ABSTRACT
Within weeks of the start of the Spanish Civil War, deep divisions emerged in the Republican camp on the question of revolution and war. These divisions, which reflected different political concepts of the nature of the war, remained a source of bitter dissension throughout the conflict and undermined the Republican war effort. At stake was not only the indispensable task of implementing a politico-military strategy capable of winning the war but—arising directly out of this strategy—also the wider issue of the type of society which would emerge from a future victory. The question in essence was: what were people in the Republican zone fighting for? 1
