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The Spanish Civil War (July 1936 – April 1939) erupted when a faction of nationalist officers, led by General Francisco Franco, launched a coup against the democratically elected Second Spanish Republic. The conflict quickly became a proxy battlefield for the competing ideologies of the 1930s: the Republic was defended by a coalition of left‑wing parties, trade unions, anarchists and communists, while the Nationalists were supported by conservative forces, the Catholic Church, fascist Italy and Nazi Germany. Although the United States remained officially neutral, thousands of American volunteers crossed the Atlantic to fight for the Republic, many of them organized under the International Brigades. Among these volunteers were a disproportionate number of men from Wisconsin, drawn by the state’s strong labor‑movement tradition and the influence of progressive political groups such as the Wisconsin Progressive Party and the American Communist Party. Roughly 200 Wisconsinites—students, factory workers, farmhands and former soldiers—joined the Abraham Lincoln Brigade, the most famous American unit in the conflict. They served in a variety of capacities: infantry on the front lines at battles such as Jarama and the Ebro, artillery crews, medical staff in field hospitals, and logistics personnel responsible for transporting food and ammunition. Their participation was largely motivated by a belief that defending the Spanish Republic was a direct stand against the spread of fascism in Europe. While none of these volunteers were regular “Wisconsin Soldiers” in a formal U.S. military sense, their collective contribution helped to cement Wisconsin’s legacy as a hotbed of anti‑fascist activism during the 1930s, and the memory of their sacrifice continues to be honored in state memorials and historical societies today.