civil war in Spain in which Franco succeeded in overthrowing the republican government; during the war Spain became a battleground for fascists and socialists from all countries; 1936-1939
a war fought in Spain, from 1936 to 1939, between the RIGHT-WING nationalists, led by General FRANCO, and the LEFT-WING Republicans. Many people from other countries joined the International Brigade to help the Republicans, including well-known writers and poets such as George ORWELL, and the US writer Ernest HEMINGWAY wrote about the war as a news reporter. The Nationalists won the war, and from 1939 to 1975 Spain was ruled by FRANCO .
especially from the 15th to the 17th centuries an inquisition initiated in 1478 by King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella that guarded the orthodoxy of Catholicism in Spain
the Spanish Main the area around the coast of northern South America, from which Spanish ships carried gold and TREASURE back to Spain during the 16th and 17th centuries. Many of these ships were attacked by PIRATE s, and there are many stories and films about the exciting adventures of the people who sailed the Spanish Main.