Question

Why is the Spanish Civil War called a ‘proxy war'? A. because there was no clear victor B. because the Francisco Franco was really a puppet of Great Britain and France C. because the war began and ended on the exact dates of World War II, but is considered an isolated conflict D. because both sides in Spain were in aided by Nazi Germany and the U.S.S.R., respectively

Answer 1

D. It's a little bit bogus, however. The Spanish Civil War began in very real divisions among Spaniards, which were uniquely Spanish in their origins. It's true that great powers, particularly Nazi Germany and the USSR, intervened on their favorite sides, and this certainly altered the conflict in many ways. But saying it was a proxy war -- meaning it was actually Germany and the USSR fighting each other, is a bit of an exaggeration.

A better case can be made for the Korean War, in which American and Communist Chinese troops actually did fight each other, and in which the war began as a conflict between ideologies installed directly by the two external combatant ideologies -- namely, the surrender to the Americans of the Japanese in South Korea after the Second World War, and to the Soviet Union of the Japanese in North Korea at the same time. The Americans installed an American-style government, and the Soviets a Communist government. The divisions between Koreans are much more the result of external influence than those between the Spanish in the 1930s.