Inside Fascist Spain

Series

Series Name

The March of Time 8th Year

Issue

Issue No.

11

Date Released

May 1943

Stories in this Issue:

1. 1Inside Fascist Spain

Story

Story No. within this Issue

1 / 1

Summary

The March of Time synopsis: America, as the film shows, has been trying to wean Spain from dependence on the Axis by facilitating shipments of oil, food and fertilizer to Spain and by buying Spanish goods which might otherwise have found an Axis market. The men who shape America’s foreign policy point out that they are by no means anxious to add another nation to the list of enemies to be fought. This policy of conciliation, the Editors of the March of Time point out, has its opponents - notably the riter-correspondents John Whitaker and Thomas Hamilton, both authors of books on the Spain of the present day. These correspondents are not impressed with the type of reconstruction being done by Franco’s government. Whitaker sees the collapse of Republican resistance as due to the non-intervention policy of the democracies, a policy which, to his mind, had its origin in their indecision as to the moral and political issues of the war. Hamilton, discounting the claims made by the Franco regime that it has made important steps toward rebuilding Spain, asserts that real attempts to alleviate the suffering and misery of the poorer classes have been marred by incompetence and waste.

Spain, once a large producer of food, today suffers from shortage and finds distribution hampered by transportation difficulties. Even the work of the Auxilio Social, the official relief agency, says Hamilton, has widened the gulf between the haves and the have-nots. In the most revealing pictures to come out of Fascist Spain in recent months, the films shows scenes taken by the March of Time’s own cameramen, with the authorization of Falangist General Maximon Cuervo, official head of Franco’s political prisons. These scenes show actual conditions in the prisons of Madrid, Alcala de Henares, Valencia and other cities in Spain. The men seen working under the shadow of fascist guards are intellectuals, journalists, artists and musicians - their crimes, by today’s democratic standards, no crimes at all. Franco’s regime feels it has been lenient, even indulgent with these prisoners. Did it not order the outright execution of over a million Republican prisoners during the Spanish war? These prisoners who are still alive should consider themselves fortunate, say the Falangists. Fascist Spain, the film points out, has avowed aspirations and plans which challenge democracy in a way which cannot be ignored. Under Franco’s regime a new generation is being raised on the too familiar Hitler Youth lines. It will live for the State - for the day when it can take part in fulfilling its leader’s hopes for restoring Spain’s lost empire by force of arms.

Researcher Comments

This story was included in Vol.9 No.9 of the US edition.

Keywords

Politics and government; Music and dance; Newspapers; Propaganda; War and conflict

Written sources

Documentary News Letter   Vol.4 No.5 May 1943, p215.
The March of Time Promotional Material   Lobby Card, Used for synopsis

Credits:

Production Co.

Time Inc.