“It’s better to die on your feet than to live forever on your knees”
On this day in 1936: The Spanish Civil War began as hundreds of Scots joined the global fight against fascism
When fascist dictator General Francisco Franco launched a military uprising against Spain’s democratically elected government, it quickly became a battle that captured the attention of the world.
Thousands of volunteers from more than 50 countries travelled to Spain to join the International Brigades, believing they were helping to stop the spread of fascism before it engulfed Europe.
Among them were 549 Scots, including 65 from Glasgow and a number from Renton in West Dunbartonshire who lost their lives
They came from Glasgow, Edinburgh, Fife, Lanarkshire, Dundee and communities across the country. Many were miners, shipbuilders, engineers and trade unionists who left behind their families and jobs to fight for a cause they believed was bigger than themselves.
They stood shoulder to shoulder with volunteers from England, Wales, Ireland, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, the United States, Canada, Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Belgium, the Netherlands and dozens of other nations, united by a shared determination to resist fascism.
The fighting was brutal. More than 200 Scottish volunteers never returned home, losing their lives in battles such as Jarama and Brunete.
Although Franco ultimately won the war in 1939 and ruled Spain as a dictator for decades, the International Brigades have been remembered as one of history’s most remarkable examples of ordinary people crossing borders to defend democracy and stand against fascism.
Today, memorials across Scotland, including the bull at Renton and Nae Paaseran on the Quays in Glasgow, honour those 549 volunteers who made that extraordinary journey.
And 90 years later, it comes as a timely reminder to fight the far-right whenever they raise their ugly heads