In the 1930s, Spain was in conflict. Conservatives wanted to keep a Catholic monarchy in control and reformists wanted a state with elected representatives. This political clash of ideas spilled into the streets as many people demanded change and police arrested many in an attempt to keep the peace.

In 1936, the conflict reached a boiling point. The new prime minister sent some military officers away from the mainland, fearful that they were conspiring to overthrow the government. One of these officers was sent to the Canary Islands, off the coast of Africa. His name was General Francisco Franco. He immediately took control of the islands, then flew to Morocco and assumed control there. The takeover of Spain by the military was supposed to be quick, but the government found out about it and civil war broke out. The war lasted from 1936 until 1939 when Franco declared victory after much suffering and bloodshed.

There were many terrible things done on both sides of the conflict. One of those was the bombing of a small Basque town called Guernica. The attack destroyed nearly the entire city, and there were many casualties.

A Basque man named José Antonio Aguirre testified:

Before God and before History which must judge us all, I affirm that for three and one-half hours, German planes bombarded with unheard-of fury the defenseless civilian population of the historic city of Gernika, reducing it to ashes, chasing with machine-gun fire women and children who perished in great number, fleeing the stampede of others driven mad by panic.

Guernica soon became a world-famous symbol of the suffering of innocents during war. This inspired Pablo Picasso, a famous Spanish painter, to create his famous painting: Guernica. A reproduction of this painting hangs today in the United Nations Security Council lobby to remind delegates of the tragedy and what it has come to represent.

Write 2 paragraphs in Spanish to your teacher about the effects of the Spanish Civil war and what you believe the images in Picasso's Guernica represent.