Uticaj Španskog građanskog rata na vojnu misao u Jugoslaviji
THE INFLUENCE OF SPANISH CIVIL WAR ON MILITARY THOUGHT IN YUGOSLAVIA

Author(s): Mile Bjelajac
Subject(s): History, Military history, Military policy, Interwar Period (1920 - 1939)
Published by: Institut za noviju istoriju Srbije
Keywords: Spanish Civil War; Kingdom of Yugoslavia; Milan Stojadinović; Periodic Analysis of the Intelligence Department of the Main General Staff of the Yugoslav Army; General August Marić
Summary/Abstract: The Spanish Civil War, as well as Italy’s previous aggression against Ethiopia in 1935, were testing grounds for new war tools and doctrines, and both occurred on the eve of a new European and world conflict. On one side were the victorious powers from the First World War, and on the other – the former losers, eager for revenge and the fulfillment of earlier geopolitical goals for world domination. The democracies were certainly slow in modernizing their military potential and realized too late that a new conflict was a matter of the near future. The great economic crisis of 1929–1934 also contributed to the delay. On the training grounds of Spain, neither side revealed all the cards, and this could confuse analysts and even lead to wrong conclusions about the expediency of the mass use of armored forces, the method of anti-armor combat, as well as about numerous other elements of tactical and strategic importance. In the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, this war was observed with due military attention. For the needs of the supreme command, periodic analyzes were made, and the professional military press began to publish the views of domestic and foreign collaborators. They were often opposed, but the assessment of the importance of fast, armored and motorized units, bomber aviation, anti-aircraft defense and free lines of supply prevailed.

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