18 episodes
The Iberian Knot - A History of the Spanish Civil War Seth Reeves
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- Society & Culture
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4.1 • 65 Ratings
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Host Seth Reeves goes through the history of the Spanish Civil War that occurred between July 17th, 1936 and Apr 1st, 1939. Each episode will be from 30-60 minutes and the hope is that I will be able to produce them weekly.
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Episode 18 – Franquismo to Democracy, Consequences and Conclusions
The concluding episode of the podcast. I talk about the aftermath of the war, international treatment of Spain after WWII, the Franco years and what came afterward. It was an honor and a joy to produce this podcast for you all. Thank you for listening!
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Episode 16 – The Ebro and Appeasement
The historical blender on high speed that was Europe in 1938 affects the war in Spain directly and the Republicans try one last time to make a dent in the Nationalist’s progress.
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Episode 15 – The Battle of Teruel
This week we plow into 1938 and the frigid Battle of Teruel. Map of Republican and Nationalist Spain prior to The Battle of Teruel
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Episode 14 – On the Ground and Around the World
This week’s episode talks about the personal experiences of George Orwell and Manuel Azaña during the Spanish Civil War and the Barcelona May Days and the international situation in the summer and fall of 1937.
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Episode 13 – The Fall of the North
The battle for the Northern Republican-held territories commences in earnest and major political earthquakes take place on both sides of the war.
Customer Reviews
Decent recounting of the history, but uncritical
Good and bad. A well executed podcast in the style of the History of Rome. the good is that it relies on good/great historians, so you get a factual retelling in broad strokes. The bad is that he skips over the histories critical of the Spanish Republicans, namely that they were conducting widespread anti-Catholic pogroms under the color of law after rigging the elections of 1936 and hijacking the Republic. Instead, we’re presented with a false equivalence.
There are a lot of people earnestly revisiting the anti-Franco histories, especially now that international politics is trending once against towards anarchist political violence, Marxist insurgency, disputed elections, and an rising communist international effort against western societies. He draws this parallel at the beginning of the podcast, but the end he disappoints and completely ignores widespread US political violence in the summer of 2020.
Bottom line is that it’s well worth listening, but an incomplete, amateur, and admittedly biased retelling.
Republican oriented
If you want a Republican centric view then this is the podcast for you.
A Self-deprecating host…
…that is to be commended for taking on the retelling of a vast subject without a History Degree. Mr. Reeves seems to be well-researched, presents good pacing and has a pleasant speaking voice. I am discovering this podcast in early 2024, so my review is not timely to its production, but as a lifelong student of both History and Spanish Culture, I have found him informative and entertaining thus far, and would recommend to anyone with even a passing interest in the subject matter. As an aside, anyone who has listened to and enjoyed Mike Duncan’s two History Podcasts (the last of which ends during the time period discussed here) should enjoy this one as well.