Appeal to the opinion of the world

              PRESIDENCY OF THE ORDER OF BARRISTERS OF MADRID
APPEAL TO THE OPINION OF THE WORLD
The series of horrors and cruelties let loose by the army, who, betraying their strictest duty, are attacking the Spanish people with the arms which its people had given them for their defence, compels the Presidency of the Order of Barristers of Madrid to protest to the civilised world against this bloody and ferocious violation of the most elementary rights of humanity and to appeal to the solidarity of all honest men.
Civil war has always been bitter insomuch as it destroys the bonds of fraternity and provokes hatred and wrath; but the rebels are perpetrating actions which attest the vilest instincts, which outdo all the horrors of collective crime.
We hope that the cry of men of law will find an echo and an answer from our colleagues throughout the world, among the cultivated masses of countries of the highest level of civilisation, in the name of universal human solidarity.
As adversaries of Fascism, in our absolute faith in the ideals of democracy, we trust that our voice will also reach the cultured masses who realise the fundamental principles of human dignity, even in those countries where Fascist ideals are in power.
The unusual character of public reactions in Spain deserves to be studied to avoid public opinion being misled by inaccurate and incorrect political classifications. The so-called Spanish Fascism has nothing in common with Fascism in Italy and Germany, which does not mean that we approve of the latter. But what needs to be stated is that Spain finds herself confronted with a military rebellion in defence of ancient privilege and the most archaic and inquisitorial fanaticism; a supreme and desperate effort to prevent the evolution and progress which will make of Spain a modern country.
The late monarchy ruled Spain as if it were a colony, while it had lost by its incapacity those
colonies which the intelligence of the people had conquered.
And now again, employing its traditional military strategy, it is trying to reduce Spain to the condition of its last colony. Even the forces employed — Foreign Legion and native troops brought from Africa — prove this historic truth. It is certain that Spain is fighting today for her freedom as the American colonies fought in the last century to become great independent peoples.
The spirit animating these hordes of reaction is unchanged since the time of the Carlist wars, as if the mentality of the period of absolute rule typified by the rude and fanatical intolerance of Ferdinand VII still persisted. Once more the bishops, the priests of the guerrillas and the red caps of the "requetés" spring up. The latter bless the Moors come to kill the Spanish people and, like the Pharisees, hang the Heart of Jesus on their chests, telling them that it is an amulet.
We demand the protection of the world before this ancestral wave of barbarism which has invaded Spain with support from the imperialistic aims of those countries opposed to the fundamental interests of an independent nation.
The orders of the rebels found in the printed instructions on certain chiefs who have fallen into the hands of the loyal forces, are for extermination and the most violent terrorism. Such instructions require that not only all leaders and workers of trade unions shall be killed without mercy, but their families as well; the object being to provoke such terror that all will to defence shall be crushed. These orders give an idea of the conscience and responsibility of the leaders of the movement before the horrible crimes they are committing.
In this document it is impossible to recount the