Photo Gallery The Day Guernica Was Destroyed
On April 26, 1937, German and Italian warplanes destroyed the Spanish city of Guernica. It was the first such large-scale bombing of a civilian target, and it presaged the massive destruction visited from the air during World War II. This image was taken on May 8, 1937.
The Germans bombed Guernica at the behest of Spanish nationalist forces during that country's civil war. This image shows troops of victorious General Francisco Franco walking through Guernica in October 1937.
A pig searches for something to eat among the ruins: The image was taken shortly after Franco's troops took control of the city.
The images of destruction from Guernica were repeated over and over again during World War II. But the destruction of the Basque city was a kind of practice run for the German air force.
Germany's "Condor Legion" used massive numbers of incendiary bombs in the raid on Guernica, ensuring its almost complete destruction.
The destruction of Guernica was immortalized in Pablo Picasso's famous painting of the same name. Here, visitors look at a mural representation of Picasso's painting at a monument in Guernica.
A priest speaking to two survivors of the Guernica bombardmant shortly after the city's destruction.
During the Franco dictatorship, which lasted from 1939 to 1975, it was forbidden to speak about the number of people who died in the Guernica attack, and the figure continues to be contested.
Here, a composite photo showing the center of Guernica shortly after its destruction and the same spot 70 years later, in 2007.
