 Spanish
Civil War Plaque is located on the shores of Lake Burly-Griffin,
Canberra behind the Hilton Hotel. The memorial commemorates all those
Australians who gave support to the armies involved in the Spanish Civil
War. The plaque was unveiled by the last living Australian survivor of
the war in 1993.
Text from Plaque
This monument honours the seventy Australian men and women who went to
Spain during the Spanish civil war of 1936-39 to defend the cause of the
Spanish republic.
A republican government was elected in Spain in 1931 and a democratic
constitution promulgated. In July 1936 a group of generals led by
Francisco Franco staged a military uprising against the popular front
government precipitating a bloody civil war. When the conflict ended in
1939 general Franco's nationalist forces controlled the country.
During the civil war some 50,000 supporters from fifty-three countries
went to Spain to defend the republic. For them the Spanish civil war
represented the first battle in a larger war against fascism.
The Australian writer Nettie Palmer who was in Barcelona when the
uprising occurred said of those who supported the Spanish republic -
though they were few in number and not powerful and seemed often to be
shouting against the wind theirs was truly a brave chapter in
Australia's history.
This monument erected by the Australians in Spain memorial committee was
dedicated on 11 December 1993 by Lloyd Edmond's, international brigade
veteran.
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