Spanish Civil War: Origins, Factions, and International Involvement
The Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil War was a national conflict driven by ideological, political, and economic factors that convulsed Europe in the 1930s. It transcended Spain’s borders, attracting foreign intervention and turning the country into a military testing ground on the eve of World War II.
Internally, social tensions from economic backwardness and unequal wealth distribution fueled public dissatisfaction. The rulers, unable to modernize the country or improve living standards, also failed to maintain political stability. Deep divisions and unrest led to a devastating civil war that divided Spain.
Origins and Development
The conflict began on July 17, 1936, with an army faction led by Generals Mola and Franco rising up from Spanish Morocco to overthrow the constitutional republican government, then led by the leftist Popular Front coalition. The rebels represented the right and far-right, including traditional Catholic rural Spain, large landowners, and big capital with foreign interests. Smallholder farmers from the Falange and Carlist groups supported the rebels. Middle classes aligned with either side depending on their location.
Although the rebels called themselves “Nationalists,” aiming to unify Spain under a central government, they received Italian and German military aid throughout the conflict. Soviet aid and international sympathy for the Republic led to the formation of the International Brigades, composed of WWI veterans, workers, students, and intellectuals who came to Spain to fight fascism.
Despite immediate Nazi-fascist support for the rebels, Western powers (U.S., France, and Britain), fearing a communist Spain, adopted a non-intervention policy, favoring the rebels.
The uprising spread, occupying several provincial capitals but failing to take Madrid. By late July, the country was divided into two hostile zones, roughly aligned with the last election results.
Once rebels controlled various locations, a National Defense Council formed in Burgos, appointing Generalissimo Francisco Franco as head of government after General Sanjurjo’s death. This unified the Falange under Franco’s leadership. He was called Caudillo (leader), mirroring Mussolini’s Duce, and propaganda spread the slogan “One Nation, One State, One Leader,” adapting Hitler’s “Ein Volk, Ein Reich, Ein Führer.” This consolidated power, establishing an authoritarian state like Germany and Italy.
Unlike Franco’s unified Nationalists, the Republican government suffered internal divisions and leadership changes as military defeats weakened central authority. Clashes between anarchists and communists further divided the Republican side, impacting the constitutional government’s cause.
In spring 1937, Republicans had some victories, but the Nationalists focused on the north. On April 26, the German Condor Legion brutally attacked Guernica, a Basque town, using devastating weapons foreshadowing WWII. By October, Nationalists controlled the north except for Catalonia, and a western strip to the southern Iberian Peninsula, plus Spanish Morocco.
In late 1937, Republicans won at Teruel, but the city fell to the Nationalists in February 1938.