The
Spanish Civil War was a civil
war in Spain between rebels (known as
Nationalists) and the Spanish
Republic and its
Republican government and supporters. The took
place between July 1936 and April 1939, and ended in a defeat of the Republican
cause, followed by the dictatorship of Francisco Franco.
On July 17, 1936, there was a conservative rebellion against the recently-elected
leftist Popular Front government of Spain. The rebellion was not only a
military coup, but it had a substantial civilian component. The rebels
had hoped to gain immediate control of the capital, Madrid, and all the
other important cities of Spain. Seville, Navarre, Galicia, Cádiz, Jerez
de la Frontera, Córdoba, Zaragoza and Oviedo all fell under control of
the rebels, also known as the Nationalists or the fascists, but failed
in Barcelona and Madrid. Because of this, a protracted civil war ensued.
The leader of the rebellion was Francisco Franco, the overall commander
of the Spanish army since 1933 and already a noted pro-Fascist, aided by
fellow right-wing Generals Emilio Mola and José Sanjurjo. On July 19,
Franco flew to the Spanish colonies in Morocco and took command there,
while the next day, Sanjurjo was killed in a plane crash. For the remaining
three years of the war, Franco was effective commander of all the Nationalists.
The rebellion was opposed by the government (with the troops that remained
loyal), as well as by Socialist, Communist and anarchist groups. The European
powers such as Britain and France were officially neutral but still imposed
an arms embargo on Spain, and actively discouraged the anti-fascist participation
of their citizens. Both fascist Italy under Benito Mussolini and Nazi Germany
violated the embargo and sent troops and weapons to support Franco. In
addition, there were a few volunteer troops from other nations who fought
with the Nationalists, such as Francis O'Duffy of Ireland.
The Republicans received limited support from the Soviet Union as well
as from individual idealistic volunteers from many countries, collectively
known as the International Brigades. American volunteers formed the Abraham
Lincoln Brigade and Canadians formed the Mackenzie-Papineau Battalion (the
"Mac-Paps"). Among the more famous foreigners participating in the efforts
against the fascists were Ernest Hemingway and George Orwell, who went
on to write about his experiences in Homage to Catalonia. Hemingway's
novel For Whom the Bell Tolls was inspired by his experiences in
Spain. Norman Bethune used the opportunity to develop the special skills
of battlefield medicine. As a casual visitor Errol Flynn used a fake report
of his death at the battlefront to promote his movies.
However, though the Nationalists were receiving overt aid in the form
of arms and troops from Germany and Italy, the Republicans received no
aid from any major world powers (e.g. Britain or France or the United States).
Many of these powers were still practising a policy of appeasement towards
Fascist regimes, or they viewed social revolutionary elements within the
anti-fascist forces with distaste, or they believed that the Republicans
were Communists.
Germany used the war as a testing ground for faster tanks and aircraft
that were just becoming available at the time. The Messerschmidt Me-109
fighter and Junkers Ju-52 transport were both used in the Spanish Civil
War. In addition, the Soviet I-15 fighter and I-16 fighters were used.
The Spanish Civil War was also an example of total war, where the bombing
of the Basque town of Guernica by the Luftwaffe foreshadowed episodes of
World War II such as the bombing campaign on Britain by the Nazis and the
bombing of Dresden by the Allies.
The war: 1936
Any hope of a quick ending to the war was dashed on July 21, the fifth
day of the rebellion, when the Nationalists captured the main Spanish naval
base at El Ferrol in northwestern Spain. This encouraged the Fascist nations
of Europe to help Franco, who had already contacted the governments of
Germany and Italy the day before. On July 26, Germany and Italy cast their
lot with the Nationalists.
Axis help paid off for Franco from the very beginning. His Nationalist
forces won another great victory on September 27, when the city of Toledo
was captured. (A Nationalist garrison under Colonel Moscardo had held the
Alcazar in the center of the city since the beginning of the rebellion).
Two days later, Franco proclaimed himself Generalíssimo and
Caudillo
(head of state) while unifying the various Falangist and Royalist elements
of the Nationalist cause in one movement. In October, the Nationalists
launched a major offensive toward Madrid, but increasing resistance by
the government and the arrival of "volunteers" from the Soviet Union halted
the advance by November 8. In the meantime, the government shifted from
Madrid to Valencia, out of the combat zone, on November 6.
On November 18, Germany and Italy officially recognized the Franco regime,
and on December 23, Italy sent "volunteers" of its own to fight for the
Nationalists.
The war: 1937
With his ranks being swelled by Italian troops and Spanish colonial soldiers
from Morocco, Franco made another attempt to capture Madrid in January
and February of 1937, but failed again. The large city of Malaga was taken
on February 8, and on April 28, Franco's men entered Guernica two days
after the infamous bombing of that city by the German Condor Legion. After
the fall of Guernica, the government began to fight back with increasing
effectiveness.
In May, the government made a move to recapture Segovia, forcing Franco
to pull troops away from the Madrid front to halt their advance. Mola,
Franco's second-in-command, was killed on June 3, and in early July, the
government actually launched a strong counter-offensive in the Madrid area,
which the Nationalists repulsed with some difficulty.
After that, Franco regained the initiative, invading Aragon in August
and taking the cities of Santander and Gijon. On August 28, the Vatican
recognized Franco under pressure from Mussolini, and at the end of November,
with the Nationalists closing in on Valencia, the government moved again,
to Barcelona.
The war: 1938
The two sides clashed over possession of the city of Teruel throughout
January and February, with the Nationalsts finally holding it for good
by February 22. On April 14, the Nationalists broke through to the Mediterranean
Sea, cutting the government-held portion of Spain in two. The government
tried to sue for peace in May, but Franco demanded unconditional surrender,
and the war raged on.
The government now launched an all-out campaing to reconnect their territory
in the Battle of the Ebro, beginning on July 24 and lasting until November
26. Their failure all but determined the final outcome of the war. Eight
days before the new year, Franco struck back by throwing massive forces
into an invasion of Catalonia.
The war: 1939
The Nationalists conquered Catalonia in a whirlwind campaign during the
first two months of 1939. Tarragona fell on January 14, Barcelona on January
26 and Girona on February 5. Five days after the fall of Girona, the last
resistance in Catalonia was broken.
On February 27, the governments of Great Britain and France reluctantly
recognized the Franco regime.
Only Madrid and a few other strongholds remained for the government
forces. On March 28, with the help of pro-Franco forces inside the city
{the infamous "fifth column" General Mola had mentioned in propaganda broadcasts
in 1936), Madrid fell to the Nationalists. The next day, Valencia, which
had held out under the guns of the Nationalists for close to two years,
also surrendered. Victory was proclaimed on April 1, when the last of the
Republican forces surrendered.
Social Revolution
In the anarchist-controlled areas, (Aragon and Catalonia), in addition
to the military success, there was a vast social revolution in which the
workers and the peasants collectivised land and industry, and set up councils
parallel to the (non-functioning) government. This revolution was opposed
by both the Soviet-supported communists and the democratic republicans.
As the war progressed, the government and the communists were able to leverage
their access to Soviet arms to restore government control over the war
effort, both through diplomacy and force. In the infamous
May Days
of 1937, many hundreds or thousands of anti-fascist soldiers killed one
another for control of strategic points in Barcelona, as George Orwell
relates in
Homage to Catalonia.
