Spanish Civil War Essay, Research Paper

Spanish Civil War

From 1936 to 1939 a military rising starting in Morocco, lead by General Francisco Franco, spread rapidly all over the country, thus starting the Spanish Civil War. After a number of bloody battles, in which fortunes changed from one side to the other, the ‘nacionales’ (nationalists) finally prevailed and made a victorious entry into Madrid (March 28th, 1939).

The tragic death of Calvo Sotelo had the effect of accelerating a military corps that had been under preparation for a long time. Actually, the conspirators had been awaiting General Franco’s decision to begin the uprising. On July 18th it spread to other garrisons in metropolitan Spain and the next day Franco took command of the army in Morocco. The rising was successful in Seville, the Balearic Islands, the Canary Islands and Morocco, Navarra, Burgos and Saragossa. General Yague advanced through Extremadura and Mola took Irun. By the end of 1936 the Nationalist troops controlled the greater part of Andalucia, Extremadura, Toledo, Avila, Segovia, Valladolid, Burgos, Leon, Galicia, a part of Asturias, Vitoria, San Sebastian, Navarra and Aragon, as well as the Canary and Balearic Islands with the exception of Menorca. Castilla la Nueva, Catalunya, Valencia, Murcia, Almeria, Gijon and Bilbao remained in Republican hands.

The Republican government formed a coalition Cabinet headed by Giralt, which was succeeded by another one under Largo Caballero. It brought the CNT (Confederacion Nacional de Trabajo, the anarcho-syndicalist union) into the Cabinet and moved to Valencia. On September 29, the Junta de Defensa Nacional named Franco head of the government and commander of the armed forces. To offset these circumstances, the Republican government created a popular army and militarized the militia. The International Brigades were supporting Republican Spain and Italian and German troops, Nationalist Spain.

Jarama, Brunete, Quinto, Belchite, Fuentes de Ebro, Teruel, The Retreats and The Ebro are the battlegrounds of the Spanish Civil War in which over twelve hundred Canadian soldiers supporting Republican Spain took part. These men created the most unique military unit in the history of Canada: the Mackenzie-Papineau Battalion of the XVth International Brigade of the Spanish Republican Army: ‘the Mac-Paps.’

The year 1937 was characterized by fighting in the north of the country: Guernica was bombed in April, Bilbao taken in June, Santander in August, and Gijon in October. The reaction of the Republicans was to open fronts in Guadalajara (March), Brunete (July), and Belchite (August). The Battle of Teruel was launched at the end of the year.

The Nationalist transferred their efforts to Aragon, recovered Teruel and divided the Republican zone in two parts after entering Castellon in July 1938. The government replied with the so-called Battle of the Ebro (July-November 1938) which ended with a Republican defeat and 70,000 casualties.

Once government resistance was exhausted, the Republican exile began with many Spaniards fleeing across the border into France. Catalunya fell on February 10, 1939. Madrid was the only city still resisting, and the proposals of peace made by its Junta de Defensa (lead by Casado and Besteiro) were useless. Nationalist forces occupied the capital on March 28, 1939, and on April 1, General Franco officially ended the war.