‘Through you, Christian Russia and Christian Spain are being united’: the letters of Russian volunteers of Francisco Franco's army

Around 150 Russian White émigré volunteers fought alongside the Nationalist faction during the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939). Their epistolary legacy convincingly demonstrates that, with the time passing by, in the mind of these White Russian volunteers the October Revolution of 1917 and the Russian Civil War somewhat merged with the Spanish events of 1936-1939. Judging from their Russian experience, White émigrés easily interpreted the Spanish reality during the period of the Civil War, drew parallels between the past and the present, and used terminology from the Russian Civil War to brand the opposing sides, i.e. ‘the Reds’ and ‘the Whites’. The conducted analysis of the given sources allows to conclude that the major part of the respondents identified the events in Russia and Spain, and also to speak of their special attitude towards the service in the Franco’s Army, which they perceived as a continuation of the White struggle of 1917-1922.