Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil War was fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republicans and the Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the left-leaning Popular Front government of the Second Spanish Republic and included socialists, anarchists, communists and separatists, supported by the Soviet Union. The opposing Nationalists were an alliance of fascist Falangists, monarchists, conservatives and traditionalists, supported by Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy and initially led by a military junta, until General Francisco Franco was appointed supreme leader on 1 October 1936 for what he called the Spanish State. Due to the international political climate at the time, the war was variously viewed as class struggle, religious struggle, or struggle between republican democracy and dictatorship, revolution and counterrevolution, or fascism and communism. The Nationalists won the war in early 1939, and ruled Spain until Franco's death in November 1975.
The war began after the partial failure of the coup d'état of July 1936 against the Popular Front government by a group of generals of the Spanish Republican Armed Forces. The Nationalist faction consisted of right-wing groups, including Christian traditionalist party CEDA, monarchists, including both the opposing Alfonsists and the religious conservative Carlists, and the Falange Española de las JONS, a fascist political party. However, rebelling units in almost all important cities did not gain control, leaving Spain militarily and politically divided. The rebellion was countered with the help of arming left-wing social movements and parties and formation of militias, what led to rapid socioeconomic and political transformation in the Republican zone, referred to as the Spanish Revolution. The Nationalist forces received munitions, soldiers, and air support from Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany while the Republican side received support from the Soviet Union and Mexico. Other countries, such as the United Kingdom, France, and the United States, continued to recognise the Republican government but followed an official policy of non-intervention. Despite this policy, tens of thousands of citizens from non-interventionist countries directly participated in the conflict, mostly in the pro-Republican International Brigades.
Franco gradually emerged as the primary leader of the Nationalist side, becoming the dictator of the Spanish State by 1937 and co-opting Falangism. The Nationalists advanced from their strongholds in the south and west, capturing most of Spain's northern coastline in 1937. They besieged Madrid and the area to its south and west. After much of Catalonia was captured in 1938 and 1939, and Madrid cut off from Barcelona, the Republican military position became hopeless. On 5 March 1939, in response to allegedly increasing communist dominance of the Republican government and the deteriorating military situation, Colonel Segismundo Casado led a military coup against the Republican government, intending to seek peace with the Nationalists. These peace overtures, however, were rejected by Franco. Following internal conflict between Republican factions in Madrid in the same month, Franco entered the capital and declared victory on 1 April 1939. Hundreds of thousands of those associated with the Republicans fled Spain, mostly to refugee camps in southern France; many of those who stayed were persecuted by the victorious Nationalists.
The war became notable for the passion and political division it inspired worldwide and for the many atrocities that occurred. Organised purges occurred in territory captured by Franco's forces so they could consolidate their future regime. Mass executions also took place in areas controlled by the Republicans, with the participation of local authorities varying from location to location.
Background
First Republic and restoration
In 1868, popular uprisings led to the overthrow of Queen Isabella II. In 1873, Isabella's replacement, King Amadeo I of the House of Savoy, abdicated, and the short-lived First Spanish Republic was proclaimed. The Republic was marred with political instability and conflicts and was quickly overthrown by a coup d'état by General Arsenio Martínez Campos in December 1874, after which the monarchy was restored in the figure of Alfonso XII, Isabella's son.After the restoration, Carlists and anarchists emerged in opposition to the monarchy. Alejandro Lerroux, Spanish politician and leader of the Radical Republican Party, helped to bring republicanism to the fore in Catalonia. Conscription was a controversial policy that was eventually implemented by the government of Spain. As evidenced by the Tragic Week in 1909, resentment and resistance were factors that continued well into the 20th century.
File:Alfonso XIIIdeEspaña.jpg|thumb|upright|On 12 April 1931, the Republicans won the elections and the Second Spanish Republic was proclaimed two days later. King Alfonso XIII went into exile.
Spain was neutral in World War I. Following the war, wide swathes of Spanish society, including the armed forces, united in hopes of removing the corrupt central government of the country in Madrid, but these circles were ultimately unsuccessful. Popular perception of communism as a major threat significantly increased during this period.
Dictatorship of Primo de Rivera
In 1923, another military coup brought Miguel Primo de Rivera to power. As a result, Spain transitioned to government by military dictatorship. Support for the Rivera regime gradually faded, and he resigned in January 1930. He was replaced by General Dámaso Berenguer, who was in turn himself replaced by Admiral Juan Bautista Aznar-Cabañas; both men continued a policy of rule by decree.There was little support for the monarchy in the major cities. Consequently, King Alfonso XIII of Spain relented to popular pressure and called municipal elections for 12 April 1931. Left-wing entities such as the Socialist and Liberal Republicans won almost all the provincial capitals and, following the resignation of Aznar-Cabañas's government, Alfonso XIII fled the country. At this time, the Second Spanish Republic was formed; this republic remained in place until the Spanish Civil War, which commenced five years later.
Second Republic
The revolutionary committee headed by Niceto Alcalá-Zamora became the provisional government, with Alcalá-Zamora himself as president and head of state. The republic had broad support from all segments of society.According to José Ángel Sánchez Asiaín, the first plans of a counter-revolution against the Republic were discussed on the day when it was proclaimed, when representatives of monarchist circles, José Antonio Primo de Rivera, the future leader of the Falange, and José Calvo Sotelo, one of the future leaders of the monarchist party Spanish Renovation, "met to lay down the financial foundations for subverting the Republic." An immediate action did not follow, but by March 1934 the conspirators would convince Benito Mussolini, the leader of Fascist Italy, to agree to aid a future coup.
In May 1931, an incident in which a taxi driver was attacked outside a monarchist club sparked anti-clerical violence throughout Madrid and south-west portion of the country. The slow response on the part of the government disillusioned the right. In June and July, the Confederación Nacional del Trabajo called several strikes, which led to a violent incident between CNT members and the Civil Guard, and a brutal crackdown by the Civil Guard and the Spanish Army against the CNT in Seville. This led many workers to believe the Second Spanish Republic was just as oppressive as the monarchy, and the CNT announced its intention of overthrowing it by starting a revolution.
Constituent Cortes and left-wing government (1931–1933)
Elections in June 1931 returned a large majority of Republicans and Socialists. With the onset of the Great Depression, the government tried to assist rural Spain by instituting an eight-hour day and redistributing land tenure to farm workers. Newly established labour arbitration boards regulated salaries, contracts, and working hours, but were more favourable to workers than employers. Class struggle intensified as landowners turned to counterrevolutionary organisations and local oligarchs. Strikes, workplace theft, arson, robbery and assaults on shops, strikebreakers, employers and machines became increasingly common.Republican Manuel Azaña became prime minister of a minority government in October 1931. In December, a new reformist, liberal and democratic constitution was declared. It included strong provisions enforcing a broad secularisation of the Catholic country, which included the abolition of Catholic schools and charities, a move which was met with opposition.
The first military coup against the Republic was planned by groups of monarchist generals with the support of exiled monarchist ministers, including Calvo Sotelo. The attempted coup which became known as Sanjurjada ended in failure. Several hundreds of generals were dismissed, prominent monarchists were imprisoned or had to flee abroad, and the aristocracy was 'punished' with radicalization of the agrarian reform. The coup contributed to the radicalization of the left.
The extreme right did not abandon their plans of overthrowing the Republic, what was manifested in the foundation of the Spanish Renovation and a small fascist party Falange Española, the rise of the militant Carlist movement, and propaganda of legitimacy of a military uprising spread by such organizations as Acción Española. Fascism proper was yet a weak ideology, but such historians as Julián Casanova describe the culture of the Spanish anti-Republican right as proto-fascist, similar to Italian "pre-Fascism" and the German Völkisch movement. The anti-Republican right was supported within the Church, especially by its Integrist groups, and the army. At the same time, the authority of the Republic was undermined by an anarchist insurrection which culminated in the Casas Viejas massacre of the anarchists and was followed by state repression.
File:Retrato fotográfico del óleo del general José Sanjurjo Sacanell.jpg|thumb|left|General José Sanjurjo, the leader of the failed 1932 military coup. Having been granted amnesty in 1934 by the right-wing government of the Republic, he was one of the leaders of the 1936 coup.