Internationalism in the Spanish Civil War

After the Spanish Civil War and World War II, the world entered the Cold War, the conflict between the East and the West. Such a division was felt by veterans of the Spanish Civil War, especially the American volunteers that traveled illegally to fight fascists on the Republican side. The United States banned its citizens from fighting in the Spanish Civil War, so any volunteers there were doing so illegally. One such volunteer was Michael Sidorovich.

Sidorovich was a volunteer in the Abraham Lincoln Brigade. A machine gun company from the Brigade is pictured above. He also joined as a communist, as evident by the questionnaire forms given to him by the Soviets before joining. He served up until the international brigades were ordered to leave Spain near the end of the war. What followed him after the war, however, was an interest in his ties with spies.

The FBI kept a close eye on Sidorovich after Spain, noting that he is a veteran on the Republican side. This was during the 1950s, the height of the Red Scare. Sidorovich's mail was scanned before it was delivered, and he was on constant surveillance. When the trials for the Rosenbergs began, Sidorovich and his wife were brought to trial as well, suspected of espionage. It also did not help that Michael Sidorovich was good friends with Julius Rosenberg in high school. Below is a photo of Michael Sidorovich and his wife. 

Both Mike and Anne Sidorovich were not found guilty of the charges presented and were free to go. However, the FBI would continue to survey both Mike and Anne until they both passed away. Other volunteers that Sidorovich served with were also politically active, even after the Red Scare. 

Carl Slater, another veteran of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade, was very active in protesting the Vietnam War with his wife, Agnes Slater, as pictured above. One observation of many members of the volunteer forces is political activity both before and after the Spanish Civil War, whether that would be protests or almost all members being in a union of some kind. Volunteer forces have even made another appearance in the current Russo-Ukraine war, with several battalions forming in a similar fashion to Spain.

To this day, we still feel the effects of a war that occurred around 80 years ago. We see it in politics, military tactics, medicine, and even in our pop culture today. The last volunteer fighter, Josep Almudéver, passed away on May 23, 2021, yet we still see the remnants of many international involvements in the war.