In late July 1936, the Nationalist forces began airlifting the Army of Africa from Spanish Morocco to mainland Spain using German and Italian transport planes, marking the first major foreign intervention in the conflict. The airlift, which transported some 8,000 elite troops across the Strait of Gibraltar, allowed the Nationalists to rapidly reinforce their positions in Andalusia and Extremadura. The operation was made possible by the support of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy, who would continue to provide crucial military assistance throughout the war.

The airlift symbolized the internationalization of the Spanish Civil War and the growing threat of fascism, themes that dominated the poetry of the period. W.H. Auden's poem 'Spain' explicitly references the foreign interventions that shaped the conflict, while left-wing poets denounced the German and Italian involvement as imperial aggression. The airlift also inspired anti-fascist poets to frame the war as a global struggle between democracy and dictatorship.