Luis Jiménez de Asúa and the gestation of ‘Non Intervention Policy’ in the Spanish Civil War

Abstract

On July 27, 1936, Luis Jiménez de Asúa arrived hurriedly in Paris there to meet Fernando de los Ríos. After the military coup on July 18th, both socialist leaders had to lead diplomatic efforts to obtain the help of the European democracies in the form of the sale of military equipment and supplies. By then the gradual, calculated defection of the Spanish diplomatic corps in Paris had begun. Located mainly in the Quai d’Orsay, the sequence of events in the following weeks speeded up two substantial circumstances of the conflict: the relevance, from the very beginning, of the international vector, and the abandonment of the western democracies suffered by the Republic. This work revises the interpretative path of a prime protagonist –and witness– in the development of the ‘Non Intervention’ system. His testimony provides a privileged introduction to the rebuilding of an outstanding chapter of the Spanish Civil War.

Keywords

• jiménez de asúa
• guerra civil
• diplomacia
• no-intervención
• parís