Hitler's Fascist Influence And Picasso's Socialist Response -- The Gas Mask to Guernica

The Mask

History, especially that of World War II has always fascinated me. So when I saw this item for $50 at a garage sale, I quickly bought it. I was disappointed when I arrived home and pulled the mask completely out. It took a while to pull the mask out carefully, and it would not unfold when I finally did get it out. It was then that I began to research the history of this Military Item to see if there was anything I could learn on how to repair it.

I was able to open the mask after many tedious hours of heating and setting, then repeating until I managed to open the mask. I learned that these masks have a certain component that breaks down or evaporates after many years, making them brittle. Any type of force, and it will crack and parts will crumble. By applying heat, but not too much or it will burn, you can manipulate the mask into opening, little by little.

When I initially was able to pull the mask out of the canister, I did notice that the filter had a label on the bottom in Spanish and the instructions inside the canister were also in Spanish. These same instructions also contained replacement lenses for the mask. I was confused because upon close inspection of the canister and the mask, they had German Manufacturers stamps. The mask and canister were official 1936 German Military Issue but the instructions inside and the label on the filter were definitely not German.

Civil War

For the 100 years or so prior to the advent of WWII, Spain was plagued by political instability. During this time, Spain would go from having a monarch in power to being a part-time Republic and then back to a ruling monarch. This political ambivalence finally led to a Military Dictatorship in the early 1920's that lasted until about the 1930's when the Second Spanish Republic was formed. The country nonetheless remained politically fragmented and many felt disenfranchised. It was during this time that the many divided parties began to consolidate and formed One major party on each side. Socialist, Anarchists, Communists and Left Wing Republicans united under what became known as the Popular Front, while the Right-wing Monarchists were known as the National Front.

Following assassinations of prominent political leaders on both sides in 1936, the Spanish Civil War is considered to officially have begun on July 17 of the same year. The Nationalist had the Spanish Military behind them, controlling most of the country's North and South. The Rebels or Left Wing Republicans, were outnumbered and outmatched, but nonetheless maintained a formidable resistance, holding out in the Country's capital of Madrid. The Civil War would continue for a few years more.

It was during these years, that General Franco, the leader of the Nationalist asked for assistance from the Nazi Germany government in putting down the Republican resistance that would not go quietly. Hitler and his now rising Nazi regime in Germany would gladly oblige General Franco. For the Nazis, this would provide training for their growing military machine, including the Nazi Air force, the Luftwaffe.

On April 26, 1937, the Nazi Luftwaffe Condor Legion along with Italy's Fascist Italian Aviazione Legionaria bombed Guernica, Spain in Operation Rugen. This military operation directly bombed civilian areas in order to break the will of the Republicans, something the Germans would continue in WWII. These atrocities in Guernica, Spain would cause world wide outrage.

It was here that this German Gas Mask became part of the Spanish Civil war. It was military issue for the Nationalist. And it was here that the German bombing of Guernica led to one of Picasso's most famous paintings. His painting called Guernica. At the time, Picasso (an anarchist) was in Paris, but had learned of the bombing of innocent civilians which inspired him to make one of his greatest creations depicting the suffering of both people and animals during this destructive time. This painting became renown for its political Anti-War message.

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10/05/16
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Sources:

• wikipedia.org
• wikimedia.org