Okla-homey
4/26/2006, 06:10 AM
April 26, 1937 Nazis test Luftwaffe on Guernica
On this day 69 years ago, the German military tests its powerful new air force--the Luftwaffe--on the Basque town of Guernica in northern Spain.
http://img95.imageshack.us/img95/2787/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzs.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
The Spanish Civil War (July 18, 1936–April 1, 1939) was a conflict in which the incumbent Second Spanish Republic and political left-wing groups fought against a right-wing nationalist insurrection led by General Francisco Franco, who eventually succeeded in ousting the Republican government and establishing a personal fascist dictatorship.
Hitler and his Italian fascist buddy Mussolini supported fellow fascist Franco for two reasons. First, they desired to encourage establishment of fascist regimes and secondly, they prized the opportunity to "blood" their forces and get them important "shooting war" experience for the wider conflict they knew was coming.
http://img95.imageshack.us/img95/2606/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz36.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Francisco Franco
Although the independence-minded Basque region opposed General Francisco Franco's Nationalist forces in the Spanish Civil War, Guernica itself was a small rural city of only 5,000 inhabitants that declared its "neutrality" in the conflict.
http://img240.imageshack.us/img240/6577/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz25.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
"Guernica" by Pablo Picasso
With Franco's approval, the cutting-edge German aircraft began their unprovoked attack at 4:30 p.m., the busiest hour of the market day in Guernica. For three hours, the German planes poured down a continuous and unopposed rain of bombs and gunfire on the town and surrounding countryside. One-third of Guernica's 5,000 inhabitants were killed or wounded, and fires engulfed the city and burned for days.
http://img240.imageshack.us/img240/4893/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz23.th.jpg (http://img240.imageshack.us/my.php?image=zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz23.jpg)
Guernica post-bombing
The indiscriminate killing of civilians at Guernica aroused world opinion and became a symbol of fascist brutality. Unfortunately, by 1942, all major participants in World War II had adopted the notion that population centers were legitimate military targets and their destruction might lead to the destruction of an enemy peoples' "will to fight."
http://img240.imageshack.us/img240/6195/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz24.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Me-109 fighters and Ju-88 bombers. Named the "Condor Legion," German aircraft sported Spanish Nationalist markings. Flown by Luftwaffe crews they were in effect the fascist Franco's air force.
Urban bombing techniques first showcased by the Nazis at Guernica caught on among all the major powers and and by the war's end in 1945, millions of civilians had perished under Allied and Axis air raids.
http://img98.imageshack.us/img98/7906/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz38.th.jpg (http://img98.imageshack.us/my.php?image=zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz38.jpg)
German Ju-87 "Stuka" dive bombers in Nationalist markings. They gained experience in Spain they would apply two years later as Hitler unleashed them elsewhere in Europe against Poland and France.
Today, the "Law of Armed Conflict" has been acknowledged by most nations around the world to proscribe the deliberate Guernica-style bombing of civilians merely to terrorize and kill. They may, however, be legitimately bombed if they happen to reside near industrial or economic targets and constitute the workforce necessary for such targets to function.
http://img132.imageshack.us/img132/5059/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz18.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Popular souvenir ring sold to "Condor Legion" participants
http://img110.imageshack.us/img110/5678/insane7zo5ne.jpg
On this day 69 years ago, the German military tests its powerful new air force--the Luftwaffe--on the Basque town of Guernica in northern Spain.
http://img95.imageshack.us/img95/2787/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzs.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
The Spanish Civil War (July 18, 1936–April 1, 1939) was a conflict in which the incumbent Second Spanish Republic and political left-wing groups fought against a right-wing nationalist insurrection led by General Francisco Franco, who eventually succeeded in ousting the Republican government and establishing a personal fascist dictatorship.
Hitler and his Italian fascist buddy Mussolini supported fellow fascist Franco for two reasons. First, they desired to encourage establishment of fascist regimes and secondly, they prized the opportunity to "blood" their forces and get them important "shooting war" experience for the wider conflict they knew was coming.
http://img95.imageshack.us/img95/2606/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz36.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Francisco Franco
Although the independence-minded Basque region opposed General Francisco Franco's Nationalist forces in the Spanish Civil War, Guernica itself was a small rural city of only 5,000 inhabitants that declared its "neutrality" in the conflict.
http://img240.imageshack.us/img240/6577/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz25.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
"Guernica" by Pablo Picasso
With Franco's approval, the cutting-edge German aircraft began their unprovoked attack at 4:30 p.m., the busiest hour of the market day in Guernica. For three hours, the German planes poured down a continuous and unopposed rain of bombs and gunfire on the town and surrounding countryside. One-third of Guernica's 5,000 inhabitants were killed or wounded, and fires engulfed the city and burned for days.
http://img240.imageshack.us/img240/4893/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz23.th.jpg (http://img240.imageshack.us/my.php?image=zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz23.jpg)
Guernica post-bombing
The indiscriminate killing of civilians at Guernica aroused world opinion and became a symbol of fascist brutality. Unfortunately, by 1942, all major participants in World War II had adopted the notion that population centers were legitimate military targets and their destruction might lead to the destruction of an enemy peoples' "will to fight."
http://img240.imageshack.us/img240/6195/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz24.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Me-109 fighters and Ju-88 bombers. Named the "Condor Legion," German aircraft sported Spanish Nationalist markings. Flown by Luftwaffe crews they were in effect the fascist Franco's air force.
Urban bombing techniques first showcased by the Nazis at Guernica caught on among all the major powers and and by the war's end in 1945, millions of civilians had perished under Allied and Axis air raids.
http://img98.imageshack.us/img98/7906/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz38.th.jpg (http://img98.imageshack.us/my.php?image=zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz38.jpg)
German Ju-87 "Stuka" dive bombers in Nationalist markings. They gained experience in Spain they would apply two years later as Hitler unleashed them elsewhere in Europe against Poland and France.
Today, the "Law of Armed Conflict" has been acknowledged by most nations around the world to proscribe the deliberate Guernica-style bombing of civilians merely to terrorize and kill. They may, however, be legitimately bombed if they happen to reside near industrial or economic targets and constitute the workforce necessary for such targets to function.
http://img132.imageshack.us/img132/5059/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz18.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Popular souvenir ring sold to "Condor Legion" participants
http://img110.imageshack.us/img110/5678/insane7zo5ne.jpg