Putin as Franco in 1936: the International Brigades to defend Ukraine

Putin against all: history repeats itself

With the invasion of Ukraine, Vladimir Putin it truly took history back a century. In response to the president’s appeal Volodymyr Zelensky the International Brigadesheirs of those who in 1936 went to Spain to fight the fascist dictator Francisco Franco. The prediction of Nathalie Tocci (director of the Istituto Affari Internazionali) in this interview with affaritaliani.it is coming true: as the hours go by, the ability of the Ukrainians to resist one of the most powerful armies in the world, despite the net outnumbering, is galvanizing the fighters. In the past few hours, more than 100,000 civilians (many of them reservists) have joined the Ukrainian army to collaborate in the reaction to the Russian aggression.

Voluntary militias against the Russian invader

In the long run, however, international aid will be essential, otherwise Russia will undoubtedly prevail. For this, in addition to the armaments arriving from various countries (including Italy) you also need someone who knows how to use them. The new International Brigades immediately found the accession of England, where the foreign minister Liz Truss he gave his blessing to the volunteers who wanted to go to those who are fighting “for freedom and democracy, not only for Ukraine but for the whole of Europe”. A similar green light has come from the Danish Premier Puts Fredriksenwhile in Israel the Ukrainian embassy is also recruiting volunteers thanks to Facebook.

The International Brigades in the Spanish Civil War

Several times approached to Adolf Hilternow Putin finds himself in the wake of another ominous protagonist of the twentieth century: the “Caudillo” Francisco Franco, dictator of Spain from the military coup of 1939 until his death in 1975. The International Brigades of that time were anti-fascist militias formed by fighters from all over the world (mostly Europeans, but also Cubans, Chinese and Arabs). The multinational force did not lack the Italian component, which it counted among its ranks Pietro Nenni, Luigi Longo, Giovanni Pesce, Pietro Pajetta And Palmiro Togliatti. Many other well-known personalities came from the rest of the world, such as the English writer George Orwellthe British poet John Cornford (grandson of Charles Darwin), French André Malrauxthe Franco-Romanian and the Cuban intellectual Pablo de la Torriente Brauwho fell in battle after leaving the motto “For us, today, the concept of homeland is universal”. Unfortunately, the lesson of history seems far from assimilated.

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