Spanish Civil War: Uprising, Revolution, and Franco’s Rise
1. The Outbreak of the Civil War
The Coup D’état
The uprising spread throughout the Moroccan protectorate. Most military garrisons joined the coup, along with civilian sectors and Carlist Falangists (Requetés). Franco headed to the peninsula leading the Army of Africa. Within two days, the rebels had established strongholds in Pamplona, Seville, Old Castile, and Aragon. Facing public outcry against the rebels, Prime Minister José Giral decided to arm the militias of the unions and Popular Front parties. The revolt’s success or failure depended not only on the rebels’ military expertise but also on the social and political conditions of each region. The uprising succeeded in inland Europe. In contrast, it failed where leftist workers held greater influence.
Consolidation of the Sides
The rebel side consisted of conservative, right-wing monarchists, Catholics, Falangists, and Carlists, along with those who had opposed the Republic’s reforms. They were supported and inspired by fascism and identified as Nationalists and Catholics. Military officials aimed to restore order through a military dictatorship, eliminating the risk of revolution brought by the Popular Front and allowing the rebuilding of civil power as a monarchy or republic. A significant group of Royalists and CEDA members wanted a return to the Alfonsine monarchy.
Those loyal to the Republic consisted of the working classes. Organizations of socialists, communists, and anarcho-syndicalists became more prominent and were labeled “reds.” Alongside them were middle-class groups linked to Republican parties, sectors of the enlightened bourgeoisie, and intellectuals and artists. All defended the Republic’s legitimacy, representing diverse interests and grouping reformist and revolutionary factions.
2. Republican Area: The Revolution Contained
2.1 Republican State Collapse
The Republican government had to organize a military force capable of opposing the insurgents. They decided to arm the militias of the parties and unions. In the summer and autumn of 1936, state power collapsed, leading to the emergence of committees and boards that organized columns of volunteers for the front. The creation of the CNT-FAI Central Committee of Anti-Fascist Militias in Catalonia was particularly significant.
2.2 The Trigger of the Social Revolution
In the areas that remained loyal to the Republic, the military uprising triggered a revolutionary climate. Committees took control of transport, urban services, military supplies, factories, and workshops. In some cases, employers fled, were arrested, or were killed, leaving workers in charge of businesses. In the war’s early months, a spontaneous popular response erupted in the Republican zone against those perceived as supporting the rebels. Churches, landowners, the bourgeoisie, and the upper classes were subjected to persecution, including murders and seizures of property.
2.3 The Government of Largo Caballero
By late summer 1936, the militias had failed to stop the rebel advance. On September 5, 1936, Francisco Largo Caballero formed a new government with Republicans, socialists, and communists. Military confrontations between Republican forces continued due to a series of failures. Anarchists and the POUM (Workers’ Party of Marxist Unification) insisted on securing revolutionary changes for true mobilization, which weakened the Largo Caballero government. The events of May 1937 in Barcelona definitively undermined his government.
2.4 The Negrín Government
The May events strengthened the positions of anarchists and communists. Spanish communists demanded the POUM’s dissolution and the arrest of its leaders. Caballero refused, but the Socialist Party sought an agreement with the communists. The new government included parties against the Popular Front but not the CNT (National Confederation of Labor) or UGT (General Union of Workers). Indalecio Prieto took over the Ministry of War, and the new cabinet prioritized the military effort. The government moved from Valencia to Barcelona.
Given the difficulty of stopping Franco’s troops, the government attempted negotiations. Negrín presented his 13-point program, but the Francoist side refused to negotiate. With communist support, Negrín emphasized military resistance. The loss of Catalonia in 1939 led to the Republic’s exile. Despite Negrín’s efforts, the Republic’s days were numbered.
3. The Rebel Zone: The Creation of a Totalitarian State
Francisco Franco, Generalissimo
Upon General Sanjurjo’s death in 1936, the question of leadership arose. The National Defense Board, composed of military officials and headed by Miguel Cabanellas, was created in Burgos. Francisco Franco’s leadership was solidified after the liberation of the Alcázar of Toledo and recognition by Hitler and Mussolini as the sole negotiator for their support. He was elected the uprising’s military chief. On October 1, 1936, a decree appointed him Head of State, Generalissimo of the Spanish Army, and government leader. The National Defense Board was replaced by a Technical Board of the State.
Creation of a Single Party: The Burgos Government
From October 1936, there was a single, uncontested military command, but no political cohesion. The rebels had banned political parties and trade unions. Only the Spanish Falange and the Carlists remained active. Franco consolidated his power and announced the Unification Decree, creating a single party, the Traditionalist Spanish Falange of the JONS, merging the Falange and Carlists and integrating other nationalist forces. Franco became the National Chief of this party.
The institutionalization of the Franco regime culminated in January 1938 with the Technical Board’s disappearance and the formation of Franco’s first government. He became the leader of Spain. The new state was based on fascism and a conservative social model with Catholic primacy. Religious, political, press, and association freedoms were suppressed, along with autonomy statutes. The death penalty was restored. The new state repealed civil marriage and divorce laws, established religion in education and the army, and instituted state payment for the clergy.
5. The Effects of the War
5.1 Death, Famine, and Destruction
The war brought misery and death to thousands on both sides. Malnutrition caused disease and death. Industrial production declined sharply, although women joined the workforce. The war destroyed much of the infrastructure, and the bombing of cities and communication lines affected the civilian population. The rebels used terror as a weapon, destroying homes and factories.
5.2 Displacement: Refugees and Exiles
With the advance of Franco’s troops, large refugee movements occurred, mainly in the Republican zone. People fled their homes to escape Francoist occupation. Republican refugees concentrated in the Levant and Catalonia. Towards the war’s end, thousands of people and troops were concentrated in Catalonia, hoping to cross the French border. Crowds thronged the roads from Barcelona to Portbou seeking refuge in France. Many of those remaining began a long and painful exile.