The Corps of Volunteer Troops ( Italian : Corpo Truppe Volontarie, CTV ) was a Fascist Italian expeditionary force of military volunteers , which was sent to Spain to support the Nationalist forces under General Francisco Franco against the Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War , 1936–39.
149-577: In July 1936, at the beginning of Spanish Civil War , most of the elite Nationalist forces were isolated in Spanish Morocco or on the Canary Islands . Meanwhile, in Spain, smaller formations of Nationalists and Guardia Civil forces were locked in combat with pro-government militias, Assault Guards and those army units which remained loyal to the leftist Popular Front government. Making
298-456: 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 . According to Claude Bowers , U.S. ambassador to Spain during
447-532: A Republican counterattack by the 5th (communist) regiment under Enrique Líster was beaten off at Parla . On 2 November, Brunete fell to the Nationalists, leaving their troops at the western suburb of Madrid. Mola famously remarked to an English journalist that he would take Madrid with his four columns of regular and Moroccan troops from southwest in Spain outside the city and his " Fifth column " of right-wing sympathisers in it. The term "fifth column" became
596-580: A collapse as in Spain at this moment. Abroad, Spain is classified as insolvent. This is not the road to socialism or communism but to desperate anarchism without even the advantage of liberty". The disenchantment with Azaña's ruling was also voiced by Miguel de Unamuno , a republican and one of Spain's most respected intellectuals who, in June 1936, told a reporter who published his statement in El Adelanto that President Manuel Azaña should commit suicide "as
745-585: A collection of militias into a regular army, the People's Republican Army . That was achieved by integrating the militias into the structures of the elements of the prewar army that had sided with the Republic. In theory, it reduced the power of political parties relative to the government, but in practice, it increased the influence of the Communist Party, which led the implementation of the policy through
894-642: A decisive victory for the Nationalists. They were then transferred to the Aragón front. Some CTV forces may have been involved in the Battle of El Mazuco , but details are unconfirmed. October : After the northern campaigns, the 1st CCNN Division and 2nd CCNN Division were consolidated with the Division XXIII di Marzo and renamed the XXIII de Marzo - Llamas Negras Division. March : The Flechas Negras Brigade
1043-413: A dictatorship in which all right-wing parties were fused into the structure of his regime. 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. Mass executions on a lesser scale also took place in areas controlled by
1192-512: A fascist political party. 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
1341-544: 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 . 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 ,
1490-685: A fourth offensive on Madrid. The Italian offensive resulted in the Battle of Guadalajara , which ended as a decisive victory for the Republican forces. In contrast, the Italian forces suffered heavy losses. The Italian armour, consisting for the most part of L3/35 tankettes , proved to be no match for the tanks that were provided to the Republicans by the Soviet Union . The Italian offensive
1639-565: A heavy toll on the buildings of the quarter. The Republicans had deployed 12,000 troops in Carabanchel and 30,000 more to meet the main assault at the Casa de Campo. Despite their superiority in numbers, they were badly equipped since they had mostly only small arms, with reputedly only ten rounds for each rifle. In addition, most of them had never been trained in the use of weapons, let alone experienced combat before. Nevertheless, they held off
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#17327661779261788-404: A monopoly on hiring; strikes; and efforts by unions to limit women's employment, all done to preserve a labour monopoly for their members. Class struggle intensified as landowners turned to counterrevolutionary organisations and local oligarchs. Strikes, workplace theft, arson, robbery and assaults on shops, strikebreakers, employers and machines became increasingly common. Ultimately, the reforms of
1937-516: A new "constituent parliament" which would be chosen by a new politically purged electorate, who would vote on the issue of republic versus monarchy. Liberal elements would remain, such as separation of church and state as well as freedom of religion. Agrarian issues would be solved by regional commissioners on the basis of smallholdings, but collective cultivation would be permitted in some circumstances. Legislation prior to February 1936 would be respected. Violence would be required to destroy opposition to
2086-539: A patriotic act". Laia Balcells observes that polarisation in Spain just before the coup was so intense that physical confrontations between leftists and rightists were a routine occurrence in most localities; six days before the coup occurred, there was a riot between the two in the province of Teruel. Balcells notes that Spanish society was so divided along Left-Right lines that the monk Hilari Raguer stated that in his parish, instead of playing "cops and robbers", children would sometimes play "leftists and rightists". Within
2235-531: A peace deal with Franco. The next day, the communist leaders and Negrín fled Spain from Elda , but the communist troops settled around Madrid rejected the authority of the Council and entered Madrid on the 7th. There were some days of fighting in the streets between communist and non-communist troops, which ended with the defeat of the communists and the execution of their leader, Luis Barceló . That left Casado free to try to negotiate terms with Franco. However,
2384-447: A pre-emptive offensive of his own, with over 100,000 men on 15 December and took the town of Teruel . Rojo's offensive put paid to Franco's proposed assault on Madrid, but led to one of the bloodiest battles of the war , with over 100,000 casualties on both sides. In 1938, the siege of Madrid tightened and its population suffered increasingly from a lack of food, warm clothes and arms and ammunition. However, Franco had by now given up on
2533-609: A rapid advance on Madrid, but Franco overruled him to relieve the Nationalist troops besieged in Toledo . That diversion held up the attack on Madrid by up to a month, which gave the Republicans time to prepare its defence. Meanwhile, in Madrid, the Republican government had reformed under the leadership of socialist leader Francisco Largo Caballero , whose government included six socialist party ministers, two communists , two from
2682-449: A reprisal for Castillo's murder. But he was not at home, so they went to the house of José Calvo Sotelo , a Spanish monarchist and prominent parliamentary conservative. Luis Cuenca, a member of the arresting group and a Socialist who was known as the bodyguard of PSOE leader Indalecio Prieto , summarily executed Sotelo. Reprisals followed. The killing of Calvo Sotelo with police involvement aroused suspicions and reactions among
2831-566: A socialist Republic in association with the Soviet Union". Francisco Largo Caballero declared that "the organized proletariat will carry everything before it and destroy everything until we reach our goal". The country had rapidly become anarchic. Even the staunch socialist Indalecio Prieto , at a party rally in Cuenca in May 1936, complained: "we have never seen so tragic a panorama or so great
2980-521: A synonym for spies or traitors for Republicans, and paranoia led to massacre of Nationalist prisoners in Madrid during the ensuing battle. The government, including Caballero, expected Madrid to fall and so made a preplanned move from Madrid on 6 November to Valencia . General Miaja and the political leaders who remained formed the Junta de Defensa de Madrid (Committee for the Defence of Madrid) to organise
3129-533: A taxi driver was attacked outside a monarchist club sparked anti-clerical violence throughout Madrid and south-west portion of the country. The slow response on the part of the government disillusioned the right and reinforced their view that the Republic was determined to persecute the church. In June and July, the Confederación Nacional del Trabajo (CNT) called several strikes , which led to
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#17327661779263278-708: A violent incident between CNT members and the Civil Guard and a brutal crackdown by the Civil Guard and the army against the CNT in Seville . This led many workers to believe the Second Spanish Republic was just as oppressive as the monarchy, and the CNT announced its intention of overthrowing it via revolution . Elections in June 1931 returned a large majority of Republicans and Socialists. With
3427-453: A war of religion, and military authorities increasingly deferred to the Church and to the expression of Catholic sentiment. Mola's program was vague and only a rough sketch, and there were disagreements among coupists about their vision. On 12 June, Prime Minister Casares Quiroga met General Juan Yagüe , who falsely convinced Casares of his loyalty to the republic. Mola began planning in
3576-613: A year of intense pressure, CEDA, the party with the most seats in parliament, finally succeeded in forcing the acceptance of three ministries. The Socialists (PSOE) and Communists reacted with an insurrection for which they had been preparing for nine months. The rebellion developed into a bloody uprising known as the Revolution of 1934 . Fairly well armed revolutionaries managed to take the whole province of Asturias, murdering numerous policemen, clergymen and civilians, destroying religious buildings including churches, convents and part of
3725-531: A year. Events in the period after November 1933, called the " black biennium ", seemed to make a civil war more likely. Alejandro Lerroux of the Radical Republican Party (RRP) formed a government, reversing changes made by the previous administration and granting amnesty to the collaborators of the unsuccessful uprising by General José Sanjurjo in August 1932. Some monarchists joined with
3874-704: Is unforgivable. The argument that Mr Gil Robles tried to destroy the Constitution to establish fascism was, at once, hypocritical and false. With the rebellion of 1934, the Spanish left lost even the shadow of moral authority to condemn the rebellion of 1936." Reversals of land reform resulted in expulsions, firings and arbitrary changes to working conditions in the central and southern countryside in 1935, with landowners' behaviour at times reaching "genuine cruelty", which included violence against farmworkers and socialists, causing several deaths. One historian argued that
4023-577: The Carlist movement to establish an alternative branch of the Bourbon dynasty , further destabilized the Spanish monarchy. In 1868, popular uprisings led to the overthrow of Queen Isabella II of the House of Bourbon . Two distinct factors led to the uprisings: a series of urban riots and a liberal movement within the middle classes and the military (led by General Joan Prim ), which was concerned about
4172-521: The Cerro de los Ángeles hill, south of the city, to prevent the cutting off of the Valencia road . The attack collapsed because of language and communication problems and insufficient artillery support, but the road to Valencia remained open. On the 19th, the Nationalists made their final frontal assault. Under cover of a heavy artillery bombardment, Moroccan and Foreign Legion troops fought their way into
4321-833: The French Navy and the British Royal Navy . When founded, the CTV consisted of four all-Italian divisions, under the joint command of General Mario Roatta as CTV commander: After the defeat of the Italian troops in the Battle of Guadalajara, Roatta was replaced by Ettore Bastico on April 15, 1937. Bastico immediately initiated a reorganization of the CTV: the blackshirt divisions Dio lo Vuole and Penne Nere , which had proven useless in combat, were sent back to Italy. In return, 1,500 new soldiers arrived from Italy in June, after which
4470-765: The Guardia de Asalto (Assault Guard). Castillo was a Socialist party member who was giving military training to the UGT youth. Castillo had led the Assault Guards that violently suppressed the riots after the funeral of Guardia Civil lieutenant Anastasio de los Reyes. Assault Guard Captain Fernando Condés was a friend of Castillo. The next day, after getting the approval of the minister of interior to illegally arrest members of parliament, he led his squad to arrest José María Gil-Robles y Quiñones , founder of CEDA, as
4619-560: The Iberian Peninsula to coincide with the risings there. The rising was intended to be a swift coup d'état, but the government retained control of most of the country. Control over Spanish Morocco was all but certain. The plan was discovered in Morocco on 17 July, which prompted the conspirators to enact it immediately. Little resistance was encountered. The rebels shot 189 people. Goded and Franco immediately took control of
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4768-740: The Radical Republican Party , had now endured a series of crises. After a number of corruption scandals, President Niceto Alcalá-Zamora , who was hostile to this government, called another election. The Popular Front narrowly won the 1936 general election . The revolutionary left-wing masses took to the streets and freed prisoners. In the thirty-six hours following the election, sixteen people were killed (mostly by police officers attempting to maintain order or to intervene in violent clashes) and thirty-nine were seriously injured. Additionally, fifty churches and seventy conservative political centres were attacked or set ablaze. Manuel Azaña
4917-835: The Republican Left party, one from the Catalan Left party, one from the Basque Nationalist Party and one from the Republican Union . The communists were a minority in the government, but they gained in influence through their access to arms from the Soviet Union and foreign volunteers in the International Brigades . The Republican military commander in Madrid was nominally a Spanish general, Jose Miaja , but Soviet military personnel were perhaps more important. General Goriev
5066-631: 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. The opposing Nationalists were an alliance of Falangists , monarchists , conservatives , and traditionalists led by
5215-524: The River Manzanares separated the Nationalists from the city centre and was a formidable physical obstacle. Mola planned his assault on Madrid for 8 November 1936. He planned to attack through the Casa de Campo park on a front of only 1 km (0.62 mi) wide to try to avoid street fighting, as the park was open country and lay just across the river from the city centre. Mola's initial intention
5364-498: The Spanish Foreign Legion and Carlist and Falangist militia, raised troops in the north. Together, they planned a "Drive on Madrid" with Franco advancing from Badajoz, which he took in August and Mola advancing from Burgos . Franco's veteran colonial troops, or regulares , under General Juan Yagüe , along with air cover supplied by Nazi Germany , routed the Republican militias in their path. Yague argued for
5513-594: The corrupt central government of the country in Madrid , but these circles were ultimately unsuccessful. Popular perception of communism as a major threat significantly increased during this period. In 1923, a military coup brought Miguel Primo de Rivera to power. As a result, Spain transitioned to government by military dictatorship. Support for the Rivera regime gradually faded, and he resigned in January 1930. He
5662-637: The "Corps of Volunteer Troops" ( Corpo Truppe Volontarie , or CTV). The Blackshirt ( Camicie Nere , CCNN) Divisions contained regular soldiers and volunteer militia from the National Fascist Party . The CCNN divisions were semi-motorised. There, it also had the independent XXIII de Marzo Group of CCNN infantry. The Italian CTV also had a Tank and Armoured Cars Group , Corps Artillery of ten regiments (Groups) of field artillery and four batteries of anti-aircraft artillery. 3 to 8 February : The 1st CCNN Division "Dio lo Vuole", in support of
5811-405: The 20th, the barracks was stormed by a mixture of workers and Guardias de Asalto ("assault guards", an urban police force) loyal to the government, as well as five battalions of the communist-led Antifascist Worker and Peasant Militias (MAOC). One of the battalions became the famous " Fifth Regiment " of about 10,000 fighters. The fighting was chaotic, and on several occasions, some soldiers in
5960-584: The Army of Africa, made up of 35,000 men, and just under half of Spain's militaristic police forces, the Assault Guards, the Civil Guards , and the Carabineers . Republicans controlled under half of the rifles and about a third of both machine guns and artillery pieces. The Spanish Republican Army had just 18 tanks of a sufficiently modern design, and the Nationalists took control of 10. Naval capacity
6109-523: The Bourbons were restored to the throne in the figure of Alfonso XII , Isabella's son. After the restoration, Carlists and anarchists emerged in opposition to the monarchy. Alejandro Lerroux , Spanish politician and leader of the Radical Republican Party , helped to bring republicanism to the fore in Catalonia —a region of Spain with its own cultural and societal identity in which poverty
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6258-400: The CTV was divided into three larger units: In addition, the mixed division Frecce Nere was added. After the victory at Santander , the CTV was reorganized again in the fall of 1937. The new commander was General Mario Berti , and the divisions under his command were reduced from three to two ( Littorio and XXIII Marzo ) due to the high losses. In the winter, the mixed Frecce Division
6407-596: The CTV's XXIII de Marzo Group and 11 Artillery Groups. August to September : Roatta's replacement, General Ettore Bastico , commanded the CTV forces including the Division XXIII di Marzo , formed from the XXIII de Marzo Group. The CTV broke the Republicans' lines near Soncillo; captured a key pass, the Puerto del Escudo ; and penetrated deep into the Republican rear during the Battle of Santander , which resulted in
6556-576: The Carlists, Mola was chief planner and second in command. José Antonio Primo de Rivera was put in prison in mid-March to restrict the Falange. However, government actions were not as thorough as they might have been, and warnings by the Director of Security and other figures were not acted upon. The revolt was devoid of ideology. The goal was to put an end to anarchical disorder. Mola's plan for
6705-422: The Casa de Campo park, and through the streets of the Carabanchel area Madrid was subjected to a sporadic artillery and aerial bombardment, and food became short as the winter went on. The UGT transferred some vital industries to metro tunnels under the city that were not in use. Franco's final action of 1936 was to attempt to cut off the road to Corunna , north-west of Madrid, as the first step towards surrounding
6854-709: The Casa de Campo to meet the main attack. Its strategic location over the Manzanares River made the Bridge of the French of crucial importance. Colonel Romero commanded Republican forces there and effectively repelled attempts to cross it and to gain access to Madrid's city centre. Mola attacked on 8 November with 20,000 troops, mostly Moroccan regulares , supported by Italian light armour and German Panzer I tanks under German officer Wilhelm Von Thoma . The German Condor Legion also provided air support, which took
7003-589: The Catholic country, which included the abolition of Catholic schools and charities, a move which was met with opposition. At this point, once the constituent assembly had fulfilled its mandate of approving a new constitution, but fearing an increasing popular opposition, the Radical and Socialist majority postponed the regular elections, prolonging their time in power for two more years. Diaz's Republican government initiated numerous reforms to, in their view, modernize
7152-715: The Civil War. On the other side, both Germany and Fascist Italy supplied Franco with air cover and armoured units for his assault on Madrid, and the Luftwaffe units in Spain, the Condor Legion , were commanded independently of Franco's officers. The Nationalists reached Madrid in early November 1936 by approaching it from the north along the Corunna Road and the west by the Extremadura road . On 29 October,
7301-622: The Communist Party, who wanted to fight to the end. They were opposed by the Republican Colonel Segismundo Casado and others, who wanted to negotiate the surrender of Madrid to spare Republican supporters the worst of the Nationalist retribution. On 5 March, Casado's men arrested communist officers in Madrid, stripped them of their powers, deposed Negrín and established the National Defence Council ( Consejo Nacional de Defensa ) to negotiate
7450-405: The Italian "expeditionary force". General Luigi Frusci became his Deputy Commander. 23 December : The first formation of 3,000 troops landed in Cadiz and was called the "Italian Army Mission". January : By then, approximately 44,000 regular Italian army soldiers and members of the Fascist paramilitary ( Blackshirts ) were in Spain. In late February, the "expeditionary force" was renamed
7599-402: The Italian dictator, Benito Mussolini , immediately responded in a positive manner. They sent transport aircraft and crews to Morocco to airlift Nationalist forces from there to Spain. The colonial troops from Morocco allowed the Nationalist forces to take the initiative on mainland Spain. The Italians also used Nationalist-held and Portuguese harbours as staging points for sending supplies to
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#17327661779267748-542: The Jarama and encircle Madrid's defences to launch an assault on the city. Italian and Nationalist losses were significantly higher than that of the Republicans. Around a third of the city of Madrid heavily damaged, but morale remained still strong in the population, and Madrilenes prided themselves of doing "business as usual" under fire. In May, Republican forces under the Polish communist officer Karol Świerczewski , tried to break out of Madrid in an armoured assault but were beaten back. A far more ambitious northern offensive
7897-412: The July uprising saw a number of so-called fascists or fascist sympathisers being killed in Madrid by Republicans. For example, on 23 August, seventy prisoners from the Modelo Prison in the city were massacred in revenge for the Nationalist killing of over 1,500 Republicans after the storming of Badajoz . The initial strategy of the military plot had been to assume power all over the country in
8046-429: The Modelo Prison were taken out and killed in the Jarama Valley by the Republican 5th regiment as potential "Fifth Columnists". It has been alleged that the killings were ordered by the communist leader Santiago Carrillo , but that has never been proved. According to Antony Beevor , the order for the massacre came from either José Cazorla Maure , Carrillo's deputy, or the Soviet advisor, Mikhail Koltsov . The atrocity
8195-400: The Nationalist forces and for landing Spanish troops to support the rebellion. Italian submarines began to sink Spanish, Soviet and other nations' ships that were transporting materials through the Mediterranean to Republican harbours. However, action by the League of Nations resulted in the Nyon Agreement of September 1937, which classed these operations as acts of piracy and was enforced by
8344-442: The Nationalist leader insisted that unconditional surrender was all that he would accept. On 26 March, Franco ordered a general advance into Madrid, and on the 27th, the Republican front collapsed, many of whose troops surrendered or simply threw away their weapons and started for home. On 28 March, Madrid finally fell to Franco's forces. In spite of Casado's efforts at negotiation, many of the Republican defenders of Madrid were among
8493-415: The Nationalist onslaught at Casa de Campo. Some regulares eventually broke through and made an initial crossing over the Manzanares towards the Modelo Prison, the target of the offensive, but the attack stalled at the western fringe of the city. The Republican General Miaja himself reputedly raced to the ruined buildings to which the Republican troops were starting to flee and, pistol in hand, called upon
8642-422: The Nationalists switched the focus of their offensive to the Carabanchel suburb, but the heavily urban area proved to be a very difficult obstacle. The colonial Moroccan troops were pinned down in house-to-house fighting (in which they had little previous experience since their greatest strength was in open-country warfare) and took heavy casualties at the hands of militiamen who knew the urban terrain very well. In
8791-427: The Nationalists, launched an offensive against Málaga . On 8 February, the Italians and Nationalists captured the city. The Battle of Málaga was a decisive victory for the Nationalists. About 74 Italian soldiers were killed, 221 wounded, and two missing in that battle. March : The Corps of Volunteer Troops now numbered over 50,000 troops. 8 to 23 March : Mussolini decided that Fascist Italian forces should lead
8940-417: The Nationalists. In late 1937, the Nationalists took much of northern Spain, the country's industrial heartland, with its many arms factories, which had sustained the Republican war effort. At the very end of the year, the Republican commander of the IV Corps at the time, Cipriano Mera intercepted Nationalist plans for a fresh assault on Madrid from the direction of Zaragoza . General Vicente Rojo launched
9089-427: 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 . Those associated with the losing Republicans who stayed were persecuted by the victorious Nationalists. Franco established
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#17327661779269238-468: The Popular Front's victory in the 1936 election, groups of officers, both active and retired, got together to discuss a coup . By the end of April General Emilio Mola emerged as the leader of a national conspiracy network. The Republican government reacted by reshuffling suspect generals from influential posts, Azana however acutely aware that as he did so, the Army still served as a possible buffer to leftist power brokers threatening his government. Franco
9387-416: The Republican capital. The highest military awards of the Spanish Republic, the Laureate Plate of Madrid ( Spanish : Placa Laureada de Madrid ), and the Madrid Distinction ( Spanish : Distintivo de Madrid ), established by the Republican government to reward courage, were named after the capital of Spain because the city symbolised valour and Republican resistance during the long siege throughout
9536-541: 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
9685-425: The Republican-Socialist government alienated as many people as they pleased. Republican Manuel Azaña became prime minister of a minority government in October 1931. Fascism remained a reactive threat and it was facilitated by controversial reforms to the military. In December, a new reformist, liberal and democratic constitution was declared. It included strong provisions enforcing a broad secularisation of
9834-414: The Republicans to breach the walls. Many soldiers were massacred by the crowd, which had been enraged by the apparent false surrenders, after the fall of the barracks. For the remainder of the war, Madrid was held by the Republicans. However, its population contained a significant number of Nationalist sympathisers, over 20,000 of which sought refuge in foreign embassies in the city. The weeks that followed
9983-409: The Republicans, with the participation of local authorities varying from location to location. The 19th century was a turbulent time for Spain. Those in favour of reforming the Spanish government vied for political power with conservatives who intended to prevent such reforms from being implemented. In a tradition that started with the Spanish Constitution of 1812 , many liberals sought to curtail
10132-442: The Spanish capital. The resulting Battle of the Corunna Road also resulted in a stalemate. The casualties inflicted in the Battle of Madrid were never accurately counted, but the British historian Hugh Thomas estimated that they were a total about 10,000 for both sides and the civilian population. They were not ready to fight in the war. After the Battle of Madrid, the Republican government tried to reorganise its armed forces from
10281-419: The Spanish, which resulted in some losses for the Italians. 12 December : After the failure of Franco's offensive on Madrid , Mussolini decided to send regular army forces to Spain. Mussolini made that decision after he had consulted Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs Galeazzo Ciano and General Mario Roatta , who were then two of the most influential men in Italy. Roatta was made the Commander-in-Chief of
10430-482: The University City quarter of Madrid. While their advance was checked, they established a bridgehead over the Manzanares River. Bitter street fighting ensued, and Durruti, the anarchist leader, was killed on the 19th. Three theories attempt to explain the mystery of Durruti's death. The bullet may have come from a nationalist soldier. Others believe that Durruti was killed by the accidental discharge of his own weapon or of one of his men's weapons. A third theory suggests he
10579-427: The aerial bombardment of the city's residential areas except for the upper-class Salamanca district , which was assumed to contain many Nationalist supporters, with the intention of terrifying the civilian population into surrender. Franco is quoted as saying, "I will destroy Madrid rather than leave it to the Marxists". German bombers pounded the rest of the city from 19 to 23 November. Arguably, that tactic by Franco
10728-630: The almost 200,000 people who were executed or died during imprisonment by Franco's regime between 1939 and 1943. The Siege of Madrid became a mythic subject in the popular imagination during the Spanish Civil War. The besieged capital of Spain, with the enemy so close, yet unable to take the city for years on end, became the subject of songs, such as Los Emboscados – a version of Si me quieres escribir , and poems like this one by renowned poet Rafael Alberti , Madrid, corazón de España , which begins thus: The Siege of Madrid, particularly
10877-482: The army personnel consisted disproportionately of recruits from the southern regions of Italy and the islands. Northern and central Italy contained about two-thirds of the total Italian population, but only a third of all of the CTV's fallen army soldiers came from these regions. In contrast, southern Italy and the islands, with only a third of the total population, accounted for two thirds of the fallen army soldiers. 3 September : Republican forces from Catalonia , under
11026-563: The authority of the Spanish monarchy as well as to establish a nation-state under the ideology and philosophy that they believed in. The reforms of 1812 were short-lived as they were almost immediately overturned by King Ferdinand VII when he dissolved the aforementioned constitution. This ended the Trienio Liberal government. Twelve successful coups were carried out between 1814 and 1874. There were several attempts to realign
11175-496: The barracks indicated their willingness to surrender, only for other troops to keep firing at the attackers, which killed those who had broken cover to take them prisoner. Eventually, the barracks fell when the Guardias de Asalto brought up a 75 mm field gun to bombard the complex and its gate was opened by a sapper sergeant sympathetic to the Republicans. The sergeant was killed by one of his officers, but his action allowed
11324-413: The behaviour of the right in the southern countryside was one of the main causes of hatred during the Civil War and possibly even the Civil War itself. Landowners taunted workers by saying that if they went hungry, they should "Go eat the Republic!" Bosses fired leftist workers and imprisoned trade union and socialist militants; wages were reduced to "salaries of hunger". In 1935, the government, led by
11473-673: The command of Captain Alberto Bayo , made a landing on Majorca . His formations were the target of the Italian Air Force, which attacked on 24 October. On the same date, Italian bombers and fighters launched their first air raid on Madrid . That was intended to demonstrate to the Republican forces the power of Franco's allies. In the following days, they began a series of bombing raids on the Spanish capital. 2 November : Italian and German bombers and their fighter escorts were attacked by Soviet aircraft, nicknamed " Chatos " by
11622-535: The company of armed militants. Conservatives, the middle classes, businessmen and landowners became convinced that revolution had already begun. Prime Minister Santiago Casares Quiroga ignored warnings of a military conspiracy involving several generals, who decided that the government had to be replaced to prevent the dissolution of Spain. Both sides had become convinced that, if the other side gained power, it would discriminate against their members and attempt to suppress their political organisations. Shortly after
11771-569: 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
11920-551: The country. In 1932, the Jesuits were banned and their property was confiscated, the army was reduced, landowners were expropriated. Home rule was granted to Catalonia, with a local parliament and a president of its own. In June 1933, Pope Pius XI issued the encyclical Dilectissima Nobis , "On Oppression of the Church of Spain", raising his voice against the persecution of the Catholic Church in Spain. In November 1933,
12069-444: The coup to prevent it from being crushed swiftly. The rebels termed themselves Nacionales , normally translated "Nationalists", although the former implies "true Spaniards" rather than a nationalistic cause . The result of the coup was a nationalist area of control containing 11 million of Spain's population of 25 million. The Nationalists had secured the support of around half of Spain's territorial army, some 60,000 men, joined by
12218-584: The coup very quickly. Conversely, if the coup had risen everywhere in Spain on the 18th rather than be delayed, it could have triumphed by the 22nd. While the militias that rose to meet the rebels were often untrained and poorly armed (possessing only a small number of pistols, shotguns and dynamite), this was offset by the fact that the rebellion was not universal. In addition, the Falangists and Carlists were themselves often not particularly powerful fighters either. However, enough officers and soldiers had joined
12367-413: The coup, though it seems Mola did not envision the mass atrocities and repression that would manifest during the civil war. Of particular importance to Mola was ensuring the revolt was an Army affair, not subject to special interests, ensuring the position of the armed forces as the basis for the new state. However, the separation of church and state was forgotten once the conflict assumed the dimension of
12516-608: The death toll was about 2000. From early 1937 onward, fighter resistance and Republican pilots' experience had also grown too strong for further bombing to occur during daylight, which further limited its effectiveness. The battle petered out in December, with both sides exhausted. A frontline stabilised in the city, running from the Nationalist salient over the River Manzanares, in the University City, through
12665-488: The distribution of weapons among the civilian population. This facilitated the defeat of the army insurrection in the main industrial centres, including Madrid, Barcelona , and Valencia , but it allowed anarchists to take control of Barcelona along with large swathes of Aragón and Catalonia. General Goded surrendered in Barcelona and was later condemned to death. The Republican government ended up controlling almost all
12814-475: The east coast and central area around Madrid, as well as most of Asturias , Cantabria and part of the Basque Country in the north. Hugh Thomas suggested that the civil war could have ended in the favour of either side almost immediately if certain decisions had been taken during the initial coup. Thomas argues that if the government had taken steps to arm the workers, they could probably have crushed
12963-408: The electoral results but did not succeed. Despite CEDA's electoral victory, President Alcalá-Zamora declined to invite its leader, Gil Robles, to form a government, fearing CEDA's monarchist sympathies and proposed changes to the constitution. Instead, he invited the Radical Republican Party 's Alejandro Lerroux to do so. Despite receiving the most votes, CEDA was denied cabinet positions for nearly
13112-610: The evening of 9 November, General Kléber launched an assault of the XI International Brigade on the Nationalist positions in the Casa de Campo, which lasted for the whole night and part of the next morning. At the end of the fight, the Nationalist troops had been forced to retreat and abandoned all hopes of a direct assault on Madrid through the Casa de Campo, while the XIth Brigade had lost a third of its men. Meanwhile, Republican troops counterattacked all along
13261-580: 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
13410-612: The first month of the Popular Front's government, nearly a quarter of the provincial governors had been removed due to their failure to prevent or control strikes, illegal land occupation, political violence and arson. The Popular Front government was more likely to prosecute rightists for violence than leftists who committed similar acts. Between February and July, approximately 300 to 400 deaths occurred from political violence, while hundreds of churches, religious buildings and monuments were destroyed, damaged, or vandalised. Azaña
13559-484: The front as a relief force, their arrival was a major morale boost for the defenders of Madrid. The foreign troops, while actually a mixture of volunteers from Germany, France, Britain and various other nations, including Winston Churchill 's nephew, Esmond Romilly , were greeted with cries of vivan los rusos ("long live the Russians") by madrileños since they had been mistaken for Soviet infantry. On 10 November,
13708-410: The front in Madrid, on 9, 10 and 17 November, driving the Nationalists back at some places, but taking heavy casualties in the process. On the 15th, 4,000 CNT anarchist , militiamen led by Buenaventura Durruti , arrived from the Aragón front as reinforcements for the defence of the capital. On 11 November, an infamous massacre occurred on the Republican side ; 1,029 Nationalist prisoners held in
13857-400: The government's opponents on the right. Although the nationalist generals were planning an uprising, the event was a catalyst and a public justification for a coup. Stanley Payne claims that before these events, the idea of rebellion by army officers against the government had weakened; Mola had estimated only 12% of officers reliably supported the coup and Mola considered fleeing for fear he
14006-815: The help of the British intelligence agents, the rebels chartered a Dragon Rapide aircraft to transport Franco from the Canary Islands to Spanish Morocco . Franco arrived in Morocco on 19 July. Franco was offered this position as Mola's planning for the coup had become increasingly complex and it did not look like it would be as swift as he hoped, instead likely turning into a miniature civil war that would last weeks. Mola had concluded troops in Spain were insufficient and it would be necessary to use elite units from North Africa, something Franco had always believed would be necessary. On 12 July 1936, Falangists in Madrid killed police officer Lieutenant José Castillo of
14155-418: The idea of another frontal assault on the city but was happy to constrict the siege gradually and to continue to bomb the city. By the spring of 1939, after the collapse of the Republican forces on other fronts, the Republican cause in Madrid was clearly doomed, which created a bitter division within Republican ranks. On one side was the socialist Prime Minister Juan Negrín , some other government ministers and
14304-523: The immediate area around Madrid, the Battle of Jarama (January to February) and the Battle of Brunete (July). In addition, two other battles were fought further afield as part of the Nationalist campaign to take the capital: in March, at Guadalajara and at the end of December at Teruel , both north east of Madrid. The first battle in early 1937 had Franco try to cross the River Jarama to cut off
14453-424: The islands to which they were assigned. On 18 July, Casares Quiroga refused an offer of help from the CNT and Unión General de Trabajadores (UGT), leading the groups to proclaim a general strike—in effect, mobilising. They opened weapons caches, some buried since the 1934 risings, and formed militias. The paramilitary security forces often waited for the outcome of militia action before either joining or suppressing
14602-452: The law shut out workers seeking extra income as pickers. Newly established labour arbitration boards regulated salaries, contracts, and working hours, but were more favourable to workers than employers. A decree in July 1931 increased overtime pay and several laws in late 1931 restricted whom landowners could hire. Other efforts included decrees limiting: the use of machinery; efforts to create
14751-442: The left, was quite fragmented: on the one hand socialists and communists supported the republic but on the other, during the republic, anarchists had mixed opinions, though both major groups opposed the Nationalists during the Civil War; the latter, in contrast, were united by their fervent opposition to the Republican government and presented a more unified front. Siege of Madrid Nationalist victory The siege of Madrid
14900-521: The loyal, disciplined and militarized units of its Antifascist Worker and Peasant Militias (MAOC). Also close to the Communist Party were the Soviet arms providers and foreign volunteers and advisers, both groups providing much of the practical military experience on the Republican side. The party, therefore, had a disproportionate influence in the appointment of military commanders and the setting of military policy. In 1937, there were two major battles in
15049-532: The manner of a pronunciamiento (military coup) of the 19th century. However, resistance to the coup by Republicans meant that Francisco Franco and his allies instead had to conquer the country by military force if they wanted to seize power. Franco himself had landed in Algeciras , in southern Spain, with Moroccan troops from the Spanish Army of Africa . Mola, who commanded the colonial troops as well as
15198-409: The military equipment represented a loss to Italy's war inventory, most of the equipment was obsolete and outdated. The financial cost of the CTV and AL to Italy was higher and amounted to between 6 and 8.5 billion lire . At 14 to 20 percent of annual expenditure, that represented an immense drain on the Italian economy. The high cost of the Spanish expedition further limited Italy's economic output in
15347-521: The new regime was a "republican dictatorship", modelled after Salazar's Portugal and along the lines of being semi-pluralist authoritarian, rather than fascist totalitarian. The initial government would be an all-military "Directory", which would create a "strong and disciplined state". Sanjurjo would be the head of this new regime, due to being liked and respected within the military, though his position would be symbolic due to his lack of political talent. The 1931 Constitution would be suspended, replaced by
15496-418: The offer and Martinez Barrio was ousted by José Giral . Giral agreed to arm the trade unionists to defend the Republic and had 60,000 rifles delivered to the CNT and UGT headquarters although only 5,000 were in working order. In a radio broadcast on the 18th, the communist leader Dolores Ibarruri coined the famous slogan ¡No pasarán! ("They shall not pass") to urge resistance against the coup. The slogan
15645-487: The ongoing Spanish Revolution . On 18 July, the government sent units of the Guardia Civil to Seville to put down the rebellion there. However, on reaching the city, the guardias defected to the insurgents. On 19 July, Santiago Casares Quiroga resigned as prime minister and was succeeded by Diego Martinez Barrio , who tried to arrange a truce with the insurgent General Emilio Mola by telephone, but Mola refused
15794-642: The onset of the Great Depression , the government tried to assist rural Spain by instituting an eight-hour day and redistributing land tenure to farm workers. The rural workers lived in some of the worst poverty in Europe at the time and the government tried to increase their wages and improve working conditions. This estranged small and medium landholders who used hired labour. The Law of Municipal Boundaries forbade owners from hiring workers outside their locality. When some localities had labour shortages,
15943-414: The people before the military took over. The prime minister was hesitant. The uprising's timing was fixed at 17 July, at 17:01, agreed to by the leader of the Carlists, Manuel Fal Conde . However, the timing was changed—the men in the Morocco protectorate were to rise up at 05:00 on 18 July and those in Spain proper a day later so that control of Spanish Morocco could be achieved and forces sent back to
16092-486: The period before the Second World War . Spanish Civil War Nationalist victory [REDACTED] Republicans [REDACTED] Nationalists 100,000–200,000 civilians killed inside the Nationalist zone 50,000–72,000 civilians killed inside the Republican zone The Spanish Civil War ( Spanish : guerra civil española ) was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between
16241-407: The political system to match social reality. Until the 1850s, the economy of Spain was primarily based on agriculture . There was little development of a bourgeois industrial or commercial class. The land-based oligarchy remained powerful; a small number of people held large estates called latifundia as well as all of the important positions in government. The mid-century Carlist Wars , fought by
16390-473: The primarily conservative and Catholic areas of Old Castile and León , which fell quickly. They took Cádiz with help from the first troops from Africa. The government retained control of Málaga , Jaén , and Almería . In Madrid, the rebels were hemmed into the Cuartel de la Montaña siege , which fell with considerable bloodshed. Republican leader Casares Quiroga was replaced by José Giral , who ordered
16539-405: 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
16688-513: The provincial capitals and, following the resignation of Aznar's government, Alfonso XIII fled the country. At this time, the Second Spanish Republic was formed. This republic remained in power until the beginning of the civil war five years later. The revolutionary committee headed by Niceto Alcalá-Zamora became the provisional government, with Alcalá-Zamora himself as president and head of state . The republic had broad support from all segments of society. In May 1931, an incident in which
16837-424: The rebellion and was released from prison in January 1935. In sparking an uprising, the non-anarchist socialists, like the anarchists, manifested their conviction that the existing political order was illegitimate. The Spanish historian Salvador de Madariaga , an Azaña supporter and an exiled vocal opponent of Francisco Franco, wrote a sharp criticism of the left's participation in the revolt: "The uprising of 1934
16986-516: The rebellion. Quick action by either the rebels or anarchist militias was often enough to decide the fate of a town. General Gonzalo Queipo de Llano secured Seville for the rebels, arresting a number of other officers. The rebels failed to take any major cities with the critical exception of the July 1936 military uprising in Seville , which provided a landing point for Franco's African troops, and
17135-806: The reduction of the CCNN Divisions, Italians began to serve in mixed Italo-Spanish Flechas ("Arrows") units, with the Italians providing the officers and technical personnel and the Spanish served in the rank and file. The first were the Flechas Azules (“Blue Arrows”) Mixed Brigade and the Flechas Negras (“Black Arrows”) Mixed Brigade , which served respectively in Extremadura and Viscaya from April to August 1937. Also in Viscaya were
17284-412: The republican defenders. However, the Nationalists' attempt to capture Madrid had some serious tactical drawbacks. Their troops were outnumbered by over two to one by the defenders although the Nationalists were far better trained and equipped. Another disadvantage was their inability to surround Madrid and to cut it off from outside help. The Republicans had a geographical advantage in defending Madrid:
17433-596: The retreating troops to rally and die with him, rather than flee as cowards. Throughout the day, the city radio called upon the citizens to mobilise and support the front, with the rallying cry "¡No pasarán!" ('They shall not pass!') Late on 8 November, the XI International Brigade , numbering 1,900 men, arrived at the front, marching through the Gran Via in the city centre. Although few and with their training unfinished, since they had been hurried to
17582-613: The right-wing parties won the general election . The causal factors were increased resentment of the incumbent government caused by a controversial decree implementing land reform, by the Casas Viejas incident , and the formation of a right-wing alliance, Spanish Confederation of Autonomous Right-wing Groups (CEDA). Another factor was the recent enfranchisement of women, most of whom voted for centre-right parties. According to Stanley G. Payne and Jesús Palacios Tapias , left Republicans attempted to have Niceto Alcalá Zamora cancel
17731-558: The road between Madrid and Valencia , where the Republicans had moved their government. The results were inconclusive. Franco's troops managed to get onto the east bank of the Jarama but failed to sever communications between Madrid and Valencia. Casualties on both sides were heavy, estimates of losses ranging from 6,000 to 20,000 on each side. In March, the Battle of Guadalajara was fought about 60 km north-east of Madrid when Republican troops routed an attempt by Italian troops to cross
17880-505: The situation more difficult for the Nationalists was the fact that the Spanish Republican Air Force and Navy generally remained loyal to the government. If the Nationalist forces fighting in Spain did not receive reinforcements, the rebellion could soon fail. General Francisco Franco and the other Nationalist leaders sent emissaries to Berlin and to Rome to ask for help. The German dictator, Adolf Hitler , and
18029-499: The spring. Franco was a key player because of his prestige as a former director of the military academy and as the man who suppressed the Asturian miners' strike of 1934 . He was respected in the Army of Africa, the Army's toughest troops. He wrote a cryptic letter to Casares on 23 June, suggesting the military was disloyal, but could be restrained if he were put in charge. Casares did nothing, failing to arrest or buy off Franco. With
18178-406: The start of the civil war; for comparison, the 1931–33 land reform had granted only 6,000 peasants 45,000 hectares. As many strikes occurred between April and July as had occurred in the entirety of 1931. Workers increasingly demanded less work and more pay. "Social crimes"—refusing to pay for goods and rent—became increasingly common by workers, particularly in Madrid. In some cases, this was done in
18327-767: The success of the Nationalists meant that the Italians now had a friendly regime in the western Mediterranean . Of the approximately 78,500 men sent to Spain, 3,819 had been killed and 10,629 wounded. Most of the casualties were caused during the Catalan and the Aragonese Offensives, with about 44% of the deaths and 43% of the wounded, and the rest during the Guadalajara , Santander and Levante offensives. The Italian military left behind roughly 3,400 machine guns, 1,400 mortars, 1,800 artillery pieces, 6,800 vehicles, 160 tankettes and 760 aircraft. However, while
18476-430: The then fascist-nationalist Falange Española y de las JONS ("Falange") to help achieve their aims. Open violence occurred in the streets of Spanish cities, and militancy continued to increase, reflecting a movement towards radical upheaval, rather than peaceful democratic means as solutions. A small insurrection by anarchists occurred in December 1933 in response to CEDA's victory, in which around 100 people died. After
18625-400: The ultra-conservatism of the monarchy. In 1873, Isabella's replacement, King Amadeo I of the House of Savoy , abdicated due to increasing political pressure, and the short-lived First Spanish Republic was proclaimed. The Republic was marred with political instability and conflicts and was quickly overthrown by a coup d'état by General Arsenio Martínez Campos in December 1874, after which
18774-672: The university at Oviedo. Rebels in the occupied areas proclaimed revolution for the workers and abolished the existing currency. The rebellion was crushed in two weeks by the Spanish Navy and the Spanish Republican Army , the latter using mainly Moorish colonial troops from Spanish Morocco . Azaña was in Barcelona that day, and the Lerroux-CEDA government tried to implicate him. He was arrested and charged with complicity. In fact, Azaña had no connection with
18923-581: The war, it was the " dress rehearsal " for World War II . 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
19072-624: The war. The Spanish Civil War began with a failed coup d'état against the Popular Front Government of the Spanish Republic by Spanish Army officers on 18 July 1936. In Madrid , the Republican government was unsure what to do. It wanted to put down the coup but was unsure if it could trust the armed forces, and it did not want to arm the Confederación Nacional del Trabajo (CNT) and Unión General de Trabajadores (UGT) trade unions and potentially accelerate
19221-635: Was a two-and-a-half-year siege of the Republican -controlled Spanish capital city of Madrid by the Nationalist armies , under General Francisco Franco , during the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939). The city, besieged from October 1936, fell to the Nationalist armies on 28 March 1939. The Battle of Madrid in November 1936 saw the most intense fighting in and around the city when the Nationalists made their most determined attempt to take
19370-554: Was added, which essentially consisted of the Frecce Azurre and Frecce Nere brigades. For the final phase of the war, command of the CTV was transferred to Gastone Gambara on October 24, 1938. The CTV forces at the Catalonia Offensive now consisted of the new division Littorio d'Assalto as well as the three mixed divisions Frecce Nere , Frecce Azurre and Frecce Verdi . The casualty registers suggest that
19519-579: Was betrayed and killed on order of the communists. Despite fierce counterattacks by the XI International Brigade and Spanish Republican units, the Nationalists kept their toehold in the University City and, by the end of the battle, were in possession of three quarters of the complex. However, their attempt to storm Madrid had failed in the face of unexpectedly-stiff Republican resistance. Franco stopped further infantry assaults, as he could not risk losing any more of his best regulares and legionnaire troops. Having failed to take Madrid by assault, Franco ordered
19668-517: Was called to form a government before the electoral process had ended. He shortly replaced Zamora as president, taking advantage of a constitutional loophole. Convinced that the left was no longer willing to follow the rule of law and that its vision of Spain was under threat, the right abandoned the parliamentary option and began planning to overthrow the republic, rather than to control it. PSOE's left wing socialists started to take action. Julio Álvarez del Vayo talked about "Spain being converted into
19817-402: Was compromised. He had to be convinced to remain by his co-conspirators. However, the kidnapping and murder of Sotelo transformed the "limping conspiracy" into a revolt that could trigger a civil war. The arbitrary use of lethal force by the state and lack of action against the attackers led to public disapproval of the government. No effective punitive, judicial or even investigative action
19966-544: Was condemned by the anarchist director of prisoners, Melchor Rodriguez . Colonel Romero had disagreements with anarchists, asked for the dismissal of Ricardo Sanz and proposed the dissolution of the Durruti Column and the distribution of their men among other units. On the 12th, the newly arrived XII International Brigade , under General Mate "Lukacs" Zalka with German, Scandinavian, French, Belgian and Italian troops, launched an attack on Nationalist positions on
20115-439: Was counter-productive, as the Republican population in Madrid was not cowed into surrender, and the aerial bombardment of civilians, one of the first in the history of warfare, was heavily criticised by foreign journalists such as Ernest Hemingway . The casualties from the aerial bombardment seems to have been relatively low, however. There is no definitive figure for the civilian casualties it caused, but according to Hugh Thomas ,
20264-621: Was expanded into the Flechas Division "Arrows" and served in the Aragon Offensive and the March to the Sea, with the CTV now under Mario Berti . 18 March : Barcelona was the target of 13 Italian large-scale air raids. Mussolini ordered the bombings without consulting Franco. The Italian aircraft were armed with incendiary and gas bombs, which resulted in the death of around 2,500 civilians. November : The Flechas Division
20413-485: Was hesitant to use the army to shoot or stop rioters or protestors as many of them supported his coalition. On the other hand, he was reluctant to disarm the military as he believed he needed them to stop insurrections from the extreme left. Illegal land occupation became widespread—poor tenant farmers knew the government was disinclined to stop them. By April 1936, nearly 100,000 peasants had appropriated 400,000 hectares of land and perhaps as many as 1 million hectares by
20562-410: Was launched by the Republicans in July with the intention of encircling the Nationalists. However, the Battle of Brunete again developed into a bloody stalemate. The initial Republican attack took Brunete and pushed back the Nationalist front some 12 km, but determined Nationalist counterattacks retook this territory by the end of the battle. Republican losses were significantly higher than those of
20711-526: Was particularly acute at the time. Conscription was a controversial policy that was eventually implemented by the government of Spain. As evidenced by the Tragic Week in 1909, resentment and resistance were factors that continued well into the 20th century. Spain was neutral in World War I . Following the war, wide swathes of Spanish society, including the armed forces, united in hopes of removing
20860-494: Was replaced by General Dámaso Berenguer , who was in turn himself replaced by Admiral Juan Bautista Aznar-Cabañas ; both men continued a policy of rule by decree . There was little support for the monarchy in the major cities. Consequently, King Alfonso XIII of Spain relented to popular pressure and called municipal elections for 12 April 1931. Left-wing entities such as the Socialist and Liberal Republicans won almost all
21009-572: Was repulsed by a strong Republican counter-offensive led by the 11th Division . Of the four Italian divisions engaged, only the Littorio Division did not suffer heavy losses. The three CCNN divisions had such heavy losses that they had to be reorganised into two divisions and a special weapons (armour and artillery) group. The 3rd CCNN Division was disbanded and consolidated with the 2nd CCNN Division in April 1937. April to August : Following
21158-502: Was retained by the government—however, the whole of the Republican Air Force was very outdated. The war was cast by Republican sympathisers as a struggle between tyranny and freedom, and by Nationalist supporters as communist and anarchist red hordes versus Christian civilisation. Nationalists also claimed they were bringing security and direction to an ungoverned and lawless country. Spanish politics, especially on
21307-556: Was sacked as chief of staff and transferred to command of the Canary Islands . Manuel Goded Llopis was removed as inspector general and made general of the Balearic Islands . Mola was moved from head of the Army of Africa to commander of Pamplona . This latter reassignment, however, allowed Mola to direct the mainland uprising; General José Sanjurjo became the figurehead of the operation and helped reach an agreement with
21456-561: Was strengthened and renamed "Flechas Negras", and the Flechas Azules Brigade was expanded into two other Flechas Divisions, which took part in the Catalonia Offensive the final offensive of the war, along with the rest of the CTV under Gastone Gambara : February : After the victory of Franco and the Nationalists over the Republicans, General Bastico and the Italian volunteers left Spain. On 1 April 1939,
21605-534: Was taken; Payne points to a possible veto by socialists within the government who shielded the killers drawn from their ranks. The murder of a parliamentary leader by state police was unprecedented, and the belief the state had ceased to be neutral and effective encouraged important sectors of the right to join the rebellion. Franco changed his mind on rebellion and dispatched a message to Mola to display his firm commitment. The Socialists and Communists, led by Indalecio Prieto , demanded that arms be distributed to
21754-410: Was their overall commander, General Yakov Smushkevich controlled the air forces sent from the Soviet Union and General Dmitry Pavlov commanded their armoured forces. About 90% of the Republican defenders of Madrid were militias raised by left-wing political parties or trade unions, which elected their own leaders. The Republican command had relatively little control over the units in the early phase of
21903-462: Was to become synonymous with the defense of Madrid and the Republican cause in general. General Joaquín Fanjul, the commander of the military garrison based in Montaña barracks in Madrid, was preparing to launch the military rebellion in the city. However, when he tried to march out of the barracks, his 2,500 troops were forced back inside the compound by hostile crowds and armed trade unionists. On
22052-539: Was to take the University City , just north of the city centre, to establish a bridgehead across the Manzanares. He also launched a diversionary attack towards the working-class suburb of Carabanchel , to the south-west of the city centre. However, on 7 November, the Republicans had captured plans of the attack on the body of an Italian officer found in a destroyed tank and so could concentrate their troops in
22201-511: Was uneven, with the Republicans retaining a numerical advantage, but with the Navy's top commanders and two of the most modern ships, heavy cruisers Canarias —captured at the Ferrol shipyard—and Baleares , in Nationalist control. The Spanish Republican Navy suffered from the same problems as the army—many officers had defected or been killed after trying to do so. Two-thirds of air capability
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