Democracy, Deeds and Dilemmas: Support for the Spanish Republic within British Civil Society, 1936-1939

This book places British humanitarian responses to Spain within the context of Britain’s flourishing civic and popular political culture, following the advent of mass democracy in 1928 as supported by the Equal Franchise Act. Emily Mason explores engagement with ‘Spain’ through three foci: the peace movement, the co-operative movement and British Christians – groups that were at the heart of the humanitarian response, but which remain underexplored in current historiography. The book explores how the Republican cause resonated with notions of British identity and with the crises that different groups perceived to be threatening their world order. It explores the dilemma that non-intervention posed for many Britons, and argues that humanitarian support for the Spanish Republic offers an example of ‘active citizenship’ and popular internationalism in Britain between the wars. (Sussex Academic Press)