Dolores Ibarruri's Farewell to the International Brigades | Spanish Civil War Speech

Globally, over 35,000 volunteers from 53 countries fought for the Spanish Republic in the International Brigades, including stateless Jews and Communists from Germany, Austria, Italy, and Poland who were among the most fearless fighters. Contrary to the notion of idealistic adventurers, approximately 80% were Communist Party or Young Communist League members, with the vast majority being manual workers aged 21-35 (over a quarter over 30). They came primarily from London, Manchester, and Liverpool, with occupations including laborer, minor, motor driver, and seaman. Research based on surveys of surviving brigaders conducted in 1984 reveals motivations were not primarily idealism or unemployment but recognition of fascism as an immediate danger. Many had participated in anti-fascist demonstrations like Cable Street and felt compelled to act, understanding the connection between Spanish events and broader threats to democracy.

The International Brigades emerged from the spontaneous influx of foreign volunteers following the July 1936 Spanish coup attempt. Approximately 35,000 volunteers from over 60 nationalities joined, united by anti-fascist commitment despite diverse political backgrounds. Volunteers came from two overlapping groups: 'the devout' (communists, anarchists, republicans) and 'the displaced' (political exiles fleeing fascism plus economic migrants). The war was seen as a critical test case for democracy versus fascism, with volunteers believing they were fighting to prevent authoritarianism's spread across Europe. This represented the 'Vietnam of its day,' dominating global attention in the 1930s.

The International Brigades were a volunteer army of approximately 35,000 men and women from about 70 countries who fought in the Spanish Civil War. Historians estimate that between 10% and 20% of brigadistas were Jewish, meaning up to 7,000 Jewish volunteers came to Spain. These volunteers came from diverse countries including France, Germany, the United States, the United Kingdom, Egypt, Iraq, and the British Mandate of Palestine. The brigades emerged from a dual impulse: existing foreign volunteers in Spain and the Comintern's decision to organize recruitment. The first 3,000 volunteers arrived in Albacete in October 1936, where they had to build their own camp within three weeks. With minimal training, they arrived in Madrid in November 1936 to help defend the city, which was on the verge of falling to Franco's forces. Brigadistas were crucial in the defense of Madrid, particularly at the Manzanares River and the University City, and later participated in battles at Jarama and Guadalajara. Brigadistas can be categorized into 'devotos' (politically motivated communists) and 'desplazados' (political exiles and economic emigrants). A third category, the Jewish brigadistas, had a unique common experience of personal and group discrimination and growing antisemitic violence in Europe. For the majority of brigadistas, Spain was only one part of their war against fascism. Many participated in World War II, extending their armed struggle from 3 years to 8 years. The International Brigades became a crucial source for the European left after the war, particularly in Eastern Europe. They formed an elite within the Soviet bloc countries, with many going on to hold positions of power in communist governments, armies, and police forces across the Eastern Bloc.

Approximately 32,000 to 35,000 foreigners volunteered for the Republican side in the Spanish Civil War, representing roughly 25% of all Republican volunteers. Volunteers joined for diverse reasons: fighting fascism in their home countries, participating in what they saw as a 'black tide of fascism sweeping across Europe,' and responding to defeats of leftist movements. The Comintern organized recruitment with Stalin's approval, initially reluctant but changed mind when Germany and Italy began supplying Franco. Recruitment required interviews assessing military and political credentials. Most volunteers lacked passports or wealth, so they traveled to Spain via Paris on day-trip tickets. Early volunteers were middle-class students and writers; after late 1936, the composition shifted to working-class dockers, miners, and laborers from traditional urban occupations. When International Brigade volunteers arrived in Spain (October-November 1936), the situation was chaotic—the Republic had been rebuilt from scratch after a military coup. An agreement established a main base at Albacete, where volunteers were divided into national units primarily due to language barriers. Military training was poor: the Republican government was desperately rebuilding while fighting defensively with overwhelming odds. There were insufficient weapons and ammunition for practice. Claims that International Brigade volunteers were used as 'cannon fodder' are historically inaccurate. Like any army, Republican forces deployed their best troops—including International Brigade units—when holding critical positions. These units suffered huge casualties, reflecting standard military necessity rather than deliberate sacrifice. The myth that the Soviet Union was trying to install a puppet state in Spain is unfounded—Spain was geographically distant, and documentary evidence shows Spanish authorities frequently ignored Russian military advisors' recommendations.

Between 1936-1939, over 2,000 British and Irish volunteers crossed the English Channel clandestinely to fight in the Spanish Civil War. Approximately 60,000 combatants from around the world joined the Republican army to prevent General Franco's fascist coup. These volunteers, few of whom were military or spoke Spanish, saw themselves as fighting for the last great cause worth dying for. The International Brigades represented unprecedented international solidarity against fascism, with volunteers from Britain, Ireland, Cuba, Russia, Austria, and other nations traveling to Spain to fight for the Republic.

This comprehensive segment traces Pasionaria's transformation from a Basque miner's daughter into a revolutionary leader. Born in Galdámez in 1895, she worked as a seamstress and servant before entering the labor movement. In Holy Week 1918, she published her first article 'La Hipocresía Religiosa' in 'El Minero Vizcaíno', choosing the pseudonym 'Pasionaria' to avoid family conflict. After the 1931 Republic proclamation, she participated in Communist rallies and was a Constituent Cortes candidate. In September 1931, the Communist Party asked her to move to Madrid, where she worked in 'Mundo Obrero' editorial. Upon arrival, she was detained by the Civil Guard for protecting comrades, spending almost 15 months in prison, released in January 1933, precisely when Hitler took power in Germany. The Communist Party grew from 1,000 militants in 1931 to almost 400,000 in the Republican zone by November 1937, uniting with antifascist fighters. Pasionaria's National Committee of Women Against War and Fascism, created in July 1934, became the great organization of Republican women. On June 16, 1936, she rebuked José María Gil-Robles in the Cortes, a brilliant speech applauded by all Popular Front deputies. During the Civil War, she went weekly to Sierra de Madrid to rally militiamen. The most impressive moment was the defense of Madrid in October-November 1936, where her propaganda campaign with the 'No Pasarán' slogan, calling to create fortifications, succeeded in saving the city alongside Soviet aid and international brigades. Pasionaria left Spain on March 6, 1939, arriving in France in April 1945 with hope that Hitler's defeat would bring Franco's fall. However, the Cold War broke out in 1947, and the dictatorship lasted 30 more years. She fell gravely ill in 1949, returned to the Soviet Union for treatment, and her life was on the verge of death. The war had the great tragedy of her adult life: the death of her son Rubén, 22 years old, a lieutenant in the Red Army, in the first combats of Stalingrad. In 1956, the Khrushchev report at the 20th Congress of the CPSU was an earthquake for communists worldwide. Pasionaria was the first PCE leader to see the document taken to her department in Moscow, describing reading it as 'falling from the gallows.' In 1956, within the Cold War context, the PCE launched the policy of national reconciliation, allowing workers' commissions and the birth of the student movement. In the 1960s, she was president of the PCE, her voice reaching Spain through Radio Pirenaica. A very important moment was the Czechoslovakian invasion: she opposed it from the first moment, even anticipating it to Soviets in summer 1968. The PCE was the first to reject a Soviet action, announcing condemnation on August 22, 1968. Soviet leaders like Brezhnev appealed to Pasionaria's memory of her son Rubén, but she remained firm. In 1971, at 76, she gave an impressive Geneva speech. In 1974, the Swiss Party of Labor invited the PCE to hold a rally for immigration. When authorities prohibited them from speaking, she recorded the intervention and, before 15,000 people, said 'They have prohibited us from speaking, but they have prohibited us from singing,' and began singing a proletarian song she learned as a child in Galdámez. She died in Moscow in 1975. A month after the PCE's May 13, 1977 legalization, she finally returned to Spain, the only deputy from the Republic re-elected in 1977.

Dolores Ibárruri (1895-1989), known as 'La Pasionaria' (the Passionflower), was a Spanish Republican heroine and communist politician of Basque origin who became famous for her powerful slogan '¡No Pasarán!' (They shall not pass) during the Battle for Madrid in November 1936. A founding member of the Spanish Communist Party (PCE) in 1921, she served as General Secretary from 1942 to 1960 and later as honorary president until her death. Her famous radio broadcasts and speeches galvanized Republican resistance during the Spanish Civil War, making her one of the most recognizable symbols of anti-fascist struggle worldwide.

Dolores Ibárruri (La Pasionaria) served as a crucial symbolic figure for the Partido Comunista de España during the final years of Francoism. Though she had left the General Secretary position in 1960, she maintained enormous symbolic capital that transcended the party's own militancy. Her role connected the party to the broader memory of the Spanish Republic and to international antifranquism. The party strategically used her image to legitimize its new democratic and eurocommunist line, countering skepticism from international media and domestic political sectors. Her support for the new direction helped neutralize potential defections to orthodox communist factions. Her political activity served three key functions: preservation of communist memory, mobilization of the antifranquist population, and mobilization of international solidarity.

Dolores Ibárruri (1895-1970s), known as the Pasionaria, was a communist activist born in a mining family who married a syndicalist, which deepened her political involvement. She wrote her first article with the pseudonym 'La Pasionaria' in 1918. She joined the Communist Party of Spain in 1921 and became a key figure fighting for workers' rights and equality. During the Civil War, she was a deputy to the Congress in 1936 and her leadership in radio and speeches made her a key symbol. Her famous phrase 'No pasarán' (They shall not pass) became a cry against fascism. Other famous phrases include 'Mejor morir de pie que vivir de rodilla' (Better to die standing than to live on your knees) and 'La lucha es el único camino' (Struggle is the only path). After the war, she was exiled to the Soviet Union and continued leading the Communist Party and denouncing Francoism.

Dolores Ibárruri, known as 'Pasionaria', was a Spanish communist leader who rose from a domestic worker to become one of the most influential political orators of 20th century Spain, delivering the iconic 'no pasarán' speech at Radio Union in 1936 that galvanized Republican resistance during the Spanish Civil War, and later returning from exile in 1977 to become the only Second Republic deputy elected in the 1977 elections.

By summer 1938, the Republican government under Prime Minister Juan Negrín concluded that the prominence of the International Brigades gave the impression that the Republic was a lost cause, helpless without them. Perhaps removing the Internationals would reassure western powers enough to secure other assistance and pressure Germany and Italy to withdraw. In reality, the International Brigades were a shadow of their former selves—recruitment had evaporated, nearly half of all foreign volunteers were dead, captured, severely wounded, discharged, or missing, replaced by native Spanish conscripts with inadequate training and little will to continue. Absent a serious change of heart from the League of Nations or western powers, fascists were going to win. The Communist International finally killed the Brigades, compelling Negrín to announce their withdrawal on September 21, 1938. Very strange that the Comintern would be first to abandon the fight against fascism!

In September 1938, the Republican government announced repatriation of all foreign volunteers. On September 29, 1938, a farewell parade was held in Barcelona where thousands of Spaniards wept and cheered as ragged survivors marched. Franco entered Barcelona on December 23, 1938, beginning 37 years of fascist dictatorship. Nearly 60,000 international volunteers had come to Spain, with almost 10,000 losing their lives. Of approximately 2,500 British and Irish volunteers, about 500 died. The war ended with complete fascist victory, demonstrating the devastating consequences of non-intervention policies and the importance of international solidarity against authoritarian movements.

In late September 1938, the Republican government announced the withdrawal of the International Brigades, believing this would force Hitler and Mussolini to remove their troops from Spain. It was a forlorn hope. Surviving Scottish volunteers marched through Barcelona streets for an emotional farewell parade, with hundreds of thousands of Catalans lining the streets to salute the heroes of the International Brigades. Republican leader Largo Caballero paid tribute, telling them they could go with pride—they were history, they were legend. The great cause they had pledged themselves to had been defeated, but their sacrifice was recognized as meaningful. Many thousands of volunteers remained buried in Spanish soil.

By 1938, the Spanish Republic faced almost total collapse after losing major battles and suffering widespread famine. Roy Watts arrived in February 1938, believing 'the fight of the Spanish workers is also our fight' despite knowing the Republic had little chance of winning. Frank Farr was badly wounded in an Italian ambush during the chaotic retreat, writing from his hospital bed that 'the wheels of the war machine grind exceedingly small and they have ground my spirit and my power to hope right away.' He admitted knowing the war was lost. Republican leader Juan Negrín launched a final desperate offensive across the Ebro River in July 1938, moving 80,000 men in secrecy, but Franco's superior resources—including hundreds of German aircraft and hundreds of thousands of conscripts—proved decisive. The rocky soil prevented effective trench digging, leaving Republicans exposed. Roy Watts, serving in the transmissions unit of the 15th International Brigade, was inside a farmhouse far back from the front when it suffered a direct hit from an aerial bomb. All inside, including Watts, were killed just days before the announcement that International Brigaders would be withdrawn from Spain. The withdrawal culminated in a final parade through Barcelona where Dolores Ibárruri declared them 'history, legend, the heroic example of democracy's solidarity and universality.' Leicester honored Sykes, Watson, and Watts with a shrine at the war memorial, quoting Watts' letter: 'The best have already fallen. Their deaths call not for grief but for action against fascism.'

While the Battle of the Ebro was fought, the international context became increasingly hostile to the Republic. In September 1938, the Munich Agreement confirmed the policy of appeasement toward Hitler, allowing Germany to annex German-speaking zones of Czechoslovakia. This made Negrín see the Munich Agreement as definitive proof that Western democracies would not intervene in Spain. In a final political gesture, the Republic withdrew International Brigades, hoping to force withdrawal of foreign troops supporting Franco. However, this did not occur. Germany and Italy maintained support until the end. Spain remained completely isolated.