Critical Analysis of Spanish Civil War Letters from American Volunteers.
This collection of letters form a historical representation of life during the Spanish Civil War. The letters humanise the effects of the war, which often get left out in other accounts of historical events. The majority of text which account historical events such as this focus on statistics, governmental rises and falls, and victories and loses. These letters however are eyewitness accounts which portray more that just the left-right spectrum. These letters depict the destruction of government as well as people, their rights, their country and their spirit.
The "Spanish Civil War Letters from American Volunteers" are written by a variety of American citizens and idealists who volunteered to fight in the Spanish civil war, to eliminate fascism and win rights for the Spanish people and other minority groups. Each letter and writer depicts their version of the effects of the war and the life in which the citizens of Spain and the volunteers are living in. each letter contains personal biases as each individual writer has his or her own beliefs, attitudes, values and morals which affect the way they view the situation at hand. It is also important to note who these letters are written to, as this will affect what is said and how it is written. But above all, when analysing these letters it is important to put them in to perspective as these letters are bias, portraying merely Republic beliefs, rather than portraying both sides of the story.
Most of these letters were written to family members, or loved ones back home in America, and pay particular attention to the writer's beliefs regarding fascism, human rights and the effects this war has on their personal beliefs and values. This can be seen in Canute Frankson, an auto worker's, letter to his friend. He talks about his beliefs as a Negro and being part of a minority group, which led to his decision to help fight in the Spanish Civil War.