ABSTRACT
On the home front, the last months of the Civil War were marked by declining morale, social disruption and increasingly bitter political conflicts. All of these interrelated conditions were exacerbated not just by Republican defeats on the battlefield but also by the various psychological and material hardships suffered by the civilian population. Particularly problematic for the Republicans throughout the war were the supply and distribution of food. Food shortages were not caused by any single factor. Rather they resulted from a combination of political, social, and economic forces. Political rivalries, for example, often contributed to the breakdown of food production and distribution even when food was available (Document 9.1). Above all, however, the food problem was affected by circumstances largely beyond the control of the local and central governments. This is instanced by the fact that, in contrast to the Nationalist regime, the Republic experienced enormous pressures of population. Throughout the war Republican authorities confronted the enormous task of feeding the people of Spain’s most densely populated cities – Madrid, Valencia, and Barcelona – and towns: a problem which grew worse over time as more and more refugees flooded into these urban areas. Growing Food Shortages in Republican Spain
But the communists were no better at organizing food supplies. To live on one’s rations was to go hungry; inefficient distribution, moreover, meant that you would eat nothing but broad beans for a fortnight, lentils for the next couple of weeks, chick-peas for the next and so on. Lack of food was one of the major factors in the war-weariness that overtook Catalonia. The republic was unable to solve it.
Source: Fraser, R. (1979) Blood of Spain, New York, p. 376.
Barcelona, January 2, 1937
Sir, …
Some disturbances have been reported in the bread queues, and a number of incidents outside Barcelona. The food problem is most acute in Barcelona, where the population is highly concentrated. In the country towns and districts though many articles are short, the situation is by no means as serious. In recent weeks, dwellers in Barcelona have been going into the country to obtain supplies for their households. In some cases they have resorted to violence, robbing gardens and farms, and the country folk have had to defend themselves. A number of municipalities have forbidden the sale of food-stuffs to outsiders, and food is being hidden for fear of requisitions. Persons returning to Barcelona with food obtained in the country have been robbed on entering the outskirts of the city. Recently, members of the C.N.T. confiscated stocks of food accumulated in an Agricultural Co-operative Society warehouse in a town near Barcelona …
The food situation is now extremely grave. Catalonia is not self-supporting and has always been dependent upon other parts of Spain, many of which are now cut off, and foreign countries. To maintain sufficient imports she must have foreign exchange, and it seems that without help from the Central Government she will not be able to cope with the situation from her own resources.
G. EDGAR VAUGHAN
Source: British Documents on Foreign Affairs, Series F, Europe, 1919–1939, vol. 27, Document 56, p. 66.
