Library > History & Government > Europe

Guernica

2005
On April 26, 1937, during the Spanish Civil War, the Basque town of Guernica was bombed by the German squadron known as the Condor Legion, under the command of Francisco Franco. The Condor Legion was assigned aerial missions throughout Spain, as Nazi Germany's prime contribution to Franco's forces. As a result, there were approximately 10,000 deaths, most of which were elderly people, women, and children. The bombardment of Guernica became a world-renowned symbol of the horrors of war. It inspired Pablo Picasso's most anti- war work of art, called Guernica. In this painting, Picasso captured the anguish and despair resulting from the violence and dementia of Franco and his actions.