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On 26 April 1937, the Basque town of Guernica (Gernika in Basque) was aerially bombed during the Spanish Civil War.It was carried out at the behest of Francisco Franco's rebel Nationalist faction by its allies, the Nazi German Luftwaffe's Condor Legion and the Fascist Italian Aviazione Legionaria, under the code name Operation Rügen.
Only ruins left after the aerial Bombing of Guernica by the Condor Legion of Nazi Germany's Luftwaffe (1937). The results of German bombardment in Warsaw, Poland (1939). Frampol before (left) and after (right) the German Luftwaffe bombing raids in September 1939 during early World War II (the town was almost completely destroyed). [ 1 ]
Guernica (/ ɡ ɜːr ˈ n iː k ə, ˈ ɡ ɜːr n ɪ k ə /, [3] Spanish pronunciation: [ɡeɾˈnika]), officially Gernika (pronounced) in Basque, is a town in the province of Biscay, in the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country, Spain.
On March 7, the German Condor Legion equipped with Heinkel He 51 biplanes arrived in Spain; on April 26 they bombed the town of Guernica (Gernika) in the Basque Country; two days later, Nationalist General Emilio Mola's men entered the town. After the fall of Guernica, the Republican government began to fight back with increasing effectiveness.
Guernica is a large 1937 oil painting by Spanish artist Pablo Picasso. [1] [2] It is one of his best-known works, regarded by many art critics as the most moving and powerful anti-war painting in history. [3]
In the years following the Spanish Civil War, Hitler gave several possible motives for German involvement. Among these were the distraction it provided from German re-militarisation; the prevention of the spread of communism to Western Europe; the creation of a state friendly to Germany to disrupt Britain and France; and the possibilities for economic expansion. [3]
The images form a sequence like those in a comic book (in particular, the Spanish auca) and have a loose narrative: [1] [2] Franco's form changes from panel to panel. The Spanish dictator's appearance has been likened by various writers to a "jackbooted phallus", [7] "an evil-omened polyp" [6] and "a grotesque homunculus with a head like a gesticulating and tuberous sweet potato".
Guernica was a clear target of the Condor Legion, rather than the Nationalists. [ 44 ] [ 45 ] The 11 July offensive against Bilbao was supported by Condor Legion ground units and extensive air operations, proving the legion's worth to the Nationalist cause.