March While it still remains to be seen whether the formation of a new government by. Spanish Nationalists will bring peace without further fighting, there is much significance to be found in the fact that the Communist section of the Republican supporters has sustained a severe and telling defeat. The coup d'état carried out on Sunday, under the: leadership of Col. Casado, arose from a coalition of all Republican parties, with the: exception of the Communists in opposition to, the Senor Juan Negrin's "unconstitutional, dictatorial, and pro-Communist policies," this movement dating as far back as February' 2 A Havas message clearly sets out the position of the Republican Government with regard to the nature of the support it com-' manded. When it was made quite clear by: President Azana that in no_ circumstances would he return to Spain the Republican parties divided into three blocs, firstly,, the' moderate Republicans which demanded that the President should return, and that Senor' Negrin should resign, secondly, a Socialist-Anarchist-Trade-Unionist bloc anxious to respect constitutional lawfulness, and, thirdly, the Communist party which backed the Negrin administration unreservedly. Despite the fact that Senor Negrin endeavoured to bolster his position by allocating key-positions to Communists and bidding for. the support of the army, the parties opposed to him under the leadership of Col. Casado and Senor: Bosteiro succeeded in bringing about the coup which results in the Communists not only being deprived of their commanding position, but in their being cast into outer darkness. This may very well have the effect of producing a situation in which it may be possible for the more moderate elements now in the saddle to negotiate a peace, which would have been impossible had the Communists: succeeded in maintaining their control of the Republican Government. It may even mean that the new government will in the end even consent to the unconditional surrender which General Franco demands, and which the Communists were bent on'refusing, as much as anything in the hope of being able to save their own skins, That view is to some extent offset by the declaration of the intention to fight to the last for an independent Spain, but that need not necessarily mean continuance of the resist~ ance against General Franco, but rather that, the parties forming the new Republican. Government anticipate a time when Spain shall be freed of the alien troops which made General Franco's victory possible. 'The substitution of a purely national objective such as this for communistic ideology, is one of! the most striking developments' in recent! Spanish history, and may lead to the much. desired peace. That view is strengthened by the fact that General Miaja, the gallant defender of Madrid, has returned to the capital, emerging from that obscurity into which developments of a short while ago drove him. The new President, Senor Martinez Barrio, in welcoming the General's return spoke of him as the man best capable of reaching an understanding with General Franco for the' settlement of the conflict, but the President' is in all probability sadly misinformed if he believes for one moment that General Franco will consent to the continued existence of the Republican Government even though its! political complexion has been changed by the: expulsion of the Communists. He will still require. unconditional surrender, and the: establishment of a form of government more' In consonance with his own political ideals, and itis plain from all that has happened during the past years that old constitutional ideas: will have to.give place to some form of totalitarian government, perhaps not entirely similar to the patterns of Germany and Italy, but at any rate a long way away from the form which at present exists in Spain. It is] not to be assumed that with the surrender! of the Republican Government General) Franco's problems will come to an end. Indeed it may even prove to be the case that his diMeulties will be just about commencing, for there are many important and difficult problems which will have to be decided before it will be possible to establish a new] government having any degree of perma ency about it.
His first difficulty will be to secure the withdrawal of alien troops which have supported him, for while it has been announced time and again that Italy will withdraw the levies which have been sent to Spain there is every reason to believe that a very wide margin separates those promises and their ultimate fulfilment. Then again, as is the case with the Republican side, he has E26 to depend upon a coalition of parties, all of] whom will want a say in the final settlement of the country. There are the Falangists, the Reguetes, the Monarchists, and so on, all of whom will require their pound of flesh for the support which they have given him, and if General Franco experiences great dif ficulty in satisfying them all, it will not be 'a matter occasioning any very great surprise. Be that as it may the fact still remains that the gulf between the parties which General Franco leads, and those now supporting the Republican Government is much smaller now that the Communist extremists have been eliminated, and in these changed conditions
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.