The Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) was one of the most complex and controversial historical events of the 20th century. Due to the political situation during and after the civil war, historical records have indeed been influenced by different political positions and ideologies, leading to multiple interpretations and narratives of events. ### 1. **Propaganda and records during the civil war** -**The confrontation between the Republicans and the National Army**: During the Civil war, the Republicans (including left-wing political parties, trade unions, and anarchists) and the National Army (the right-wing forces led by Franco) both carried out a lot of propaganda work, trying to shape their own history through the media, posters, broadcasting, etc.narrative. -**The involvement of the international media**: International media and foreign journalists have also participated in the report, but due to their different political positions, the report is often biased. For example, the left-wing media tends to support the Republicans, while the right-wing media supports the National Army. ### 2. **Official history of Franco's reign** -**Historical narrative of the Franco regime**: After Franco's victory in 1939, he established a dictatorship and vigorously promoted the official historical narrative during his rule (1939-1975), portraying the civil war as a "crusade“ to "save Spain” and the Republicans as “Anti-Spanish" forces. -Suppression and distortion of historical records**: The Franco regime suppressed the voice of the Republicans and destroyed or tampered with a large number of historical archives, resulting in the marginalization or even obliteration of the historical narratives of the Republicans in the official records. ### 3. **Historical corrections after democratization** -**The recovery of historical memory**: After the death of Franco in 1975, Spain began the process of democratization, and historians and the public began to re-examine the history of the civil war. Many suppressed republican narratives gradually surfaced, historical archives were opened, and historical research became more diversified. -**Controversy over historical memory**: However, the historical memory of the civil war is still a sensitive topic. There are differences in the interpretation of history by different political factions. The left tends to emphasize the legitimacy of the Republicans and the oppression of the Franco regime, while the right may downplay or even defend the atrocities of the Franco regime. ### 4. **Challenges of contemporary historical research** -**Introduction of multiple perspectives**: Contemporary historians try to understand the civil war through multiple perspectives and avoid single political prejudices. By analyzing archives, oral history, literary works and other materials, they strive to restore the complexity of history. -**Politicization of historical memory**: Despite this, the historical memory of the civil war is still politicized. Different political factions use historical narratives to support their positions, resulting in historical records that are still distorted to a certain extent. ### 5. **Conclusion** The historical record of the Spanish Civil War was indeed distorted by political prejudice, especially during Franco's rule. Although historical research has become more open and diverse after democratization, the historical memory of the civil war is still a controversial field, and the narratives of different political factions still affect people's understanding of this history. When studying and understanding the history of the Spanish Civil War, it is important to maintain critical thinking, refer to diverse sources, and avoid a single political position affecting the objective understanding of history.