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125-682: After the 17 July 1936 military coup in Spain began the Spanish Civil War, the Nationalists requested support from Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy . The first request for German aircraft was made on 22 July, for 10 transport aircraft. Adolf Hitler decided to support the Nationalists on 25 or 26 July, but was wary of provoking a wider European war. The Reich Air Travel Ministry concluded that Nationalist forces would need at least 20 Junkers Ju 52s , flown by Luft Hansa pilots, to carry

250-416: A corporatist state. The guards shot Calvo Sotelo without trial. The killing of Calvo Sotelo , a prominent member of Parliament, and the involvement of the police aroused suspicions and strong reactions among the government's opponents on the right. Massive reprisals followed. Although the conservative Nationalist generals had already been in the advanced stages of a planned uprising, the event provided

375-838: A Condor Legion volunteer before his death in 1941. On 26 April 2017, the 80th anniversary of the Guernica bombing, the Madrid City Council announced that it had dismantled the Condor Legion mausoleum at the Cementerio de la Almudena . The mausoleum's facade, removed at the request of the German embassy in Madrid, would be replaced with name plaques for the seven soldiers entombed there. The Spanish Cross ( German : Spanienkreuz ) campaign medal began to be awarded by

500-557: A catalyst and a convenient public justification for their coup, particularly that Spain had to be saved from anarchy by military, rather than democratic, means. The socialists and communists, led by Prieto, demanded for arms to be distributed to the people before the military took over, but the prime minister was hesitant. Franco's plane landed in Gran Canaria on July 14, but since he was based in Tenerife , he would not have made

625-526: A coup was imminent, leftists barricaded the roads on the Canary Islands on 17 July, but Franco avoided capture by taking a tugboat to the airport. On 18 July, Casares Quiroga refused an offer of help from the CNT and UGT and proclaimed that only Spanish Morocco had joined the rebels and that the populace should trust legal methods to deal with the uprising. Handing out weapons would be illegal. The CNT and

750-578: A day were launched during the Nationalist's counter-offensive through the Alfambra Valley. The Junkers Ju 87 A was used for the first time in the advance on Teruel, which was retaken on 22 February. The continued Nationalist offensive on Aragon from April to June 1937, including the Battle of Belchite , involved bombing raids and the legion's ground forces. The legion was switched to focus in

875-578: A firm position. Eventually, Barba and González Carrasco fled to the Nationalist zone. Martínez Monje was reassigned to non-combat positions, and Machinandiarena was detained and tried, and later tried also by the Nationalists. The district commander, Francisco Llano de la Encomienda , was entirely loyal to the Republic. His chief of staff, Manuel Moxó Marcaida, was aware of the plot, and it is likely that he supported it. The key man of Mola's in Barcelona

1000-492: A five-day voyage to Hamburg , Germany. They arrived to crowds, parades and ceremonies celebrating their success, with Hermann Göring and other high-ranking officials in attendance. Many army leaders were hesitant to become involved in the conflict, and resisted a call from the Italian government for a transfer of ground troops to Spain. Luftwaffe involvement was not restricted, and it is commonly thought that its involvement in

1125-619: A group of German U-boats active around Spain. It began on 20 November 1936, with the movement of the U-33 and the U-34 from Wilhelmshaven . Identification marks were obscured, and the whole mission was kept secret. Difficulties in identifying legitimate targets and concerns about discovery limited their operations. During their return to Wilhelmshaven in December, the Republican submarine C-3

1250-490: A high-ranking member of the divisional staff. On July 18 and 19, the conspiracy network remained relatively disorganised, and no resolute action had been taken. Suspicious of his staff, in the early hours of July 20, Salcedo ordered the detention of both Tovar and Gutiérrez. It was the rapid counteraction of Gutiérrez and coronel Martin Alonso that produced the detention of Salcedo, who was later tried and executed. Tovar adhered to

1375-511: A month — continued unresolved. The Legion's materiel was exhausted. Republican forces launched the last major offensive of the war, the Battle of the Ebro , on 24–25 July. Condor Legion reconnaissance units had noticed a troop build-up and warned Nationalist forces, but their warning went unheeded. Although the Republicans gained ground, they failed to gain control of Gandesa ; 422 sorties by

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1500-521: A plan to abandon the offensive on Madrid and concentrate a series of attacks on weaker Republican-controlled areas. Some concluded that motorised troops were less effective than they had been thought, and the inadequacy of the Italians as a fighting force had become apparent to the Germans. The isolated area of Biscay, a predominantly-Basque region of northern Spain, was the most immediate target in what

1625-410: A short break from active duty to receive new aircraft (including Bf 109Es, He 111Es and Js, and Hs 126As), which brought its strength to 96 aircraft — about one-fifth of the Nationalist force. Richthofen returned to Spain in overall command, with Hans Seidemann his chief of staff. That reinforcement may have been the most important intervention by a foreign side in the war, enabling a counterattack after

1750-585: A tank advance at one point. The use of He 51 and Ju 52s and the Legion's anti-aircraft guns in ground roles only partly mitigated the Nationalist defeat in the March Battle of Guadalajara . A joint Italian-German general staff had been set up in January 1937 to advise Franco on war planning. The defeat of a significant Italian force and growing Soviet superiority in tanks and aircraft led the Germans to support

1875-865: Is thought that strategic initiatives were first tested during Luftwaffe involvement in the Spanish Civil War. Legion commander in Spain Wolfram von Richthofen became a Field Marshal during World War II and served in high Luftwaffe positions, specialising in ground attacks. His units spearheaded offensives in Poland , France and the Low Countries and the Balkans , and in Operation Barbarossa . Joint operations were emphasised. Close air support for Nationalist troops, attack bombing of Republican troop concentrations, and strafing were features of

2000-614: The Balearic islands . Emilio Mola was moved from leading the Army of Africa to the post of military commander of Pamplona in Navarre . This allowed Mola to direct the mainland uprising, although the relationship between him and Carlist leaders was problematic. General José Sanjurjo became the figurehead of the operation and helped to come to an agreement with the Carlists. Mola was

2125-604: The Basque Country in the north. Mola was keen to create a sense of fear within Nationalist-controlled areas. There was a massive purge of Freemasons and a large part of the left, including some moderate socialists. When proclaiming martial law in Pamplona, Mola declared: "Re-establishing the principle of authority demands unavoidably that punishments be exemplary in terms of both their severity and

2250-481: The Battle of Jarama , which began with a Nationalist offensive on 6 February 1937. It included German-supplied ground forces, including two batteries of machine guns, a tank division, and the Condor Legion's anti-aircraft guns. Bombing by Republican and Nationalist aircraft, including Ju 52s from the Legion, created a stalemate and demonstrated the inadequacy of Legion aircraft when faced with superior Soviet-made fighters. Von Thoma requested Irish nationalist support for

2375-438: The Battle of Madrid , but its military situation remained poor for them. Under orders from Francisco Franco , German and Italian aircraft began bombing raids on the city. The Germans were keen to observe the effects of bombing and the deliberate burning of civilian sites on a city. Offensives involving German aircraft, and the bombings, were unsuccessful. Growing Republican air superiority became increasingly apparent, particularly

2500-548: The Cortes (parliament) replaced Niceto Alcalá-Zamora with Azaña as president, who however was increasingly isolated from everyday politics, and his replacement as prime minister, Casares Quiroga , was weak. This watershed event inspired the right-wing to give up on parliamentary politics. The monarchist José Calvo Sotelo replaced CEDA's Gil-Robles as the leader of the right in the Cortes. CEDA turned its campaign chest over to

2625-452: The German imperial eagle made it clear that the German position of neutrality in the war and the signing of a non-intervention pact were meaningless, and German forces were actively participating in combat. Steer's report was syndicated worldwide, generating widespread shock, outrage and fear. The Condor Legion also took part in the Battle of Brunete , a Republican offensive designed to take

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2750-545: The Siege of the Alcázar on 27 September 1936. Ultimately, the initial phase of the Siege of Madrid was unsuccessful. Soviet air support for the Republicans was growing, particularly through the supply of Polikarpov aircraft. Warlimont appealed to Germany to increase its support. After Berlin's recognition of Franco's government on 30 September, German efforts in Spain were reorganised and expanded. The existing command structure

2875-584: The Spanish Civil War [REDACTED] José Sanjurjo   † [REDACTED] Emilio Mola [REDACTED] Francisco Franco [REDACTED] Manuel Goded   [REDACTED] The Spanish coup of July 1936 was a military uprising that was intended to overthrow the Spanish Second Republic but precipitated the Spanish Civil War ; Nationalists fought against Republicans for control of Spain. The coup

3000-736: The Spanish Cross in Gold with Swords and Diamonds . In total, eleven men were killed in action, and five others died due to accident or illness. Overtly, the Kriegsmarine was partly used to enforce the Non-Intervention Agreement from interfering in the war. However, the agreement was clearly broken by Germany. As a result, the German pocket battleship Deutschland stood guard over Ceuta to prevent interference from Republican ships while Franco transported troops to

3125-550: The en masse use of tanks by the Nationalists. The Nationalists again focused on capturing northern Spain. The latest models of German test aircraft faced an outdated Basque air force which had some Russian planes. Heavy aerial bombardment by 200 Nationalist, German and Italian planes occurred far behind Basque lines in August 1937 and led to the fall of Santander after the 1 September battle . The battle in Asturias ended with

3250-509: The 30,000-strong army of Africa . The army of Africa was Spain's most professional and capable military force. The government retained less than half the supply of rifles, heavy and light machine guns and artillery pieces. Both sides had few tanks and outdated aircraft, while naval capacity was reasonably even. The defection of many regular officers weakened Republican units of all types. Following elections in November 1933, Spain entered what

3375-558: The 60th anniversary of Operation Rügen, German President Roman Herzog wrote an apology on behalf of the German people and state to survivors of the raid. Herzog said that he wanted to extend "a hand of friendship and reconciliation" on behalf of all German citizens. The sentiment was echoed by members of the German Parliament who, in 1998, legislated the removal of all former Legion members' names from German military bases. The issue surfaced again in 2005 after media reports about

3500-587: The Assault Guards, the Civil Guards and the Carabineers . 50,000 members of the latter stayed loyal to the government. The distribution of weapons brought into sharp focus the challenge faced by the Republican government at the time of the coup. Of 500,000 government-controlled rifles, around 200,000 were retained by the government; 65,000 were issued to the Madrid populace in the days following

3625-573: The Battle of the Ebro. The legion primarily took part in operations against the remaining Republican air force in January and February 1939, with considerable success. After participating in parades in Barcelona and elsewhere and minor duties over Madrid, it was dissolved. The men returned on 26 May, the best aircraft were returned to Germany, and the rest of the equipment was bought by the new Spanish regime. The Condor Legion claimed to have destroyed 320 Republican planes with aircraft (shot down or bombed on

3750-564: The Condor Legion between late 1936 and early 1937, including Henschel Hs 123 dive bombers and prototypes of the Heinkel He 112 and Messerschmitt Bf 109 ; the latter was the most successful. The Heinkel He 111 was added to the bomber fleet, along with the Dornier Do 17 E and F types. Older aircraft were passed on to the Nationalists. By the end of 1936, about 7,000 Condor Legion personnel were in Spain. German forces also operated in

3875-670: The Condor Legion, was secretly involved in Operation Bodden and later played a part in the detection of the Operation Torch invasion fleet. The KdF fleet, including the MV Wilhelm Gustloff and seven other ships, were given secret orders on 20 May 1939 and diverted from their regular pleasure-cruise schedule to arrive in Vigo , Spain. They arrived on 24 May to pick up the legion, and departed on 26 May for

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4000-682: The German High Command, particularly regarding the Luftwaffe: Whatever may have been the importance of the tests of German arms in the Spanish Civil War from tactical, technical and operational points of view, they did not provide the experience that was needed nor lead to the formulation of sound strategic concepts. Shame about the activities of the Condor Legion and its involvement in the bombing of Guernica have re-surfaced in Germany since its 1990s reunification. In 1997,

4125-628: The German authorities in seven classes on 14 April 1939. The clandestine nature of German activities in Spain meant that no awards were made until April 1939, at the end of German involvement in the conflict. The Spanish Cross complemented the Condor Legion Tank Badge , which was approved on 10 July 1939, and cuff titles were issued. Legionnaires also received a campaign medal struck by the Spanish authorities to thank German volunteers for their service. An al Merito En Campaña medal

4250-711: The German troops would train the Nationalists and not engage in active combat. The volunteers were stationed at Tablada Airfield near Seville and, with the support of German air transport, began the airlift of Francisco Franco 's troops to Spain. Germany's involvement grew in September to encompass the Wehrmacht 's other branches. Operation Magic Fire was renamed Operation Guido in November. The Kriegsmarine provided submarines in 24 October, also providing surface ships and co-ordinated movement of German supplies to Spain. German U-boats were dispatched to Spanish waters under

4375-480: The Mediterranean area, but it allowed the anarchists to arm themselves and take control of Barcelona and large swathes of Aragon and Catalonia . In Barcelona, the official government lost control of security, essential services and welfare. However, the anarchists held back from demanding too much political power, which could have had even more severe consequences. General Goded surrendered in Barcelona and

4500-666: The Nachrichtenabteilung 88 signals group. The anti-aircraft guns used by Flakabteilung 88 were the standard German anti-aircraft guns of the time: the 8.8cm Flak 18 , 3.7cm Flak 18 and 2cm Flak 30 . Overall command was given to Hugo Sperrle , with Alexander Holle chief of staff. Scheele became a military attaché in Salamanca . Also operational were two armoured units under the command of Wilhelm Ritter von Thoma , with four Panzer I tanks each. The Nationalists were supported by German and Italian units and material in

4625-415: The Republic. Mola held a meeting between garrison commanders in northern Spain on 15 June, and local authorities, on hearing of that meeting, surrounded it with civil guards. However, Casares ordered their removal and said that he trusted Mola. Mola began serious planning in the spring, but Franco hesitated until early July, which inspired other plotters to refer to him as "Miss Canary Islands 1936". Franco

4750-513: The Republicans had retained control of 10. In regards to the navy, the Nationalists had seized control of just 17 warships, leaving the Republicans with 27. However, the two most modern (both cruisers of the Canarias class ) were in Nationalist hands. Although not ready for service when the war broke out, the quality of Nationalist ships compensated for their lack in numbers. The Spanish Republican Navy in terms of personnel also suffered from

4875-519: The Republicans, said that the attack was part of a prolonged offensive, or the Rentería bridge outside Guernica was the true target. The nature of the operation, however (including its formation and armaments), undermines the credibility of these explanations. Guernica was a clear target of the Condor Legion, rather than the Nationalists. The 11 July offensive against Bilbao was supported by Condor Legion ground units and extensive air operations, proving

5000-667: The Spanish Army of Africa from Spanish Morocco to Spain. This mission became known as Operation Magic Fire ( German : Feuerzauber ). To carry it out, a joint venture was created between the Spanish-German " Spanish-Moroccan Transport Company " (Spanish: Companía Hispano-Marroquí de Transporte , HISMA) dummy corporation and the German Raw Materials and Goods Purchasing Company ( German : Rohstoffe-und-Waren-Einkaufsgesellschaft ). German involvement

5125-571: The Spanish Civil War kept it out of the Western powers' camp: The role played by the Spanish conflict as regards Italy's relations with France and England could be similar to that of the Abyssinian conflict , bringing out clearly the actual, opposing interests of the powers and thus preventing Italy from being drawn into the net of the Western powers and used for their machinations ... All

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5250-503: The Spanish Civil War to distract Benito Mussolini from Hitler's plans to annex Austria ; the authoritarian, Catholic and anti-Nazi Vaterländische Front ran the government of Austria from 1933 to 1938, and had been allied with Mussolini. In 1934, the assassination of Austrian Chancellor Engelbert Dollfuss had given rise to Italian military assistance to prevent a German invasion. A December 1936 communiqué from German ambassador to Rome Ulrich von Hassell said that Italy’s involvement in

5375-635: The Spanish Civil War was a proving ground for troops in World War II. That view is supported by the testimony of Hermann Göring when he was on trial in Nuremberg . Asked about the decision to use the Luftwaffe, Göring said: When the Civil War broke out in Spain, Franco sent a call for help to Germany and asked for support, particularly in the air. One should not forget that Franco with his troops

5500-501: The Spanish mainland. By mid-October, the German North Sea Group around Spain consisted of the pocket battleships Deutschland and Admiral Scheer , the light cruiser Köln , and four torpedo boats . After the Germans claimed that Leipzig had been attacked by an unidentified submarine, it was formally withdrawn from international patrols. Operation Ursula, named after the daughter of Karl Dönitz , involved

5625-486: The UGT proclaimed a general strike, which was in effect a mobilisation. They opened weapons caches, some buried since the 1934 risings. The paramilitary forces were better trained than the army but often waited to see the outcome of militia action before either joining or suppressing the rebellion. Quick action by either the rebels or anarchist militias was often enough to decide the fate of a town. In mid-1936, Peninsular Spain

5750-463: The army plotter Emilio Mola . At the same time, communists quickly took over the ranks of socialist organisations, which frightened the middle classes. Several generals decided that the government had to be replaced to prevent the dissolution of Spain, as they held professional politicians in contempt. Following the election of 18 January, 1936, the Republican government in the winter and spring that year faced numerous challenges, not least of which

5875-477: The assault guards arrested José Calvo Sotelo , a leading Spanish monarchist and a prominent parliamentary conservative; the original target had been Gil Robles, but he could not be found. Calvo Sotelo had protested against agricultural reforms, expropriations and restrictions on the authority of the Catholic Church , which he considered to be Bolshevist and anarchist. He instead advocated the creation of

6000-465: The chief of staff. As had been planned, Cabanellas remained in command of the Zaragoza military district after the successful coup. The district commander, Domingo Batet Mestres , did not take part in the conspiracy and actively tried to prevent any unrest. The interim chief of staff, José Aizpuru Martín-Pinillos ceded his post in early July 1936, to Fernando Moreno Calderón , who was not involved in

6125-606: The chief planner and second in command. José Antonio Primo de Rivera was released from prison in mid-March to restrict the Falange . However, government actions were not as thorough as they might have been since warnings by the director of security and others were not acted upon. On 12 June, Prime Minister Casares Quiroga met General Juan Yagüe , who was accused of masterminding the growing conspiracy in North Africa. Yagüe managed, falsely, to convince Casares of his loyalty to

6250-413: The codename Ursula. In the two weeks after 27 July, German transport moved nearly 2,500 Army of Africa troops to Spain. By 11 October (the mission's official end), 13,500 troops, 127 machine guns and 36 field guns had been transported to mainland Spain from Morocco. Over that period, there was a transition from training and supply missions to overt combat. The operation commander, Alexander von Scheele,

6375-521: The constitution. On 26 September 1934, the minority government was replaced by a cabinet including the RRP and three CEDA members. A UGT general strike in early October 1934 was quickly put down throughout most of Spain. General Francisco Franco was put in informal command of the military effort against the Asturian miners' revolt of 1934 during which striking labourers had occupied several towns and

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6500-541: The coup was a polarization of Spain. The Nationalist area of control contained roughly 11 million of Spain's population of 25 million. The rebels had secured the support of around half of Spain's territorial army, some 60,000 men. In Republican units, however, up to 90% of officers rebelled, defected or merely disappeared, and the loyalty to the Republic of those remaining was put into doubt. Some who disappeared would later turn up in Nationalist ranks. Collectively, this loss of trained officers considerably reduced

6625-468: The coup, until he was detained by units loyal to Goded; his captivity lasted only a few hours. Once the military was overwhelmed by the crowd, Goded and Moxó were arrested and tried, the former executed by firing squad and the latter murdered by the militia. Mut Ramón escaped and made it to the Nationalist zone. Both the district commander, Miguel Cabanellas Ferrer , and his chief of staff, Federico Montaner , were active conspirators. The conspiracy network

6750-487: The coup. Given the sketchy insurgency scheme in La Coruña, Mola's plan did not envision any specific individual as local commander following the coup, a role that was temporarily assumed by Enrique Cánovas Lacruz , who had refused to take the rebel command a few times before he eventually accepted it. Despite the ruthlessness and determination of the supporters of the coup, the rebels failed to take any major cities, with

6875-465: The coup. On July 18, a few conspirators tried to persuade Martínez Monje to join the insurgency, but the commander remained ambiguous, which was the position also adopted by Machinandiarena. Engulfed by doubts, González Carrasco remained rather passive. Many conspiring officers were ready to join the coup once orders were given by divisional command. For about two weeks, the Valencia garrison did not take

7000-421: The critical exception of Seville , which provided a landing point for Franco's African troops. The conservative and Catholic areas of Old Castile and León fell quickly, and in Pamplona , the uprising was celebrated as if it were a festival. The government retained control of Málaga , Jaén and Almería . Cadiz was taken for the rebels with the help of the first troops from the Army of Africa. In Madrid ,

7125-441: The effectiveness of those regular military units still controlled by the government, as a new command structure had to be fashioned within these units. No such problem occurred in Nationalist units. In terms of raw numbers, the Army of Africa, which was entirely under Nationalist control, had 30,000 men and was considered Spain's top fighting force. The rebels were also joined by 30,000 members of Spain's militarized police forces,

7250-474: The fall of Gijon on 21 October. A large amount of ammunition was used by the Legion, including a million machine gun rounds and 2,500 tonnes of bombs. Germany immediately began to ship its industrial production back to Spain. Sperrle argued repeatedly with Faupel against HISMA's monopoly, and Faupel was replaced by Franco. Sperrle also returned to Germany, and was replaced by Hellmuth Volkmann  [ de ] . After disagreements with Volkmann, Von Richthofen

7375-429: The fascist Falange Española , led by José Antonio Primo de Rivera . Open violence occurred in the streets of Spanish cities. Gil-Robles successfully used an anti-strike law to provoke and to break up unions, one at a time. Efforts to remove local councils from socialist control prompted a general strike, which was brutally put down, with the arrest of four deputies and other significant breaches of Articles 55 and 56 of

7500-432: The first air ambulance service for evacuation of wounded combatants. One military innovation thought to have resulted from the conflict is the technical development of the Messerschmitt Bf 109. The V3 to V6 types entered service in Spain from operational trials around January 1937. They were joined by type C aircraft in spring 1938, with type Es first deployed in December of that year. In addition to combat experience, it

7625-462: The further spread of communism in that theater and, secondly, to test my young Luftwaffe at this opportunity in this or that technical respect. It was cited in Western media after German forces left Spain. Dozens of Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighters Heinkel He 111 medium bombers and, after December 1937, at least three Junkers Ju 87 Stuka dive bombers first saw active service in the Condor Legion against Soviet aircraft. The Stuka's first mission in Spain

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7750-438: The garrison. Villa-Abrille was incapacitated and detained, and later tried by the Nationalists and sentenced to prison. At the time of the coup, Cantero was on leave in Algeciras , where he assumed a wait-and-see attitude. He returned to Seville early August; the victorious Nationalists released him from all functions. Neither the district commander, Fernando Martínez Monje , nor his chief of staff, Adolfo Machinandiarena Berga,

7875-412: The government retained control of most of the country including Málaga , Jaén and Almería . Cádiz was taken by the rebels, and General Gonzalo Queipo de Llano managed to secure Seville . In Madrid , the rebels were hemmed into the Montaña barracks, which fell with much bloodshed. On 19 July, the cabinet headed by the newly appointed prime minister José Giral ordered the distribution of weapons to

8000-478: The government. The conspiracy network was headed by the staff officer comandante José Cuesta Monereo , who built an efficient structure, described by some as a "parallel staff". A few days before the coup, Villa-Abrille was invited to join. He declined, but nothing is known of him taking action against the plotters. According to Emilio Mola's plan, Queipo de Llano was to assume command of the rebel Seville troops. On July 18, Cuesta organised Queipo de Llano's takeover of

8125-429: The greatest determination, we will not win. Anyone who helps or hides a communist or a supporter of the Popular Front will be shot. Orders such as these, to instill fear through systematic executions in captured cities, provoked a widespread hostile response. Acts of spontaneous revenge flared up in Loyalist areas with the random murders of perceived fascists, conservatives and Nationalists by excited mobs. The result of

8250-423: The ground) and to have shot down another 52 with anti-aircraft guns. It claimed to have destroyed 60 ships, including Spanish Republican Navy vessels. The legion lost 72 aircraft from hostile action, and another 160 from accidents. The Maritime Reconnaissance Staffel 88 (German: Aufklärungsstaffel See 88 ) was the Condor Legion's maritime unit under the command of Karl Heinz Wolff . Operating independently of

8375-405: The land-based division, it acted against enemy shipping, ports, coastal communications and occasionally inland targets such as bridges. It used floatplanes , starting with the Heinkel He 60 , which began operating at Cadiz in October 1936. Missions started as reconnaissance, but after the move from Cadiz to Melilla in Spanish Morocco in December 1936, the focus shifted to attacks on shipping. It

8500-467: The leading role. Pérez-Peñamaria pretended to be loyal. Once the troops of Fanjul had been defeated, the 1st Division was officially dissolved. Cabanellas and Pérez-Peñamaria were detained; Pérez-Peñamaria was tried for negligence and later tried also by the Nationalists. Villegas was also arrested and was soon executed by the Republican militia. The district commander, José Fernández Villa-Abrille , and his chief of staff, Juan Cantero Ortega, were loyal to

8625-447: The legion (with around 70 aircraft operational) had a considerable effect. The rest of the battle saw a series of artillery attacks or air strikes, followed by a Nationalist ground advance. Tensions in Czechoslovakia and a pilot shortage in Germany led to the return of 250 pilots from the legion, about half of whom were bomber crews. Although trained Spaniards made up some of the shortfall, Volkmann complained to central command in Berlin and

8750-446: The legion's worth to the Nationalist cause. The first English-language media reports of the destruction of Guernica appeared two days after the attack. George Steer , a reporter for The Times who was covering the Spanish Civil War from inside the country, wrote the first full account. Steer's reporting set the tone for much of the subsequent reportage , noting clear German complicity in the action. Three small bomb cases stamped with

8875-465: The more clearly will Italy recognize the advisability of confronting the Western powers shoulder to shoulder with Germany. The Condor Legion originally consisted of the Kampfgruppe 88  [ de ] with three squadrons of Ju 52 bombers and the Jagdgruppe 88 , with three squadrons of Heinkel He 51 fighters; the reconnaissance Aufklärungsgruppe 88 supplemented by the Aufklärungsgruppe See 88, an anti-aircraft group (the Flakabteilung 88); and

9000-471: The north, towards the Segre River , before moving south again after Nationalist successes. It moved its headquarters to Benicarló ; single-engine planes operated from nearby airfields, and twin-engine planes from Zaragoza . Hitler's words to his colleagues belied a change in attitude about the war in Germany; a quick victory was undesirable, and a continuation of the war would be preferable. German policy

9125-530: The officer who certified his death as an accident was not a conspirator and remained loyal to the Republic during the Civil War. The uprising was intended for 18 July, at 5 a.m. in Morocco; most garrisons in Spain were supposed to rise one day later. The rising was intended to be a swift coup d'état , but the government retained control of most of the country. Rebel control in Spanish Morocco

9250-485: The plane without the death of General Amado Balmes , the military commander in Gran Canaria, who was killed in a shooting on July 16. Whether his death was an accident, suicide or murder is unknown: Balmes reportedly shot himself in the stomach by accident and died shortly after. Some conspiracy theories suggest that he was murdered, but he would have had enough time to denounce his murderers if they had existed, and

9375-464: The plot, but Aizpuru went on as the chief plotter. His network was so extensive that Mola, formally Batet's subordinate as commander of the Pamplona military region, was confident the 6th Division would be firmly with the rebels. On July 19, they took over critical posts of command. Batet firmly refused to join and was detained, tried and executed. Moreno joined in at the last minute after he faced resolute action of junior officers. As planned by Mola, after

9500-455: The plotters took into account a possible failure. The district commander General Virgilio Cabanellas Ferrer was aware of the conspiracy but did not intend to join the coup. He was dismissed in the early hours of July 18 and imprisoned until 1939, replaced with Luis Castello Pantoja , at the time in Badajoz . Initially, José Miaja acted as a caretaker, but early in the morning of July 19 he

9625-677: The pressure off northern Spain where fighting was ongoing. The legion was sent from the north to reinforce a broken line. There were repeated raids by bombers and by fighters based in Salamanca on Republican armoured vehicles and, later, defensive positions. Despite Nationalist fears, Republican aircraft were ineffective compared with German aircraft; the Messerschmitt Bf 109 was superior to the I-15 and I-16 models used by Republican forces. The legion lost eight aircraft, but claimed 18 victories. German tactics improved after Brunete, particularly

9750-476: The provincial capital. Around 30,000 workers had been called to arms in ten days. Franco's men, some brought in from Spain's army of Africa , acted horrifically by killing men, women and children and carrying out summary executions when the main cities of Asturias were retaken. About 1,000 workers and about 250 government soldiers were killed, which marked the effective end of the republic. Months of retaliation and repression by both sides followed, and torture

9875-458: The rebels were hemmed into the Montaña barracks . The barracks fell the next day with much bloodshed. Republican leader Santiago Casares Quiroga was replaced by José Giral , who ordered the distribution of weapons among the civilian population. This facilitated the defeat of the army insurrection in the main industrial centres, including Madrid, Barcelona , Valencia and the other main cities in

10000-478: The rebels. In line with initial planning, the command of the Valladolid district was assumed by Andrés Saliquet . The district commander, Enrique Salcedo Molinuevo , was not aware of the conspiracy. The chief of staff, Luis Tovar Figueras, maintained sporadic and loose contacts with UME, but he neither took part in the conspiracy nor took any action against it. Key among the plotters was Fermín Gutiérrez Soto,

10125-488: The role of pilot Werner Mölders , who had volunteered to serve in Spain. Although he was not involved in the bombing of Guernica, it was decided by German Defence Minister Peter Struck that Mölders' name would be removed from the barracks at Visselhoevede and from association with Luftwaffe Fighter Wing 74 ( Jagdgeschwader 74 ) based in Neuburg an der Donau . Until then, it had not been established that Mölders had flown as

10250-593: The same problems as the Spanish Republican Army : many officers had defected to the Nationalists, or had been killed after trying to do so. By contrast, the concerns of a Republican officer that such a coup was imminent caused two-thirds of the available air capability to be retained by the Republican government. However, the whole of the air service was outdated; it was vulnerable during flight and susceptible to mechanical problems. German rearmament Too Many Requests If you report this error to

10375-442: The scheduled time, Spanish Morocco had already been secured, as legionnaires moved into working-class areas and shot trade unionists. The army commander in eastern Morocco, General Manuel Romerales, and other senior officers loyal to the Republic were executed. Little resistance was encountered; in total, 189 people were shot by the rebels. Goded and Franco immediately took control of the islands to which they were assigned. Warned that

10500-403: The speed with which they will be carried out, without doubt or hesitation. In a subsequent meeting with mayors of the province of Navarre, he went even further: It is necessary to spread terror. We have to create the impression of mastery, eliminating without scruples or hesitation all those who do not think as we do. There can be no cowardice. If we vacillate one moment and fail to proceed with

10625-548: The strength of the Soviet Polikarpov I-15 and I-16 aircraft, but historian Hugh Thomas described their armaments as "primitive". Faupel advocated the creation of a single German unit of 15,000 to 30,000 men in November and December 1936, which he believed would be enough to turn the tide of the war toward the Nationalists. Hans-Heinrich Dieckhoff said that this would be insufficient, and larger measures could provoke Spanish wrath. New aircraft were sent to

10750-498: The successful coup the command of Burgos military district and the 6. Division was assumed by Fidel Dávila Arrondo . The district commander General Nicolás Molero Lobo was not involved in the plot. The key person among the conspirators was the chief of staff, Anselmo López-Maristany, but in June he was posted to Madrid, and he kept co-ordinating the plot in Valladolid from the capital. His successor as chief of staff, Juan Quero Orozco,

10875-519: The town of Guernica , which was bombed on 26 April in one of the war's most controversial attacks. In Operation Rügen , waves of Ju 52 and He 111 planes bombed and strafed targets in Guernica . The number of casualties is controversial, with perhaps 200 or 300 people killed; the Basques reported 1,654 dead and 889 wounded. Several explanations were given by the Nationalists, who blamed the attack on

11000-415: The unfolding rebellion. The conspiracy relied mostly on mid-range staff and line officers; they were expected to take control of the garrisons and either overpower their seniors or persuade them to join. In some districts, like Zaragoza or Valladolid, the conspiracy network was well developed, and Emilio Mola was confident of success. In other districts, like Valencia or La Coruña, the network was sketchy, and

11125-464: The unions. With the defeat of the rebels in Madrid, Barcelona , and Valencia , anarchists took control of large parts of Aragon and Catalonia . The rebel General Goded surrendered in Barcelona and was later sentenced to death and executed. The rebels secured the support of around half of the Spanish Army , which totalled about 66,000 men, including large numbers who were on leave, as well as

11250-411: The uprising. Of these, only 7,000 were usable; worse, 70,000 or so rifles were lost following early Nationalist advances in the war. Republicans controlled only about a third of both heavy and light machine guns; of 1,007 artillery pieces, 387 were in Republican hands, the remainder in those of the rebel Nationalists. The Spanish Army had, before the coup, just 18 tanks of sufficiently modern design; here

11375-550: The war. The legion worked to maximise the fighting ability of the Nationalist air force and troops, the Italian CTV , and pilots from the Aviazione Legionaria (Legionary Air Force). German air ace Adolf Galland said that in focusing after World War II on lessons learned by the Germans from the conflict in Spain, the value of the lessons was exaggerated. Galland believed that the wrong conclusions were drawn by

11500-474: Was Francisco Mut Ramón, a top member of the divisional staff who was supported by some local commanders. Mola's plan envisioned that the command of the rebellious Barcelona troops be assumed by Manuel González Carrasco, but shortly before the coup, he was reassigned to Valencia and replaced by Manuel Goded . The latter arrived in Barcelona when the rebellion was already underway; Moxó immediately accepted his command. Llano de la Encomienda actively worked to suppress

11625-522: Was a key player because of his prestige as a former director of the military academy, and as the man who suppressed the socialist uprising of 1934. He was well respected in the Spanish Moroccan army , Spain's strongest military force. He wrote a cryptic letter to Casares on 23 June which suggested that the military was disloyal but could be restrained if he were put in charge. Casares did nothing, and failed to arrest or to buy off Franco. Franco

11750-654: Was abandoned in March 1937, a series of attacks on weaker Republican-controlled areas was supported by the Condor Legion. Despite prolonging the Civil War, it helped distract the other Western powers from Hitler's ambitions in Central Europe . The offensive on Biscay , a mining and industrial centre, helped to fuel German industry. In a speech at Würzburg on 27 June 1937, Hitler said that he supported Franco to gain control of Spanish ore. Discussions about German objectives for intervention took place in January 1937. Germany

11875-514: Was again moved in February 1937 to Málaga , which was newly captured, and then to Majorca when Málaga proved unsuitable. In June, operations began to be expanded to allow attacks on all Republican ports as long as British ships were not present. There were 10 ships attacked in the second half of 1937, but the Norwegian torpedoes that were used proved ineffective, and strafing or bombing targets

12000-511: Was all but certain. The 30,000-strong Army of Africa was the professional elite of the Spanish Army. Many of its soldiers acted as mercenaries, and the vast majority of officers backed the rebel cause. The regulares , troops recruited from the local tribes, were predominantly Muslim and were told that the Republic wished to abolish Allah . The plan was discovered in Morocco during 17 July, which prompted it to be enacted immediately. By

12125-521: Was appointed the minister of war in the Martínez Barrio government, and his caretaker role was taken over by Manuel Cardenal Dominicis . Castello arrived in Madrid on July 19 but discovered he had just been appointed minister of war in the new Giral government. The same day Celestino García Antúnez was nominated the new district commander; by this time fighting was already in full swing. The divisional chief of staff, Colonel Luis Pérez-Peñamaría,

12250-567: Was awarded to the legion as a whole, and added to its battle flag. The legion assembled for an address by Hitler on 6 June 1939 and for a parade as part of the 20 April 1939 celebrations of Hitler's 50th birthday. Its activities were commemorated in a special issue of Der Adler , the Luftwaffe's propaganda magazine, which was circulated in Spain and the United States. [REDACTED] Media related to Legion Condor at Wikimedia Commons Spanish coup of July 1936 Start of

12375-487: Was balancing itself between the threat posed by leftist unions, the counter for which might prove to be the continued support of the right-leaning military. As a consequence, Azana had undertaken reassignment rather than dismissal of suspect generals from their posts. Franco was relieved as chief of staff and transferred to command the Canary Islands . Goded was replaced as Inspector General and made general of

12500-485: Was called by the left-wing parties the " black biennium " ( Spanish : bienio negro ). Both Carlists and Alfonsist monarchists continued to prepare and received the backing of Benito Mussolini . José-María Gil-Robles , the leader of the moderate-right Spanish Confederation of Autonomous Rights (CEDA), supported a centrist Radical Republican Party minority government and controlled his party's more radical youth wing . Monarchists, however, turned their attention to

12625-614: Was called the War in the North . It was largely a Nationalist and Italian offensive, supported by a consistently re-equipping Condor Legion. The terrain was favourable, with planes coming over a range of mountains to the south which masked their entrance. Sperrle remained in Salamanca; Wolfram von Richthofen replaced Holle in January as deputy, and was in actual command. Since the Basque air force

12750-426: Was divided into eight military districts, each home to one division. Most senior staff forming the local command layer were not involved in the conspiracy. Out of eight district commanders and commanders of respective divisions at the same time, there was only one engaged in the plot and adhered to the coup. Out of eight district chiefs of staff, there were three officers involved in the conspiracy, and three more joined

12875-531: Was due to be assigned control of Morocco in the new regime and largely sidelined. On July 5, an aircraft was chartered to take Franco from the Canary Islands to Morocco; it arrived on July 14. On 12 July 1936 in Madrid, a member of the Falange, Jorge Bardina, murdered lieutenant José Castillo of the assault guards police force. Castillo was a member of the Socialist Party. The next day, members of

13000-413: Was firm, and Mola was confident that the Zaragoza troops would help the coup. Though the conspiracy network was not extensive, the fact that both key military men were involved in the plot led to almost all troops in the district obeying the orders of the rebellious command. A few loyalist officers were quickly overwhelmed by the rebels. Despite his age Cabanellas led the action, and Montaner supported him as

13125-401: Was hidden from the foreign and the economic ministries, and was funded with three million Reichsmarks . The organisation and the recruitment of German volunteers was also kept secret. The first contingent (86 men) left Germany on 1 August 1936. Unaware of their destination, they were accompanied by six biplane fighters, anti-aircraft guns and about 100 tons of other supplies. Many believed that

13250-713: Was in February 1938, and each aircraft played a major role early in World War II. The Germans realised that biplane fighters were quickly becoming less effective than newer monoplane designs. The Heinkel He 51 fighter, after many losses during the first twelve months of the war, was switched to a ground-attack role and later saw service as a trainer. The Condor Legion included ground-combat units. Panzer crews operating Panzer I light tanks were commanded by Wilhelm Ritter von Thoma. The Germans also tested small numbers of 88 mm Flak 18 anti-aircraft artillery guns to destroy Republican tanks, fortifications and aircraft with direct fire . German involvement in Spain spurred development of

13375-417: Was involved in the plot. The local conspiracy junta missed officers serving in critical positions. The most important of these officers was Bartolomé Barba Hernández , but he excelled in ensuring civilian, rather than military, support. General Manuel González Carrasco , who was initially marked to lead the rebels, was reassigned by Mola to lead the Barcelona rising and was reassigned to Valencia shortly before

13500-551: Was keen to avoid prompting a wider European war, which was a risk if it committed further resources to Spain. There was no consensus among German officials; Ernst von Weizsäcker of the German Foreign Office suggested that it was a matter of graceful withdrawal, and Göring said that Germany would never recognise a "red Spain". A joint Italian–German agreement said that the last shipments would be made no later than early February. It has been speculated that Hitler used

13625-565: Was later condemned to death, although he had broadcast a message explaining his captivity over the radio, at the request of the authorities. Meanwhile, the Army of Africa crossed the Gibraltar Strait , using Junkers Ju 52 transport planes provided by Nazi Germany , without any loyalist Air Force interference owing to the confusion on the Spanish Republican side. The massive airlift of troops from Spanish Morocco

13750-557: Was limited, fighter aircraft were used in ground-attack roles rather than air-to-air combat. The Legion's air force initially attacked the towns of Otxandio and Durango . Durango had no anti-aircraft defence, and only a few other defences. According to the Basques, 250 civilians died there on 31 March (including a priest, nuns and the congregation at a church ceremony). The Germans, because of their air raids, were hated. The Basque ground forces were in full retreat towards Bilbao through

13875-586: Was made chief of staff. Contested under violent circumstances, the 1936 general election was narrowly won by a grouping of left-wing parties, the Popular Front , which defeated the Nationalist group by less than 1% of the vote. As a consequence, the Nationalists began to conspire to overthrow the Republic, rather than take control of it. The government was weak, Manuel Azaña led a minority government, and reconciliation would have been an enormous task. Acts of violence and reprisals spiralled. In April,

14000-431: Was not involved in the plot and was not aware of it unfolding. On the evening of July 18, a group of senior officers from Madrid, including Saliquet, Uzquiano, López-Maristany and Martín-Montalvo, led the takeover of the military structures, which involved a shootout with men of Molero, who was eventually detained. Later, Molero was tried by the Nationalists and sentenced to prison. Quero remained passive and eventually joined

14125-480: Was organized for 18 July 1936, although it started the previous day in Spanish Morocco . Instead of resulting in a prompt transfer of power, the coup split control of the Spanish military and territory roughly in half. The resulting civil war ultimately led to the establishment of a nationalist regime under Francisco Franco , who became ruler of Spain as caudillo . The rising was intended to be swift, but

14250-405: Was recalled in September. During the 113-day battle, 10 legion aircraft were lost (some by accident) and 14 were badly damaged. The legion claimed about 100 Republican aircraft, one-third of those lost; five aircrew were killed, and six captured. Aid from Germany temporarily halted in mid-September. Germany and Nationalist Spain settled the issue of German interests in Spanish mines. The Legion took

14375-471: Was replaced by Walter Warlimont . In September, 86 tons of bombs, 40 Panzer I tanks and 122 personnel were deployed in Spain. They were accompanied by 108 aircraft from July to October, divided between aircraft for the Nationalist faction and planes for German volunteers in Spain. German air crews supported the August-to-October 1936 Nationalist advance on Madrid , and the successful relief of

14500-518: Was replaced with Hermann Plocher in early 1938. After the next major campaigns (Madrid and Barcelona ), the Condor Legion was moved to Soria and began a week of strikes against Republican airfields. This move was halted by the Republican advance on Teruel and ensuing battle . The legion's land and air forces were deployed in Bronchales . Poor weather resulted in few flights, and the town fell to Republican forces on 6 January. Up to 100 sorties

14625-614: Was replaced with the Winterübung Rügen ; military units already in Spain were formed into a new legion, which was briefly called the Iron Rations ( German : Eiserne Rationen ) and the Iron Legion ( German : Eiserne Legion ) before Hermann Göring renamed it the Condor Legion ( German : Legion Condor ). The first German chargé d'affaires to Franco's government, General Wilhelm Faupel , arrived in November and

14750-523: Was stationed in Africa and that he could not get the troops across, as the fleet was in the hands of the Communists, or, as they called themselves at the time, the competent Revolutionary Government in Spain. The decisive factor was, first of all, to get his troops over to Spain. The Führer thought the matter over. I urged him to give support [to Franco] under all circumstances, firstly, in order to prevent

14875-464: Was sunk; the Germans claimed that the sinking resulted a torpedo fired by U-34, although the Republican enquiry claimed its loss to have been caused by an internal explosion. Their submarines' return marked the official end of Operation Ursula. However, further submarines seem to have been sent in mid-1937, but details of the operation are not known (although six are believed to have been involved). The German Abwehr intelligence service, independent of

15000-486: Was supportive of the plot but did not organise it. The rebel scheme was managed by other Madrid-based generals, especially Rafael Villegas who featured as head of the rebellious Madrid troops, and Joaquín Fanjul . Miaja was probably sounded on his access, but he either declined or remained ambiguous. On July 18 Villegas cited some difficulties and remained passive; it was Fanjul who moved to the Montaña barracks and assumed

15125-659: Was the world's first long-range combat airlift and allowed Franco's troops to join General Queipo de Llano's forces in Seville. Their quick movement allowed them to meet General Emilio Mola 's Northern Army and secure most of northern and northwestern Spain, as well as central and western Andalusia . The Republican Government was left controlling almost all of the Eastern Spanish coast and the central area around Madrid, as well as Asturias , Cantabria and part of

15250-431: Was to prevent a Republican defeat. Casualties were beginning to mount for the Legion and – combined with a resurgence in Republican air activity – the Nationalist advance stalled, perhaps because of the reluctance of German commanders to supply reinforcements in light of the emerging Czechoslovak crisis . Debates about the operation's rising cost to the Germans — then about 10 million Reichsmarks

15375-433: Was told not to interfere in military matters. In the years after the Spanish Civil War, Hitler gave several possible motives for German involvement. They included providing distraction from German rearmament , preventing the spread of communism to Western Europe , creating a state friendly to Germany to disrupt Britain and France, and creating possibilities for economic expansion. Although the Nationalist offensive on Madrid

15500-474: Was used instead. The arrival of Martin Harlinghausen (known as "Iron Gustav") saw operations expand, and operations targeted Alicante , Almería , Barcelona and Cartagena . As naval activity declined, inland targets became more numerous, and night missions began. Activities in support of ground forces became the main focus of the unit until the end of hostilities. Both Wolff and Harlinghausen received

15625-435: Was used on political prisoners. Bombings, shootings and political and religious killings were frequent in the streets. Political parties created armed militias. In 1935, a new government under prime minister Alejandro Lerroux saw CEDA increasing its share of ministries to five, with Gil-Roble becoming minister of war. The military was purged of left-wing members and reformed. Those loyal to Gil-Robles were promoted, and Franco

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