The Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) was called the
War of Liberation by the National Catholic (read "fascist") side, both during the conflict itself and during the 40 years of Francisco Franco's dictatorship. I *suppose the Republican factions called it a
civil war, which is the current way of referring to it, although one can still sporadically hear "War of Liberation" coming from political or social figures that are still ideologically aligned with the extreme right-wing.
What I find interesting about this is that in international law a "civil war" is understood to mean that which happens within the boundaries of one country as opposed to internationally, but a "war of liberation" is understood to mean a fight against foreign occupation. There was no foreign occupation in 1936 Spain, not even an issue of geographical dispute within the boundaries of the country. It was only an ideological affair. So who/what was the "liberation" from?
Rhetoric is a good instrument of propaganda.
