Why was the Spanish civil war called a 'dress rehearsal' for World War 2?

Answer 1

For a few reasons. The main protagonists from both sides of WW2 were active in the Spanish Civil War. Officially, everyone was supposed to remain neutral, but in fact the German and Italian governments actively and blatantly assisted the Nationalist rebels with troops, material and other support. Allied countries such as Great Britain and the United States tried to maintain and enforce the policy of neutrality to a certain extent, and stayed out of direct involvement in the conflict, but thousands of British and American volunteers - as well as volunteers from elsewhere around the world - flocked to the cause of the Spanish Republic, forming the International Brigades. The Soviet Union supplied limited assistance to the government of the Spanish Republic and also inserted a lot of more covert agents of the Comintern into the country, who nominally supported the Republican government but seemed to put more energy into going after anarchist and Trotskyist militants.

In addition to having the opposing forces of WW2 arrayed on opposite sides, the Spanish Civil War served as a "dress rehearsal" for some of the military tactics that were to be deployed on a grand scale in WW2 - perhaps most infamously the German use of dive bombers, which were deployed to brutal effectiveness in Guernica, an assault made famous by Picasso's painting.

On a broader scale and somewhat simplistically, you could say that the Spanish Civil War, like was fought between forces of fascism (the Nationalists, assisted by Germany and Italian, both fascist at the time) and of democracy (the Republic, with assistance from people from around the world). Sadly, in Spain, the fascists won.
This is because it occurred right before World War 2, therefore many Spaniards, who participated in both wars had had a "dress rehearsal". even though Spain was destroyed after the ivil war and the majority did not participate in the world war 2, the German who had helped Franco, the dictator, win the civi war also used it as a practice for their own battle.

Answer 2

Initially, it was a war between the fascist-leaning Nationalists and Stalinist leaning Republicans. Eventually, foreign countries began sending military forces (usually calling them "volunteers") to help the side that they related to, and some people (like Ernest Hemingway and George Orwell) actually volunteered to help.

So the war became a sort of training ground for World War II. Italian and German troops tried out new warfare techniques, as did Soviet troops. The Germans famously learned how to use bombers to destroy cities, as they did at Guernica.

Eventually the Nationalists won and Spain became a Fascist country. They officially stayed neutral during World War II, but did send support to the Axis Powers. A Spanish military unit, the Blue Division, participated in Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union. Even though the other Fascist (including Nazi) countries in Europe were defeated and dismantled during the war, Spain remained under Francisco Franco's Dictatorship until his death in 1975. For most of the post-World War II "Cold War", Spain was aligned with the West (against the Soviet Union).

Answer 3

The two sides in the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) were supported by major combatants in World War 2, and many new weapons and tactics were employed.

Notable among the innovations were the Blitzkrieg - the German army developed a new type of rapid mobile warfare. It used tanks and dive bombers to smash enemy positions and drive through them quickly. The Falangists (Nationalists) under Franco used German planes, many flown by German pilots.

The Republicans, who were ousted in the war, received aid from the Soviet Union (Russia) because of their Socialist doctrine.

Answer 4

The Spanish Civil War was a proving ground for Hitler's war machines.

Answer 5

It was seen as the dress-rehearsal for World War 2, with the two sides lining-up, Communist v. Fascist.

From that point on, it was obvious there would be a world war.