Qualla: Bombing of Guernica https://qualla.com/bombing-of-guernica en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:18 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/e/z/w/n/bombing-of-guernica-wp/hero-small.webp Qualla: Bombing of Guernica https://qualla.com/bombing-of-guernica Bombing of Guernica: Introduction https://qualla.com/bombing-of-guernica/ Photo credit AnonymousUnknown author, Public domain. It was market day in Guernica. The town, population 5,000, was the spiritual capital of the Basque people, home to the ancient oak under which Basque liberties had been sworn for centuries. At 4:30 in the afternoon on April 26, 1937, a single Dornier Do 17 appeared from the south and dropped twelve 50-kilogram bombs. It was the first of seven waves. Over the next three hours, the Condor Legion and the Italian Aviazione Legionaria would reduce the town center to rubble. The attack became the defining atrocity of the Spanish Civil War and the subject of one of the most famous paintings ever made.

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Image: AnonymousUnknown author | Public domain

]]> Fri, 13 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/e/z/w/n/bombing-of-guernica-wp/ezwn-bombing-of-guernica-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Bombing of Guernica: Market Day, 4:30 PM https://qualla.com/bombing-of-guernica/ Photo credit George Steer, Public domain. The bombing unfolded in methodical waves. After the lone Dornier came three Italian SM.79 bombers with orders to hit the road and bridge east of town and block the enemy's retreat. The third wave brought the heaviest aircraft: Junkers Ju 52 transport planes converted into bombers...

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Image: George Steer | Public domain

]]> Fri, 13 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/e/z/w/n/bombing-of-guernica-wp/ezwn-bombing-of-guernica-market-day-4-30-pm.mp3 0:06 2 full Bombing of Guernica: The Question of Intent https://qualla.com/bombing-of-guernica/ Photo credit AnonymousUnknown author (CDBG), Public domain. The diaries of Oberstleutnant Wolfram von Richthofen, who commanded the Condor Legion mission, became public in the 1970s and revealed that the attack was part of a broader Nationalist offensive involving 25 battalions. The military objective was to destroy a crossroads and a bri...

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Image: AnonymousUnknown author (CDBG) | Public domain

]]> Fri, 13 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/e/z/w/n/bombing-of-guernica-wp/ezwn-bombing-of-guernica-the-question-of-intent.mp3 0:06 3 full Bombing of Guernica: Lies and Revelations https://qualla.com/bombing-of-guernica/ Photo credit Adam Jones from Kelowna, BC, Canada, CC BY-SA 2.0. The Nationalist response was immediate and false. They blamed the destruction on retreating Republican forces, claiming Basque "dynamiters" and "Asturian incendiaries" had burned their own town. This narrative was amplified in the international press by sympathetic correspondents...

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Image: Adam Jones from Kelowna, BC, Canada | CC BY-SA 2.0

]]> Fri, 13 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/e/z/w/n/bombing-of-guernica-wp/ezwn-bombing-of-guernica-lies-and-revelations.mp3 0:06 4 full Bombing of Guernica: Picasso's Response https://qualla.com/bombing-of-guernica/ Photo credit Papamanila, CC BY-SA 3.0. Pablo Picasso, living in Paris, had already been commissioned by the Spanish Republic to create a mural for the 1937 World's Fair. News of Guernica gave him his subject. Working with furious speed, he completed the massive canvas -- 3.49 meters tall and 7.76 meters wide -- in jus...

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Image: Papamanila | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Fri, 13 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/e/z/w/n/bombing-of-guernica-wp/ezwn-bombing-of-guernica-picassos-response.mp3 0:06 5 full Bombing of Guernica: The Oak Still Stands https://qualla.com/bombing-of-guernica/ Photo credit Ian Dunster, CC BY 2.5. Guernica was rebuilt after the war. The Tree of Guernica, the ancient oak that symbolized Basque self-governance, survived the bombing -- the area around it was largely spared. The town's assembly house, where Basque leaders had gathered for centuries, also survived. Today Guerni...

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Image: Ian Dunster | CC BY 2.5

]]> Fri, 13 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/e/z/w/n/bombing-of-guernica-wp/ezwn-bombing-of-guernica-the-oak-still-stands.mp3 0:06 6 full