In Homage to Catalonia, George Orwell narrates just how little fighting there was. It was trench warfare where both sides had precious little ammo and guns that couldn’t shoot straight. He sat in the mud at the front rotting with the rest. Apart from a few days in cities, hospital recovery, and a desperate last few weeks.
He had to flee the country because his chosen party was purged. He survived a street battle. Then made a final visit to many of his comrades in prison.
Don’t presume that his views were shared with those who had influence.
He had admiration for his comrades in arms, especially the mess hall staff. He was on the workers side, but he was in the banned party, of the losing side of the war.
Above all, Orwell saw through the propaganda at home and the rest of the worlds deliberate misunderstanding of the whole situation. For instance, he saw that France had a tacit agreement with the Soviets to slow-walk supplying arms to the Nationalists, to ensure French financiers had protected investments in Spain’s railroads. And every newspaper outside Spain reported like Fox News.
