It's exceptionally sad to make this comparison, but some of the similarities are striking.  Consider these elements of Spain's situation in 1936 in the light of recent American history.

1. After exceptional violence from the left in the lead-up to the general elections, big questions were raised after an exceptionally close result.  Antony Beevor in his classic book The Battle for Spain: The Spanish Civil War 1936–1939,  said  Spain's election was decided by 150,000 votes out of 10 million voters.  While Biden's popular vote margin was larger, his margin of victory in several swing states was very small, and audits and disputes underway could erase his electoral vote margin.

Nobody questions the violence and intimidation in Spain, while leftist historians all refuse to ask whether the result was rigged...as has recently been suggested by two eminent researchers.  A proper investigation was never done.

2. The incoming socialist government immediately started a radical social reform program — economic reform, police reform, a purge of the military, and legal reform, all with great benefits to "their side" and nothing but pain for the rest.

3. The potential for legal recourse was short-circuited

4. The influence of foreign states in the lead-up to the election.  Nobody would argue that Stalin's USSR wasn't massively funding the socialist left and the anarchists in 1936.  Where did Stalin's quote about "who counts the votes" come from?

5. The influence of massive propaganda campaigns.  CNN, Facebook, or Google, anybody?

6. The election occurred during a period of massive social change: the Great Depression for Spain and a pandemic in the U.S.

7. A rejection of religion.  Anti-Catholic sentiment was at a fever pitch.

8. Both sides truly hated each other.

9. An acceptance and normalization of violence and repression as a political weapon.

10. Lots of guns.  And people who knew how to use them.

I certainly hope a fratricidal civil war really is not just a spark away in America.  I genuinely like Americans.  And like the rest of the free world, I sleep under the blanket of U.S. freedoms.

Smithy is an Aussie with an interest in U.S. politics, freedom, and history.  He uses a pseudonym to protect his business.  

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