the risings there. The rising was intended to be a swift coup d'état, but the government retained control of most of the country.

Control in Spanish Morocco was all but certain. The plan was discovered in Morocco during 17 July, which prompted it to be enacted immediately. Little resistance was encountered; in total, 189 people were shot by the rebels. Goded and Franco immediately took control of the islands to which they were assigned. On 18 July, Casares Quiroga refused an offer of help from the CNT and UGT, leading the groups to proclaim a general strike, in effect mobilising. They open weapons caches, some buried since the 1934 risings. The paramilitary forces often waited to see the outcome of militia action before either joining or suppressing the rebellion. Quick action by either the rebels or anarchist militias was often enough to decide the fate of a town. General Queipo de Llano managed to secure Seville for the rebels, arresting a number of other officers.

Outcome

The rebels failed to take any major cities with the critical exception of Seville which provided a landing point for Franco’s African troops. The primarily conservative and Catholic areas of Old Castile and León fell quickly. The government retained control of Málaga, Jaén and Almería. Cadiz was taken for the rebels with the help of the first troops from the Army of Africa. In Madrid they were hemmed into the Montaña barracks, with fell with much bloodshed. Republican leader Santiago Casares Quiroga was replaced by José Giral who ordered the distribution of weapons among the civilian population. This facilitated the defeat of the army insurrection in the main industrial centres, including Madrid, Barcelona, and Valencia, but it allowed the anarchists to take control of Barcelona and large swathes of Aragon and Catalonia. General Goded surrendered in Barcelona and was later condemned to death.

The Republican Government ended up with controlling almost all of the east coast and central area around Madrid, as well as Asturias, Cantabria and part of the Basque Country in the north. Mola was keen to create a sense of fear within Nationalist-controlled areas.The rebels termed themselves "Nacionales", normally translated as "Nationalists", although the former implies "true Spaniards" rather than a pure nationalistic cause.

The result of the coup was a nationalist area of control containing 11 million of Spain's population of 25 million. The Nationalists had secured the support of around half of Spain's territorial army, some 60,000 men, joined by the Army of Africa, made up of 35,000 men, and a little under half of Spain's militaristic police forces, the Assault Guards, the Civil Guards, and the Carabineers. Republicans controlled under half of rifles, and about a third of both machine guns and artillery pieces. The Spanish Army had just 18 tanks of a sufficiently modern design, and the Republicans retained 10. Naval capacity was fairly even, with the Republicans retaining a numerical advantage but with the Navy's top ships in Nationalist hands. The Republican navy suffered from the same problems as the army: many officers had defected or had been killed after trying to do so. Two-thirds of air capability was retained by the government – however, the whole of the air service was very outdated.

Combatants

The war was cast by Republican sympathizers as a struggle between "tyranny and democracy", and by Nationalist supporters as between communist and anarchist "red hordes" and "Christian civilization". Nationalists also claimed to be protecting the establishment and bringing security and direction to an ungoverned and lawless society.

Spanish politics, especially on the left, were quite fragmented, as socialists and radicals supported democracy, while communists and anarchists opposed the institution of the republic as much as monarchists. There were internal divisions even among the socialists: a group that adhered to classical Marxism, and a more progressive Marxist group. The Conservatives, by contrast, were united by their fervent opposition to the Republican government, and presented a more unified front.

Republicans

The Republicans (also known as Spanish loyalists) received weapons and volunteers from the Soviet Union, Mexico, the international Marxists movement and International Brigades. Their supporters ranged from centrists who supported a moderately capitalist liberal democracy to revolutionary anarchists; their base was primarily secular and urban, but also included landless peasants, and was particularly strong in industrial regions like Asturias and Catalonia.

This faction was called variously the "loyalists" by its supporters; the "Republicans", "the Popular Front" or "the Government" by all parties, while its enemies referred to Republicans as "the reds". Republicans were supported by most urban workers, a large share of peasants, and much of the educated middle class.

The conservative, strongly Catholic Basque country, along with Galicia and the more left-leaning Catalonia, sought autonomy or even independence from the central government of Madrid. The Republican government allowed for the possibility of self-government for the two regions, whose forces were gathered under the People's Republican Army (''Ejército Popular Republicano'', or EPR).

Nationalists

The Nationalists (''nacionales''), (also called "insurgents", "rebels" or by opponents "Francoists" or "Fascists") fearing national fragmentation, opposed the separatist movements, and were chiefly defined by their anti-communism, which galvanized diverse or opposed movements like falangists and monarchists. Their leaders had a generally wealthier, more conservative, monarchist, landowning background.

The Nationalist side included the Carlists and Alfonsist monarchists, Spanish nationalists, the fascist Falange, and most conservatives and monarchist liberals. Virtually all Nationalist groups had strong Catholic convictions and supported the native Spanish clergy. The Nationals included the majority of the Catholic clergy and practitioners (outside of the Basque region), important elements of the army, most large landowners, and many businessmen.

One of the rightists' principal stated motives was to confront the anti-clericalism of the Republican regime and to defend the Church, which had been the targeted by opponents, including Republicans who blamed the institution for the country's ills. Prior to the war, in the Asturias uprising of 1934, religious buildings were burnt and at least one hundred clergy, religious civilians, and police were killed by revolutionaries against whom the president and the radicals prevented the implementation of serious sanctions or punishment.

Articles 24 and 26 of the Constitution of Spain's Republic had banned the Jesuits, which deeply offended many within the conservative fold. The revolution in the Republican zone at the outset of the war, killing 7,000 clergy and thousands of lay people, drove many Catholics to the Nationalist faction.

Other factions

Catalan and Basque nationalists were not univocal. Left-wing Catalan nationalists sided with the Republicans, while Conservative Catalan nationalists were far less vocal supporting the government due to anti-clericalism and confiscations occurring in areas within its control. Basque nationalists, heralded by the conservative Basque Nationalist Party, were mildly supportive of the Republican government, even though some in Navarre sided with the uprising for the same reasons influencing conservative Catalans. Notwithstanding religious matters, Basque nationalists, who were for the most part Catholic, generally sided with the Republicans.

Foreign involvement

The Spanish Civil War involved large numbers of non-Spanish citizens who participated in combat and advisory positions. Germany and Italy contributed large amounts of financial assistance and military aid to forces led by Franco. Forces fighting on behalf of the Republican faction also received support, but the Republic's allies were seriously hampered by the non-intervention proclaimed by France and the United Kingdom. The attempted suppression of imported materials was largely ineffective, however, and France especially was accused of allowing large shipments to Republican troops. The clandestine actions of the various European powers were at the time considered to be risking another 'Great War'.

The League of Nations' reaction to the war was mostly neutral and insufficient to contain the massive importation by fighting factions of arms and other war resources. Although a Non-Intervention Committee was formed, its policies accomplished little, and its directives were dismantled due to the policies of appeasement practised by European states; the official Spanish government of Juan Negrín was gradually abandoned within the organization during this period.

Support for the Nationalists

Germany

Despite the German signing of a non-intervention agreement in September 1936, various forms of aid and military help from Germany found their way to both sides of the Spanish conflict, largely in support of the Nationalist faction. Nazi actions included the formation of the multitasking Condor Legion, while German efforts to move the Army of Africa to mainland Spain proved successful in the war's early stages. German operations slowly expanded to include strike targets, most notably —and controversially— the bombing of Guernica, which on 26 April 1937 killed 200 to 300 civilians.

German involvement was further manifested through undertakings such as Operation Ursula, a U-boat undertaking, and contributions from the Kriegsmarine. The Legion spearheaded many Nationalist victories, particularly in aerial combat, while Spain further provided a proving ground for German tank tactics. The training German units provided to Nationalist force would prove valuable; by the War's end, perhaps fifty-six thousand Nationalist soldiers encompassing infantry, artillery, aerial and naval forces had been trained by German detachments.

Probably a total of 16,000 German citizens fought in the War, including approximately 300 killed, though no more than ten thousand participated at any one time. German aid to the Nationalists amounted to approximately £43,000,000 ($215,000,000) in 1939 prices, 15.5% of which was used for salaries and expenses and 21.9% for direct delivery of supplies to Spain, while 62.6% was expended on the Condor Legion.

Italy

After Francisco Franco’s request and encouragement by Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini joined the war. While the conquest of Abyssinia had made Italy's delirious of power, a Spanish ally would help secure Italian control of the Mediterranean. The Royal Italian Navy (''Regia Marina Italiana'') played a substantial role in the Mediterranean blockade and ultimately Italy supplied machine guns, artillery, aircraft, tankettes, the Legionary Air Force (), and the Corps of Volunteer Troops (, or CTV) to the Nationalist cause. The Italian CTV would at its peak supply the Nationalists with 50,000 men.

Portugal

António de Oliveira Salazar's Estado Novo played an important role in supplying Franco’s forces with ammunition and logistical help. Despite its discreet direct military involvement — restrained to a somewhat "semi-official" endorsement, by its authoritarian regime, of a volunteer force of up to 20,000, so-called "Viriatos" — for the whole duration of the conflict, Portugal was instrumental in providing the Nationalists with a organizational skills and reassurance from the Spanish neighbor to Franco and his allies that no interference would hinder the supply traffic directed to the Nationalist cause.

Others

Despite the Irish government's prohibition against participating in the war, around six hundred Irishmen, followers of Eoin O'Duffy known as the "Irish Brigade", went to Spain to fight alongside Franco. Romanian volunteers were led by Ion I Moţa, deputy-leader of the Legion of the Archangel Michael (or Iron Guard), whose group of seven Legionaries visited Spain in December 1936 to ally their movement with the Nationalists.

Support for the Republicans

International Brigades

Many non-Spaniards, often affiliated with radical communist or socialist entities, joined the International Brigades, believing that the Spanish Republic was a front line in the war against fascism. The units' represented the largest foreign contingent of those fighting for the Republicans. Roughly forty thousand foreign nationals fought with the Brigades, though no more than 18,000 were entered into the conflict at any given time; they claimed to represent 53 states.

Significant numbers of volunteers originated in France (10,000), Germany and Austria (5,000) and Italy (3,350). More than 1,000 came from the USSR, United States, United Kingdom, Yugoslavia, Hungary and Canada. The Thälmann Battalion, a group of Germans, distinguished their unit during the Siege of Madrid. Americans fought in units such as the Abraham Lincoln Brigade, while Canadians joined the Mackenzie-Papineau Battalion.

Over five hundred Romanians fought on the Republican side, including Romanian Communist Party members Petre Borilă and Valter Roman. About 80 volunteers from Ireland formed the Connolly Column. Some Chinese joined the Brigades, the majority of which returned to China, while some went to prison or French refugee camps, and a handful remained in Spain.

Soviet Union

The Soviet Union primarily provided material assistance to the Republican forces. In total the USSR provided the leftists with 806 planes, 362 tanks, and 1,555 artillery pieces. The Soviet Union ignored the League of Nations embargo and sold arms to the Republic when few other nations would do so; it was therefore the Republic's only source of major weapons. Stalin had signed the Non-Intervention Agreement but decided to break the pact, though he tried doing so secretly, unlike Hitler and Mussolini.

The Soviet premier created a section X of the Soviet Union military to head the weapons shipment operation, coined Operation X. Despite Stalin's interest in aiding the Republicans, however, most of the weapons and artillery sent to Spain were relics, some captured from past conflicts. Occasionally, modern weapons such as BT-5 tanks were sent.

Many of the Soviet deliveries were lost, due to short notice on orders, or arrived only partially matching what Stalin had authorised. When the ships left with supplies for the Republican cause, their journeys were extremely slow. Stalin ordered the builders to include false decks in the original designs of boats. Furthermore, once the sea vessels left shore, the Soviets were required to change flags and boat colors to minimize capture by the Nationalists. Such manoeuvres become unnecessary in 1938, however, when Stalin withdrew his troops and tanks as government ranks floundered. The Republican-Soviet alliance was an uneasy affair, and had the Spanish leftists had the opportunity to buy transport and weapons from alternative sources, they may have cut ties with Moscow.

The Republic was obligated to pay for Soviet arms with official Bank of Spain gold reserves, in an affair that would become a frequent subject of Francoist propaganda, under the term "Moscow Gold". The cost to the Republic of Soviet arms was more than US $500 million (in 1936 prices); the entire of Spain's gold reserve, the fourth-largest in the world. 176 tonnes was transferred through France.

The USSR further sent a number of military advisers to Spain (2,000–3,000), and while Soviet troops amounted to no more than 500 men at a time, Soviet volunteers often operated Soviet-made Republican tanks and aircraft, particularly at the beginning of the war. In addition, the Soviet Union directed Communist parties around the world to organize and recruit the International Brigades. Another significant Soviet involvement were the pervasive activities of the NKVD spanning the Republican rearguard. Communist figures like Vittorio Vidali ("Comandante Contreras"), Iosif Grigulevich and, most prominently, Alexander Orlov led "secret" operations that included murders like those of Andreu Nin and José Robles.

Mexico

Unlike the United States and major Latin American governments such as the ABC Powers and Peru, the Mexican government supported the Republicans. Mexico refused to follow the French-British non-intervention proposals, furnishing $2,000,000 in aid and material assistance, which included 20,000 rifles and 20 million cartridges.

Mexico's most important contributions to the Spanish Republic were its diplomatic help, as well as the sanctuary the nation arranged for Republican refugees, including Spanish intellectuals and orphaned children from Republican families. Some 50,000 took refuge, primarily in Mexico City, accompanied by $300 million in various treasures still owned by the Left.

Course of the war

1936

[[File:Map of the Spanish Civil War in September 1936.png|right|thumb|Map showing Spain in September 1936: ]]

A large air and sea-lift of Nationalist troops in Spanish Morocco was organised to the south-west of Spain. Coup leader Sanjurjo was killed in a plane crash on 20 July, leaving an effective command split between Mola in the North and Franco in the South. This period also saw the worst actions of the so-called "Red" and "White" "Terrors" in Spain. On 21 July, the fifth day of the rebellion, the Nationalists captured the central Spanish naval base, located in Ferrol in north-western Spain.

A rebel force under Colonel Beorlegui Canet, sent by General Mola, undertook the Campaign of Guipúzcoa from July to September. The capture of Guipúzcoa isolated the Republican provinces in the north. On 5 September, after heavy fighting the force took Irún, closing the French border to the Republicans. On 15 September, San Sebastián, home to a divided Republican force of anarchists and Basque nationalists, was taken by Nationalist soldiers. The Nationalists then advanced toward their capital, Bilbao, but were halted by Republican militias on the border of Vizcaya at the end of September.

The Republican government under Giral resigned on 4 September, unable to cope with the situation in which it found itself, and was replaced by a mostly Socialist organization under Largo Caballero. The new leadership began to unify central command in the republican zone. On the Nationalist side, Franco was chosen as chief military commander at a meeting of ranking generals at Salamanca on 21 September, now called by the title ''Generalísimo''. Franco won another victory on 27 September when his troops relieved the Alcázar in Toledo that had been held by a Nationalist garrison under Colonel Moscardo since the beginning of the rebellion, resisting thousands of Republican troops who totally surrounded the isolated building. Two days after relieving the siege, Franco proclaimed himself ''Caudillo'' ("chieftain"), while forcibly unifying the various and diverse Falangist, Royalist and other elements within the Nationalist cause. The diversion to Toledo gave Madrid time to prepare a defense, but was hailed as a major propaganda victory and personal success for Franco.

In October, the Francoist troops launched a major offensive toward Madrid, reaching it in early November and launching a major assault on the city on 8 November. The Republican government was forced to shift from Madrid to Valencia, outside the combat zone, on 6 November. However, the Nationalists' attack on the capital was repulsed in fierce fighting between 8 November and 23 November. A contributory factor in the successful Republican defense was the arrival of the International Brigades, though only an approximate three thousand foreign volunteers participated in the battle. Having failed to take the capital, Franco bombarded it from the air and, in the following two years, mounted several offensives to try to encircle Madrid. The battle of the Corunna Road, a Nationalist offensive to the north-west, pushed Republican forces back, but failed to isolate Madrid. The city lasted into January.

1937

[[File:Map of the Spanish Civil War in October 1937.png|right|thumb|Map showing Spain in October 1937: ]]

With his ranks swelled by Italian troops and Spanish colonial soldiers from Morocco, Franco made another attempt to capture Madrid in January and February 1937, but was again unsuccessful. The Battle of Málaga started in mid-January; this Nationalist offensive in Spain's south-east would turn into a disaster for the Republicans, who were poorly organised and armed. The city was taken by Franco on 8 February. The consolidation of various militias into the Republican Army had started in December 1936. The main Nationalist advance, to cross the Jarama river and cut the supply of Madrid by the Valencia road, termed the Battle of Jarama, led to heavy casualties (6–20,000) on both sides. The operation's main objective was not met, though Nationalists gained a modest amount of territory. A similar Nationalist offensive, the Battle of Guadalajara, was a more significant defeat for Franco and his armies; it proved the only publicised Republican victory of the war. Italian troops and blitzkrieg tactics were used by Franco, and while many strategists blamed the latter for the rightists' defeat, the Germans believed it was the former at fault for the Nationalists' 5,000 casualties and loss of valuable equipment. The German strategists successfully argued that the Nationalists needed to concentrate on vulnerable areas first.

thumb|right|Ruins of [[Guernica (town)|Guernica ]] The "War in the North" began in mid-March, with Vizcaya as a first target. The Basques suffered most from the lack of a suitable air force; on 26 April, the Condor Legion bombed the town of Guernica, killing two to three hundred. The destruction had a significant effect on international opinion. The Basques retreated.

April and May saw infighting among Republican groups in Catalonia. The dispute was between an ultimately victorious government–Communist force and the anarchist CNT. The disturbance pleased Nationalist command, but little was done to exploit Republican divisions. After the fall of Guernica, the Republican government began to fight back with increasing effectiveness. In July, it made a move to recapture Segovia, forcing Franco to delay his advance on the Bilbao front, but for only two weeks. A similar Republican attack on Huesca failed similarly. Mola, Franco's second-in-command, was killed on 3 June. In early July, despite the earlier fall in June of Bilbao, the government launched a strong counter-offensive to the west of Madrid, focusing on Brunete. The Battle of Brunete, however, was a significant defeat for the Republic, which lost many of its most accomplished troops. The offensive had led to an advance of , and left 25,000 Republican casualties.

A Republican offensive against Zaragoza was also a failure. Despite having land and aerial advantages, the Battle of Belchite resulted in an advance of only ten kilometres and the loss of much equipment. Franco invaded Aragón in August and then took the city of Santander. With the surrender of the Republican army in the Basque territory came the Santoña Agreement; Gijón finally fell in late October. Franco had effectively won in the north. At November's end, with Franco's troops closing in on Valencia, the government had to move again, this time to Barcelona.

1938

[[File:Map of the Spanish Civil War in July 1938.png|thumb|right|Map showing Spain in July 1938: ]] The Battle of Teruel was an important confrontation. The city, which had formerly belonged to the Nationalists, was conquered by Republicans in January. The Francoist troops launched an offensive and recovered the city by 22 February, but Franco was forced to rely heavily on German and Italian air support.

On 7 March, Nationalists launched the Aragon Offensive, and by 14 April, they had pushed through to the Mediterranean, cutting the Republican-held portion of Spain in two. The Republican government attempted suing for peace in May, but Franco demanded unconditional surrender; the war raged on. In July, the Nationalist army pressed southward from Teruel and south along the coast toward the capital of the Republic at Valencia, but was halted in heavy fighting along the XYZ Line, a system of fortifications defending Valencia.

The Republican government then launched an all-out campaign to reconnect their territory in the Battle of the Ebro, from 24 July until 26 November. The campaign was unsuccessful, and was undermined by the Franco-British appeasement of Hitler in Munich. The agreement with Britain effectively destroyed Republican morale by ending hope of an anti-fascist alliance with Western powers. The retreat from the Ebro all but determined the final outcome of the war. Eight days before the new year, Franco threw massive forces into an invasion of Catalonia.

1939

[[File:Map of the Spanish Civil War in February 1939.png|thumb|right|Map showing Spain in February 1939: ]] Franco's troops conquered Catalonia in a whirlwind campaign during the first two months of 1939. Tarragona fell on 15 January, followed by Barcelona on 26 January and Gerona on 2 February. On 27 February, the United Kingdom and France recognized the Franco regime.

Only Madrid and a few other strongholds remained for the Republican forces. On 28 March, with the help of pro-Franco forces inside the city, Madrid fell to the Nationalists. The next day, Valencia, which had held out from Nationalists for close to two years, also surrendered. Franco proclaimed victory in a radio speech aired on 1 April, when the last of the Republican forces surrendered.

After the end of the War, there were harsh reprisals against Franco's former enemies; thousands of Republicans were imprisoned and at least 30,000 executed. Other calculations of these deaths range from 50,000 to 200,000 depending on which killings are included.Many others were put to forced labour, building railways, drying out swamps, and digging canals.

Hundreds of thousands of Republicans fled abroad, some 500,000 to France. Refugees were confined in internment camps of the French Third Republic, such as Camp Gurs or Camp Vernet, where twelve thousand Republicans were housed in squalid conditions. Of the 17,000 refugees housed in Gurs, farmers and others who could not find relations in France were encouraged by the Third Republic, in agreement with the Francoist government, to return to Spain. The great majority did so and were turned over to the Francoist authorities in Irún. From there they were transferred to the Miranda de Ebro camp for "purification" according to the Law of Political Responsibilities. After the proclamation by Marshal Philippe Pétain of the Vichy regime, the refugees became political prisoners, and the French police attempted to round up those who had been liberated from the camp. Along with other "undesirables", the Spaniards were sent to the Drancy internment camp before being deported to Nazi Germany. About 5,000 Spaniards thus died in the Mauthausen concentration camp.

After the official end of the war, guerrilla war was waged on an irregular basis by the Spanish Maquis well into the 1950s, being gradually reduced by military defeats and scant support from the exhausted population. In 1944, a group of republican veterans, who also fought in the French resistance against the Nazis, invaded the Val d'Aran in northwest Catalonia, but were defeated after ten days.

Evacuation of children

The Republicans oversaw the evacuation of 30–35,000 children from their zone. This started with Basque areas, from which 20,000 were evacuated. Their destinations included the United Kingdom and the USSR, and many other locations in Europe, along with Mexico. Around 4,000 were taken to the UK against initial opposition from both the government and charitable groups who saw the removal of children from their native country as potentially harmful. The upper age limit was initially set at 12 but raised to 15.

Atrocities

Death totals remain debated. Antony Beevor writes in his history of the Civil War that Franco's ensuing 'white terror' resulted in the deaths of 200,000 people and that the 'red terror' killed 38,000. Julius Ruiz contends that "although the figures remain disputed, a minimum of 37,843 executions were carried out in the Republican zone with a maximum of 150,000 executions (including 50,000 after the war) in Nationalist Spain". In 2008 a Spanish judge, Baltasar Garzón, opened an investigation into the executions and disappearances of 114,266 people between 17 July 1936 and December 1951 (Garzón has since been indicted for violating a 1977 amnesty law through his actions). Among the executions investigated was that of the poet and dramatist Federico García Lorca; mention of his death was forbidden during Franco's regime.

Nationalists

Atrocities of the Nationalists, frequently ordered by authorities in order to eradicate any trace of leftism in Spain, were common. According to historian Paul Preston, the minimum number of those executed by the rebels is 130,000, and is likely to have been far higher. The violence carried out in the rebel zone was carried out by the military, the Civil Guard and the Falange in the name of the regime and legitimized by the Catholic Church.

Many such acts were committed by reactionary groups during the first weeks of the war. This included the execution of school teachers, because the efforts of the Second Spanish Republic to promote laicism and displace the Church from schools by closing religious educational institutions were considered by the Nationalists as an attack on the Roman Catholic Church. Extensive killings of civilians were carried out in the cities Nationalists captured, along with the execution of unwanted individuals. These included non-combatants such as trade-unionists, Popular Front politicians, suspected Freemasons, Basque, Catalan, Andalusian and Galician Nationalists, Republican intellectuals, relatives of known Republicans and those suspected of voting for the Popular Front.

Nationalist forces massacred civilians in Seville, where some 8,000 people were shot; ten thousand were killed in Córdoba. 6–12,000 were killed in Badajoz. In Granada, at least 2000 people were murdered. In February 1937, over seven thousand were killed after the capture of Málaga. When Bilbao was conquered thousands of people were sent to prison; there were fewer executions than usual, however, because of the effect Guernica left on Nationalists' reputations internationally. The numbers killed as the successful columns of the Army of Africa devastated and pillaged their way between Seville and Madrid are particularly difficult to calculate.

Nationalists also murdered Catholic clerics. In one particular incident, following the capture of Bilbao, hundreds of people, including 16 priests who had served as chaplains for the Republican forces, were taken to the countryside or graveyards to be murdered.

Franco's forces also persecuted Protestants, including the murder of twenty Protestant ministers. Franco's forces were determined to remove the "Protestant heresy" from Spain. The Nationalists also persecuted Basques, as they strived to eradicate Basque culture. According to Basque sources, some 22,000 Basques were murdered by Nationalists immediately after the Civil War.

The Nationalist side also conducted aerial bombing of cities in Republican territory, carried out mainly by the ''Luftwaffe'' volunteers of the ''Condor Legion'' and the ''Italian air force'' volunteers of the ''Corpo Truppe Volontarie'', Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Guernica, Durango and other cities were targeted, the Bombing of Guernica was among the most controversial.

Republicans

According to the Nationalists, an estimated 55,000 civilians died in Republican-held territories. This is considered excessive by Antony Beevor; however, it was much less than the half a million claimed during the war. The deaths would form the prevailing outside opinion of the Republic up until the bombing of Guernica. The Republican government was anticlerical, and supporters attacked and murdered Roman Catholic clergy in reaction to news of military revolt. In Republican held territories, Roman Catholic churches were desecrated. Through the war, nearly all segments of the Republicans, Basques being a notable exception, took part in semi-organized anti-Roman Catholic killing of 6,832 members of Catholic clergy and religious orders (including 13 bishops, 4,184 priests, 2,365 monks and friars, and 283 nuns). The "Execution" of the Sacred Heart of Jesus by Communist militiamen at Cerro de los Ángeles near Madrid, on 7 August 1936, was the most infamous of widespread desecration of religious property. It was justified by reference to the Church's political role in the Civil War, which was considerable. By the conflict's end 20 percent of the nation's clergy had been killed, though some argue the totals were lower.

Like clergy, civilians were executed in Republican territories. Some civilians were executed as suspected Falangists. Others died in acts of revenge after Republicans heard of massacres carried out in the Nationalist zone. Air raids committed against Republican cities were another driving factor. Republican authorities did not order such measures to be taken. Shopkeepers and industrialists, if rightist collaborators, were shot; if they were well regarded for their attitude to the poor, they were usually spared. Fake justice was sought though commission, known by its name in Russia as ''checas''. As pressure mounted with increasing success of the Nationalists, many civilians were executed by councils and tribunals controlled by competing Communist and Anarchist groups. Some members of the latter were executed by Soviet-advised communist functionaries in Catalonia, as described by George Orwell's description of the purges in Barcelona in 1937 in ''Homage to Catalonia'', which followed a period of increasing tension between Competing elements of the Catalan political scene. Some individuals fled to friendly embassies, which would house up to 8,500 people during the war.

In the Andalusian town of Ronda, 512 alleged Nationalists were executed in the first month of the war. Communist Santiago Carrillo Solares has been accused of the killing of Nationalists in the Paracuellos massacre near Paracuellos del Jarama. Pro-Soviet Communists committed numerous atrocities against fellow Republicans, including other Marxists: André Marty, known as the Butcher of Albacete, was responsible for the deaths of some 500 members of the International Brigades. Andreu Nin, leader of the POUM (Workers' Party of Marxist Unification), and many other prominent POUM members, were murdered by the Communists, with the help of the USSR's NKVD.

Thirty eight thousand people were killed in the Republican zone during the war, 17,000 of whom were killed in Madrid or Catalonia within a month of the coup. Whilst the Communists were forthright in their support of extrajudicial killings, much of the Republican side was appalled by the murders. Azaña came close to resigning. He, alongside other members of parliament and a great number of other local officials, attempted to prevent Nationalist supporters being lynched. Some of those in positions of power intervened personally to stop the killings.

Social revolution

In the anarchist-controlled areas, Aragón and Catalonia, in addition to the temporary military success, there was a vast social revolution in which the workers and peasants collectivised land and industry, and set up councils parallel to the paralyzed Republican government. This revolution was opposed by both the Soviet-supported communists who, perhaps surprisingly, campaigned against the loss of civil property rights. The agrarian collectives had considerable success despite opposition and lack of resources.

As the war progressed, the government and the communists were able to leverage their access to Soviet arms to restore government control over the war effort, through both diplomacy and force. Anarchists and the Workers' Party of Marxist Unification (''Partido Obrero de Unificación Marxista'', POUM) were integrated into the regular army, albeit with resistance; the POUM was outlawed and falsely denounced as an instrument of the fascists. In the ''May Days'' of 1937, many thousands of anarchist and communist Republican soldiers fought for control of strategic points in Barcelona.

The pre-war Falange was a small party of some 30–40,000 members. It also called for a social revolution that would have seen Spanish society transformed by National Syndicalism. Following the execution of its leader, José Antonio Primo de Rivera, by the Republicans, the party swelled in size to several hundred thousand members. The leadership of the Falange suffered 60% casualties in the early days of the civil war and the party was transformed by new members and rising new leaders, called ''camisas nuevas'' ("new shirts"), who were less interested in the revolutionary aspects of National Syndicalism. Subsequently, Franco united all rightist parties into the Traditionalist Spanish Falange and the National Syndicalist Offensive Juntas (, FET y de las JONS).

The 1930s also saw Spain become a focus for pacifist organizations including the Fellowship of Reconciliation, the War Resisters League and the War Resisters' International. Many people including, as they are now called, the 'insumisos' ('defiant ones', conscientious objectors) argued and worked for non-violent strategies. Prominent Spanish pacifists such as Amparo Poch y Gascón and José Brocca supported the Republicans. Brocca argued that Spanish pacifists had no alternative but to make a stand against fascism. He put this stand into practice by various means including organizing agricultural workers to maintain food supplies and through humanitarian work with war refugees.

People

Figures identified with the Nationalist side :''Military''

Francisco Franco (Spain)

Miguel Cabanellas (Spain)

José Sanjurjo (Spain)

Emilio Mola (Spain)

Gonzalo Queipo de Llano (Spain)

Juan Yagüe (Spain)

Hugo Sperrle (Germany)

Wilhelm Ritter von Thoma (Germany)

Wolfram Freiherr von Richthofen (Germany)

Mario Roatta (Italy)

Ettore Bastico (Italy)

:''Non-military''

Salvador Dalí

Pedro Muñoz Seca (assassinated)

Ramón Serrano Súñer

Miguel Delibes

Figures identified with the Republican side :''Politicians or military''

Manuel Azaña (Republican)

Santiago Carrillo (Communist)

Valentin González (''"El Campesino"'') (Communist)

Dolores Ibarruri (''"La Pasionaria"'') (Communist)

Francisco Largo Caballero (Socialist)

Diego Martínez Barrio (Republican)

Juan Negrín (Socialist)

Andrés Nin (Communist)

Indalecio Prieto (Socialist)

:''Others (including volunteers)''

W. H. Auden

Federico García Lorca (assassinated)

Pablo Picasso

Ernest Hemingway

Laurie Lee

George Orwell

Political parties and organizations

See also

List of foreign ships wrecked or lost in the Spanish Civil War

Catholicism in the Second Spanish Republic

''Guernica'' (painting)

''The Falling Soldier''

List of war films and TV specials#Spanish Civil War (1936–1939)

List of foreign correspondents in the Spanish Civil War

Polish volunteers in the Spanish Civil War

Jewish volunteers in the Spanish Civil War

European Civil War

Spain in World War II

Surviving veterans of the Spanish Civil War

SS ''Cantabria''

Nationalist Foreign Volunteers

Pacifism in Spain

Spanish Republican Air Force

References

Notes

Citations

Bibliography and books by noted authors

First published as ''The Spanish Civil War''.

Further reading

External links

Primary documents

Magazines and journals published during the war, an online exhibit maintained by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (English, Spanish)

A collection of essays by Albert and Vera Weisbord with about a dozen essays written during and about the Spanish Civil War.

La Cucaracha, The Spanish Civil War Diary, a detailed chronicle of the events of the war

Ronald Hilton, ''Spain, 1931–36, From Monarchy to Civil War, An Eyewitness Account''

Mary Low and Juan Breá: ''Red Spanish Book''. A testimony by two surrealists and trotskytes

Spanish Civil War and Revolution text archive in the libcom.org library

Southworth Spanish Civil War Collection, books and other literature housed at Mandeville Special Collection Library, University of California, San Diego

Images and films

Spain in Revolt, newsreel documentary (Video Stream) (Part 1, 2)

Imperial War Museum Collection of Spanish Civil War Posters hosted online by Visual Arts Data Service (VADS)

Posters of the Spanish Civil War from UCSD's Southworth collection

Civil War Documentaries made by the CNT

Spanish Civil War and Revolution image gallery – photographs and posters from the conflict

Aircraft of the Spanish Civil War

Battle of Rio Segre Photographs Capa, Robert (1938) International Center of Photography.

Academics and governments

A History of the Spanish Civil War, excerpted from a U.S. government country study.

''Dutch Involvement in the Spanish Civil War''. Columbia Historical Review.

"The Spanish Civil War – causes and legacy" on BBC Radio 4's ''In Our Time'' featuring Paul Preston, Helen Graham and Dr Mary Vincent

Other

Original war reports from ''The Times''

The Anarcho-Statists of Spain, a different view of the anarchists in the Spanish Civil War, George Mason University

Spanish Civil War information from Spartacus Educational

American Jews in Spanish Civil War, by Martin Sugarman

The Spanish Revolution, 1936–39 articles and links, from Anarchy Now!

The Revolutionary Institutions: The Central Committee of Anti-Fascist Militias, by Juan García Oliver

Warships of the Spanish Civil War

¡No Pasarán! Speech Dolores Ibárruri's famous rousing address for the defense of the Second Republic

New Zealand and the Spanish Civil War

Category:Carlism Category:Civil wars involving the states and peoples of Europe Category:Civil wars post-1945 Category:1930s conflicts Category:1930s in Spain Category:Francoist Spain Category:Succession-based civil wars Category:Wars involving Spain Category:Wars involving the states and peoples of Europe

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A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same nation state or republic, or, less commonly, between two countries created from a formerly-united nation state. The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies. The term is a calque of the Latin ''bellum civile'' which was used to refer to the various civil wars of the Roman Republic in the 1st century BC.

A civil war is a high-intensity conflict, often involving regular armed forces, that is sustained, organized and large-scale. Civil wars may result in large numbers of casualties and the consumption of significant resources.

Civil wars since the end of World War II have lasted on average just over four years, a dramatic rise from the one-and-a-half year average of the 1900-1944 period. While the rate of emergence of new civil wars has been relatively steady since the mid-19th century, the increasing length of those wars resulted in increasing numbers of wars ongoing at any one time. For example, there were no more than five civil wars underway simultaneously in the first half of the 20th century, while over 20 concurrent civil wars were occurring at the end of the Cold War, before a significant decrease as conflicts strongly associated with the superpower rivalry came to an end. Since 1945, civil wars have resulted in the deaths of over 25 million people, as well as the forced displacement of millions more. Civil wars have further resulted in economic collapse; Burma (Myanmar), Uganda and Angola are examples of nations that were considered to have promising futures before being engulfed in civil wars.

Definition

James Fearon, a scholar of civil wars at Stanford University, defines a civil war as "a violent conflict within a country fought by organized groups that aim to take power at the center or in a region, or to change government policies". Ann Hironaka further specifies that one side of a civil war is the state. The intensity at which a civil disturbance becomes a civil war is contested by academics. Some political scientists define a civil war as having more than 1000 casualties, while others further specify that at least 100 must come from each side. The Correlates of War, a dataset widely used by scholars of conflict, classifies civil wars as having over 1000 war-related casualties per year of conflict. This rate is a small fraction of the millions killed in the Second Sudanese Civil War and Cambodian Civil War, for example, but excludes several highly publicized conflicts, such as The Troubles of Northern Ireland and the struggle of the African National Congress in Apartheid-era South Africa.

Based on the 1000 casualties per year criterion, there were 213 civil wars from 1816 to 1997, 104 of which occurred from 1944 to 1997. If one uses the less-stringent 1000 casualties total criterion, there were over 90 civil wars between 1945 and 2007, with 20 ongoing civil wars as of 2007.

Further definitions

The Geneva Conventions do not specifically define the term "civil war". They do, however, describe the criteria for acts qualifying as "armed conflict not of an international character", which includes civil wars. Among the conditions listed are four requirements:

The party in revolt must be in possession of a part of the national territory.

The insurgent civil authority must exercise ''de facto'' authority over the population within the determinate portion of the national territory.

The insurgents must have some amount of recognition as a belligerent.

The legal Government is "obliged to have recourse to the regular military forces against insurgents organized as military."

Causes of civil war in the Collier-Hoeffler Model

Scholars investigating the cause of civil war are attracted by two opposing theories, greed versus grievance. Roughly stated: are conflicts caused by who people are, whether that be defined in terms of ethnicity, religion or other social affiliation, or do conflicts begin because it is in the economic best interests of individuals and groups to start them? Scholarly analysis supports the conclusion that economic and structural factors are more important than those of identity in predicting occurrences of civil war.

A comprehensive studies of civil war was carried out by a team from the World Bank in the early 21st century. The study framework, which came to be called the Collier-Hoeffler Model, examined 78 five-year increments when civil war occurred from 1960 to 1999, as well as 1,167 five-year increments of "no civil war" for comparison, and subjected the data set to regression analysis to see the effect of various factors. The factors that were shown to have a statistically-significant effect on the chance that a civil war would occur in any given five-year period were:

;Availability of finance A high proportion of primary commodities in national exports significantly increases the risk of a conflict. A country at "peak danger", with commodities comprising 32% of gross domestic product, has a 22% risk of falling into civil war in a given five-year period, while a country with no primary commodity exports has a 1% risk. When disaggregated, only petroleum and non-petroleum groupings showed different results: a country with relatively low levels of dependence on petroleum exports is at slightly less risk, while a high-level of dependence on oil as an export results in slightly more risk of a civil war than national dependence on another primary commodity. The authors of the study interpreted this as being the result of the ease by which primary commodities may be extorted or captured compared to other forms of wealth, for example, it is easy to capture and control the output of a gold mine or oil field compared to a sector of garment manufacturing or hospitality services.

A second source of finance is national diasporas, which can fund rebellions and insurgencies from abroad. The study found that statistically switching the size of a country's diaspora from the smallest found in the study to the largest resulted in a sixfold increase in the chance of a civil war.

;Opportunity cost of rebellion Higher male secondary school enrollment, per capita income and economic growth rate all had significant effects on reducing the chance of civil war. Specifically, a male secondary school enrollment 10% above the average reduced the chance of a conflict by about 3%, while a growth rate 1% higher than the study average resulted in a decline in the chance of a civil war of about 1%. The study interpreted these three factors as proxies for earnings foregone by rebellion, and therefore that lower foregone earnings encourages rebellion. Phrased another way: young males (who make up the vast majority of combatants in civil wars) are less likely to join a rebellion if they are getting an education and/or have a comfortable salary, and can reasonably assume that they will prosper in the future.

Low per capita income has been proposed as a cause for grievance, prompting armed rebellion. However, for this to be true, one would expect economic inequality to also be a significant factor in rebellions, which it is not. The study therefore concluded that the economic model of opportunity cost better explained the findings.

;Military advantage High levels of population dispersion and, to a lesser extent, the presence of mountainous terrain increased the chance of conflict. Both of these factors favor rebels, as a population dispersed outward toward the borders is harder to control than one concentrated in a central region, while mountains offer terrain where rebels can seek sanctuary.

;Grievance Most proxies for "grievance" - the theory that civil wars begin because of issues of identity, rather than economics - were statistically insignificant, including economic equality, political rights, ethnic polarization and religious fractionalization. Only ethnic dominance, the case where the largest ethnic group comprises a majority of the population, increased the risk of civil war. A country characterized by ethnic dominance has nearly twice the chance of a civil war. However, the combined effects of ethnic and religious fractionalization, i.e. the more chance that any two randomly chosen people will be from separate ethnic or religious groups the less chance of a civil war, were also significant and positive, as long as the country avoided ethnic dominance. The study interpreted this as stating that minority groups are more likely to rebel if they feel that they are being dominated, but that rebellions are more likely to occur the more homogeneous the population and thus more cohesive the rebels. These two factors may thus be seen as mitigating each other in many cases.

;Population size The various factors contributing to the risk of civil war rise increase with population size. The risk of a civil war rises approximately proportionately with the size of a country's population.

;Time The more time that has elapsed since the last civil war, the less likely it is that a conflict will recur. The study had two possible explanations for this: one opportunity-based and the other grievance-based. The elapsed time may represent the depreciation of whatever capital the rebellion was fought over and thus increase the opportunity cost of restarting the conflict. Alternatively, elapsed time may represent the gradual process of healing of old hatreds. The study found that the presence of diaspora substantially reduced the positive effect of time, as the funding from diasporas offsets the depreciation of rebellion-specific capital.

Duration of civil wars

Ann Hironaka, author of ''Neverending Wars'', divides the modern history of civil wars into the pre-19th century, 19th century to early 20th century, and late 20th century. In 19th century Europe, the length of civil wars fell significantly, largely due to the nature of the conflicts as battles for the power center of the state, the strength of centralized governments, and the normally quick and decisive intervention by other states to support the government. Following World War II the duration of civil wars grew past the norm of the pre-19th century, largely due to weakness of the many postcolonial states and the intervention by major powers on both sides of conflict. The most obvious commonality to civil wars are that they occur in fragile states.

Civil wars in the 19th and early 20th centuries

Civil wars through the 19th century to early 20th century tended to be short; the average length of a civil war between 1900 and 1944 was one and half years. The state itself was the obvious center of authority in the majority of cases, and the civil wars were thus fought for control of the state. This meant that whoever had control of the capital and the military could normally crush resistance. If a rebellion failed to quickly seize the capital and control of the military for itself, it was normally doomed to a quick destruction. For example, the fighting associated with the 1871 Paris Commune occurred almost entirely in Paris, and ended quickly once the military sided with the government.

The power of non-state actors resulted in a lower value placed on sovereignty in the 18th and 19th centuries, which further reduced the number of civil wars. For example, the pirates of the Barbary Coast were recognized as ''de facto'' states because of their military power. The Barbary pirates thus had no need to rebel against the Ottoman Empire, who were their nominal state government, to gain recognition for their sovereignty. Conversely, states such as Virginia and Massachusetts in the United States of America did not have sovereign status, but had significant political and economic independence coupled with weak federal control, reducing the incentive to secede.

The two major global ideologies, monarchism and democracy, led to several civil wars. However, a bi-polar world, divided between the two ideologies, did not develop, largely due the dominance of monarchists through most of the period. The monarchists would thus normally intervene in other countries to stop democratic movements taking control and forming democratic governments, which were seen by monarchists as being both dangerous and unpredictable. The Great Powers, defined in the 1815 Congress of Vienna as the United Kingdom, Habsburg Austria, Prussia, France, and Russia, would frequently coordinate interventions in other nations' civil wars, nearly always on the side of the incumbent government. Given the military strength of the Great Powers, these interventions were nearly always decisive and quickly ended the civil wars.

There were several exceptions from the general rule of quick civil wars during this period. The American Civil War (1861–1865) was unusual for at least two reasons: it was fought around regional identities, rather than political ideologies, and it was ended through a war of attrition, rather than over a decisive battle over control of the capital, as was the norm. The Spanish Civil War (1936–1939) was exceptional because ''both'' sides of the war received support from intervening great powers: Germany, Italy, and Portugal supported opposition leader Francisco Franco, while France and Russia supported the government (see proxy war).

Civil wars since 1945

In the 1990s, about twenty civil wars were occurring concurrently during an average year, a rate about ten times the historical average since the 19th century. However, the rate of new civil wars had not increased appreciably; the drastic rise in the number of ongoing wars after World War II was a result of the tripling of the average duration of civil wars to over four years. This increase was a result of the increased number of states, the fragility of states formed after 1945, the decline in interstate war, and the Cold War rivalry.

Following World War II, the major European powers divested themselves of their colonies at an increasing rate: the number of ex-colonial states jumped from about 30 to almost 120 after the war. The rate of state formation leveled off in the 1980s, at which point few colonies remained. More states also meant more states in which to have long civil wars. Hironaka statistically measures the impact of the increased number of ex-colonial states as increasing the post-WWII incidence of civil wars by +165% over the pre-1945 number.

While the new ex-colonial states appeared to follow the blueprint of the idealized state - centralized government, territory enclosed by defined borders, and citizenry with defined rights -, as well as accessories such as a national flag, an anthem, a seat at the United Nations and an official economic policy, they were in actuality far weaker than the Western states they were modeled after. In Western states, the structure of governments closely matched states' actual capabilities, which had been arduously developed over centuries. The development of strong administrative structures, in particular those related to extraction of taxes, is closely associated with the intense warfare between predatory European states in the 17th and 18th centuries, or in Charles Tilly's famous formulation: "War made the state and the state made war". For example, the formation of the modern states of Germany and Italy in the 19th century is closely associated with the wars of expansion and consolidation led by Prussia and Sardinia, respectively. The Western process of forming effective and impersonal bureaucracies, developing efficient tax systems, and integrating national territory continued into the 20th century; as late as World War I, some French military conscripts from rural regions were unable to name the country they were fighting for. Nevertheless, Western states that survived into the latter half of the 20th century were considered "strong" by simple reason that they had managed to develop the institutional structures and military capability required to survive predation by their fellow states.

In sharp contrast, decolonization was an entirely different process of state formation. Most imperial powers had not foreseen a need to prepare their colonies for independence; for example, Britain had given limited self-rule to India and Sri Lanka, while treating British Somaliland as little more than a trading post, while all major decisions for French colonies were made in Paris and Belgium prohibited any self-government up until it suddenly granted independence to its colonies in 1960. Like Western states of previous centuries, the new ex-colonies lacked autonomous bureaucracies, which would make decisions based on the benefit to society as a whole, rather than respond to corruption and nepotism to favor a particular interest group. In such a situation, factions manipulate the state to benefit themselves or, alternatively, state leaders use the bureaucracy to further their own self-interest. The lack of credible governance was compounded by the fact that most colonies were economic loss-makers at independence, lacking both a productive economic base and a taxation system to effectively extract resources from economic activity. Among the rare states profitable at decolonization was India, to which scholars credibly argue that Uganda, Malaysia and Angola may be included. Neither did imperial powers make territorial integration a priority, and may have discouraged nascent nationalism as a danger to their rule. Many newly independent states thus found themselves impoverished, with minimal administrative capacity in a fragmented society, while faced with the expectation of immediately meeting the demands of a modern state. Such states are considered "weak" or "fragile". The "strong"-"weak" categorization is not the same as "Western"-"non-Western", as some Latin American states like Argentina and Brazil and Middle Eastern states like Egypt and Israel are considered to have "strong" administrative structures and economic infrastructure.

Historically, the international community would have targeted weak states for territorial absorption or colonial domination or, alternatively, such states would fragment into pieces small enough to be effectively administered and secured by a local power. However, international norms towards sovereignty changed in the wake of WWII in ways that support and maintain the existence of weak states. Weak states are given ''de jure'' sovereignty equal to that of other states, even when they do not have ''de facto'' sovereignty or control of their own territory, including the privileges of international diplomatic recognition and an equal vote in the United Nations. Further, the international community offers development aid to weak states, which helps maintain the facade of a functioning modern state by giving the appearance that the state is capable of fulfilling its implied responsibilities of control and order. The formation of a strong international law regime and norms against territorial aggression is strongly associated with the dramatic drop in the number of interstate wars, though it has also been attributed to the effect of the Cold War or to the changing nature of economic development. Consequently, military aggression that results in territorial annexation became increasingly likely to prompt international condemnation, diplomatic censure, a reduction in international aid or the introduction of economic sanction, or, as in the case of 1990 invasion of Kuwait by Iraq, international military intervention to reverse the territorial aggression. Similarly, the international community has largely refused to recognize secessionist regions, while keeping some states such as Cyprus and Taiwan in diplomatic recognition limbo. While there is not a large body of academic work examining the relationship, Hironaka's statistical study found a correlation that suggests that every major international anti-secessionist declaration increased the number of ongoing civil wars by +10%, or a total +114% from 1945-1997. The diplomatic and legal protection given by the international community, as well as economic support to weak governments and discouragement of secession, thus had the unintended effect of encouraging civil wars.

There has been an enormous amount of international intervention in civil wars since 1945 that served to extend wars. While intervention has been practiced since the international system has existed, its nature changed substantially. It became common for both the state and opposition group to receive foreign support, allowing wars to continue well past the point when domestic resources had been exhausted. Superpowers, such as the European great powers, had always felt no compunction in intervening in civil wars that affected their interests, while distant regional powers such as the United States could declare the interventionist Monroe Doctrine of 1821 for events in its Central American "backyard". However, the large population of weak states after 1945 allowed intervention by former colonial powers, regional powers and neighboring states who themselves often had scarce resources. On average, a civil war with interstate intervention was 300% longer than those without. When disaggregated, a civil war with intervention on only one side is 156% longer, while intervention on both sides lengthens the average civil war by an addition 92%. If one of the intervening states was a superpower, a civil war is extended a further 72%; a conflict such as the Angolan Civil War, in which there is two-sided foreign intervention, including by a superpower (actually, two superpowers in the case of Angola), would be 538% longer on average than a civil war without any international intervention.

Effect of the Cold War

The Cold War (1945–1989) provided a global network of material and ideological support that perpetuated civil wars, which were mainly fought in weak ex-colonial states, rather than the relatively strong states that were aligned with the Warsaw Pact and North Atlantic Treaty Organization. In some cases, superpowers would superimpose Cold War ideology onto local conflicts, while in others local actors using Cold War ideology would attract the attention of a superpower to obtain support. Using a separate statistical evaluation than used above for interventions, civil wars that included pro- or anti-communist forces lasted 141% longer than the average non-Cold War conflict, while a Cold War civil war that attracted superpower intervention resulted in wars typically lasting over three times as long as other civil wars. Conversely, the end of the Cold War marked by the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 resulted in a reduction in the duration of Cold War civil wars of 92% or, phrased another way, a roughly ten-fold increase in the rate of resolution of Cold War civil wars. Lengthy Cold War-associated civil conflicts that ground to a halt include the wars of Guatemala (1960–1996), El Salvador (1979–1991), Nicaragua (1970–1990) and Peru (1980–2000).

See also

The Logic of Violence in Civil War

War of Independence (disambiguation)

Wars of national liberation

References

Bibliography

Ali, Taisier Mohamed Ahmed and Robert O. Matthews, eds. ''Civil Wars in Africa: roots and resolution'' (1999), 322 pages

Mats Berdal and David M. Malone, ''Greed and Grievance: Economic Agendas in Civil Wars'' (Lynne Rienner, 2000).

Paul Collier, ''Breaking the Conflict Trap: civil war and development policy'' World Bank (2003) - 320 pages

Stathis Kalyvas, "'New' and 'Old' Civil Wars: A Valid Distinction?" ''World Politics'' 54, no. 1 (2001): 99-118.

David Lake and Donald Rothchild, eds. ''The International Spread of Ethnic Conflict: Fear, Diffusion, and Escalation'' (Princeton University Press, 1996).

Roy Licklider, "The Consequences of Negotiated Settlements in Civil Wars, 1945--1993," ''American Political Science Review'' 89, no. 3 (summer 1995): pp 681–690.

Andrew Mack, "Civil War: Academic Research and the Policy Community," ''Journal of Peace Research'' 39, no. 5 (2002): pp. 515–525.

David T. Mason and Patrick 3. Fett, "How Civil Wars End: A Rational Choice Approach," ''Journal of Conflict Resolution'' 40, no. 4 (fall 1996): 546-568.

Patrick M. Regan. ''Civil Wars and Foreign Powers: Outside Intervention in Intrastate Conflict'' (2000) 172 pages

Stephen John and others., eds. ''Ending Civil Wars: The Implementation of Peace Agreements'' (2002), 729 pages

Monica Duffy Toft, ''The Geography of Ethnic Violence: Identity, Interests, and the Indivisibility of Territory'' (Princeton NJ: Princeton University Press, 2003). ISBN 0-691-12383-7.

Barbara F. Walter, ''Committing to Peace: The Successful Settlement of Civil Wars'' (Princeton University Press, 2002),

Elisabeth Jean Wood; "Civil Wars: What We Don't Know," ''Global Governance,'' Vol. 9, 2003 pp 247+ online version

External links

Royal Air Force Doctrine - The Nature of War and Armed Conflict

Royal Air Force Doctrine - The Nature of War and Armed Conflict

"What makes a civil war?", ''BBC News'', 20 April 2006

Category:Wars by type

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name	Phil Ochs
background	solo_singer
birth date	December 19, 1940
birth place	El Paso, Texas
death date	April 09, 1976
death place	Far Rockaway, New York
instrument	Guitar, vocals, piano
genre	Folk, protest music, folk rock
occupation	Singer-songwriter
years active	1962–1976
label	Elektra, A&M;
notable instruments	}}

Philip David Ochs (; December 19, 1940 – April 9, 1976) was an American protest singer (or, as he preferred, a topical singer) and songwriter who was known for his sharp wit, sardonic humor, earnest humanism, political activism, insightful and alliterative lyrics, and haunting voice. He wrote hundreds of songs in the 1960s and released eight albums in his lifetime.

Ochs performed at many political events, including anti-Vietnam War and civil rights rallies, student events, and organized labor events over the course of his career, in addition to many concert appearances at such venues as New York City's Town Hall and Carnegie Hall. Politically, Ochs described himself as a "left social democrat" who became an "early revolutionary" after the protests at the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago led to a police riot, which had a profound effect on his state of mind.

After years of prolific writing in the 1960s, Ochs's mental stability declined in the 1970s. He eventually succumbed to a number of problems including bipolar disorder and alcoholism, and took his own life in 1976.

Some of Ochs's major influences were Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, Buddy Holly, Elvis Presley, Bob Gibson, Faron Young, Merle Haggard, John Wayne, and John F. Kennedy. His best-known songs include "I Ain't Marching Anymore", "Changes", "Crucifixion", "Draft Dodger Rag", "Love Me I'm a Liberal", "Outside of a Small Circle of Friends", "Power and the Glory", "There but for Fortune", and "The War Is Over".

Biography

Early years

Phil Ochs was born in El Paso, Texas, to Jacob ("Jack") Ochs, a physician who was born in New York in 1910, and Gertrude Phin Ochs, who was born in Scotland. His parents met and married in Edinburgh where Jack was attending medical school. After their marriage, they moved to the United States. Jack, drafted into the army, was sent overseas at the end of World War II, where he treated soldiers at the Battle of the Bulge. His war experiences affected his mental health and he received an honorable medical discharge in November 1945. On his return, Jack, who suffered from bipolar disorder and depression, worked at a series of hospitals around the country, unable to establish a successful medical practice. As a result, the Ochs family moved frequently: to Far Rockaway, New York, when Ochs was a teenager; then to Perrysburg in upstate New York, where he first studied music; and then to Columbus, Ohio.

Ochs grew up with an older sister, Sonia (known as Sonny), and a younger brother, Michael. The Ochs family was middle class and Jewish, but not religious. His father was distant from his wife and children, and was hospitalized for depression. He died in 1963 from a cerebral hemorrhage.

As a teenager, Ochs was recognized as a talented clarinet player; in an evaluation, one music instructor wrote: "You have exceptional musical feeling and the ability to transfer it on your instrument is abundant." His musical skills allowed him to play clarinet with the orchestra at the Capital University Conservatory of Music in Ohio, where he rose to the status of principal soloist before he was 16. Although Ochs played classical music, he soon became interested in other sounds he heard on the radio, such as early rock icons Buddy Holly and Elvis Presley and country music artists including Faron Young, Ernest Tubb, Hank Williams, Sr., and Johnny Cash.

Ochs also spent a lot of time at the movies. He especially liked big screen heroes such as John Wayne and Audie Murphy. Later on, he developed an interest in movie rebels, including Marlon Brando and James Dean.

From 1956 to 1958, Ochs was a student at the Staunton Military Academy in rural Virginia, and when he graduated he returned to Columbus and enrolled in the Ohio State University. Unhappy after his first semester, he took a leave of absence and went to Florida. While in Miami, the 18-year-old Ochs was jailed for two weeks for sleeping on a park bench, an incident he would later recall:

"Somewhere during the course of those fifteen days I decided to become a writer. My primary thought was journalism ... so in a flash I decided—I'll be a writer and a major in journalism."

Ochs returned to Ohio State to study journalism and developed an interest in politics, with a particular interest in the Cuban Revolution of 1959. At Ohio State he met Jim Glover, a fellow student who was a devotee of folk music. Glover introduced Ochs to the music of Pete Seeger, Woody Guthrie, and The Weavers. Glover taught Ochs how to play guitar, and they debated politics. Ochs began writing newspaper articles, often on radical themes. When the student paper refused to publish some of his more radical articles, he started his own underground newspaper called ''The Word''. His two main interests, politics and music, soon merged, and Ochs began writing topical political songs. Ochs and Glover formed a duet called "The Singing Socialists", later renamed "The Sundowners", but the duo broke up before their first professional performance and Glover went to New York City to become a folksinger.

Ochs's parents and brother had moved from Columbus to Cleveland, and Ochs started to spend more time there, performing professionally at a local folk club called Farragher's Back Room. He was the opening act for a number of musicians in the summer of 1961, including the Smothers Brothers. Ochs met Bob Gibson that summer as well, and according to Dave Van Ronk, Gibson became "''the'' seminal influence" on Ochs's writing. Ochs continued at Ohio State into his senior year, but was bitterly disappointed at not being appointed editor-in-chief of the college newspaper, and dropped out in his last semester without graduating. He left for New York, as Glover had, to become a folksinger.

1962–1966

Ochs arrived in New York City in 1962 and began performing in numerous small folk nightclubs, eventually becoming an integral part of the Greenwich Village folk music scene. He emerged as an unpolished but passionate vocalist who wrote pointed songs about current events: war, civil rights, labor struggles and other topics. While others described his music as "protest songs", Ochs preferred the term "topical songs".

Ochs described himself as a "singing journalist", saying he built his songs from stories he read in ''Newsweek''. By the summer of 1963 he was sufficiently well known in folk circles to be invited to sing at the Newport Folk Festival, where he performed "Too Many Martyrs" (co-written with Bob Gibson), "Talking Birmingham Jam", and "Power and the Glory"—his patriotic Guthrie-esque anthem that brought the audience to its feet. Other performers at the 1963 folk festival included Peter, Paul and Mary, Joan Baez, Bob Dylan, and Tom Paxton. Ochs's return appearance at Newport in 1964, when he performed "Draft Dodger Rag" and other songs, was widely praised. But he was not invited to appear in 1965, the festival when Dylan infamously performed "Maggie's Farm" with an electric guitar. Although many in the folk world decried Dylan's choice, Ochs was amused, and admired Dylan's courage in defying the folk establishment.

During 1963, Ochs performed at New York's Carnegie Hall and Town Hall in hootenannies. He made his first solo appearance at Carnegie Hall in 1966. Throughout his career, Ochs would perform at a wide range of venues, including civil rights rallies, anti-war demonstrations, and concert halls.

Ochs contributed many songs and articles to the influential ''Broadside Magazine''. He recorded his first three albums for Elektra Records: ''All the News That's Fit to Sing'' (1964), ''I Ain't Marching Anymore'' (1965), and ''Phil Ochs in Concert'' (1966). Critics wrote that each album was better than its predecessors, and fans seemed to agree; record sales increased with each new release.

On these records, Ochs was accompanied only by an acoustic guitar. The albums contain many of Ochs's topical songs, such as "Too Many Martyrs", "I Ain't Marching Anymore", and "Draft Dodger Rag"; and some musical reinterpretation of older poetry, such as "The Highwayman" (poem by Alfred Noyes) and "The Bells" (poem by Edgar Allan Poe). ''Phil Ochs in Concert'' includes a few ballads, such as "Changes" and "When I'm Gone".

During the early period of his career, Ochs and Bob Dylan had a friendly rivalry. Dylan said of Ochs, "I just can't keep up with Phil. And he just keeps getting better and better and better". On another occasion, when Ochs criticized one of Dylan's songs, Dylan threw him out of his limousine, saying, "You're not a folksinger. You're a journalist".

In 1962, Ochs married Alice Skinner, who was pregnant with their daughter Meegan, in a City Hall ceremony with Jim Glover as best man and Jean Ray as bridesmaid, and witnessed by Dylan's sometime girlfriend, Suze Rotolo. Phil and Alice separated in 1965, but they never divorced.

Like many people of his generation, Ochs deeply admired President John F. Kennedy, even though he disagreed with the president on issues such as the Bay of Pigs Invasion, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and the growing involvement of the United States in the Vietnamese civil war. When Kennedy was assassinated on November 22, 1963, Ochs wept. He told his wife that he thought he was going to die that night. It was the only time she ever saw Ochs cry.

Ochs's managers during this part of his career were Albert Grossman (who also managed Dylan and Peter, Paul, and Mary) followed by Arthur Gorson. Gorson had close ties with such groups as Americans For Democratic Action, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, and Students for a Democratic Society.

Ochs was writing songs at an amazing pace. Some of the songs he wrote during this period were held back and recorded on his later albums.

1967–1969

In 1967, Ochs—now managed by his brother Michael—left Elektra for A&M; Records and moved to California. He recorded four studio albums for A&M;: ''Pleasures of the Harbor'' (1967), ''Tape from California'' (1968), ''Rehearsals for Retirement'' (1969), and the ironically titled ''Greatest Hits'' (1970) (which actually consisted of all new material). For his A&M; albums, Ochs moved away from simply-produced solo acoustic guitar performances and experimented with ensemble and even orchestral instrumentation, "baroque-folk", in the hopes of producing a pop-folk hybrid that would be a hit.

Critic Robert Christgau, writing in ''Esquire'' of ''Pleasures of the Harbor'' in May 1968, did not consider this new direction a good turn. While describing Ochs as "unquestionably a nice guy", he went on to say, "too bad his voice shows an effective range of about half an octave [and] his guitar playing would not suffer much if his right hand were webbed." "''Pleasures of the Harbor''", Christgau continued, "epitomizes the decadence that has infected pop since ''Sgt. Pepper''. [The] gaudy musical settings ... inspire nostalgia for the three-chord strum." With an ironic sense of humor, Ochs included Christgau's "webbed hand" comment in his 1968 songbook ''The War is Over'' on a page titled "The Critics Raved", opposite a full-page picture of Ochs standing in a large metal garbage can. Despite his sense of humor, Ochs was unhappy that his work was not receiving the critical acclaim and popular success he had hoped for. Still, Ochs would joke on the back cover of ''Greatest Hits'' that there were 50 Phil Ochs fans ("50 fans can't be wrong!"), a sarcastic reference to an Elvis Presley album that bragged of 50 million Elvis fans.

None of Ochs's songs became hits, although "Outside of a Small Circle of Friends" received a good deal of airplay. It reached #119 on ''Billboard'''s national "Hot Prospect" listing before being pulled from some radio stations because of its lyrics, which sarcastically suggested that "smoking marijuana is more fun than drinking beer". It was the closest Ochs ever came to the Top 40. Joan Baez, however, did have a Top Ten hit in the U.K. in August 1965, reaching #8 with her cover of Ochs's song "There but for Fortune", which was also nominated for a Grammy Award for "Best Folk Recording". In the U.S. it peaked at #50 on the ''Billboard'' charts—a good showing, but not a hit.

Although he was trying new things musically, Ochs did not abandon his protest roots. He was profoundly concerned with the escalation of the Vietnam War, performing tirelessly at anti-war rallies across the country. In 1967 he organized two rallies to declare that "The War Is Over"—"Is everybody sick of this stinking war? In that case, friends, do what I and thousands of other Americans have done—declare the war over."—one in Los Angeles in June, the other in New York in November. He continued to write and record anti-war songs, such as "The War Is Over" and "White Boots Marching in a Yellow Land". Other topical songs of this period include "Outside of a Small Circle of Friends", inspired by the murder of Kitty Genovese, who was stabbed to death outside of her New York City apartment building while dozens of her neighbors reportedly ignored her cries for help, and "William Butler Yeats Visits Lincoln Park and Escapes Unscathed", about the despair he felt in the aftermath of the Chicago 1968 Democratic National Convention police riot.

Ochs was writing more personal songs as well, such as "Crucifixion", in which he compared the deaths of Jesus Christ and President John F. Kennedy as part of a "cycle of sacrifice" in which people build up heroes and then celebrate their destruction; "Chords of Fame", a warning against the dangers and corruption of fame; "Pleasures of the Harbor", a lyrical portrait of a lonely sailor seeking human connection far from home; and "Boy From Ohio", a plaintive look back at Ochs's childhood in Columbus.

A lifelong movie fan, Ochs worked the narratives of justice and rebellion that he had seen in films into his music, describing some of his songs as "cinematic". He was disappointed and bitter when his onetime hero John Wayne embraced the Vietnam War with what Ochs saw as the blind patriotism of Wayne's 1968 film, ''The Green Berets'':

[H]ere we have John Wayne, who was a major artistic and psychological figure on the American scene, ... who at one point used to make movies of soldiers who had a certain validity, ... a certain sense of honor [about] what the soldier was doing.... Even if it was a cavalry movie doing a historically dishonorable thing to the Indians, even as there was a feeling of what it meant to be a man, what it meant to have some sense of duty.... Now today we have the same actor making his new war movie in a war so hopelessly corrupt that, without seeing the movie, I'm sure it is perfectly safe to say that it will be an almost technically-robot-view of soldiery, just by definition of how the whole country has deteriorated. And I think it would make a very interesting double feature to show a good old Wayne movie like, say, ''She Wore a Yellow Ribbon'' with ''The Green Berets''. Because that would make a very striking comment on what has happened to America in general.

Ochs was involved in the creation of the Youth International Party, known as the Yippies, along with Jerry Rubin, Abbie Hoffman, Stew Albert, and Paul Krassner. At the same time, Ochs actively supported Eugene McCarthy's more mainstream bid for the 1968 Democratic nomination for President, a position at odds with the more radical Yippie point of view. Still, Ochs helped plan the Yippies' "Festival of Life" which was to take place at the 1968 Democratic National Convention along with demonstrations by other anti-war groups including the National Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam. Despite warnings that there might be trouble, Ochs went to Chicago both as a guest of the McCarthy campaign and to participate in the demonstrations. He performed in Lincoln Park, Grant Park, and at the Chicago Coliseum, witnessed the violence perpetrated by the Chicago police against the protesters, and was himself arrested at one point.

The events of 1968—the assassinations of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy, the police riot in Chicago, and the election of Richard Nixon—left Ochs feeling disillusioned and depressed. The cover of his 1969 album ''Rehearsals for Retirement'' eerily portrays a tombstone with the words:

Ochs testified for the defense at the trial of the Chicago Seven in December 1969. His testimony included his recitation of the lyrics to his song "I Ain't Marching Anymore". On his way out of the courthouse, Ochs sang the song for the press corps; to Ochs's amusement, his singing was broadcast that evening by Walter Cronkite on the CBS Evening News.

1970

After the riot in Chicago and the subsequent trial, Ochs changed direction again. The events of 1968 convinced him that the average American wasn't listening to topical songs or responding to Yippie tactics. Ochs thought that by playing the sort of music that had moved him as a teenager he could speak more directly to the American public.

Ochs turned to his musical roots in country music and early rock and roll. He decided he needed to be "part Elvis Presley and part Che Guevara", so he commissioned a gold lamé suit from Elvis Presley's costumer Nudie Cohn. Ochs wore the gold suit on the cover of his 1970 album, ''Greatest Hits'', which consisted of new songs largely in rock and country styles.

During this period, Ochs was taking drugs to get through performances. He had been taking Valium for years to help control his nerves, and he was also drinking heavily. Pianist Lincoln Mayorga said of that period, "He was physically abusing himself very badly on that tour. He was drinking a lot of wine and taking uppers. The wine was pulling him one way and the uppers were pulling him another way, and he was kind of a mess. There were so many pharmaceuticals around—so many pills. I'd never seen anything like that." Ochs tried to cut back on the pills, but alcohol remained his drug of choice for the rest of his life.

Depressed by his lack of widespread appreciation and suffering from writer's block, Ochs didn't record any further albums. He slipped deeper into depression and alcoholism. His personal problems notwithstanding, Ochs performed at the inaugural benefit for Greenpeace on October 16, 1970, at the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver, BC. A recording of his performance, along with performances by Joni Mitchell and James Taylor, was released by Greenpeace in 2009.

1971–1975

In August 1971, Phil went to Chile, where Salvador Allende, a Marxist, had been democratically elected in the 1970 election. There he met Chilean folksinger Víctor Jara, an Allende supporter, and the two became friends. In October, Ochs left Chile to visit Argentina. Later that month, after singing at a political rally in Uruguay, he and his American traveling companion David Ifshin were arrested and detained overnight. When the two returned to Argentina, they were arrested as they got off the airplane. After a brief stay in an Argentinian prison, Ochs and Ifshin were sent to Bolivia via a commercial airliner where authorities were to detain them. Ifshin had previously been warned by Argentine leftist friends that when authorities sent dissidents to Bolivia, they would disappear forever. When the airliner arrived in Bolivia, the American captain of the Braniff International Airways aircraft allowed Ochs and Ifshin to stay on the aircraft and barred Bolivian authorities from entering. The aircraft then flew to Peru where the two disembarked and they were not detained. Fearful that Peruvian authorities might arrest him, Ochs returned to the United States a few days later.

Ochs was having difficulties writing new songs during this period, but he had occasional breakthroughs. He updated his sarcastic song "Here's to the State of Mississippi" as "Here's to the State of Richard Nixon", with cutting lines such as "the speeches of the Spiro are the ravings of a clown", a reference to Nixon's vitriolic vice president, Spiro Agnew—sung as "the speeches of the President are the ravings of a clown" after Agnew's resignation.

Ochs was personally invited by John Lennon to sing at a large benefit at the University of Michigan in December 1971 on behalf of John Sinclair, an activist poet who had been arrested on minor drug charges and given a severe sentence. Ochs performed at the John Sinclair Freedom Rally along with Stevie Wonder, Allen Ginsberg, David Peel, Abbie Hoffman and many others. The rally culminated with Lennon and Yoko Ono, who were making their first public performance in the United States since the breakup of The Beatles.

Although the 1968 election had left him deeply disillusioned, Ochs continued to work for the election campaigns of anti-war candidates, such as George McGovern's unsuccessful Presidential bid in 1972.

In 1972, Ochs was asked to write the theme song for the film ''Kansas City Bomber''. The task proved difficult, as Ochs struggled to overcome his writer's block. Although his song wasn't used in the soundtrack, it was released as a single.

Ochs decided to travel. In mid-1972, he went to Australia and New Zealand. He traveled to Africa in 1973, where he visited Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, and South Africa. One night, Ochs was attacked and strangled by robbers in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, which damaged his vocal cords, causing a loss of the top three notes in his vocal range. The attack also exacerbated his growing mental problems, and he became increasingly paranoid. Ochs believed the attack may have been arranged by government agents—perhaps the CIA. Still, he continued his trip, even recording a single in Kenya, "Bwatue".

On September 11, 1973, the Allende government of Chile was overthrown in a ''coup d'état''. Allende died during the bombing of the presidential palace, and Jara was publicly tortured and killed. When Ochs heard about the manner in which his friend had been killed, he was outraged. He decided to organize a benefit concert to bring to public attention the situation in Chile and raise funds for the people of Chile. The concert, "An Evening with Salvador Allende", included films of Allende; singers such as Pete Seeger, Arlo Guthrie, and Bob Dylan; and political activists such as former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark. Dylan had agreed to perform at the last minute when he heard that the concert had sold so few tickets that it was in danger of being canceled. Once his participation was announced, the event quickly sold out.

After the Chile benefit, Ochs and Dylan discussed the possibility of a joint concert tour, playing small nightclubs. Nothing came of the Dylan-Ochs plans, but the idea eventually evolved into Dylan's Rolling Thunder Revue.

The Vietnam War ended on April 30, 1975. Ochs planned a final "War Is Over" rally, which was held in New York's Central Park on May 11. More than 100,000 people came to hear Ochs, joined by Harry Belafonte, Odetta, Pete Seeger and others. Ochs and Joan Baez sang a duet of "There but for Fortune" and he closed with his song "The War Is Over"—finally a true declaration that the war was over.

Decline and death

Ochs's drinking became more and more of a problem, and his behavior became increasingly erratic. He frightened his friends both with his drunken rants about the FBI and CIA, and about his claiming to want to have Elvis's manager Colonel Tom Parker or Kentucky Fried Chicken's Colonel Sanders manage his career.

In mid-1975, Ochs took on the identity of John Butler Train. He told people that Train had murdered Ochs, and that he, John Butler Train, had replaced him. Train was convinced that someone was trying to kill him, so he carried a weapon at all times: a hammer, a knife, or a lead pipe.

Ochs's friends tried to help him. His brother Michael attempted to have him committed to a psychiatric hospital. Friends pleaded with him to get help voluntarily. They feared for his safety, because he was getting into fights with bar patrons. Unable to pay his rent, he began living on the streets.

After several months, the Train persona faded and Ochs returned, but his talk of suicide disturbed his friends and family. They hoped it was a passing phase, but Ochs was determined. One of his biographers explains Ochs's motivation:

In January 1976, Ochs moved to Far Rockaway, New York, to live with his sister Sonny. He was lethargic; his only activities were watching television and playing cards with his nephews. Ochs saw a psychiatrist, who diagnosed his bipolar disorder. He was prescribed medication, and he told his sister he was taking it. On April 9, 1976, Ochs hanged himself.

Years after his death, it was revealed that the FBI had a file of nearly 500 pages on Ochs. Much of the information in those files relates to his association with counterculture figures, protest organizers, musicians, and other people described by the FBI as "subversive". The FBI was often sloppy in collecting information on Ochs: his name was frequently misspelled "Oakes" in their files, and they continued to consider him "potentially dangerous" after his death.

Congresswoman Bella Abzug (Democrat from New York), an outspoken anti-war activist herself who had appeared at the 1975 "War is Over" rally, entered this statement into the ''Congressional Record'' on April 29, 1976:

Robert Christgau, who had been so critical of ''Pleasures of the Harbor'' and Ochs's guitar skills eight years earlier, wrote warmly of Ochs in his obituary in the ''Village Voice''—an irony that Ochs might have enjoyed. "I came around to liking Phil Ochs' music, guitar included," Christgau wrote. "My affection [for Ochs] no doubt prejudiced me, so it is worth [noting] that many observers who care more for folk music than I do remember both his compositions and his vibrato tenor as close to the peak of the genre."

Legacy

More than thirty years after his death, Ochs's songs remain relevant. Ochs continues to influence singers and fans worldwide, many of whom never saw him perform live. There are mailing lists and online discussion groups dedicated to Ochs and his music; websites that have music samples, photographs, and other links; and articles and books continue to be written and published about him.

His sister Sonny Ochs (Tanzman) runs a series of "Phil Ochs Song Nights" with a rotating group of performers who keep Ochs's music and legacy alive by singing his songs in cities across the U.S. Michael Ochs is a photographic archivist of 20th century music and entertainment personalities. Meegan Lee Ochs worked with Michael to produce a box set of Ochs's music titled ''Farewells & Fantasies'', the title of which was taken from Ochs's sign-off on the "postcard" on the back of ''Tape from California'': "Farewells & Fantasies, Folks, P. Ochs". Meegan has a son named Caidan, Ochs's grandchild. Alice Skinner Ochs was a photographer; she died in November 2010.

In February 2009, the North American Folk Music and Dance Alliance gave the 2009 Elaine Weissman Lifetime Achievement Award to Phil Ochs.

Covers and updates

Ochs's songs have been covered by scores of performers, including Eric Andersen, Peter Asher, Joan Baez, Bastro, Cilla Black, Black 47, Billy Bragg, Eugene Chadbourne, Cher, Gene Clark, Judy Collins, Henry Cow, Allison Crowe, John Denver, Kevin Devine, Ani DiFranco, disappear fear, Mark Eitzel, Marianne Faithfull, Julie Felix, Diamanda Galás, Dick Gaughan, Ronnie Gilbert, Thea Gilmore, John Wesley Harding, Carolyn Hester, Pat Humphries, Jason & the Scorchers, Jim and Jean, Jeannie Lewis, Gordon Lightfoot, Ray Naylor, Harry Nilsson, Will Oldham, Brian Ritchie, David Rovics, Melanie Safka, Pete Seeger, The Shrubs, Squirrel Bait, Crispian St. Peters, Teenage Fanclub, Tempest, They Might Be Giants, Dave Van Ronk, Eddie Vedder, and The Weakerthans. Wyclef Jean performed "Here's to the State of Mississippi" in the 2009 documentary ''Soundtrack for a Revolution''.

In 1998, Sliced Bread Records released ''What's That I Hear?: The Songs of Phil Ochs'', a two CD set of 28 covers by artists that includes Eric Andersen, Billy Bragg, John Gorka, Nanci Griffith, Arlo Guthrie, Pat Humphries, Magpie, Tom Paxton, Dave Van Ronk, Sammy Walker, Peter Yarrow, and others. The liner notes indicate that all record company profits from the sale of the set were to be divided between the ACLU Foundation of Southern California and ''Sing Out!'' magazine.

Wood Records released an indie rock/experimental rock tribute album titled ''Poison Ochs: A Tribute to Phil Ochs'' in 2003.

In 2005, Kind Of Like Spitting released an album, ''Learn: The Songs of Phil Ochs'', consisting of covers of nine songs written by Ochs, to pay tribute to his music and raise awareness of the artist, whom they felt had been overlooked.

Jello Biafra and Mojo Nixon, on their album ''Prairie Home Invasion'', recorded a version of "Love Me, I'm a Liberal" with lyrics updated to the Clinton era. Evan Greer, part of the Riot-Folk collective, later updated the song for the George W. Bush era. Ryan Harvey, also part of Riot-Folk, remade "Cops Of The World" with updated lyrics. The Clash used some of the lyrics to "United Fruit" in their song "Up in Heaven (Not Only Here)", which appeared on their 1980 album ''Sandinista!''. During their performance on ''VH1 Storytellers'', Pearl Jam covered "Here's to the State of Mississippi" with updated lyrics to include Jerry Falwell, Dick Cheney, John Roberts, Alberto Gonzales, and George W. Bush. In 2002, with the agreement of Ochs's sister Sonny, Richard Thompson added an extra verse to "I Ain't Marching Anymore" to reflect recent American foreign policy. Jefferson Starship recorded "I Ain't Marching Anymore" with additional lyrics by band member Cathy Richardson for their 2008 release ''Jefferson's Tree of Liberty''.

Tributes

On learning of Ochs's death, Tom Paxton wrote a touching song titled "Phil", which he recorded for his 1978 album ''Heroes''. Ochs is also the subject of "I Dreamed I Saw Phil Ochs Last Night", by Billy Bragg, from his 1990 album ''The Internationale''. "Thin Wild Mercury," by Peter Cooper and Todd Snider, is about Ochs's infamous clash with Dylan and getting thrown out of Dylan's limo. Ochs is mentioned in the Dar Williams song "All My Heroes Are Dead", the Will Oldham song "Gezundheit", the Chumbawamba song "Love Me", and the They Might Be Giants song "The Day". The Josh Joplin Group recorded an eponymous tribute to Ochs on their album ''Useful Music''. Schooner Fare recorded "Don't Stop To Rest (Song for Phil Ochs)" on their 1981 album ''Closer to the Wind''. Latin Quarter memorialized him in the song "Phil Ochs" on their album ''Long Pig'' (1993).

John Wesley Harding recorded a song titled "Phil Ochs, Bob Dylan, Steve Goodman, David Blue and Me", the title a reference to the Ochs song "Bach, Beethoven, Mozart and Me". Singer-songwriter Nanci Griffith wrote a song about Phil entitled "Radio Fragile". English folk/punk songwriter Al Baker recorded a song about Ochs entitled "All The News That's Fit To Sing", a reference to the title of Ochs's first album. Cajun musician Vic Sadot wrote a song about Ochs entitled "Broadside Balladeer". Singer-songwriter Jen Cass's "Standing In Your Memory", and Harry Chapin's "The Parade's Still Passing By" are tributes to Ochs. Leslie Fish recorded "Chickasaw Mountain", which is dedicated to Ochs, on her 1986 album of that name. The punk band Squirrel Bait cited Ochs as a major creative influence in the liner notes of their 1986 album ''Skag Heaven'', and cover his "Tape From California". A Greek folk record, Dimitris Panagopoulos' ''Unstable Equilibrium'' (1987), was dedicated to the memory of Phil Ochs. On the 2005 Kind Of Like Spitting album ''In the Red'', songwriter Ben Barnett included his song "Sheriff Ochs", which was inspired by reading a biography of Ochs. On April 9, 2009, Jim Glover performed a tribute to Ochs at Mother's Musical Bakery in Sarasota, Florida.

A one hour musical commentary on the life and times of Phil Ochs called “No More Songs: Phil Ochs and the Sixties” was performed at the National Folk Festival held in the Australian capital, Canberra, on April 18, 2003. The show was written by Anthony Ashbolt who also narrated it. The performers, A Small Circle of Friends, were Tom Bridges, Deanne Dale, Jeannie Lewis and Maurie Mulheron. The performance received a standing ovation. Jeannie Lewis had been the opening act for Phil when he had toured Australia in 1972.

Popular culture

Among Ochs's many admirers were the short story writer Breece D'J Pancake and actor Sean Penn. Meegan Lee Ochs, who worked as Sean Penn's personal assistant from 1983 to 1985, wrote in her Foreword to ''Farewells & Fantasies'' that she and Penn discussed "over many years" the possibility of making a movie about her father; the plan has not yet come to fruition, although Penn expressed an interest in the project as recently as February 2009. Author Jim Carroll's autobiography, ''The Basketball Diaries'' (1978), was dedicated in memory of Phil Ochs. On the cover of The Go-Betweens' ''The Lost Album'', Grant McLennan wore a shirt with the words "Get outta the car, Ochs", a reference to the limousine incident involving Ochs and Dylan. The 1994 film ''Spanking the Monkey'' makes reference to Ochs and his suicide. Ochs is mentioned in the Stephen King novels ''The Tommyknockers'' and ''Hearts in Atlantis''.

Films

Michael Korolenko directed the 1984 biopic ''Chords of Fame'', which featured Bill Burnett as Ochs. The film included interviews with people who had known Ochs, including Yippies Abbie Hoffman and Jerry Rubin, manager Harold Leventhal, and Mike Porco, the owner of Gerde's Folk City. ''Chords of Fame'' also included performances of Ochs songs by folk musicians who knew him, including Bob Gibson, Pete Seeger, Tom Paxton, Dave Van Ronk, and Eric Andersen.

Filmmaker Ken Bowser directed the documentary film ''Phil Ochs: There but for Fortune'', which premiered at the 2010 Woodstock Film Festival in Woodstock, New York. Its theatrical run began on January 5, 2011, at the IFC Theater in Greenwich Village, New York City, opening in cities around the US and Canada thereafter. The film features extensive archival footage of Ochs and many pivotal events from the 1960s civil rights and peace movements, as well as interviews with friends, family and colleagues who knew Ochs through music and politics.

Professional affiliations

Ochs was a member of the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, which is affiliated with the AFL-CIO.

The music publishing company Ochs formed with Arthur Gorson, Barricade Music, was an ASCAP company.

Discography

Studio albums and live recordings

''All the News That's Fit to Sing'' (Elektra, 1964)

''I Ain't Marching Anymore'' (Elektra, 1965)

''Phil Ochs in Concert'' (Elektra, 1966)

''Pleasures of the Harbor'' (A&M;, 1967)

''Tape from California'' (A&M;, 1968)

''Rehearsals for Retirement'' (A&M;, 1969)

''Greatest Hits'' (A&M;, 1970)

''Gunfight at Carnegie Hall'' (A&M; Canada, 1975)

Compilations and other albums

The Campers: ''Camp Favorites'' (Cameo, 1962)

''Chords of Fame'' (A&M;, 1976)

''Sings for Broadside'' (Folkways, 1976)

''Interviews with Phil Ochs'' (Folkways, 1976)

''A Toast to Those Who Are Gone'' (Rhino, 1986)

''The War Is Over: The Best of Phil Ochs'' (A&M;, 1988)

''The Broadside Tapes 1'' (Smithsonian Folkways, 1989)

''There but for Fortune'' (Elektra, 1989)

''There and Now: Live in Vancouver 1968'' (Rhino, 1991)

''Live at Newport'' (Vanguard, 1996)

''Farewells & Fantasies'' (Elektra/Rhino, 1997)

''American Troubadour'' (A&M; Britain, 1997)

''The Early Years'' (Vanguard, 2000)

''20th Century Masters: The Millennium Collection: The Best of Phil Ochs'' (Universal, 2002)

''Cross My Heart: An Introduction to Phil Ochs'' (Polydor, 2004)

''Amchitka, The 1970 Concert That Launched Greenpeace'' (Greenpeace, 2009)

''On My Way'' (Micro Werks, 2010)

See also

Counterculture of the 1960s

List of Phil Ochs songs

Robyn Ochs

Notes

References

Further reading

External links

Phil Ochs web pages includes lyrics, discography, images, &c.;

No More Songs A growing collection of less widely available material relating to Phil

All things Phil: Phil Ochs on the Web

Smithsonian Folkways Information on CDs available from this source; digital download of CD can be purchased for less than actual cd. Liner notes downloads are free.

Sonny Ochs' History of Phil Ochs Song Nights

Excerpts from the Testimony of Phil Ochs at the Chicago Seven Trial

Phil Ochs "Cosmic Baseball" Page

No Depression #10, Jul–Aug 1997

Photos

Vic Sadot, Phil Ochs' FBI File, ''Broadside Magazine''

Phil Ochs: The Life and Legacy of a Legendary American Folk Singer - video report by ''Democracy Now!''

Sonny Ochs, interviewed about Phil Ochs, Culture Shocks with Barry Lynn, March 23, 2011.

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ast:Phil Ochs de:Phil Ochs et:Phil Ochs es:Phil Ochs fr:Phil Ochs it:Phil Ochs nl:Phil Ochs no:Phil Ochs nn:Phil Ochs pl:Phil Ochs pt:Phil Ochs ru:Оукс, Филип Дэвид fi:Phil Ochs sv:Phil Ochs tr:Phil Ochs

Name	Saint Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer
Birth date	January 09, 1902
Death date	June 26, 1975
Feast day	26 June
Venerated in	Roman Catholic Church
Birth place	Barbastro, Aragon, Spain
Death place	Rome, Italy
Titles	''Saint of Ordinary Life''
Beatified date	17 May 1992
Beatified place	Vatican City
Beatified by	Pope John Paul II
Canonized date	6 October 2002
Canonized place	Vatican City
Canonized by	Pope John Paul II
Attributes	Celebration of the Holy Sacrifice of the Altar
Major shrine	Our Lady of Peace, Prelatic Church of Opus Dei, in Rome
Suppressed date	}}

Saint Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer (9 January 1902 – 26 June 1975; also known as José María or Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer y Albás, born José María Mariano Escrivá y Albás) was a Roman Catholic priest from Spain who founded Opus Dei, an organization of laypeople and priests dedicated to the teaching that everyone is called to holiness and that ordinary life is a path to sanctity. He was canonized in 2002 by Pope John Paul II, who declared Saint Josemaría should be "counted among the great witnesses of Christianity."

Escrivá gained a doctorate in civil law at the Complutense University of Madrid and a doctorate in theology at the Lateran University in Rome. His principal work was the foundation, government and expansion of Opus Dei. Escrivá and Opus Dei have aroused controversy, primarily revolving around allegations of secrecy, elitism, cult-like practices within Opus Dei, and political involvement with right-wing causes, such as the dictatorships of Generals Francisco Franco in Spain (1939–1975) and Augusto Pinochet in Chile (1973–1990). Some journalists, among them Vatican analyst John L. Allen, Jr., have averred that many of these accusations are unproven or have grown from black legends propagated by enemies of Opus Dei and Escrivá. Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI and many Catholic leaders strongly endorse Escrivá's teaching on the universal call to holiness, the role of laity, and sanctification of work.

Escrivá's best known book is ''The Way'', which has sold more than five million copies in 50 languages. His writings have sold a total of eight million copies. According to Allen, among Catholics Escrivá is "reviled by some and venerated by millions more".

Biography

Early life

José María Mariano Escrivá y Albás was born to José Escrivá y Corzán and his wife, María de los Dolores Albás y Blanc on 9 January 1902, in the small town of Barbastro, in Huesca, Aragon, Spain, the second of six children and the first of two sons. José Escrivá was a merchant and a partner in a textile firm which eventually went bankrupt, forcing the family to move in 1915 to the city of Logroño, in the northern province of La Rioja, where he worked as a clerk in a clothing store. Young Josemaría first felt that "he had been chosen for something", it is reported, when he saw footprints left in the snow by a monk walking barefoot.

Escrivá then decided that the best way to follow God's call was by becoming a priest of the Catholic Church. After obtaining the blessing and help of his father, he studied first in Logroño and then in Zaragoza and was ordained a deacon in Zaragoza on Saturday, 20 December 1924. He was ordained a priest, also in Zaragoza, on Saturday, 28 March 1925. After a brief appointment to a rural parish in Perdiguera, he went to Madrid, the Spanish capital, in 1927 to study law at the Central University. In Madrid, Escrivá was employed as a private tutor and as a chaplain to the Santa Isabel Foundation, which comprised the royal Convent of Santa Isabel and a school run by the Little Sisters of the Assumption.

Mission as the founder of Opus Dei

A prayerful retreat helped him to further discern what he considered to be God's will for him, and, on 2 October 1928, he "saw" Opus Dei (), a way by which Catholics might learn to sanctify themselves through their secular work. According to John Paul II's decree on Escrivá's "cause of canonization", which contains a condensed biography of Escrivá, "[t]o this mission he gave himself totally. From the beginning his was a very wide-ranging apostolate in social environments of all kinds. He worked especially among the poor and the sick languishing in the slums and hospitals of Madrid."

During the Spanish Civil War, Escrivá reportedly fled from the republicans, via Andorra and France, to Burgos, which was under the control of General Francisco Franco. After Franco's victory ended the war in 1939, he was able to resume his studies in Madrid and complete a doctorate in law, for which he submitted a thesis on the historical jurisdiction of the Abbess of Santa María la Real de Las Huelgas.

The Priestly Society of the Holy Cross, attached to Opus Dei, was founded on Sunday, 14 February 1943, and Escrivá himself moved to Rome in 1946. The decree of his ''cause of canonization'' states that "in 1947 and on Monday, 16 June 1950, he obtained approval of Opus Dei as an institution of pontifical right. With tireless charity and operative hope he guided the development of Opus Dei throughout the world, activating a vast mobilization of lay people ... He gave life to numerous initiatives in the work of evangelization and human welfare; he fostered vocations to the priesthood and the religious life everywhere... Above all, he devoted himself tirelessly to the task of forming the members of Opus Dei."

Later years

According to some accounts, at the age of two he suffered from a disease (perhaps epilepsy) so severe that the doctors expected him to die shortly, but his mother had taken him to in arms to Torreciudad, where the Aragonese locals venerated a statue of the Virgin Mary (as "Our Lady of the Angels"), thought to date from the 11th century. Escrivá recovered and, as the head of Opus Dei in the 1960s and 1970s, promoted and oversaw the design and construction of a major shrine at Torreciudad. The new shrine was inaugurated on 7 July 1975, shortly after Escrivá's death, and to this day remains the spiritual center of Opus Dei, as well as an important destination for pilgrimage. As an adult, Escrivá suffered from type 1 diabetes and, according to some sources, also epilepsy.

In 1950, Escrivá was appointed an Honorary Domestic Prelate by Pope Pius XII, which allowed him to use the title of Monsignor. In 1955, he received a doctorate in theology from the Pontifical Lateran University in Rome. He was a consultor to two Vatican congregations (the Congregation for Seminaries and Universities and the Pontifical Commission for the Authentic Interpretation of the Code of Canon Law) and an honorary member of the Pontifical Academy of Theology. According to some biographers, Escrivá contributed, through his contact with the bishops that participated in the Second Vatican Council (1962–65), to the Council's teachings on the universal call to holiness, the role of the laity and the importance of the Mass as the center and root of Christian life.

In 1948 Escrivá founded the Collegium Romanum Sanctae Crucis (Roman College of the Holy Cross), Opus Dei's educational center for men, in Rome. In 1953 he founded the Collegium Romanum Sanctae Mariae (Roman College of Saint Mary) to serve the women's branch. (These institutions are now fused into the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross.) Escrivá also established the University of Navarre, in Pamplona, and the University of Piura (in Peru), as a secular institutions affiliated with Opus Dei. When Escrivá died on 26 June 1975, aged 73, Opus Dei covered five continents and had more than 60,000 members from 80 nationalities.

Personality and attitudes

Attitudes in general

One of the persons who knew Escrivá most was the Bishop of Madrid, where Opus Dei was founded, Bishop Leopoldo Eijo y Garay, for Escrivá would visit and report to him quite frequently and the two established very strong bonds of friendship. In a 1943 report to Rome, the bishop stated: "The distinctive notes of his character are his energy and his capacity for organization and government; with an ability to pass unnoticed. He has shown himself most obedient to the Church hierarchy -- one very special hallmark of his priestly work is the way he fosters, in speech and in writing, in public and in private, love for Holy Mother Church and for the Roman Pontiff." Bishop Eijo y Garay wrote to the Jesuit Provincial of Toledo, Carlos Gomez Martinho, S.J. in 1941: "Fr. Escrivá is an exemplary priest, chosen by God for apostolic enterprises; humble, prudent, self-sacrificing in work, docile to his bishop, of outstanding intelligence and with a very solid spiritual and doctrinal formation." Eijo y Garay told a leader of the Falange that "[T]o think that Fr. Josemaría Escrivá is capable of creating anything secret is absurd. He is as frank and open as a child!"

Viktor Frankl, an Austrian psychiatrist and neurologist, founder of "logotherapy", and a Nazi concentration camp survivor, met Escrivá in Rome in 1970 and later wrote of "the refreshing serenity which emanated from him and warmed the whole conversation", and "the unbelievable rhythm" with which his thought flowed, and finally "his amazing capacity" for getting into "immediate contact" with those he was speaking to. Frankl went on: "Escrivá evidently lived totally in the present moment, he opened out to it completely, and gave himself entirely to it." At the end of the meeting, Frankl whispered to the translator: "This man is a spiritual atomic bomb."

According to Álvaro del Portillo, who was Escrivá's closest collaborator for many years, there was one basic quality of Escrivá "that pervaded everything else: his dedication to God, and to all souls for God's sake; his constant readiness to correspond generously to the will of God." Paul VI summarized his view of what he called the "extraordinariness" of Escrivá's sanctity in this way: "He is one of those men who has received the most charisms (supernatural gifts) and have corresponded most generously to them."

"The first impression one gets from watching Escrivá 'live'", John L. Allen, Jr. writes after watching some films on the founder of Opus Dei in 2005, "is his effervescence, his keen sense of humor. He cracks jokes, makes faces, roams the stage, and generally leaves his audience in stitches in off-the-cuff responses to questions from people in the crowd."

Critics, such as Spanish architect Miguel Fisac, who was one of the earliest members of Opus Dei and who remained close to Escrivá for nearly twenty years before breaking with him and Opus Dei, have given a very different picture of Escrivá as a pious but vain, secretive, and ambitious man, given to private displays of violent temper, and who demonstrated little charity towards others or genuine concern for the poor. According to British journalist Giles Tremlett, "biographies of Escrivá have produced conflicting visions of the saint as either a loving, caring charismatic person or a mean-spirited, manipulative egoist". French historian Édouard de Blaye has referred to Escrivá as a "mixture of mysticism and ambition".

Towards God

Prayer

On the centennial of Escrivá's birthday, Cardinal Ratzinger (who became Pope Benedict XVI) commented: "I have always been impressed by Josemaría Escrivá's explanation of the name 'Opus Dei': an explanation ... gives us an idea of the founder's spiritual profile. Escrivá knew he had to found something, but he was also conscious that what he was founding was not his own work, that he himself did not invent anything and that the Lord was merely making use of him. So it was not his work, but Opus Dei (God's Work). [This] gives us to understand that he was in a permanent dialogue, a real contact with the One who created us and works for us and with us... If therefore St Josemaría speaks of the common vocation to holiness, it seems to me that he is basically drawing on his own personal experience, not of having done incredible things himself, but of having let God work. Therefore a renewal, a force for good was born in the world even if human weaknesses will always remain."

In his canonization homily, Pope John Paul II described Escrivá as "a master in the practice of prayer, which he considered to be an extraordinary 'weapon' to redeem the world...It is not a paradox but a perennial truth; the fruitfulness of the apostolate lies above all in prayer and in intense and constant sacramental life." In John Paul II's ''Decree of Canonization'', he refers to the five short prayers or aspirations of Escrivá through which "one can trace the entire life story of Blessed Josemaría Escrivá. He was barely sixteen when he began to recite the first two aspirations [''Domine, ut videam!'', Lord, that I might see! and ''Domina, ut sit!'', Lady, that it might be!], as soon as he had the first inklings of God's call. They expressed the burning desire of his heart: to see what God was asking of him, so that he might do it without delay, lovingly fulfilling the Lord's will. The third aspiration [''Omnes cum Petro ad Iesum per Mariam!'', All together with Peter to Jesus through Mary!] appears frequently in his writings as a young priest and shows how his zeal to win souls for God went hand in hand with both a firm determination to be faithful to the Church and an ardent devotion to Mary, the Virgin Mother of God. ''Regnare Christum volumus!'' We want Christ to reign!: these words aptly express his constant pastoral concern to spread among all men and women the call to share, through Christ, in the dignity of God's children. God's sons and daughters should live for the purpose, to serve Him alone: ''Deo omnis gloria!'' All the glory to God!

During the thanksgiving Mass for the canonization of St. Josemaría, John Paul II, said: "In the Founder of Opus Dei, there is an extraordinary love for the will of God. There exists a sure criterion of holiness: fidelity in accomplishing the divine will down to the last consequences. For each one of us the Lord has a plan, to each he entrusts a mission on earth. The saint could not even conceive of himself outside of God's plan. He lived only to achieve it. St Josemaría was chosen by the Lord to announce the universal call to holiness and to point out that daily life and ordinary activities are a path to holiness. One could say that he was the saint of ordinary life."

Not all Catholic commentators, however, were equally impressed by Escrivá's spirituality. For instance, the Swiss theologian Hans Urs von Balthasar wrote in an article from 1963 that Escrivá's ''The Way'' provided an "insufficient spirituality" to sustain a religious organization and that the book was hardly more than "a little Spanish manual for advanced Boy Scouts". Von Balthasar also questioned the attitudes towards prayer reflected in ''The Way'', declaring that Escrivá's approach to prayer

Von Balthasar repeated similar criticisms of ''The Way'' during a television interview in 1984. His criticism of Escrivá's spirituality has been echoed by other commentators: for instance, according to Kenneth L. Woodward, a journalist who specializes on the Catholic Church, "to judge by his writings alone, Escrivá's was an unexceptional spirit, derivative and often banal in his thoughts, personally inspiring, perhaps, but devoid of original insights", whose book ''The Way'' reveals "a remarkable narrowness of mind, weariness of human sexuality, and artlessness of expression."

Towards the liturgy

Escrivá conceived the Mass as the "center and root of the Christian's interior life," a terminology which was later used by the Second Vatican Council. According to Giovanni Battista Re, Prefect of the Congregation for Bishops, "St. Josemaría strove with all his strength to make the Eucharist the center of his life... For him, Jesus was not an example to imitate from afar, an abstract moral ideal, but ''his Jesus'', a person we should live alongside continuously."

The current prelate of Opus Dei, Bishop Javier Echevarría Rodríguez has said that Escrivá strove to follow whatever was indicated by the competent authority regarding the celebration of Mass. When the new rites were adapted by the Catholic Church after the Second Vatican Council, Echevarría said that Escrivá "accepted the reform with serenity and obedience". As his prayer was much integrated with the liturgy for the past 40 years, Escrivá found the shift difficult and asked Echevarría to coach him in celebrating the new rites. Although he missed the practices of the old rites, especially some gestures such as the kiss on the paten which showed love, he prohibited his followers to ask for any dispensation for him "out of a spirit of obedience to ecclesiastical norms... He has decided to show his love for the liturgy through the new rite", commented Echevarría. However, when Msgr. Annibale Bugnini, Secretary of the Consilium for the Implementation of the Constitution on the Liturgy, found out about Escrivá's difficulties, he granted Escrivá the possibility of celebrating the Mass using the old rite. Whenever Escrivá celebrated this rite, he did so only in the presence of one Mass server.

Monsignor Vladimir Felzmann, a priest who worked as Escrivá's personal assistant before leaving Opus Dei in 1981, claimed in an interview for ''Newsweek'' that Escrivá was so distraught by the reforms introduced by the Second Vatican Council that he and his deputy, Álvaro del Portillo, "went to Greece in 1967 to see if [they] could bring Opus Dei into the Greek Orthodox Church. Escrivá thought the [Catholic] church was a shambles and that the Orthodox might be the salvation of himself and of Opus Dei as the faithful remnant." Felzmann claims that Escrivá soon abandoned those plans as impracticable. Monsignor Flavio Capucci, a member of Opus Dei and the postulator of the cause for Escrivá's canonization, denies that Escrivá ever contemplated leaving the Catholic Church.

Mortification

Escrivá taught that "joy has its roots in the form of a cross", and that "suffering is the touchstone of love", convictions which were reflected in his own life. He practiced corporal mortification personally and recommended it to others in Opus Dei. In particular, his enthusiasm for the practice of self-flagellation has attracted controversy, with critics quoting testimonies about Escrivá whipping himself furiously until the walls of his cubicle were speckled with blood. Both the practice of self-mortification as a form of penance, and the conviction that suffering is part of the path to sanctity, have ample precedent in Catholic teaching and practice. Referring to Escrivá, John Paul II stated in ''Christifideles omnes'':}}

Towards the Virgin Mary

Pope John Paul II stated on Sunday, 6 October 2002, after the Angelus greetings: "Love for our Lady is a constant characteristic of the life of Josemaría Escrivá and is an eminent part of the legacy that he left to his spiritual sons and daughters." The Pope also said that "St. Josemaría wrote a beautiful small book called ''The Holy Rosary'' which presents spiritual childhood, a real disposition of spirit of those who wish to attain total abandonment to the divine will".

Since he was 10 or 11 years old, Escrivá already had the habit of carrying the rosary in his pocket. As a priest, he would ordinarily end his homilies and his personal prayer with a conversation with the Blessed Virgin. He instructed that all rooms in the centres of Opus Dei should have an image of the Virgin. He encouraged his spiritual children to greet these images when they entered a room. He pushed for a Marian apostolate, preaching that ''"To Jesus we go and to Him we return through Mary"''. While looking at a picture of the Virgin of Guadalupe giving a rose to San Juan Diego, he commented: "I would like to die that way." On 26 June 1975, after entering his work room, which had a painting of the Virgin of Guadalupe, he slumped on the floor and died.

Towards people

"Escrivá de Balaguer was a very human saint", preached John Paul II. "All those who met him, whatever their culture or social status, felt he was a father, totally devoted to serving others, for he was convinced that every soul is a marvellous treasure; indeed, every person is worth all of Christ's Blood. This attitude of service is obvious in his dedication to his priestly ministry and in the magnanimity with which he launched so many works of evangelization and human advancement for the poorest persons."

Former numerary María del Carmen Tapia (born 1925), who worked with Escrivá for 18 years inside the organization, seven as his secretary, wrote in her book, ''Beyond the Threshold: A Life in Opus Dei'', that Escrivá routinely lost his temper, and that as secretary in charge of writing down his words and actions, she was not allowed to write down anything negative that she witnessed. She claims she was subjected to abusive words from Escrivá, who called her filthy names, and then screamed during this meeting with both men and women present, upbraiding a member who helped Tapia send letters. She was held prisoner in the headquarters of Opus Dei in Rome from November 1965 until March 1966. "I was held completely deprived of any outside contact with the absolute prohibition to go out for any reason or receive or make telephone calls or to write or receive letters. Nor could I go out for the so-called weekly walk or the monthly excursion. I was a prisoner."

On the other hand, his supporters claim that, through him, Opus Dei has been able to raise the quality of life of many women, and refer to his utmost respect for women and his interest in improving their lot. Harvard Ph.D, Elizabeth Fox-Genovese, a Catholic convert, asserted that "Opus Dei has an enviable record of educating the poor and supporting women, whether single or married, in any occupation they choose."

Towards his family

Opus Dei's founder modified his name in several ways over the course of his life. In the Church records of the cathedral at Barbastro, he appears as having been baptized four days after birth with the name José María Julián Mariano, and his surname was spelled Escriba. As early as his school days, José Escrivá had "adopted the rather more distinguished version spelled with a "v" rather than a "b." His name is spelled Escrivá in the memento of his first Mass. According to critics like Luis Carandell and Michael Walsh a former Jesuit priest, he also adopted the use of the use of the conjunction ''y'' ("and") joining his father's and mother's surnames ("Escrivá y Albás"), a usage which in Spanish is associated with aristocratic families.

On 16 June 1940, the Spanish ''Boletín Oficial del Estado'' ("Official State Bulletin") records that Escrivá requested of the government that he be permitted to change his ''"first surname so that it will be written Escrivá de Balaguer"''. He justified the petition on the grounds that ''"the name Escrivá is common in the east coast and in Catalonia, leading to harmful and annoying confusion"''. One of the earliest members of Opus Dei, and a close friend for many years, the architect Miguel Fisac, who later left Opus Dei, said that Escrivá found it embarrassing to have his father's family name since his father's firm went bankrupt, that he had a "great affection for the aristocracy", and that, when Escrivá was a chaplain at the Santa Isabel Foundation in Madrid, he would often meet aristocratic visitors who would ask, upon learning that his name was Escrivá, whether he belonged to the noble Escrivá de Romaní family, only to turn away coldly when they learned that he did not. On 20 June 1943, when he was 41 years old, church records were altered to reflect the change: the registry book of the Barbastro cathedral and the baptismal certificate of José María were annotated to reflect "that the surname Escriba was changed to Escrivá de Balaguer". Balaguer is the name of the town in Catalonia from which Escrivá's paternal family hailed. According to Vásquez de Prada, a writer, Opus Dei member, and official biographer who produced a three-volume biography of Escrivá, the move has nothing to do with ambition but with fairness and loyalty to his family's real name, a loyalty which his father, José Escriba, insisted on. The main problem is that in Spanish the letters ''b'' and ''v'' are pronounced in the same way, thus many bureaucrats and clerics have made a mistake in transcribing the Escrivá family name in some official documents throughout the generations. The addition of "de Balaguer" was also a necessity felt by many Spanish families to distinguish their family names from others with the same name but who proceeded from different regions, especially if the other families have histories which are peculiar and entirely different from one's own.

Escrivá's younger brother Santiago stated that his brother "loved the members of his family" and took good care of them. When their father died, he says, Escrivá told their mother that "she should stay calm, because he will always take care of us. And he fulfilled this promise." Escrivá would find time in his busy schedule to chat and take a walk with his younger brother, acting like a father towards him. When the family transferred to Madrid, he followed the instructions of their father that he take up his doctorate in Law. "Thanks to his docility to this advice", says Santiago, "he was able to support the family by giving classes in Law, and with this he acquired a juridical mentality ... which would later be so necessary to do Opus Dei." Monsignor Escrivá also modified his first name. From José María, he changed it to the original Josemaría. Biographers state, that around 1935 [age 33], ''"he joined his first two names because his single love for the Virgin Mary and Saint Joseph were equally inseparable."''

Towards his country

Many of his contemporaries recount the tendency of Escrivá to preach about patriotism as opposed to nationalism.

Critics have alleged that Escrivá personally, as well as the organization of Opus Dei, were originally associated with the ideology of "National Catholicism", particularly during the Spanish Civil War and in the years immediately following it, and that they were therefore also closely tied with the authoritarian regime of General Franco. According to Catalan sociologist Joan Estruch:}}

Estruch cites, for instance, the fact that the first edition of Escrivá's ''The Way'', finished in Burgos and published in Valencia in 1939, carried the dateline ''Año de la Victoria'' ("Year of the Victory"), referring to Franco's military triumph over the Republican forces in the civil war, as well as a prologue by a pro-Franco bishop, Msgr. Xavier Lauzurica, which ended with the admonition to the reader to "always stay vigilant and alert, because the enemy does not sleep. If you make these maxims your life, you will be a perfect imitator of Jesus Christ and a gentleman without blemish. And with Christs like you Spain will return to the old grandeur of its saints, wise men, and heroes." Escrivá preached personally to General Franco and his family during a week-long spiritual retreat at the Pardo Palace (Franco's official residence) in April 1946.

Vittorio Messori claims that the ties between Escrivá and Francoism are part of a black legend propagated against Escrivá and Opus Dei. Allen states that based on his research Escrivá could not be said to be ''pro-Franco'' (for which he was criticized for not joining other Catholics in openly praising Franco) nor ''anti-Franco'' (for which he was criticized for not being "pro-democracy"). According to Allen, there is no statement from Escrivá for or against Franco. Escrivá's followers and some historians have emphasized his personal effort to avoid partiality in politics. Professor Peter Berglar, a German historian, asserts that Franco's falangists suspected Escrivá of "internationalism, anti-Spainism and Freemasonry" and that during "the first decade of Franco's regime, Opus Dei and Escrivá were attacked with perseverance bordering on fanaticism, not by enemies, but by supporters of the new Spanish State. Escrivá was even reported to the ''Tribunal for the Fight against Freemasonry''".

Awards/honours

Escrivá received several awards:

The Grand Cross of Alfonso X the Wise (1951)

The Gold Cross of St. Raymond of Penyafort (1954)

The Grand Cross of Isabella the Catholic (1956)

The Grand Cross of Charles III (1960)

Doctor Honoris Causa by the University of Zaragoza (Spain, 1960)

The Gold Medal by the City council of Barbastro (1975)

Some biographers have said that Escrivá did not seek these awards, that they were nevertheless granted to him, that he accepted them out of charity to those who were granting these, and that he did not give the slightest importance to these awards. Journalist Luis Carandell, on the other hand, recounts testimonies about how members of Opus Dei paid for the insignia of the Grand Cross of Charles III to be made from gold, only to have Escrivá angrily reject it and demand instead one encrusted with diamonds. Carandell holds that this episode was part of a larger pattern in Escrivá's life of burning ambition for social prestige and the trappings of wealth. Sympathetic biographers, on the other hand, insist that Escrivá taught that material things are good, but that people should not get attached to them and should serve only God. It is reported that he declared that "he has most who needs least" and that it took only 10 minutes to gather his possessions after his death.

Controversy

In addition to the questions raised about the depth of Escrivá's spirituality and theological thinking, about his purported habits of secretiveness and elitism, about his alleged bad temper and ambition for social status and worldly luxuries, several other specific aspects of Escrivá's life and work have generated criticism in some quarters, particularly in light of his canonization by the Catholic Church. These sources of criticism include his alleged private statements in defense of Adolf Hitler, claims of collaboration by members of Opus Dei with right-wing political causes (especially under General Francisco Franco's dictatorship in Spain), Escrivá's request for the rehabilitation in his favor of an aristocratic title, and allegations that he maintained strained relations with other Catholic leaders, of whom he could be witheringly critical in private.

Alleged statements

During Escrivá's beatification process, Monsignor Vladimir Felzmann, who had been Escrivá's personal assistant before Felzmann left Opus Dei and became a priest in the Archdiocese of Westminster and an aide to Basil Cardinal Hume, sent several letters to Fr. Flavio Capucci, the postulator (i.e., chief promoter) of Escrivá's cause. In his letters, Msgr. Felzmann claimed to have personally witnessed Escrivá make controversial statements in defense of Adolf Hitler. The alleged statements by Escrivá include: ''"Vlad, Hitler couldn't have been such a bad person. He couldn't have killed six million. It couldn't have been more than four million"'', and ''"Hitler against the Jews, Hitler against the Slavs, this means Hitler against communism"''. Msgr. Felzmann claimed that Escrivá made those remarks to him in 1967 or 1968, in Rome, during the intermission to a World War II-themed movie. Felzmann has also said that these remarks should be put in the context of Catholic anti-communism in Spain, and said that all of the male members of Opus Dei (who then numbered about fifty) volunteered in 1941 to join the "Blue Division", a group of Spanish and Portuguese volunteers who joined the German forces in their fight against the Soviet Army, along the eastern front.

Álvaro del Portillo, former prelate of Opus Dei, said that any claims that Escrivá supported Hitler were "a patent falsehood" and part of "a slanderous campaign". He and others have stated that Escrivá regarded Hitler as a "pagan", a "racist", and a "tyrant". (See Opus Dei and politics.)

Alleged support for rightwing leaders

One of the most controversial accusations made against Escrivá is that he and Opus Dei were active in bolstering far-right regimes, including those of Francisco Franco and Augusto Pinochet in Chile. After 1957, several members of Opus Dei served as ministers in Franco's government. In particular, the "technocrats" most closely tied with the "Spanish miracle" of the 1960s were members of Opus Dei: Alberto Ullastres, Mariano Navarro Rubio, Gregorio López-Bravo, Laureano López Rodó, Juan José Espinosa, and Faustino García-Moncó. According to journalist Luis Carandell, when Ullastres and Navarro Rubio were first appointed to the government in 1957, Escrivá gleefully exclaimed "They have made us ministers!" something which Opus Dei officially denies.

On 23 May 1958, Escrivá sent a letter to Franco, which said, in part:

In 1963, Swiss theologian Hans Urs von Balthasar, also a Catholic, wrote a harsh critique of Escrivá's spirituality, describing Escrivá's approach to religion as a form of "integrism" (also called "Catholic integralism"), stating "despite the affirmations of the members of Opus Dei that they are free in their political options, it is undeniable that its foundation is marked by Francoism, that that is the 'law within which it has been formed'". In another piece, published the following year, von Balthasar characterized Opus Dei as "an integrist concentration of power within the Church" and the central motivation of integrism as "imposing the spiritual with worldly means". In 1979, von Balthasar distanced himself from a newspaper attack on Opus Dei which had cited his earlier accusations of integrism and in later years he did not renew his criticism of Opus Dei as an organization but he maintained his unfavorable judgment of Escrivá's spirituality and repeated it in a television interview in 1984. In response to the accusations of "integrism", Escrivá stated that, "Opus Dei is neither on the left nor on the right nor in the center" and that "as regards religious liberty, from its foundation Opus Dei has never practiced discrimination of any kind."

In 1974, shortly after the coup d'état that removed president Salvador Allende from power and installed a right-wing military dictatorship led by General Augusto Pinochet, Escrivá visited Chile, where he was warmly received. Critics have charged that Opus Dei members supported Pinochet's coup and then played a role in the "Miracle of Chile" of the 1980s similar to that of the "technocrats" during the Spanish Miracle of the 1960s", but the only major right-wing politician in Chile that can be unequivocally identified as belonging to Opus Dei is Joaquín Lavín, who did not occupy any public office under Pinochet's dictatorship.

Opus Dei officials state that individual members are free to choose any political affiliation, and that among its members were also important figures in the Spanish political opposition of the 1970s, such as Antonio Fontán, the first Senate President of Spain's democracy, and Rafael Calvo Serer, who was exiled by Franco. Peter Berglar, a German historian and member of Opus Dei argued that connecting Opus Dei with fascist regimes is a ''"gross slander"''. Journalist Noam Friedlander state that allegations about Opus Dei involvement in the Pinochet regime are "unproven tales." Several of Escrivá's collaborators stated that he actually despised dictatorships.

John Allen has written that Escrivá was neither anti-Franco nor pro-Franco. On the other hand, some critics, such as Miguel Fisac and Damian Thompson, have argued that Opus Dei has always sought "advancement not only of its message but also of its interests", and that it has consistently courted those with power and influence, without maintaining a coherent ideological line in political matters.

Title of nobility

Another source of controversy surrounding Escrivá was the fact that, in 1968, he requested and received from the Spanish Ministry of Justice the rehabilitation in his favor of the aristocratic title of Marquess of Peralta. According to the official ''Guía de grandezas y títulos del reino'' ("Guide to the grandeeships and titles of the realm"), the title of Marquess had originally been granted in 1718 to Tomás de Peralta, minister of state, justice and war for the Kingdom of Naples, by Archduke Charles of Austria. Until 1715, Archduke Charles had been, as "Charles III", a pretender to the Spanish throne (''see'' War of Spanish Succession), and from 1711 until 1740 he ruled as Holy Roman Emperor and King of Naples.

Escrivá's successful petition of a title of nobility has aroused controversy not only because it might seem at odds with the humility befitting a Catholic priest, but also because the same title of Marquess of Peralta had been rehabilitated in 1883 by Pope Leo XIII and King Alfonso XII in favor of a man to whom Escrivá had no male-line family connections: the Costa Rican Ambassador Manuel María de Peralta y Alfaro (1847–1930). On that occasion, the documents ordering the rehabilitation claimed that the original title had been granted in 1738 (not 1718) to Juan Tomás de Peralta y Franco de Medina, by Charles of Austria in his capacity as Holy Roman Emperor, not as pretender to the Spanish throne. Ambassador Peralta, who in 1884 had married a Belgian Countess, Jehanne de Clérembault, died without children in 1930. None of his kinsmen in Costa Rica requested the transmission of the marquessate, but one of them has published an extensive genealogical study that would appear to contradict any claim by Escrivá to the title.

Escrivá did not use the title of Marquess of Peralta publicly and, in 1972, he ceded it to his brother Santiago. The argument by supporters of Escrivá that he requested the rehabilitation of the title as a favor to his family, and that it was his intention from the beginning to cede it to his brother, seems belied by the fact that, in 1968, Santiago had requested for himself the rehabilitation of a different title of nobility, the barony of San Felipe, which was not granted. According to historian Ricardo de la Cierva (a former Minister of Culture in the Spanish government), Escrivá's original request for the title might have been part of an unsuccessful attempt to enter the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, a Catholic religious order which required its members to be of noble birth and of which his deputy in Opus Dei, Msgr. Álvaro del Portillo was already a member.

Several biographers say Escrivá prohibited his followers from asking for the title of Marquess of Peralta. They state that Escrivá accepted it due to the advice of some cardinals who told him that he had the obligation to do so for the sake of his brother, Santiago, and so as to practice what he preached about fulfilling civil duties and exercising rights. His brother Santiago said: ''"The decision was heroic because he knew that he will be vilified as a result... Josemaría did what is best for me. After the right amount of time has passed, without making use of the title (in fact he never had the intention of using it), he passed the title on to me."''

Relations with other Catholic leaders

Pauline priest Fr. Giancarlo Rocca, a church historian and a professor at the ''Claretianum'' in Rome, claims that Escrivá actively sought elevation to the rank bishop but was twice turned down by the Vatican curia, first in 1945, and later in 1950 (when he and his followers had lobbied for his appointment as bishop of Vitoria). According to Fr. Rocca, in both instances the curial officials privately expressed concerns about the organization of Opus Dei and about the psychological profile of Escrivá.

Sociologist Alberto Moncada, a former member of Opus Dei, has collected and published various oral testimonies about Escrivá's difficult relations with other leaders within the Catholic Church. In particular, Moncada quotes Fr. Antonio Pérez Tenessa, who at the time was secretary general of Opus Dei in Rome, as witnessing Escrivá's intense displeasure over the election of Pope Paul VI in 1963, and later even expressing doubts in private about the salvation of the Pope's soul. Journalist Luis Carandell claims that, during his years in Rome, Escrivá kept his distance from the Jesuit Superior General, Pedro Arrupe, to the extent that Arrupe once joked with Monsignor Antonio Riberi, the apostolic nuncio to Spain, about doubting whether Escrivá really existed.

According to María del Carmen Tapia, who worked with Escrivá in Rome, the founder of Opus Dei had "no respect" for Popes John XXIII or Paul VI and believed that his own organization of Opus Dei was "above the Church in holiness." According to Moncada, Escrivá's years in Rome were dedicated in large part to his campaign to make Opus Dei independent from the authority of the diocesan bishops and the Vatican curia, something which was finally achieved, after Escrivá's death, with the establishment in 1982, under Pope John Paul II, of Opus Dei as a personal prelature, subject only to its own prelate and to the Pope.

Beatification and canonization

After the death of Escrivá de Balaguer on 26 June 1975, the Postulation for the Cause of his beatification and canonization received many testimonies and postulatory letters from people all over the world. The Postulation solicited the opening of the ''Cause of beatification and canonization of Escrivá from the Congregation for the Causes of Saints'' on the fifth anniversary of his death. One-third of the world's bishops (an unprecedented number) petitioned for the canonization of Escrivá.

His cause for beatification was introduced in Rome on 19 February 1981 on the strength of the apparently miraculous cure in 1976 of a rare disease, lipomatosis, suffered by Sister Concepción Boullón Rubio, whose family had prayed to Escrivá to help her. On 9 April 1990, Pope John Paul II declared that Escrivá possessed Christian virtues to a "heroic degree", and on 6 July 1991 the Board of Physicians for the Congregation of the Causes of Saints unanimously accepted the cure of Sister Rubio. He was beatified on 17 May 1992.

By way of a letter dated 15 March 1993, the Postulation for the Cause received news about the miraculous cure of Dr. Manuel Nevado Rey from cancerous chronic radiodermatitis, an incurable disease, which took place in November 1992. The reported miracle apparently brought about by Escrivá's intervention was ruled valid by the Congregation for the Causes of Saints and approved by Pope John Paul II in December 2001, opening the way to the canonization of Escrivá. John Paul II, who frequently expressed public support for Opus Dei and its work, canonized Escrivá on 6 October 2002. During the canonization mass, 42 cardinals and 470 bishops from around the world, general superiors of many orders and religious congregations, and representatives of various Catholic groups were present. During the days of the canonization event, Church officials commented on the universal reach and validity of the message of the founder, echoing John Paul II's decree ''Christifideles Omnes'' on Escrivá's virtues, which said that "by inviting Christians to be united to God through their daily work, which is something men will have to do and find their dignity in as long as the world lasts, the timeliness of this message is destined to endure as an inexhaustible source of spiritual light, regardless of changing epochs and situations."

Criticism of the process

However, critics question what they see as Escrivá's lightning canonization. On the eve of Escrivá's beatification in 1992, journalist William D. Montalbano, writing for the ''Los Angeles Times'', described it as "perhaps the most contentious beatification in modern times." Critics have argued that the process was plagued by irregularities. On the other hand, supporters refer to Fr. Rafael Pérez, an Augustinian priest who presided over the tribunal in Madrid for Escrivá's cause, as "one of the best experts" on canonization. Fr. Pérez stated that the process was fast because Escrivá's figure is "of the universal importance," the Postulators "knew what they were doing", and, in 1983, the procedures were simplified in order to present "models who lived in a world like ours." Fr. Flavio Capucci, the Postulator, also reported that the 6,000 postulatory letters to the Vatican showed "earnestness".

Escrivá's canonization was one of the first to be processed after the 1983 Code of Canon Law streamlined the procedures for canonization, and so it moved more quickly than was typical before. Mother Teresa is on pace to be canonized even more quickly, having been beatified just 6 years after her death (Escrivá was beatified in 17 years). According to journalist Kenneth L. Woodward, the 6,000-page long ''positio'' (the official document about the life and work of the candidate for sainthood prepared by the postulators) was declared confidential but leaked to the press in 1992, after Escrivá's beatification. Woodward declares that, of 2,000 pages of testimonies, about 40% are by either Álvaro del Portillo or Javier Echevarría Rodríguez who, as successors of Escrivá at the head of Opus Dei, would have the most to gain from the Church recognizing that organization's founder as a saint. The only critical testimony quoted in the ''positio'' was by Alberto Moncada, a Spanish sociologist who had been a member of Opus Dei and whose testimony might have been easier for the Church authorities to dismiss because he had had little personal contact with Escrivá and had left the Catholic Church altogether. This critical testimony covered a mere two pages.

Critics of the process also questioned the fact that some of the physicians involved in the authentication of the two "scientifically inexplicable cures" achieved through the posthumous intercession of Escrivá, such as Dr. Raffaello Cortesini (a heart surgeon), were themselves members of Opus Dei. The Vatican has stated that the Medical Consultants for the Congregation unanimously affirmed that the miraculous cure of a cancerous state of chronic radiodermatitis in its third and irreversible stage in Dr. Manuel Nevado Rey (a country doctor in the village of Almendralejo) was "very quick, complete, lasting and scientifically unexplainable." After six months, the theological consultants, according to the Vatican, also unanimously attributed this cure to Escrivá. On the year of his canonization, the Opus Dei prelate reported that the Postulation has gathered 48 reports of unexplained medical favors attributed to Escriva's intercession, as well as 100,000 ordinary favors.

Former Opus Dei members critical of Escrivá's character who claim that they were refused a hearing during the beatification and canonization processes include Miguel Fisac (a well-known Spanish architect who was one of the earliest members of Opus Dei and remained close to Escrivá for nearly twenty years), Msgr. Felzmann (a Czech-born engineer and Catholic priest from the UK, who was Escrivá's personal assistant), María del Carmen Tapia (who worked with Escrivá in Opus Dei's central offices in Rome and directed its printing press), Carlos Albás (a Spanish lawyer who was also Escrivá's first cousin once removed), María Angustias Moreno (who occupied leadership positions in the women's branch of Opus Dei, during Escrivá's lifetime), and Dr. John Roche (an Irish physicist and historian of science who was a member of Opus Dei from 1959 to 1973, and headed one of its schools in Kenya). Several groups critical of Escrivá and of Opus Dei emerged both before and after the canonization of Escrivá, including the Opus Dei Awareness Network (ODAN), and "OpusLibros", both collaborations of former members who now oppose Opus Dei and its practices.

Catholic theologian Richard McBrien called Escrivá's elevation to sainthood "the most blatant example of a politicized [canonization] in modern times." According to Catholic writer and biographer John Allen such views are countered by many other ex-members, the present members, and the estimated 900,000 people who attend activities of Opus Dei. He says that the interpretation of the facts "seems to depend upon one's basic approach to spirituality, family life, and the implications of a religious vocation." Allen's account of Opus Dei and its founder, however, was not accepted by all reviewers as impartial.

Reports of discordance among judges

Escrivá's canonization attracted an unusual amount of attention and criticism, both within the Catholic Church and in the press. Father Capucci, the postulator of Escrivá's cause for sainthood, summarized the main accusations against Escrivá: that "he had a bad temper, that he was cruel, that he was vain, that he was close to Spanish dictator Francisco Franco, that he was pro-Nazi and that he was so dismayed by the Second Vatican Council that he even traveled to Greece with the idea that he might convert to the Orthodox religion".

A ''Newsweek'' article by Woodward claimed that, of the nine judges of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints presiding over Escrivá's cause for beatification, two requested a suspension of the proceedings. The dissenters were identified as Msgr. Luigi de Magistris, an official in the Vatican's tribunal of the Apostolic Penitentiary, and Msgr. Justo Fernández Alonso, rector of the Spanish National Church in Rome. Acoording to Woodward, one of the dissenters wrote that the beatification of Escrivá could cause the church "grave public scandal." The same article quoted Cardinal Silvio Oddi as declaring that many bishops were "very displeased" with the rush to canonize Escrivá so soon after his death. In interviews, José Saraiva Martins, Cardinal Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, has denied being aware of that dissent.

The journal ''Il Regno'', published in Bologna by the congregation of the Priests of the Sacred Heart (the Dehonians), reproduced, in May 1992, the confidential vote of one of the judges in Escrivá's cause of beatification, in which the judge asks that the process be suspended and raises questions about the undue haste of the proceedings, the near absence of testimony from critics in the documentation gathered by the postulators, the failure of the documentation to properly address issues about Escrivá's relations with the Franco regime and with other Catholic organizations, and suggestions from the official testimonies themselves that Escrivá lacked proper spiritual humility.

This document does not identify the judge by name, but he indicates that he met Escrivá only once, briefly, in 1966, while serving as a notary for the Holy Office, which implies that the judge in question was Msgr. Luigi de Magistris. In his vote (which its own contents date to August 1989), de Magistris also argues that the testimony from the main witness, Msgr. Álvaro del Portillo, who was Escrivá's confessor for 31 years, should have been totally excluded from the proceedings. John Allen Jr. comments that, according to some observers, de Magistris suffered as a result of his opposition to Escrivá's beatification. De Magistris became head of the Apostolic Penitentiary in 2001, an important position in the Vatican bureaucracy which normally is followed by elevation to the cardinalate, but he was never made a cardinal and retired less than two years later.

Teachings and legacy

While some theologians downplayed the importance of the message and teachings of Escrivá, Roman Catholic cardinals of all theological persuasions spoke highly of his influence in the Catholic Church of the present and the future. In the decree introducing the cause of beatification and canonization of Escrivá, Cardinal Ugo Poletti wrote in 1981: "For having proclaimed the universal call to holiness since he founded Opus Dei in 1928, Msgr. Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer, has been unanimously recognized as the precursor of precisely what constitutes the fundamental nucleus of the Church's magisterium, a message of such fruitfulness in the life of the Church." Sebastiano Baggio, Cardinal Prefect of the Congregation for Bishops, wrote a month after Escrivá's death: "It is evident even today that the life, works, and message of the founder of Opus Dei constitutes a turning point, or more exactly a new original chapter in the history of Christian spirituality." A Vatican ''peritus'' or consultor for the process of beatification said that ''"he is like a figure from the deepest spiritual sources"''. Franz König, Archbishop of Vienna, wrote in 1975: }}

The "absolutely central" point in Escrivá's teaching, says American theologian William May, is that "sanctification is possible only because of the grace of God, freely given to his children through his only-begotten Son, and it consists essentially in an intimate, loving union with Jesus, our Redeemer and Savior."

Escrivá's books, including ''Furrow'', ''The Way'', ''Christ is Passing By'', and ''The Forge'', continue to be read widely, and emphasize the laity's calling to daily sanctification (a message also to be found in the documents of Vatican II). Pope John Paul II made the following observation in his homily at the beatification of Escrivá:

As regards Escrivá's place in history, historian Pierre Chaunu, a professor at the Sorbonne, and President of the Academy of Moral and Political Sciences in 1993, said that ''"The work of Escrivá de Balaguer will undoubtedly mark the 21st century. This is a prudent and reasonable wager. Do not pass close to this contemporary without paying him close attention."'' (''Vue Culturelle'', 5–6 February 1983)

John Paul II's decree ''Christifideles omnes'' states: ''By inviting Christians to seek union with God through their daily work — which confers dignity on human beings and is their lot as long as they exist on earth — his message is destined to endure as an inexhaustible source of spiritual light regardless of changing epochs and situations.''

Writings

See also

Opus Dei

''The Way''

''There Be Dragons''

References

Bibliography

;Opus Dei members Collection of contributions to a theological symposium; contributors include Ratzinger, del Portillo, Cottier, dalla Torre, Ocariz, Illanes, Aranda, Burggraf and an address by Pope John Paul II. . A study of Opus Dei based on the life story and work of its founder written by a professor of history at the University of Cologne. ;Official Catholic Church documents The speech summarizes Escrivá and Opus Dei's mission, work, message, and the main features of his teachings ;Others

Further reading

;Official Catholic Church documents

Pope John Paul II. ''Homilies and discourses about the founder of Opus Dei.''

;Opus Dei members ;Others

Luis Carandell (1992). Vida y milagros de Monseñor Escrivá de Balaguer – hosted by OpusLibros (critical)

Kenneth Woodward (1992). "A Coming-Out Party in Rome, Opus Dei prepares to stand by its man" (pdf; 540 kB), ''Newsweek'', May 18, 1992

Opposition to Canonization by ODAN (opposition)

B. Badrinas, ed. (1992). ''Testimonies on Josemaría Escrivá, Founder of Opus Dei'', Sinagtala. – collection of some testimonies given by ecclesiastical officials which were used for the beatification process.

Jesús Ynfante (2002). ''El santo fundador del Opus Dei. Biografía completa de Josemaría Escrivá'' – hosted by OpusLibros (critical)

William May (2003). ''Holiness and Ordinary Life in the Teaching of Saint Josemaría Escrivá'' – theological analysis of Escrivá's teachings

Fabro Cornelio, Garofalo Salvatore, Raschini Maria Adelaide (1992). ''Santi nel mondo''. Ares, ISBN 8881550709

Eugueny Pazukhin (2000). ''Blessed Josemaría Escrivá's Life and Achievement'' – first Russian biography by an Orthodox thinker, philosopher and journalist

External links

Patron Saints Index: St Josemaría Escrivá (primary source)

St Josemaría Escrivá, the founder of Opus Dei

St. Josemaria Institute

Documents of the Holy See about Opus Dei and its founder

Writings of Josemaría Escrivá

ODAN Opus Dei Awareness Network (opposition)

Letter from Escriva to Franco

Josemaria Escrivá and Nazism

EWTN webpage, containing biography, spiritual writings, video-audio presentation

Comments by Popes on Josemaría Escrivá

Interview with Cardinal Julian Herranz about Josemaría Escrivá

Josemaría Escrivá's Crusade for Holiness: The Life and Times of Opus Dei Founder

Most recent accounts of favors received

St. Josemaría Escrivá Historical Institute, Rome

Category:1902 births Category:1975 deaths Category:People from Barbastro Category:Francoist Spain Category:Integrism Category:Spanish Roman Catholic saints Category:Opus Dei leaders Category:Spanish Roman Catholic priests Category:20th-century Roman Catholic priests Category:20th-century Christian saints Category:Disease-related deaths in Italy Category:Founders of Roman Catholic religious communities

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