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114-475: It would become especially renowned for providing desperately needed support in the darkest hours of the Republican defense of Madrid on 8 November 1936, when, with great losses, it helped repulse a major assault by veteran Nationalist troops, buying time for more Republican troops to be brought into the city. It was originally mustered from international volunteers at Albacete , Spain, in mid-October 1936 as

228-477: A /æ/ turned into ī /iː/ due to the phonetic phenomenon called imāla . In the meantime, the city's official name had been changed to Ḥimṣ al-Andalus ( حمص الأندلس ), in reference to the city of Homs in modern Syria, the jund of which Seville had been assigned to upon the Umayyad conquest; "Ḥimṣ al-Andalus" remained a customary and affectionate name for the city during the whole period throughout

342-476: A rebus signifying the Spanish No me ha dejado , meaning "She [Seville] has not abandoned me". The phrase, pronounced with synalepha as [no ma ðeˈxaðo] no-madeja-do, is written with an eight in the middle representing the word madeja [maˈðexa] "skein [of wool]". Legend states that the title was given by King Alfonso X , who was resident in the city's Alcázar and supported by

456-584: 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

570-475: A car park and seen as a dead spot between more popular tourist destinations in the city. The Metropol Parasol was completed in March 2011, costing just over €102 million in total, more than twice as much as originally planned. Constructed from crossed wooden beams, Las Setas is said to be the largest timber-framed structure in the world. Seville has an area of 141 km (54 sq mi), according to

684-585: 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

798-565: 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

912-591: A large and well-preserved historical centre. The mythological founder of the city is Hercules ( Heracles ), commonly identified with the Phoenician god Melqart , who the myth says sailed through the Strait of Gibraltar to the Atlantic, and founded trading posts at the current sites of Cádiz and of Seville. The original core of the city, in the neighbourhood of the present-day street, Cuesta del Rosario, dates to

1026-765: A million people at the fairgrounds. He visited the city again on 13 June 1993, for the International Eucharistic Congress. In 1992, coinciding with the fifth centenary of the Discovery of the Americas , the Universal Exposition was held for six months in Seville, on the occasion of which the local communications network and urban infrastructure was greatly improved under a 1987 PGOU plan launched by Mayor Manuel del Valle :

1140-549: A much more continental climate than the nearest port cities, Cádiz and Huelva . Its distance from the sea makes summers in Sevilla much hotter than along the coastline. Seville's climate is a very hot-summer Mediterranean climate ( Köppen climate classification Csa , Trewartha +Universal Thermal Scale: Cshl ), featuring very hot, long, dry summers and mild winters with moderate rainfall. Seville has an annual average of 19.2 °C (67 °F). The annual average temperature

1254-618: A new proposal, it refers to the god Baal . During Roman rule , the name was Latinised as Hispal and later as Hispalis . After the Umayyad invasion, this name remained in use among the Mozarabs , being adapted into Arabic as Išbīliya ( إشبيلية ): since the /p/ phoneme does not exist in Arabic, it was replaced by /b/; the Latin place-name suffix -is was Arabized as -iya , and

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1368-531: 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,

1482-447: 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

1596-728: 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

1710-526: A study of experts concluded the total number of operas set in Seville is 153. Among the composers who fell in love with the city are Beethoven ( Fidelio ), Mozart ( The Marriage of Figaro and Don Giovanni ), Rossini ( The Barber of Seville ), Donizetti ( La favorite ), and Bizet ( Carmen ). The first newspaper in Spain outside of Madrid was Seville's Hebdomario útil de Seville , which began publication in 1758. Between 1825 and 1833, Melchor Cano acted as chief architect in Seville; most of

1824-521: 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

1938-624: Is 25.4 °C (78 °F) during the day and 13.0 °C (55 °F) at night. Seville is located in the Guadalquivir Valley , which is often referred to as "the frying pan of Spain", as it features the hottest cities in the country. Seville is the warmest city in Continental Europe . It is also the hottest major metropolitan area in Europe, with summer average high temperatures of above 35 °C (95 °F) and

2052-680: Is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville . It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir , in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula . Seville has a municipal population of about 701,000 as of 2022 , and a metropolitan population of about 1.5 million, making it the largest city in Andalusia, the fourth-largest city in Spain and

2166-819: The 25th most populous municipality in the European Union . Its old town , with an area of 4 square kilometres (2 sq mi), contains a UNESCO World Heritage Site comprising three buildings: the Alcázar palace complex , the Cathedral and the General Archive of the Indies . The Seville harbour, located about 80 kilometres (50 miles) from the Atlantic Ocean, is the only river port in Spain. The capital of Andalusia features hot temperatures in

2280-664: The Alhambra Decree all Jews were forced to convert to Catholicism or be exiled (expelled) from Spain. Following the Columbian exploration of the New World , Seville was chosen as headquarters of the Casa de Contratación in 1503, which was the decisive development for Seville becoming the port and gateway to the Indies. Unlike other harbors, reaching the port of Seville required sailing about 80 kilometres (50 mi) up

2394-913: The Battle of Brunete , is referenced in Ernest Hemingway's 1940 novel For Whom The Bell Tolls multiple times. Władysław Broniewski penned the poem Cześć i dynamit about the Siege of Madrid, followed by No pasarán! as the fall of the city neared. The latter poem, first published in the Warsaw weekly Czarno na Białem , described graffiti written by dying Republican soldiers as a beacon of hope against fascism. 40°25′08″N 3°41′31″W  /  40.41889°N 3.69194°W  / 40.41889; -3.69194 Seville Seville ( / s ə ˈ v ɪ l / sə- VIL ; Spanish : Sevilla , pronounced [seˈβiʎa] )

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2508-712: The Bay of Cádiz – to which were eventually transferred control of both the fleets of the Indies (1680) and the Casa de Contratación (1717). The 20th century in Seville saw the tribulations of the Spanish Civil War , decisive cultural milestones such as the Ibero-American Exposition of 1929 and Expo '92 , and the city's election as the capital of the Autonomous Community of Andalusia . According to Manuel Pellicer Catalán,

2622-746: The Centenario Bridge , both crossing over the Guadalquivir, also were built for the occasion. Some of the installations remaining at the site after the exposition were converted into the Scientific and Technological Park Cartuja 93 . In 2004 the Metropol Parasol project, commonly known as Las Setas ('The Mushrooms'), due to the appearance of the structure, was launched to revitalise the Plaza de la Encarnación , for years used as

2736-521: 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

2850-668: The Crown of Castile in 1248. Owing to its role as gateway of the Spanish Empire 's trans-atlantic trade, managed from the Casa de Contratación , Seville became one of the largest cities in Western Europe in the 16th century. Following a deterioration in drought conditions in the Guadalquivir, the American trade gradually moved away from the city of Seville, in favour initially of downstream-dependent berths and eventually of

2964-707: The IX Brigada Movíl , with four battalions: It was redesignated the 'XI "Hans Beimler" International Brigade' on 22 October 1936, with General "Kléber" ( Manfred Stern ) commanding. The original battalions were renamed as follows: Shortly after the formation of XII International Brigade in November, 1936, its Thälmann Battalion and the Garibaldi Battalion (which had no rifles) swapped places. Other units that formed part of XI International Brigade at other times were: The brigade fought in

3078-762: The Mudéjar and Gothic styles—such as the Seville Cathedral, built during the 15th century with Gothic architecture . Other Moorish buildings were converted into Catholic edifices, as was customary of the Catholic Church during the Reconquista . The Moors' Palace became the Castilian royal residence, and during Pedro I 's rule it was replaced by the Alcázar (the upper levels are still used by

3192-452: The Plaza de Armas railway station was inaugurated. The Museum of Fine Arts (Museo de Bellas Artes de Sevilla) opened in 1904. In 1929 the city hosted the Ibero-American Exposition , which accelerated the southern expansion of the city and created new public spaces such as the Parque de María Luisa (Maria Luisa Park) and the adjoining Plaza de España . Not long before the opening,

3306-895: 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

3420-474: 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

3534-551: 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

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3648-572: The Spanish royal family as the official Seville residence). In the 1391 pogrom against the Jews, believed to having been instigated by the Archdeacon Ferrant Martínez , all the synagogues in Seville were converted to churches (renamed Santa María la Blanca, San Bartolomé, Santa Cruz, and Convento Madre de Dios). The Jewish quarter's land and shops (which were located in modern-day Santa Cruz neighbourhood ) were appropriated by

3762-621: The 18th century Charles III promoted Seville's industries. Construction of the Real Fábrica de Tabacos (Royal Tobacco Factory) began in 1728. It was the second-largest building in Spain, after the royal residence El Escorial . Since the 1950s it has been the seat of the rectorate (administration) of the University of Seville , as well as its Schools of Law, Philology (language/letters), Geography, and History. More operas have been set in Seville than in any other city of Europe. In 2012,

3876-592: The 18th century, Seville's international importance was in steep decline, after the monopoly port for the trade to the Americas was relocated to Cádiz. Cádiz had gifted the Bourbon claimant to the throne in the War of the Spanish Succession funding that helped it pursue the war. The reward to Cádiz was the rights of the monopoly port. The House of Trade (which registered ships, cargoes, and persons travelling to

3990-553: The 20th anniversary of the end of the war, in September 1959, a further 112 were awarded. The medal is silver with a relief portrait of Hans Beimler on one side, and the three-pointed star of the International Brigades on the reverse, with the inscription "KAMPFER FVR SPANIENS FREIHEIT 1936-1939" , Fighters for Spanish Liberty (1936–1939) . Siege of Madrid Nationalist victory The siege of Madrid

4104-405: 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

4218-713: The 8th century BC, when Seville was on an island in the Guadalquivir . Archaeological excavations in 1999 found anthropic remains under the north wall of the Real Alcázar dating to the 8th–7th century BC. The town was called Hisbaal by the Phoenicians and by the Tartessians, the indigenous pre-Roman Iberian people of Tartessos , who controlled the Guadalquivir Valley at the time. The city

4332-414: The Astilleros shipyards, Hispano Aviación, etc. Several of the movement's leaders were imprisoned in November 1973. On 3 April 1979 Spain held its first democratic municipal elections after the end of Franco's dictatorship; councillors representing four different political parties were elected in Seville. On 5 November 1982, Pope John Paul II arrived in Seville to officiate at a Mass before more than half

4446-422: 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

4560-537: 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

4674-421: 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,

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4788-453: 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

4902-405: The House of Trade, were consolidated in a single repository. One scholar argues that the establishment of the Archive of the Indies marks a decisive moment in Spain's history, with the 18th c. Bourbon monarchy conceiving of its overseas territories as colonies of the metropole rather than entities under the jurisdiction of the crown on an equal basis as the kingdoms in the Iberian peninsula. During

5016-542: 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

5130-412: 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

5244-429: 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

5358-433: The Muslim Arab world, being referred to for example in the encyclopedia of Yaqut al-Hamawi or in Abu al-Baqa ar-Rundi 's Ritha' al-Andalus . The city is sometimes referred to as the "Pearl of Andalusia". The inhabitants of the city are known as sevillanos (feminine form: sevillanas ) or hispalenses , after the Roman name of the city. NO8DO is the official motto of Seville, popularly believed to be

5472-462: The National Topographic Map (Mapa Topográfico Nacional) series from the Instituto Geográfico Nacional – Centro Nacional de Información Geográfica , the country's civilian survey organisation (pages 984, 985 and 1002). The city is situated in the fertile valley of the River Guadalquivir. The average height above sea level is 7 metres (23 feet). Most of the city is on the east side of the river, while Triana , La Cartuja and Los Remedios are on

5586-442: 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

5700-415: 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

5814-422: 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

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5928-417: 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

6042-510: The New World), and the large scale overseas commercial enterprises of the merchant guild relocated to Cádiz. The House of Trade had been housed in rented quarters, but the purpose-built headquarters of the merchant guild was left vacant. During the monarchy of Charles III , the Archive of the Indies was established in Seville in the old headquarters of the merchant guild. Documents pertaining to Spain's overseas empire were moved there from existing archival repositories, including Simancas and

6156-416: 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

6270-414: 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

6384-477: The River Guadalquivir. The choice of Seville was made in spite of the difficulties for navigation in the Guadalquivir stemming from the increasing tonnage of ships as a result of the relentless drive to make maritime transport cheaper during the late Middle Ages. Nevertheless, technical suitability issues notwithstanding, the choice was still reasonable in the sense that Seville had become the largest demographic, economic and financial centre of Christian Andalusia in

6498-446: The SE-30 ring road around the city was completed and new highways were constructed; the new Seville-Santa Justa railway station had opened in 1991, while the Spanish High-Speed Rail system, the Alta Velocidad Española (AVE), began to operate between Madrid-Seville. The Seville Airport was expanded with a new terminal building designed by the architect Rafael Moneo , and various other improvements were made. The Alamillo Bridge and

6612-442: 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

6726-402: The Spanish government began a modernisation of the city in order to prepare for the expected crowds by erecting new hotels and widening the mediaeval streets to allow for the movement of automobiles. Seville fell very quickly at the beginning of the Spanish Civil War in 1936. General Queipo de Llano carried out a coup within the city, quickly capturing the city centre. Radio Seville opposed

6840-482: 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

6954-500: The Visigothic population who had fled to Beja had returned to Seville once Musa left for Mérida. The seat of the Wali of Al-Andalus (administrative division of the Umayyad Caliphate ) was thus established in the city until 716, when the capital of Al-Andalus was relocated to Córdoba . Seville ( Ishbīliya ) was sacked by Vikings in the mid-9th century. After Vikings arrived by 25 September 844, Seville fell to invaders on 1 October, and they stood for 40 days before they fled from

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7068-427: 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

7182-562: 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

7296-400: The ancient name was Spal , and it meant "lowland" in the Phoenician language ( cognate to the Hebrew Shfela and the Arabic Asfal أسفل ). It is ultimately from Phoenician sefela , meaning "plain, valley." Hisbaal is another old name for Seville. It appears to have originated during the Phoenician colonisation of the Tartessian culture in south-western Iberia, and according to

7410-441: 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

7524-441: The battles of Madrid , the Corunna Road , Jarama , Guadalajara , Brunete , Belchite , Teruel , and the Ebro. After the death of Hans Beimler the energetic Giuseppe Di Vittorio became the political commissar . On 18 July 1956, the German Democratic Republic issued the Hans Beimler Medal to veterans of the XI International Brigade, and other volunteer units in Spain. At the time, there were 632 surviving veterans alive. On

7638-412: The church and many Jewish homes were burned down. 4000 Jews were killed during the pogrom and many others were forced to convert . The first tribunal of the Spanish Inquisition was instituted in Seville in 1478. Its primary charge was to ensure that all nominal Christians were really behaving like Christians, and not practicing what Judaism they could in secret. At first, the activity of the Inquisition

7752-414: The citizens when his son, later Sancho IV of Castile , tried to usurp the throne from him. The emblem is present on Seville's municipal flag, and features on city property such as manhole covers, and Christopher Columbus 's tomb in the cathedral. Seville is approximately 2,200 years old. The passage of the various civilizations instrumental in its growth has left the city with a distinct personality, and

7866-422: The city. During Umayyad rule, under an Andalusi-Arab framework, the bulk of the population were Muladi converts, to which Christian and Jewish minorities added up. Up until the arrival of the Almohads in the 12th century, the city remained as the see of a Metropolitan Archbishop, the leading Christian religious figure in al-Andalus. However, the transfer of the relics of Saint Isidore to León circa 1063, in

7980-429: The city. The city surrendered on 23 November 1248, after fifteen months of siege. The conditions of capitulation contemplated the eviction of the population, with contemporary sources seemingly confirming that a mass movement of people out of Seville indeed took place. The city's development continued after the Castilian conquest in 1248. Public buildings were constructed including churches—many of which were built in

8094-410: The collections of the Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Sevilla. It also houses the rectory of the UNIA. In the years that Queen Isabel II ruled directly, about 1843–1868, the Sevillian bourgeoisie invested in a construction boom unmatched in the city's history. The Isabel II bridge , better known as the Triana bridge, dates from this period; street lighting was expanded in the municipality and most of

8208-608: 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

8322-639: The definitive seat of the Andalusi part of the Almohad Empire in 1163, a twin capital alongside Marrakesh . Almohads carried out a large urban renewal. By the end of the 12th century, the walled enclosure perhaps contained 80,000 inhabitants. In the wider context of the Castilian–Leonese conquest of the Guadalquivir Valley that ensued in the 13th century, Ferdinand III laid siege on Seville in 1247. A naval blockade came to prevent relief of

8436-406: The early 17th c., Seville's monopoly on overseas trade was broken, with the port of Cádiz now the monopoly port of trade as silting of the Guadalquivir river in the 1620s made Seville's harbors harder to use. The Great Plague of Seville in 1649, exacerbated by excessive flooding of the Guadalquivir, reduced the population by almost half, and it did not recover until the early 19th century. By

8550-610: 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

8664-417: The first city in the world to name a heat wave , with a nickname "Zoe". The hottest temperature extreme of 46.6 °C (116 °F) was registered by the weather station at Seville Airport on 23 July 1995 while the coldest temperature extreme of −5.5 °C (22 °F) was also registered by the airport weather station on 12 February 1956. A historical record high (disputed) of 50.0 °C (122 °F)

8778-523: The floods that occurred in November 1961 when the River Tamarguillo, a tributary of the Guadalquivir, overflowed as a result of a prodigious downpour of rain, and Seville was consequently declared a disaster zone. Trade unionism in Seville began during the 1960s with the underground organisational activities of the Workers' Commissions or Comisiones Obreras (CCOO), in factories such as Hytasa,

8892-484: 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,

9006-462: 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

9120-594: The hottest in Spain. After the city of Córdoba (also in Andalusia), Seville has the hottest summer in Europe among all cities with a population over 100,000 people, with average daily highs of 36.0 °C (97 °F) in July. On average, Seville has around 60 days a year with maximum temperatures over 35.0 °C (95.0 °F). Temperatures above 40 °C (104 °F) are not uncommon in summer. In fact, it became

9234-418: 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

9348-471: 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

9462-543: The late Middle Ages. In addition, factors favouring the choice of Seville include the Andalusian coastline being largely under the seigneurial control of the House of Medina Sidonia , Seville enjoying an important hinterland and administrative expertise, and its inland location also providing conditions for military security and enforcement of tax control. A 'golden age of development' commenced in Seville, due to its being

9576-521: 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

9690-576: The main island of the Azores archipelago, lies on the same latitude. Further east from Seville in the Mediterranean Basin , it is on the same latitude as Catania in Sicily, Italy and just south of Athens , the capital of Greece . Beyond that, it is located on the same parallel as South Korean capital, Seoul . Seville is located inland, not very far from the Andalusian coast, but still sees

9804-532: 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

9918-467: 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

10032-487: 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

10146-487: The only port awarded the royal monopoly for trade with Spanish Americas and the influx of riches from them. Since only sailing ships leaving from and returning to the inland port of Seville could engage in trade with the Spanish Americas, merchants from Europe and other trade centers needed to be in Seville to acquire New World trade goods. The city's population grew to more than a hundred thousand people. In

10260-674: The remains exposed in situ in the underground Antiquarium of the Metropol Parasol building, the remnants of an aqueduct , three pillars of a temple in Mármoles Street, the columns of La Alameda de Hércules and the remains in the Patio de Banderas square near the Seville Cathedral . The walls surrounding the city were originally built during the rule of Julius Caesar , but their current course and design were

10374-412: 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:

10488-747: The result of Moorish reconstructions. Following Roman rule, there were successive conquests of the Roman province of Hispania Baetica by the Germanic Vandals , Suebi and Visigoths during the 5th and 6th centuries. In the wake of the Islamic conquest of the Iberian Peninsula , Seville ( Spalis ) was seemingly taken by Musa ibn Nusayr in the late summer of 712, while he was on his way to Mérida . Yet it had to be retaken in July 713 by troops led by his son Abd al-Aziz ibn Musa , as

10602-596: 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

10716-558: 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

10830-402: The streets were paved during this time as well. By the second half of the 19th century, Seville had begun an expansion supported by railway construction and the demolition of part of its ancient walls, allowing the urban space of the city to grow eastward and southward. The Sevillana de Electricidad Company was created in 1894 to provide electric power throughout the municipality, and in 1901

10944-539: The summer, with daily maximums routinely above 35 °C (95 °F) in July and August. Seville was founded as the Roman city of Hispalis . Known as Ishbiliyah after the Islamic conquest in 711, Seville became the centre of the independent Taifa of Seville following the collapse of the Caliphate of Córdoba in the early 11th century; later it was ruled by Almoravids and Almohads until being incorporated to

11058-500: The taifa period, already hinted at a possible worsening of the situation of the local Christian minority. A powerful taifa kingdom with capital in Seville emerged after 1023, in the wake of the fitna of al-Andalus . Ruled by the Abbadid dynasty , the taifa grew by aggregation of smaller neighbouring taifas . During the taifa period, Seville became an important scholarly and literary centre. After several months of siege, Seville

11172-508: The uprising and called for the peasants to come to the city for arms, while workers' groups established barricades. Queipo then moved to capture Radio Seville, which he used to broadcast propaganda on behalf of the Francoist forces. After the initial takeover of the city, resistance continued among residents of the working-class neighbourhoods for some time, until a series of fierce reprisals took place. Under Francisco Franco 's rule Spain

11286-595: The urban planning policy and architectural modifications of the city were made by him and his collaborator Jose Manuel Arjona y Cuba. Industrial architecture surviving today from the first half of the 19th century includes the ceramics factory installed in the Carthusian monastery at La Cartuja in 1841 by the Pickman family, and now home to the El Centro Andaluz de Arte Contemporáneo (CAAC), which manages

11400-698: 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

11514-466: The west side. The Aljarafe region lies further west, and is considered part of the metropolitan area. The city has boundaries on the north with La Rinconada , La Algaba and Santiponce ; on the east with Alcalá de Guadaira ; on the south with Dos Hermanas and Gelves and on the west with San Juan de Aznalfarache , Tomares and Camas . Seville is on the same parallel as United States west coast city San Jose in central California. São Miguel ,

11628-510: 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

11742-579: 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

11856-544: 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

11970-587: Was conquered by the Almoravids in 1091. The city fell to the Almohads on 17 January 1147 (12 Shaʽban 541). After an informal Almohad settlement in Seville during the early stages of the Almohad presence in the Iberian Peninsula and then a brief relocation of the capital of al-Andalus to Córdoba in 1162 (which had dire consequences for Seville, reportedly depopulated and under starvation), Seville became

12084-439: 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 ,

12198-476: Was known from Roman times as Hispal and later as Hispalis . Hispalis developed into one of the great market and industrial centres of Hispania, while the nearby Roman city of Italica (present-day Santiponce , birthplace of the Roman emperors Trajan and Hadrian ) remained a typically Roman residential city. Large-scale Roman archaeological remains can be seen there and at the nearby town of Carmona as well. Existing Roman features in Seville itself include

12312-410: 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

12426-574: Was limited to the dioceses of Seville and Córdoba , where the Dominican friar, Alonso de Ojeda, had detected converso activity. The first Auto de Fé took place in Seville on 6 February 1481, when six people were burned alive. Alonso de Ojeda himself gave the sermon. The Inquisition then grew rapidly. The Plaza de San Francisco was the site of the 'autos de fé'. By 1492, tribunals existed in eight Castilian cities: Ávila, Córdoba, Jaén, Medina del Campo, Segovia, Sigüenza, Toledo, and Valladolid; and by

12540-567: Was officially neutral in World War II (although it did collaborate with the Axis powers ), and like the rest of the country, Seville remained largely economically and culturally isolated from the outside world. In 1953 the shipyard of Seville was opened, eventually employing more than 2,000 workers in the 1970s. Before the existence of wetlands regulation in the Guadalquivir basin, Seville suffered regular heavy flooding; perhaps worst of all were

12654-537: Was recorded on 4 August 1881, according to the NOAA Satellite and Information Service. There is an unaccredited record by the National Institute of Meteorology of 47.2 °C (117 °F) on 1 August during the 2003 heat wave , according to a weather station (83910 LEZL) located in the southern part of Seville Airport, near the former US San Pablo Air Force Base. This temperature would be one of

12768-471: 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

12882-462: 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

12996-539: 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

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