Introduction | Wars between nations | Civil wars
Cold War and terrorism | Keeping the peace
A new Europe? | Did you know? | Find out more

Civil wars

As well as wars between nations, the 20th century witnessed an unprecedented series of civil wars within nations. The following were two of the most significant.

Spanish Civil War (1936-39)

This began as a revolt by army commanders in Morocco, then a Spanish colony. They were protesting the socialist and anticlerical tendencies of the elected central government, which was led by Manuel Azana. The rebels, headed by General Francisco Franco, soon won support from the cities of Cadiz, Saragossa, Seville and Burgos, while others, such as Madrid, Barcelona, Bilbao and Valencia, supported the Republican government.

As Republicans fought Nationalists (Franco's supporters), the left-wing government got support from the Soviet Union and from international brigades of volunteer soldiers. Meanwhile, the right-wing army was assisted by Nazi Germany's Luftwaffe and Fascist Italy's troops.

Although the Republicans successfully held their territory against many fierce attacks, political disagreements within their ranks and loss of Soviet support finally led to their defeat. Nationalist troops captured Barcelona on 26 January
1939 and Madrid on 28 March 1939. Franco then formed a dictatorship, which survived until his death in 1975.

Bosnian Civil War (1992-95)

This conflict was a particularly shocking reminder that wars could still break out in postwar Europe. Following the death of Tito on 4 May 1980 and the gradual break-up of the Soviet Union and Eastern Bloc countries in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the Communist federal state of Yugoslavia, too, fell apart as each of its regions proclaimed independence.

Following the examples of Slovenia and Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina declared independence on 1 March 1992. This led to civil war between its Muslim inhabitants and their Christian Serb neighbours, who were aided by the Belgrade government in Serbia. The Serbs committed atrocities, including the siege of Sarajevo and 'ethnic cleansing' at Srebrenica.

International attempts at finding a peaceful solution failed until Croatian troops successfully invaded Bosnia; Nato air strikes against the Serbs in August and September 1995 ended the conflict. An agreement was signed at Dayton, Ohio on 21 November 1995, but the region continued to be volatile.

Top