>Thanks, I thought there was a lot of controversy over the International
>Brigades, not the least of which was that they were sponsored by the
American
>Communist Party. Also, didn't a larger percentage of those fighting in the
>brigades die from lack of training, etc.? maggie coleman mscoleman at aol.com
I don't know too much about the Spanish Civil War beyond what I've read in Orwell's Homage to Catalonia and Studs Terkel's The Good War. It would surprise me if brigade members received anything other than rudimentary training, such as how to care for a rifle, etc. POUM militia members certainly didn't get better training.
I do remember going to hear a talk by an American veteran of the Canadian equivalent to the Abraham Lincoln Brigade (Morrou (???) Brigade). It was his position that had the Allies not placed an embargo on war materiel being sent to Spain and allowed the republicans to have been properly equipped, they would have been able to defeat the fascists.
mark
________________________________________________________ NetZero - We believe in a FREE Internet. Shouldn't you? Get your FREE Internet Access and Email at http://www.netzero.net/download.html