Arthur+Gillette

A) Plan of investigation: The question of this investigation is to what extent does the book For Whom the Bell Tolls accurately depict massacres during the Spanish Civil War? This will be investigated through articles written by reliable sources that were accounts of from newspapers and reports.

B) Summary of Evidence

The massacre in the book doesn't happen when Robert Jordan was with the band of guerrilla fighters. The story of the massacre is told by Pilar.

Avila (In the book)

- Attacked in the dark[i]

- Surrounded the barracks until the guards surrendered, then killed the guards[ii]

- Went on to kill the guards in the town[iii]

- Officer of the guard killed himself[iv]

- Put all the known fascists in the town into the church[v]

- Killed each one by one by beating them to death then throwing them over a cliff into a river[vi]

- 2 lines to beat people as they were to be thrown off the cliff[vii]

- Killed priest because the were associated with fascism[viii]

- Pablo keeps prisoners locked up in the church until he finally lets the angry mob brutally murder the rest of the fascists.[ix]

Massacre of Badajoz, Spain

- Battle for Badajoz won by the legionaries of the Nationalist army[x] - Following the battle all known associates with the Reds were arrested - The prisoners were confined to a bullring[xi]

- 56 were confined to a church/they were burned[xii]

- 50 to100 were executed each day[xiii]

- There was looting by the moors and legionaries[xiv]

- Anyone dressed in work clothes were arrests because they were imeaditatly associated with the Republic - Nationalist Forces looked for bruises on the shoulders of people to see if they were fighters, if they were, they were brought to the bullring

- Citizens had to evacuate - By the end of the month, 1,500-3,000 civilians and soldiers who supported the Republic were executed[xv]

[]

C) Ernest Hemingway is an author who had much first hand experience from being in Europe as a reporter in times of critical events from the first world war to the Spanish Civil War. Hemingway had a love hate relationship with the country of Spain and its people. He wanted to express his confusion in this book. He also wanted to write a bad ass book.This story and source is very valuable because Ernest Hemingway was present during the Spanish Civil War. Which is important because it makes him reliable and makes the descriptions in it very creditable. He fought on the side of the Republic and in the book showed the life of guerrilla fighters behind the lines of fascist lines. Hemingway shows the points of view of multiple characters to show how each type of person might be thinking during the war. It also paints a good picture of how internationals acted, were treated, and contributed to the war. Hemingway shows some aspects of the war through the stories told by the native Spaniards who are his comrades, this might be an indicator of how Hemingway got the intensive to write the story and the desire to show the truth about the atrocities committed during the Spanish Civil War.There are limitations to this book because it doesn’t show the point of view of the fascists. This is interesting because the fascists ended up winning the war. The point of view is that of a guerilla fighter and not one of the main soldiers fighting in the republican army. He had a biased opinion about the war, which is expressed in the book.


 * Source: Hemingway, Ernest. __For Whom the Bell Tolls__. New York: Scribner Paperback Fiction, 1995.**

This source comes from a website written by Norman Bethune a volunteer medic during the Spanish civil war. He wrote journals, which had first hand accounts of what happened during the war. He wanted to show and inform the reader about the horrors of

the Spanish civil war and the atrocities that were committed. This source is helpful to me because it contains a first hand account of a massacre that happened during the Spanish civil war. A creditable author who saw everything that he wrote writes it. This source is limited because the fascist army did the massacre. This is important because Norman Bethune was a Republicansympathizer and could have twisted the story in the Republicans favor.


 * Bethune, Norman. "'EL CRIMEN DE LA****CARRETERA DE MÁLAGA - ALMERÍA.'"**

//culturandalucia//. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Feb. 2012. 

D) Hemingway was fascinated by Spanish culture and spent much time there before, during, and after the Spanish Civil War. He began to fall in love with certain parts of its culture like bullfighting and the Spaniards view on life which is expressed through out the book. So when creating this book he wrote the main character, Robert Jordan to reflect his experiences during the war. In the story Robert Jordan struggles with whether or not an idealistic view of the world justifies violence. For Whom the Bell Tolls is a recreation of the Spanish Civil War from the Republican point of view, as well as a romantic story about finding love and making the most out of the time had on earth. It is a compelling story from a stand point that it is based on Hemingway's experiences in Spain at this time. While the book is fiction, it uses characters, places, and events that would have been based on Hemingway's account and knowledge of Spain at this time in history. The story critiques the Republican leadership during the war and "a lament over the Fascists’ destruction of the earthy way of life of the Spanish peasantry." For Whom the Bell Tolls also explores the effect of war on an individual and rebukes the inhumanity of generals and leaders of the war who had no regard for the peoples well being. Hemingway's journalism background and his journalistic style of writing helps to make the book more historically accurate. However, he was a strong supporter of the Republican side which could give his story some biased opinions. For Whom the Bell Tolls portrays an fairly accurate account of a massacre that occurred in a fascist town during the Spanish Civil War. A historian at the Museum in Badajoz Spain, where a real massacre occurred, Norman Bethune's account of his time as a medic during the Spanish Civil War shows that Ernest Hemingway portrayed a very accurate picture of what a massacre would have looked like during the Spanish Civil War. Hemingway did a very good job of keeping his opinion unbiased so that his portrayal of the War remained accurate. In real life and in the book captives were forced into a enclosed area before being massacred. It is likely that massacres like these happened during the Spanish Civil War because there was no mercy for the enemy and also, the use of foreign soldiers like the moors, who have no hesitation to commit the executions, or to loot and pillage enemy towns and encampments. According to the Portuguese reporter Mario Neves, the colonel leading the nationalist forces at Badajoz said that he had no other choice then to execute the prisoners because he could not spare forces to guard them and did not want any opposition at his rear. This situation could have been very similar to the one in Hemingway's novel because the guerrilla fighters would not have anyone to guard the prisoners and they needed to move on after the battle and could not afford to have enemies still in the town. However, in the book many of the towns people who were for the Republic took part in the killing of all the prisoners, while in the massacre at Badajoz, only soldiers committed the executions.

__F) List of Sources__


 * Bethune, Norman. "'EL CRIMEN DE LA****CARRETERA DE MÁLAGA - ALMERÍA.'"**

//culturandalucia//. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Feb. 2012. 

Origin: This source comes from a website written by Norman Bethune a

volunteer medic during the Spanish civil war. He wrote journals which had

first hand accounts of what happened during the war

Purpose: He wanted to show and inform the reader about the horrors of

the Spanish civil war and the atrocities that were committed

Value: This source is helpful to me because it contains a first hand

account of a massacre that happened during the Spanish civil war. It is

written by a creditable author who saw everything that he

wrote.

Limitations: This source is limited because the massacre was done by

the fascist army. This is important because Norman Bethune was a Republican

sympathizer and could have twisted the story in the Republicans favor.

Arthur Gillette

IB History

Period 8

1/18/12

Source #1


 * Source: Hemingway, Ernest. __For Whom the Bell Tolls__. New York: Scribner Paperback Fiction, 1995.**

Origin: Ernest Hemingway is an author who had much first hand experience from being in Europe as a reporter in times of critical events from the first world war to the Spanish Civil War.

Purpose: Hemingway had a love hate relationship with the country of Spain and its people. He wanted to express his confusion in this book. Also wanted to write a bad ass book.

Value: This story and source is very valuable because Ernest Hemingway was present during the Spanish Civil War. Which is important because it makes him reliable and makes the descriptions in it very creditable. He fought on the side of the Republic and in the book showed the life of guerrilla fighters behind the lines of fascist lines. Hemingway shows the points of view of multiple characters to show how each type of person might be thinking during the war. It also paints a good picture of how internationals acted, were treated, and contributed to the war. Hemingway shows some aspects of the war through the stories told by the native Spaniards who are his comrades, this might be an indicator of how Hemingway got the intensive to write the story and the desire to show the truth about the atrocities committed during the Spanish Civil War.

Limitations: There are limitations to this book because it doesn’t show the point of view of the fascists. This is interesting because the fascists ended up winning the war. The point of view is that of a guerilla fighter and not one of the main soldiers fighting in the republican army. He had a biased opinion about the the war which is expressed in the book.

Arthur Gillette

Period 8

2/1/12

Source #2


 * Grenville, J. A. S. //A History of the World in the Twentieth Century//. Cambridge, MA: Belknap of Harvard UP, 2000. Print.**

Origin:He was the head Chair of International History at Leeds from 1966 to 1969; he was responsible for the introduction of the undergraduate degree programme in International History and Politics

Purpose: The purpose of this book is to inform the reader about events that happened in the 20th Century, and in the specific chapter I read, the Spanish Civil War.

Value: I found this source useful because it talked about why the civil war happened and why certain things occurred during this time. It gave very good insight to how many factors contributed to the outcome of the Spanish Civil War. It explains in detail the outside contributors to the war and how they affected the outcome.

Limitations: This book is limited because it describes the history of the world during the entire 20th century, which is not detailed to the time of the Spanish Civil War and is not specified to the events of the war. The author is British and writes in a form that is not very student friendly although he does provide good information.


 * "Massacre Remembered." //Spain News Daily Online Latest Spanish News in English Olive Press Newspaper//. 23 Mar. 2009. Web. 02 Mar. 2012. .**

Origin: The olive press is a Spanish newspaper that publishes articles in English

Purpose: This source comes from a Spanish newspaper that wrote the article to remember the massacre during the Spanish civil war in Cadiz. Value: This source is valuable because it gives an accurate depiction of what happened from first hand accounts. The article helped me understand what really happened during the massacres of the Spanish civil war Limitations: There is no author which hurts the value because I do not know if the person who wrote the article is creditable

E) Conclusion: In many ways, For Whom the Bell Tolls provides an accurate description of a massacre that could have occurred during the Spanish Civil War. When looking over historical analysis of massacres that did happen during the Spanish Civil War, it is clear that Hemingway was very aware of how these massacres took place. Hemingway shows the atrocities committed during the war on both sides and shows how individuals were affected by these terrible massacres. One must remember that Hemingway was a supporter of the Republic so his version of the massacres could have a bias. So although For Whom the Bell Tolls has excellent examples of what massacres during the Spanish Civil War could have been like, it is not an exact account of a massacre.

[i] Source: Hemingway, Ernest. __For Whom the Bell Tolls__. New York: Scribner [ii] ibid [iii] ibid [iv] ibid [v] ibid [vi] ibid [vii] ibid [viii] ibid [ix] ibid [x] "Massacre Remembered." //Spain News Daily Online Latest Spanish News in English Olive Press Newspaper//. 23 Mar. 2009. Web. 02 Mar. 2012. [xi] ibid [xii] ibid [xiii] ibid [xiv] Grenville, J. A. S. //A History of the World in the Twentieth Century//. Cambridge, MA: Belknap of Harvard UP, 2000. Print. [xv] “Massacre Remembered.”