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The Real Story Behind Pablo Picasso’s Most Famous Masterpiece

Khalid Elhassan March 7, 2025 13 min

Guernica, by Pablo Picasso. Smart History

8. The German Commander Who Took Out His Frustration on a Basque Town

Wolfram von Richthofen, right, confers with General Francisco Franco, center. History Net

The Condor Legion’s aerial commander at the time, Wolfram von Richthofen, was seriously upset when his Spanish allies let slip a great opportunity created by the hard work and risks run by German airmen. Wolfram nursed his anger, and a few days later, took out his frustration on the Basque town of Guernica. On April 25^th, demoralized Republican troops fell back on Guernica, roughly six miles behind the front. The population was around 7000 at the time, plus an estimated 3000 refugees. About 4:30 on the afternoon of the following day, Monday the 26^th, church bells rang to warn of an expected air attack. It was the customary market day, and many farmers were in the town with their sheep and cattle. Guernica’s citizens, plus visitors and refugees who had flooded in to escape the advancing armies, rushed into cellars that had been designated as air raid shelters.

Written by

Khalid Elhassan

A lifelong history buff, I developed a particular passion for WW2 history as a child, when I spent hours listening to my grandfather, enraptured, as he recounted his wartime experiences in the British East African Campaign and with the British 8th Army in North Africa.

I graduated with a history BA from George Mason University, then went on to get a JD from the University of Virginia School of Law. After lawyering for a decade, I moved to sunny Rio de Janeiro and a less demanding career, opening a tourism agency in Copacabana.

A big chunk of my free time is spent blogging (you can follow me on Quora https://www.quora.com/profile/Khalid-Elhassan ) or freelance writing, mostly about my favorite subject, history.