Vulnerable populations and inequalities in sickness and in health

The rehabilitation of the disabled and/or invalids of the Spanish Civil War

Abstract

As historiography has shown, the rehabilitation of civil and military disabled and invalids received a considerable boost when it had to deal with the great number of victims which World War I caused in the different countries taking part in the conflict. Spain, although not a participant in World War I, benefited from this positive attitude to the rehabilitation of the disabled and/or invalids. This work examines the response offered by the two opposing sides in the conflict to the problem of the disabled and invalids of the Spanish Civil War. We also intend to demonstrate the importance given to rehabilitation measures in each case, as well as to assess the role played by medical doctors, victims’ associations and other sectors of society in dealing with this problem, both during and, in less detail, after the hostilities. As will be shown, the treatment given and the benefits received in each case were different, especially after the end of the war. Indeed, the economic and health benefits given to the disabled and invalids of the National side were not extended by Franco’s regime to those on the Republican side.