The Drama Unfolds at Geneva (1937–1938)

Abstract

Circumstances in the first months of 1937 very soon rendered it necessary for the Spanish Government to appeal a second time to the Council of the League of Nations. A telegram sent to the Secretariat on March 13 after the fierce battle on the Guadalajara front north of Madrid, claimed that the statements of the Italian officers and men taken prisoner in that campaign proved “beyond possibility of denial the presence of regular military units of the Italian army sent to fight on Spanish soil in flagrant violation of the provisions of Article 10 of the Covenant²)”. Nevertheless, the Italians felt that the action of the Valencia Government at Geneva “was not to be taken too seriously³)”.

“More cannot be expected of the League than the member states will permit, unfortunate as may be both this general principle and its application to the Spanish civil strife ¹).”