Factions in the Spanish Civil War
A few related remarks: Since I have no interest in arguing about words, I rely on standard usage throughout the essay. Thus, I use the terms "libertarian" and "Anarchist" indifferently, because that was the conventional in Spain and remains the convention among historians of this period. Obviously, the Spanish Anarchists were not "libertarians" in the current American sense of the word; but as every owner of a dictionary knows, a word may have several different senses.
Similarly, I refer to Franco's united forces as "Nationalist," rather than "fascist," reserving the latter term for the Falangist faction of the Nationalists. This indicates no sympathy for Franco's forces, but merely reflects awareness of the fact that Franco's armed forces contained several diverse movements within their ranks.