The only good guys in the Spanish Civil War were elements of the Republicans early on...however being moderates they essentially ended up sidelined as the Anarcho-Syndicalist nutjobs and then of course the Stalinists took over the Republican movement.
Franco is no hero or someone to be admired. Keep in mind he imported Moroccan troops to commit atrocities (the sort of thing that would send FR into a fit of rage today.)
That said, Spain was better off suffering under his dictatorship for decades than under some Communist dictatorship for decades. Doesn't make Franco admirable or right.
"The only good guys in the Spanish Civil War were elements of the Republicans early on...however being moderates they essentially ended up sidelined as the Anarcho-Syndicalist nutjobs and then of course the Stalinists took over the Republican movement."
Bulls**t. The Spanish Republicans were ALWAYS leftists from the large cities (Barcelona, Madrid, etc.) who were guilty of persecuting conservative Spanish Catholics. Their leftist vision included banning the Church and forcibly ending the Monarchy, against the wishes of the greater majority of the Spanish people. The Spanish Republic was always in the grip of radical leftist intellectuals. In fact, the first western government in modern times to legalize abortion and euthanasia was the Spanish Republic.
"Franco is no hero or someone to be admired. Keep in mind he imported Moroccan troops to commit atrocities (the sort of thing that would send FR into a fit of rage today.)"
Franco and his Moroccan troops behaved no differently than the Spanish Republicans. In fact, the greatest slaughters were perpetrated by the Spanish Republicans, who created veritable killing fields out of city neighborhoods (El Alcazar, et.al.) and rural towns which refused to cooperate with their Communist takeover. There were many village bullrings filled to the brim with the bodies of murdered Catholics, women and children included.
I swear, it is dumbfounding to see how leftists all over the world, of every stripe, at any time, are constitutionally incapable of acknowledging the magnitude of their murderous and bloody crimes, under any circumstances. The argument over the Spanish Revolution is no different.
Viva Franco!