Crazy time in history where Hitler got a chance to practice his coming war and Stalin his interventionist foreign policy.
My favorite character that emerged from that fray was Orwell who has outlasted all the military leaders.
Orwell learned some sad lessons in the BS of the left during that war; he joined one of the Marxist groups fighting for the government that was eventually eliminated by the more mainstream communists, and eventually fled for his life (for fear of communists, not the military/”fascist” opponents). He described the misinformation campaign used to consolidate power for the communists, and the outright lies of the war propaganda (victories where there hadn’t even been battles, and no mention of defeats). I guess afterwards he must have felt as Hemmingway did about Cuba...