Extract from a confidential report from Leopold H. Kerney to
Joseph P. Walshe (Dublin)

DISTURBANCES IN SPAIN

[matter omitted]

Some explanation of the present position may be found in the fact that there are fascist elements whose creed is one of violence; their policy of reprisals leads to further excesses on the extreme left; this continued agitation creates an atmosphere of civil war; it tends to weaken the government and may be aimed at forcing the government to take action against some of its own supporters on the extreme left; if the Republican regime should be discredited, the fascists might expect a change favourable to their point of view. Spain is heading for civil war unless the Government takes very prompt measures to render excesses impossible.

The spirit of civil war is very manifest and is due to the fact that the extreme left believes in the policy of completely crushing the extreme right, and vice versa.