Non-intervention in the Spanish Civil War

During the Spanish Civil War, several countries followed a principle of non-intervention, to avoid any potential escalation and possible expansion of the war to other nations, which would result in the signing of the Non-Intervention Agreement in August 1936 and the setting up of the Non-Intervention Committee, which first met in September. Primarily arranged by the French and British governments, important members of the committee also included the Soviet Union, Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany. Ultimately, the committee had the support of 27 nations.

A plan to control materials coming into the country was put forward in early 1937, effectively subjecting the Spanish Republic to international isolation, but was mocked by German and Italian decisive and immediate support for the rebel faction. The subject of volunteers was also much discussed, with little result; although agreements were signed late on in the war, these were made outside the Committee. Efforts to stem the flow of war materials to Spain were largely unsuccessful, with foreign involvement in the Spanish Civil War proving instrumental to its outcome. Nazi Germany, Italy, and the Soviet Union consistently broke the agreement they had signed, France occasionally so. Britain remained largely faithful to it.

Non-intervention, and with it the Non-Intervention Agreement, had been proposed in a joint diplomatic initiative by the governments of France and the United Kingdom. It was part of a policy of appeasement, aimed at preventing a proxy war – with Italy and Nazi Germany supporting Franco's Nationalist Coalition right at the onset of the conflict and the Soviet Union supporting the Republican faction four months later – from escalating into a major pan-European conflict.

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