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Spanish Civil War

For other civil wars in Spain, see Carlist Wars. For the history book by Hugh Thomas, see The Spanish Civil War (book).

Spanish Civil War
Part of the interwar period and prelude to World War II
Clockwise from top-left:
Date17 July 1936 – 1 April 1939
(2 years, 8 months, 2 weeks and 2 days)
Location
Result

Nationalist victory

Belligerents

Republicans

 Soviet Union
 Mexico

Nationalists

 Italy
 Germany
Commanders and leaders
Strength
1936 strength:[1]
  • 446,800 combatants[2]
  • 31 ships
  • 12 submarines
  • 13,000 sailors
1938 strength:[3]
  • 450,000 infantry
  • 350 aircraft
  • 200 tanks
  • 59,380 international volunteers
  • 3,015 Soviet technicians
  • 772 Soviet pilots
 1936 strength:[4]
  • 58,000 soldiers
  • 68,500 gendarmes
  • 16 operational ships
  • 7,000 sailors[5]
1938 strength:[6]
  • 600,000 infantry
  • 600 aircraft
  • 290 tanks
Casualties and losses
  • 110,000 killed in action (including executions)[7][8][9]

100,000–200,000 civilians killed inside the Nationalist zone[10][11][12]

50,000–72,000 civilians killed inside the Republican zone

Estimates differ widely[note 1]
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The Spanish Civil War (Spanish: guerra civil española)[note 2] was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republicans and the Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the left-leaning Popular Front government of the Second Spanish Republic, and consisted of various socialist, communist, separatist, anarchist, and republican parties, some of which had opposed the government in the pre-war period.[13] The opposing Nationalists were an alliance of Falangists, monarchists, conservatives, and traditionalists led by a military junta among whom General Francisco Franco quickly achieved a preponderant role. Due to the international political climate at the time, the war had many facets and was variously viewed as class struggle, a religious struggle, a struggle between dictatorship and republican democracy, between revolution and counterrevolution, and between fascism and communism.[14] According to Claude Bowers, U.S. ambassador to Spain during the war, it was the "dress rehearsal" for World War II.[15] The Nationalists won the war, which ended in early 1939, and ruled Spain until Franco's death in November 1975.

The war began after the partial failure of the coup d'état of July 1936 against the Republican government by a group of generals of the Spanish Republican Armed Forces, with General Emilio Mola as the primary planner and leader and General José Sanjurjo as a figurehead. The government at the time was a coalition of Republicans, supported in the Cortes by communist and socialist parties, under the leadership of centre-left president Manuel Azaña.[16][17] The Nationalist faction was supported by several conservative groups, including CEDA, monarchists, including both the opposing Alfonsists and the religious conservative Carlists, and the Falange Española de las JONS, a fascist political party.[18]

The coup was supported by military units in Morocco, Pamplona, Burgos, Zaragoza, Valladolid, Cádiz, Córdoba, Málaga, and Seville. However, rebelling units in almost all important cities—such as Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Bilbao, Murcia, and Almería—did not gain control. Those cities remained in the hands of the government, leaving Spain militarily and politically divided. The Nationalists and the Republican government fought for control of the country. The Nationalist forces received munitions, soldiers, and air support from Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany while the Republican side received support from the Soviet Union and Mexico. Other countries, such as the United Kingdom, France, and the United States, continued to recognise the Republican government but followed an official policy of non-intervention. Despite this policy, tens of thousands of citizens from non-interventionist countries directly participated in the conflict. They fought mostly in the pro-Republican International Brigades, which also included several thousand exiles from pro-Nationalist regimes. Smaller numbers of pro-Republican international volunteer fighters fought in the POUM, the CNT and the UGT.

After the deaths of José Sanjurjo on July 20, 1936, Manuel Goded Llopis on August 12, 1936, and Emilio Mola on June 3, 1937, Franco gradually emerged as the primary leader of the Nationalist side.

The Nationalists advanced from their strongholds in the south and west, capturing most of Spain's northern coastline in 1937. They also besieged Madrid and the area to its south and west for much of the war. After much of Catalonia was captured in 1938 and 1939, and Madrid cut off from Barcelona, the Republican military position became hopeless. Following the fall without resistance of Barcelona in January 1939, the Francoist regime was recognised by France and the United Kingdom in February 1939. On 5 March 1939, in response to an alleged increasing communist dominance of the Republican government and the deteriorating military situation, Colonel Segismundo Casado led a military coup against the Republican government, intending to seek peace with the Nationalists. These peace overtures, however, were rejected by Franco. Following internal conflict between Republican factions in Madrid in the same month, Franco entered the capital and declared victory on 1 April 1939. Hundreds of thousands of Spaniards fled to refugee camps in southern France.[19] Those associated with the losing Republicans who stayed were persecuted by the victorious Nationalists. Franco established a dictatorship in which all right-wing parties were fused into the structure of his regime.[18]

The war became notable for the passion and political division it inspired worldwide and for the many atrocities that occurred. Organised purges occurred in territory captured by Franco's forces so they could consolidate their future regime.[20] Mass executions on a lesser scale also took place in areas controlled by the Republicans,[21] with the participation of local authorities varying from location to location.[22][23]


Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).

  1. ^ "Republican Army in Spain". Spartacus Educational. Archived from the original on 25 May 2020. Retrieved 29 September 2022.
  2. ^ Larrazáhal, R. Salas. "Aspectos militares de la Guerra Civil española". Archived from the original on 19 March 2022. Retrieved 11 September 2018.
  3. ^ Thomas (1961), p. 491.
  4. ^ "The Nationalist Army". Spartacus Educational. Archived from the original on 3 April 2019. Retrieved 29 September 2022.
  5. ^ "Warships of the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939)". kbismarck.com. Archived from the original on 24 June 2020. Retrieved 22 January 2008.
  6. ^ Thomas (1961), p. 488.
  7. ^ a b Thomas, Hugh. The Spanish Civil War. Penguin Books. London. 1977 (and later editions).
  8. ^ a b Clodfelter 2017, p. 339.
  9. ^ a b Simkin, J. (2012). "Spanish Civil War" Archived 6 April 2022 at the Wayback Machine. The Spanish Civil War Encyclopedia (Ser. Spanish Civil War). University of Sussex, Spartacus Educational E-Books.
  10. ^ Casanova 2010, p. 181.
  11. ^ Maestre, Francisco; Casanova, Julián; Mir, Conxita; Gómez, Francisco (2004). Morir, matar, sobrevivir: La violencia en la dictadura de Franco. Grupo Planeta. ISBN 978-8484325062.
  12. ^ Jackson, Gabriel (1967). The Spanish Republic and the Civil War, 1931–1939. Princeton University Press. ISBN 0691007578.
  13. ^ Graham, Helen; Preston, Paul (1987). "The Spanish Popular Front and the Civil War". The Popular Front in Europe. London: Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 106–130. ISBN 978-1349106189.
  14. ^ Juliá, Santos (1999). Un siglo de España. Política y sociedad. Madrid: Marcial Pons. ISBN 8495379031. Fue desde luego lucha de clases por las armas, en la que alguien podía morir por cubrirse la cabeza con un sombrero o calzarse con alpargatas los pies, pero no fue en menor medida guerra de religión, de nacionalismos enfrentados, guerra entre dictadura militar y democracia republicana, entre revolución y contrarrevolución, entre fascismo y comunismo.
  15. ^ Bowers 1954, p. 272.
  16. ^ Beevor 2006, p. 43.
  17. ^ Preston 2006, p. 84.
  18. ^ a b Payne 1973, pp. 200–203.
  19. ^ "Refugees and the Spanish Civil War". History Today. Archived from the original on 24 August 2019. Retrieved 24 August 2019.
  20. ^ Beevor 2006, p. 88.
  21. ^ Beevor 2006, pp. 86–87.
  22. ^ Beevor 2006, pp. 260–271.
  23. ^ Julius Ruiz. El Terror Rojo (2011). pp. 200–211.


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