The Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil War took place from 1936-1939, it was between the nationalists and republicans of Spain. A main cause of the war was that the Spanish democracy was failing its people and not fulfilling their needs. Some saw this war as a precursor to World War II, which it very likely was. Nationalists were more conservative and traditional; republicans were socialist. General Francisco Franco became a prevalent nationalistic figure within the war. He deployed nationalist troops to seize cities of Spain. The war had many different layers to it, class differences, religious struggle, dictatorship vs democracy, and fascism vs communism. Again the idea of duality presents itself. There are always multiple perspectives when it comes to understanding the several layers of war. The nationalists ultimately won the war, yet there was still a political division and power struggle within the country. The war took place during the art exposition in Paris. This attracted more attention to controversial art. Picasso did many pieces on war and conflict, and Dora’s portrait can be interpreted as such. It can be seen as a display of anxiety in the Spanish people as well as those around the world.
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/spanish-civil-war-breaks-out