Julian Tristan

Mr. Cook

6/8/15

P2

The nations who supported the Nationalists were more justified in their support than the nations who supported the Republicans, because of the Nationalists larger army, and the tactics used by totalitarian rulers to brainwash the people. As the war began to take place, people became pressured into choosing what side to be on, so having a strong, large army was a factor that motivated nations to pick the Nationalist side. Before the war, it was estimated that “42,000 joined the Nationalist Army while the remaining 27,000 stayed with the popular front government” (Simkin). Because of this, the Nationalist Army grew stronger, causing more on the fence countries to support the nationalist cause. However, not only did the attributes of the Nationalist Army influence the people, but the use of propaganda did as well. In order to gain the belief of the people, the government used “totalitarian control of the education system and of all the means of public communication, to powerfully attempt to brainwash its population” (Preston). Society was controlled by all means to convince the people into thinking what the government wanted to think.  This tactic used by the government had an effect that turned out to be beneficial for them due to the amount of recruits they gained prior to the war. Overall, the nations who supported the Nationalists were more justified in their support than those who supported the Republicans.

Keenan Ahmad

Mr. Cook

Period 2

June 9, 2015

The nations who supported the nationalists were more justified than the nations who supported the republicans because of the methods of totalitarian rule, and their beliefs. The government used "totalitarian control of the education system and of all the means of public communication, press, radio, and the publishing industry, the Franco regime made a powerfully sustained attempt to brainwash its population" (Preston) in order to get the people to believe in them. Whatever the government thinks, the people must think the same. In this case, this method proved to be extremely helpful for the government because of the large number of soldiers they gained before the war. Prior to the war, it was "estimated that 42,000 joined the nationalist army and 27,000 remained with the Popular Front government" (Simkin). Those soldiers chose to join the nationalists. They supported Franco's beliefs and they believed in Franco, which is why they chose to defend him.