Editing Homage to Catalonia (section)

=== Historical context ===
During the 19th century, a motif known as ''[[the two Spains]]'' began to emerge in Spanish literature, in which writers such as [[Mariano José de Larra]] depicted a polarised Spain, divided into [[progressivism|progressive]] and [[conservatism|conservative]] factions.{{Sfn|Martín Moruno|2011|pp=38-39}} When the [[Second Spanish Republic]] was established in 1931,{{Sfn|Martín Moruno|2011|p=37}} it came at a time when Europe was experiencing a rise in [[far-right politics]], including [[fascism]] and [[Nazism]].{{Sfn|Caballero Aceituno|2005|p=31}} The [[Spanish Civil War]] broke out on 18 July 1936, when the [[Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War)|Nationalist faction]] of the [[Spanish Army]], supported by [[Fascist Italy]] and [[Nazi Germany]], launched a [[Spanish coup of July 1936|coup d'état]] against the elected government of the Spanish Republic.{{Sfn|Martín Moruno|2011|p=35}} 

[[File:General map of the Spanish Civil War (1936–39).svg|thumb|right|General map of the [[Spanish Civil War]] (1936–39).]]
As the Republican government was initially paralysed by the coup, resistance to it was organised by the general population in cities throughout the country, culminating in a [[Spanish Revolution of 1936|social revolution]] that saw [[anarchism in Spain|anarchist]] and [[Spanish Socialist Workers' Party|socialist]] workers bring Spain's industrial economy under [[social ownership]].{{Sfn|Martín Moruno|2011|p=39}} By the autumn of 1936, workers' militias had defeated the Nationalist coup in [[Madrid]], [[Barcelona]] and [[Valencia]], forming a frontline through [[Aragon]] and [[New Castile (Spain)|New Castile]] that divided Spain into Republican and Nationalist zones.{{Sfn|Martín Moruno|2011|p=41}} The [[Republican faction (Spanish Civil War)|Republican faction]] consisted of several different political parties and trade unions, of varying political positions and influence, including: the [[Confederación Nacional del Trabajo|National Confederation of Labour]] (CNT), an [[anarcho-syndicalism|anarchist trade union]] which controlled the [[Barcelona metropolitan area]]; the [[POUM|Workers' Party of Marxist Unification]] (POUM), a small [[Trotskyism|Trotskyist]] party; the [[Unión General de Trabajadores|General Union of Workers]] (UGT), a socialist trade union which predominated in [[Bilbao]] and [[Madrid]]; and the [[Spanish Socialist Workers' Party]] (PSOE) and [[Communist Party of Spain]] (PCE), which had amalgamated together in Catalonia into the [[Unified Socialist Party of Catalonia]] (PSUC).{{Sfn|Martín Moruno|2011|p=43}}

The French government of [[Léon Blum]] and the British government of [[Neville Chamberlain]] adopted a policy of [[Non-intervention in the Spanish Civil War|non-intervention]], ostensibly to prevent any escalation, but also motivated by their fear of revolutionary sentiments spreading outside of Spain.{{Sfn|Martín Moruno|2011|pp=41-42}} While the Nationalists were supported militarily from the Nazis and fascists, the Republicans found themselves economically and diplomatically isolated, forcing them to purchase military equipment from the [[Soviet Union]].{{Sfn|Martín Moruno|2011|p=41}} In order to combat the rise of fascism and defend the social revolution, thousands of volunteers came to Spain and joined the Republican militias.{{Sfnm|1a1=Caballero Aceituno|1y=2005|1p=31|2a1=Martín Moruno|2y=2011|2pp=39-40}}