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Britain's Basque bastion |
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No government help
In July, 1936, Spanish Popular Front Prime Minister Jose Giral, requested aid for his fight against the military uprising led by Emilio Mola, Francisco Franco and Jose Sanjurjo.
The French Premier Leon Blum agreed to send aircraft and artillery. But, after coming under pressure from Stanley Baldwin and Foreign Secretary, Anthony Eden in Britain, he changed his mind.
On 2 August, 1936, Britain signed the Non-Intervention Pact with France, Russia, Germany, and Italy. The principle of the pact was to contain the Spanish Civil War by preventing the member nations from supplying materials of war to either side of the conflict. 
What do you tell the children about the horrors of war?
© Manuel Moreno - Basque Children of '37 Association |
But, as Britain was the only country to stick to the agreement, the Non-Intervention Pact became completely futile.
The Labour Party initially supported the government's non-intervention policy. However, after it was apparent that Hitler and Mussolini were determined to help the Nationalists win the war; Labour leaders began to call for Britain to provide the Popular Front with military support.
Throughout April 1937, Franco's Forces, including the German and Italian air corps, began their northern offensive. The German and Italian air corps started bombing Basque towns, culminating in saturation bombing, by the Luftwaffe, of the non-militarised Basque town of Guernica on 26 April 1937.
Despite the fact the children were escaping the devastating bombing by the Luftwaffe of their Basque town of Guernica, the British government did not want the children to come. But, by chance, the Archbishop of Canterbury was in the Basque region, and returned with harrowing tales of the children's plight. They stirred up such public ire that the government had to acquiesce.
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