Gernika, 1937 : The Market Day Massacre / Xabier Irujo Ametzaga.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Irujo Ametzaga, Xabier.

Series:

Basque series.

The basque series

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Spain--History--Civil War, 1936-1939--Aerial operations, German.

Spain.

Guernica (Spain)--History--Bombardment, 1937.

Guernica (Spain).

Genre:

Electronic books.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (245 p.)

Place of Publication:

Reno, Nevada ; Las Vegas, [Nevada] : University of Nevada Press, 2015.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

On April 26, 1937, a massive aerial attack by German and Italian forces reduced the Basque city of Gernika to rubble and left more than sixteen hundred people dead. Although the assault was initiated as part of a terror bombing campaign by Francoists against Basque Republican forces during the Spanish Civil War, its main intent was to test the effectiveness of the rising German Luftwaffe's new equipment and strategies.To produce this detailed analysis of the political and military background of the attack and its subsequent international impact, Xabier Irujo examined archives and official government documents in several countries and conducted numerous interviews with Basques who survived. His account of the assault itself, based on eyewitness reports from both victims and attackers, vividly recalls the horror of that first example of the blitz bombing that served the Germans during the first years of World War II. He reveals the US and British governments' reaction to the bombing and also discusses efforts to prosecute the perpetrators for war crimes. Irujo relates the ways in which the massacre has been remembered and commemorated in Gernika and throughout the worldwide Basque diaspora. Gernika, 1937: The Market Day Massacre is an important contribution to the history of the Spanish Civil War and to our understanding of the military strategies and decisions that shaped this war and would later be employed by the Nazis during World War II.

Contents:

Introduction: Gernika, the holy city of the Basques

The coup d'etat of July 18, 1936

Terror bombing at the Basque front

The market day massacre

An analysis of the attack

The aftermath of the bombing

Rebuilding Gernika

Gernika in the courts of justice

Gernika as an icon of terror bombing

Gernika in modern memory

Epilogue: Gernika, world capital for peace / by Jose Mari Gorroño.

Notes:

Includes index.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9780874179798

0874179793

OCLC:

925392553