Latest / Voices Of Life / When Freedom Dies Series - Spain 1936–1939: Revolution, Civil War & Religious Persecution, and Modern Day Spain

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When Freedom Dies Series - Spain 1936–1939: Revolution, Civil War & Religious Persecution, and Modern Day Spain · Voices Of Life

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This is the Voices of Life podcast, and welcome
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to our series, When Freedom Dies. In every generation,
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somewhere in the world, freedom begins to fade.
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Not always in a single moment, but step by step,
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one restriction at a time. In this series, we
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explore those moments. The turning points when
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governments tighten their grip, when institutions
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lose their independence. and when ordinary people
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discover that the freedoms they once trusted
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are slipping away. Your host is Pastor David,
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teacher, storyteller, and guide through the places
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where history, faith, and human dignity meet.
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Join us now as we begin another chapter in the
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global story of freedom and what happens when
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it begins to die. Welcome to Voices of Life,
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a ministry of the Church for Life. I'm Pastor
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David. we are continuing with our When Freedom
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Dies series. And specifically, we're looking
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at Spain. We're going to be looking at Spain
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historically, and we're going to look at Spain
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in the modern day. But Spain is a nation whose
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20th century story reveals how freedom can vanish
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in more than one way. So between 1936 and 1939,
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Spain descended into revolution. civil war, and
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religious persecution. And yet the same country
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today stands as a constitutional democracy, still
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free but facing new pressures that remind us
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how fragile freedom can be. And just to be clear,
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they are a constitutional democracy where the
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United States is a constitutional republic. Two
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very distinct types of constitutional government.
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But on to Spain. Spain's history gives us three
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warnings. How faith can be attacked, how faith
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can be captured, and how freedom can erode even
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inside a democracy. Let's begin with the first.
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So we're going to break this down to some parts.
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The first part is going to be before the Civil
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War. So in 1931, the monarchy of Alfonso VIII
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ended. And the Second Spanish Republic was born.
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It promised reform. But the nation was deeply
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divided between Catholicism and military anti
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-clericalism, monarchy and republicanism, socialism
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and conservatism, anarchism and authority, regional
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nationalism and Spanish nationalism. Do you think
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they had a lot of things going on? Yep, there
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was a lot of stuff going on. Religion became
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one of the most explosive issues. Historians
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describe the Republic as a time of growing polarization,
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where Catholic identity was increasingly treated
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as political opposition. And remember, historically
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with Spain, Spain set out to conquer the world.
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They put out Catholic missionaries all over the
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world. They ceded South America, Central America,
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the United States. We can go on. So it's interesting
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how they're now looking at it as a political
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opposition as opposed to a religion. So let's
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look at part two. The anti -clerical conflict.
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Violence against the church did not begin with
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the Civil War. Between 1931 and 1936, churches,
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convents, and religious schools were attacked.
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Priests and religious personnel were assaulted.
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The persecution grew out of years of social and
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political hostility toward religion. Part 3.
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July 1936. Rebellion and War. On July 17 -18,
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1936, military officers rose against the Republican
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government. The uprising failed to take the whole
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country, and Spain split in two. So first there's
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the Republican Spain, supported by the Socialist,
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Communist, Anarchist, and Regional Nationalist.
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Then Nationalist Spain, led by General Francisco
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Franco. supported by conservative Catholics,
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monarchists, and much of the military. The conflict
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became a civil war, a revolution, a counter -revolution,
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and for many, a religious war. And think about
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this. This is 1936. What's going on right around
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Spain? Nazi Germany is growing, and they're conquering
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different parts of Europe. So something to think
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about what was going on in the background during
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this time. So part four, we're going to talk
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about the religious persecution. Once the uprising
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began, anti -clerical violence exploded in Republican
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-held areas. Priests, monks, nuns, and lay Catholics
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were all targeted. Churches were burned or seized.
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Religious objects were destroyed. Historians
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estimate that over 7 ,000 clergy and religious
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persons were killed. The largest episode of an
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anti -clerical bloodshed in European history.
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Part 5. The Martyrs of Barbastero. Among those
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murdered were young seminarians who believed
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They were preparing to serve God. At Barberesto,
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51 members of the Claritarian missionaries were
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executed. They were later recognized as martyrs
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and beautified by Pope John Paul II in 1992.
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Their story gives a human face to the tragedy,
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and they represent. those 7 ,000 plus clergy
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and religious individuals. So part six, complexity
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and contradiction. Not every Republican supported
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persecution. Some Catholics remained loyal to
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the Republic, especially in Basque regions. Much
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of the violence came from revolutionary militias
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rather than official policy. Spain's war was
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not a simple battle of believers versus unbelievers.
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It was a nation tearing itself apart. Part 7.
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Franco and the Nationalists. Franco's Nationalists
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claimed to defend Spain, Catholicism, and civilization
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against communism and atheism. The church largely
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supported them. But Franco's victory in 1939
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did not bring freedom. and executed political
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opponents authoritarianism replaced revolution
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and the liberty remained absent so what did we
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go through here well it looks like we had the
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best of intentions but at the end of the day
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it became a dictatorship and we could look at
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similar and we could look at similar uh events
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uh venezuela cuba i mean same thing no no no
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difference best of intentions or at least what's
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what's told but at the end of the day becomes
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a dictatorship or communism or somewhere along
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the lines so part eight the irony of franco spain
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under franco churches reopened and catholic education
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returned yet spain became an authoritarian state
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where religion served the government two opposite
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forms of control emerged The revolutionary persecution,
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which was religion is the enemy of the revolution,
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and authoritarian alliance, religion, is the
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ally of the state. Both compromise true freedom
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of faith. But we know what happens when the government
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controls religion. It's not free. It's monitored.
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Sometimes pastors or priests are put in jail.
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for things that they say. Where you worship and
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when you worship sometimes is monitored as well.
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Well, let's get on to part nine. 1975 and the
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return of democracy. Remember we said early on
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about democracy. Remember we said early on there
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was a difference between a constitutional democracy
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and a constitutional republic. We're going to
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do a podcast on the difference because a lot
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of times people keep saying in the United States,
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but our democracy, we're protecting our democracy.
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Well, we don't have a democracy. We have a constitutional
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republic. But in this case, for Spain, they do
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have a democracy. So Franco died in 1975. Amazing
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how long he had his grip on Spain. Spain adopted
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the 1978 Constitution establishing a democratic...
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Spain adopted the 1978 Constitution, establishing
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a democratic state governed by law, liberty,
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justice, equality, and political pluralism. Religious
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freedom was guaranteed, and the idea of a state
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religion was rejected. Spain rejoined the family
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of free nations. But did it really? So let's
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look at Spain today. Democracy... Under pressure.
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Today, Spain is a parliamentary democracy led
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by a prime minister, Pedro Sanchez. It remains
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free, but faces serious institutional debates.
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The European Commission 2026 Rule of Law report
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highlights concern about judicial independence,
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a political criticism of judges, and the appointment
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of a prosecutor general. The amnesty law for
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Catalan separatists has divided the country.
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Media freedom faces challenges of editorial independence
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and political influence. Remember, we heard about
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freedom of religion. We didn't hear anything
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about the freedom of the press, did we? Amnesty
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International notes continuing restrictions on
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expression and assembly. Well, for us in the
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United States, that's the First Amendment. So
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they don't really have a First Amendment. They
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have a partial First Amendment in their Constitution.
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But these are real issues. But they exist within
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a functioning democracy. So there is freedom,
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but not total freedom. You can do something,
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you can worship, but... You may not be able to
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assemble or may not be able to hear what you
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want to hear on the radio or television or what
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a journalist would like to do as far as reporting.
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So let's look at part 11, the crucial difference.
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Unlike 1936 or Franco's Spain, today's Spain
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has competitive multi -party elections. Peaceful
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transfers of power. an elected parliament, an
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independent judiciary, constitutional protections
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for pluralism, membership in the European Union.
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Freedom House rates Spain free with 91 out of
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100 points, acknowledging corruption and restrictive
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laws, but affirming civil liberties and democratic
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institutions. a dictatorship. And that is a big
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deal. It's not a communist state. It's not a
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dictatorship. But it is a democracy that must
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guard its freedom very carefully. You know, recently
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there was this whole run of immigration into
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Spain because Prime Minister Sanchez said he
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was going to grant amnesty to 500 ,000 immigrants.
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and next thing you know you had 60 000 come through
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morocco onto the enclave of the tip of africa
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which is a spanish city and where most of them
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did finally leave it really scared the population
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because that's a tiny little place it's not like
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the whole country of spain by itself it's just
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an enclave at the tip of uh africa and they have
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like three or four of those enclaves one has
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a fort which can't even be five acres maybe and
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they keep soldiers on a 20 uh 365 days a year
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so there's nothing there but the fort it's an
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old stone thing it's hot it's uh right on the
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tip of morocco but that's that's what they do
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so moving on to part 12 the comparison table
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well let's take a really good look at this 1936
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to 39 Franco's dictatorship and Spain today government
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well let's take a look at how everything works
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out today and what the differences are so we
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compare the different states so let's compare
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how Spain is over the last 90 some odd years
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so from 36 to 39 they had civil war and revolution
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uh collect all elections collapsed into war there
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was opposition was all suppressed uh religious
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freedom there was persecution uh thousands killed
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uh the violence the political violence was extreme
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the judiciary was revolutionary justice the media
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had all its propaganda The executive power was
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collapsing and the political pluralism was destroyed.
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It was basically just civil war. Under Franco's
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dictatorship, you had an authoritarian state.
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Everything was non -competitive. He was the only
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choice, president for life or dictator, call
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him what you want. Opposition was eliminated.
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Religious freedom, well, if you were Catholic,
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you were privileged. But the church had to align
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with the regime. There was state repression of
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any political violence. The judiciary was subordinate
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to Franco. Media was state controlled. Executive
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power was 100 % controlled by Franco. And political
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pluralism was eliminated. So it was a dictatorship.
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I mean, there's no other way to call it that.
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Today's Spain is a parliamentary democracy. party
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and free legal and active opposition constitutional
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freedom for the church for religious parts of
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everything is independent uh political violence
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is non -systematic um you have the judiciary
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is independent the media is pluralistic but pressured
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so it's not it's not a truly a free press so
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sometimes you'll get something out of spain you
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can't necessarily take it word for word unless
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it's some journalists that came from a different
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country and as we're doing a report executive
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power is limited by constitution political pluralism
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is protected and like i said they call themselves
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a democracy but if you look at if you if you
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compare spain to the united states if you compare
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spain to England, you compare Spain to various
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countries that have freedom, you'll see that
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there are some subtle differences, but they're
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really not as subtle as we'd like them to be,
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and they actually do cause some problems. So
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let's look at Part 13, and let's talk about the
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word fascist. So Franco's regime borrowed the
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fascist symbols and institutions, but historians
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distinguish it. from Mussolini's or Hitler's
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systems, calling today's Spain fascist is a political
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accusation, not a factual description. A fairer
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question would be, are Spain's institutions showing
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signs of authoritarian pressure? Then you let
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the evidence speak. But here's what it comes
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down to. Going back to our theme about when freedom
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dies, that's our connection here. Spain's story
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gives us three warnings. Religious persecution,
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when faith becomes the enemy, freedom dies in
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flames. Government capture of religion, well,
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when faith becomes a tool of power, freedom dies
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behind closed doors. Democratic erosion, when
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institutions weaken and truth becomes partisan,
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freedom dies quietly. So in our last part here,
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let's have a little reflection. Freedom rarely
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disappears in just one way. In 1936, it was destroyed
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by revolutionary violence. In 1939, it was suffocated
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by authoritarian control. And in 2026, it could
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still fade through neglect when courts, media,
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and citizens stop defending the limits that keep
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power accountable. Spain today is not Franco
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-Spain. It is a democracy, but democracy itself
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requires vigilance. It requires maintenance.
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Call it maintenance, okay? Because freedom is
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not only the right to vote. Freedom is the right
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to believe, to speak, to challenge, to live without
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fear of those who govern. When any movement decides
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its opponents no longer deserve those rights,
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that is when freedom begins to die. Something
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to think about. Thank you for listening today
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to Voices of Life, When Freedom Dies series.
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I'm Pastor David, and we'll see you in the next
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week's episode. You've been listening to the
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Voices of Life podcast, and this has been another
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episode of our series, When Freedom Dies. Around
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the world, the struggle for freedom continues,
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sometimes loudly, sometimes quietly, sometimes
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in ways the world barely notices. But every story
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reminds us of this truth. Freedom rarely disappears
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all at once. It fades in small steps. Until one
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day, it is gone. Pastor David will return with
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the next chapter in this series. Until then,
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may courage guide you, may faith strengthen you,
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and may God bless your life. This has been Voices
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of Life.