Reluctant Warriors: Republican Popular Army and Nationalist Army Conscripts in the Spanish Civil War, 1936-1939 (Oxford Historical Monographs)

__Reluctant Warriors__ challenges traditional political interpretations of the Spanish Civil War, and sets it in a new and immediately human light. It is a comparative study of Nationalist Army and Republican Popular Army conscripts, and analyses the conflict from the perspective of those who were involved against their will. While militants on both sides joined the conflict voluntarily, millions of Spanish men coped with the military uprising as an unwanted intrusion into their lives.James Matthews firstly examines the climate in which both sides implemented mass conscription within their zones. He analyses the process of conscription from call-up to placement in a unit, and looks at the methods employed to motivate and maintain the morale of drafted men, as well as the approaches to discipline in the two armies. Finally, he examines situations in which men avoided front line service. These accounted for constant manpower losses on both sides, and were particularly marked for the Republic.__Reluctant Warriors__ reveals that the Nationalist Army managed its conscripted men better than the Republican Popular Army; a vital factor in determining the ultimate outcome of the war. Reluctant Warriors challenges traditional political interpretations of the Spanish Civil War, and sets it in a new and immediately human light. It is a comparative study of Nationalist Army and Republican Popular Army conscripts, and analyses the conflict from the perspective of those who were involved against their will. While militants on both sides joined the conflict voluntarily, millions of Spanish men coped with the military uprising as an unwanted intrusion into their lives. James Matthews firstly examines the climate in which both sides implemented mass conscription within their zones. He analyses the process of conscription from call-up to placement in a unit, and looks at the methods employed to motivate and maintain the morale of drafted men, as well as the approaches to discipline in the two armies. Finally, he examines situations in which men avoided front line service. These accounted for constant manpower losses on both sides, and were particularly marked for the Republic. Reluctant Warriors reveals that the Nationalist Army managed its conscripted men better than the Republican Popular Army; a vital factor in determining the ultimate outcome of the war. Cover 1 Contents 10 List of Illustrations 11 List of Abbreviations 12 Introduction 14 1. Militarization and Wartime Conscription 27 2. Mechanisms of Conscription 47 3. Mobilizing Myths and Conscript Soldiers 76 4. Daily Life in the Trenches: Morale and Mundane Needs 115 5. Discipline and Loss of Morale 150 6. Escaping the Front: Desertion, Dissembling, and Defection 193 Conclusions 229 Bibliography 237 Index 250 A 250 B 250 C 250 D 251 E 251 F 251 G 252 H 252 I 252 J 252 K 252 L 253 M 253 N 253 O 254 P 254 Q 255 R 255 S 256 T 256 U 256 V 256 W 257 Y 257 Z 257 A comparative study of Nationalist Army and Republican Popular Army conscripts during the Spanish Civil War. It draws extensively on unpublished archival material to analyse the conflict from the perspective of those who were involved against their will