They Shall Not Pass!

[Rune Son of Bjarne]

Originally Posted by Andsigil

Well, I never implied he was afraid of the Spanish communists; I said he wouldn't have admired them- especially after they started gleefully shooting priests during the Red Terror.

I never did study the Spanish Civil War, so I don't know how it was viewed by contemporaries.

I believe that you are quite right that Tolkien would have had no sympathy for the red terror, that took place in the wake of the military rising. He probably wasn't too happy about the white terror either, but I wouldn't know.

The interesting question for me is how the conflict was portrait. I know that in socialist and communist circles it was portrait as the forefront in the struggle against fascism, famously motivating many to join the international brigades.

Did contemporaries see the republican cause as being equivalent of the communist/socialist cause?

If for example it was viewed as the struggle of a young democracy vs. a reactionary military, then the battle of Madrid would surely invoke more sympathy and remorse, even among conservatives?

This is all very speculative on my part...but I do find these links interesting and I really wish that it was a conscious choice on Tolkien's part.