Hello r/AskHistorians! You may already know me on here as someone who answers the occasional question about George Orwell, or the author of numerous over-enthusiastic posts about the recent AskHistorians Digital Conference. During the day, however, I'm a historian of 1930s Europe - more particularly, of the ways in which people responded to the Spanish Civil War of 1936-9.

What has always fascinated me about this conflict - and hopefully interests you as well! - is that what might otherwise have been a minor civil war in a fairly unimportant European state became a crucial battlefield in a much wider confrontation between fascism and anti-fascism. Spain swiftly became a global phenomenon, inspiring and horrifying people all around the world. Many were moved to respond and take matters into their own hands - by becoming political activists, by collecting money, food and medicine, and by volunteering to join the fight themselves, in completely unprecedented numbers.

Exploring the motives, organisation and experiences of participants in these movements has been the subject of my research for just about a decade now, and I welcome any questions you might have! I'll also do my best to address any broader questions about the Spanish Civil War and the wider ideological conflict between fascists and anti-fascists during the 1930s.

For anyone interested in learning more about my particular research in more depth, I'm currently running a competition on Twitter to give away a copy of my recently-published book that focuses on Scottish responses to the civil war! You can also buy a copy direct from the publisher using the discount code NEW30 to get 30% off, if you wisely don't like trusting to luck when it comes to important matters like acquiring new books.

That's enough from me - go ahead and Ask Me Anything!

EDIT: I need to step away to a meeting for 45 minutes, but will be back and will have plenty of time this evening to keep answering! So many really excellent questions already, thanks to everyone who has posted!

EDIT 2: I'm back and doing my best to catch up! I'm a bit blown away by the response so far, and am doing my best to work through and give decent answers. On a slightly personal note - the meeting I mentioned above was a job interview, which I was just offered, so the good vibes in here is the cherry on the cake of an awesome day!

EDIT 3: I think this is roughly what a zombie apocalypse feels like - you shoot off a careful, well-aimed answer to the head, and there are two more new ones waiting to be dealt with. I will at some point need to sleep, but I'll do my best to keep answering over the weekend - thanks to everyone who has taken the time to ask questions!