The Spanish Civil War (1936-1939)

Posted on Oct 18, 2024 in History

Laguerre CIVIL (July 18, 1936 – April 1, 1939)

In 1936, major contradictions within Spanish society led to the greatest tragedy of contemporary Spain: the Civil War. The process of reforms initiated by the Second Republic was truncated by the reaction of the classes that saw their privileges threatened. There was a clash between two conceptions of the world: democracy and fascist authoritarianism. It had international impact and led to the victory of the most reactionary sectors that created a military dictatorship that lasted for 40 years.

Preamble of War

Popular Front

In the last elections of the Republic, held on February 16, 1936, two political blocs were presented:

  • The counter-revolutionary front of the throne, centered around CEDA.
  • The Popular Front, made up of leftists, regionalists, socialists, and communists.

The Popular Front won with Manuel Azaña. The Generalitat collaborated in Catalonia, the Basque Country, and Galicia with statutes, land reform, and educational policies.

Deterioration of Public Order

There were hundreds of murders, in addition to continuous strikes and demonstrations.

Ideological Radicalization

  • Spanish Phalanx (authoritarianism) founded by Jose Antonio Primo de Rivera in 1933.
  • Radical division of the PSOE between Largo Caballero with the moderates and Indalecio Prieto.
  • CNT: important labor mobilization and strikes.
  • The army felt threatened in its corporate and class interests and its traditional conception of Spain and the social order. High military commanders provoked the coup.

Coup

After the elections of February 1936, leaders of the army and high commands planned to overthrow the new government. The military junta, led by Sanjurjo, was formed by Mola, Goded, and Franco. The governments of Azaña and Casares Quiroga did not pay much attention. The murder of Calvo Sotelo on July 13, 1936, by assault guards in response to the murder of Lieutenant Castillo (by a far-right group) was the straw that broke the camel’s back and the rebellion began on July 17, 1936, in Melilla, Ceuta, and the Spanish protectorate in Morocco. The military uprising took place on the peninsula on the 18th but did not succeed. Without the division of the army and public order forces, the revolt would have succeeded. On the 19th, Franco landed in Tetouan with the troops of Africa, which were immensely powerful because they were more prepared and disciplined. The rebels dominated North Morocco, the Canary Islands, the Balearic Islands (except Menorca), Aragon, Navarra, Galicia, and Castilla-León. The coup failed in Asturias, Santander, the Basque Country, Catalonia, Valencia, New Castile, Extremadura, and Andalusia. The failed coup divided Spain. The fight to impose a military dictatorship against the defense of the Republic became a class, religious, and nationalistic struggle, a clash between fascism and communism.

Division of Spain

Republican Zone

Labor organizations became street committees, acting through spontaneous militias. The power of the state was replaced by an organization of the left created by the unions and parties that occupied the area. This area controlled the industrial and mining regions, including the gold reserves of the Bank of Spain. However, its agricultural situation was more deficient. State authorities were dismantled and multiple revolutionary groups emerged, whose persecution of real or suspected enemies soon degenerated into serious murders. Any suspect could be executed, with serious massacres in Paracuellos del Jarama and Torrejón de Ardoz of over 2,000 prisoners taken from Madrid prisons. The unions promoted the collectivization of private property, abolishing it, and workers and peasants elected committees that controlled companies. There was great persecution of the Church. The Republicans were divided into anarchists and communists.

  • July 19: New government formed only by Republicans, led by José Giral, a very weak and revolutionary government, powerless against the coup.
  • September 4: Largo Caballero took the reins of the government, creating a coalition government of all the leftist parties to regain strength. The solution of the committees and strong control over the Bank of Spain gained momentum, and the militias were militarized.
  • May 1937: The PCE believed that it was necessary to win the war to freeze the revolution, ensuring social and economic inclusion, and defending the middle class and small owners. This position clashed with Largo Caballero and the CNT. Negrín’s government replaced him, which meant the loss of power of the unions and the triumph of centralization and the Popular Front.
  • 1938: Negrín’s policy was to resist the advance of the national troops and prevent Franco from reaching the Mediterranean. Negrín proposed to continue the war with this support and negotiate. Battalions of volunteers were created, and popular rallies were held around mixed brigades. Some 5,500 new schools were created and the primary school curriculum was approved.

Sublevated Zone

Each general exercised his authority with full autonomy. There was a plurality of decentralized military power. After Sanjurjo’s death on July 20 in a plane crash, the National Defense Board was established, chaired by Cabanellas. The national area had most of the country’s agricultural production and minimal industrial development. The power that was established was tight and dictatorial. The factors that promoted the counter-revolution were the desire to win the war, Catholic and anti-revolutionary sentiment, and the hegemonic role of the army. Germany and Italy recognized the coup in 1936, England and France in the fall of 1939. In the fall of 1936, the National Defense Board appointed Franco as head of the armies with the title of Generalissimo, with legislative and ministerial power. In 1937, the Council of Ministers was unified with the JONS (Falange and the Spanish Traditionalist Offensive Boards). Institutions that supported Franco were:

  1. The Phalanx: establishing the jurisdiction of labor.
  2. The Church: defined the war as a crusade and gave its approval to the insurgent side.
  3. The army: it was the pillar on which the government was built. It declared a state of war.

Colonial troops and military support for the rebels formed the Carlists and the Requetés, who integrated into the rebel army. There was strong repression and mass executions, with shootings in ditches and cemetery walls. The victims exceeded 85,000. A counter-revolution based on property, religion, and order, with a series of changes that allowed the old owners to regain land and factories, and the unions and parties were suppressed. Intellectuals such as Eugenio d’Ors and Ballester Torriente joined the military uprising.

International Support

The Non-Intervention Committee was created, which established that no support would be given to either side, but the fascists supported the rebels. The Republicans were supported by Spain, Mexico, and the USSR, while the nationalists were supported by Germany, Italy, and Portugal.

Military Operations

On July 18, the military uprising took place on the peninsula. There were several phases:

  1. July-December 1936: The objective of both Mola and Franco to take Madrid failed. There was a major assault in November, but it ended in failure. Azaña moved to Barcelona and Valencia. The defense of the capital was led by the Madrid Defense Junta, chaired by Miaja. Franco also attacked Jarama and Guadalajara, failing.
  2. 1937-1938: The objective was the northern front, which fell with German aid (bombing of Guernica by the Condor Legion), although the Republicans counterattacked in Belchite. The Republic was reduced to half its territory. Another offensive in Aragon aimed to reach the Mediterranean when it fell in Vinaroz, achieving the objective. The Catalan and Mediterranean Republican territory was separated from the rest of the zone. The bloodiest battle was that of the Ebro.
  3. 1938-1939: Barcelona was taken in January 1939, and Madrid surrendered on the 28th of March. The war ended on April 1, 1939, when the last stronghold, Alicante, fell.