On this day, 12 August 1936, after the French government shut the border with revolutionary Spain, the first international volunteers who were heading to Spain to join the fight against General Franco’s fascists began crossing the Pyrenees mountains on foot. Tens of thousands of mostly working class people from around the world travelled to the country to try to help defeat the right-wing nationalists. And around 15,000 would never return home.
We have produced some merch commemorating the conflict and the international volunteers to help fund our work here: https://working-class-history.myshopify.com/collections/spanish-civil-war https://www.facebook.com/workingclasshistory/photos/a.296224173896073/1186368268214988/?type=3