Republican troops at Villanueva de la Cañada
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| Conflict | Spanish Civil War | | Date | 17 July 1936 � 1 April 1939 | | Location | Continental Spain, Spanish Morocco, Spanish Sahara, Canary Islands, Balearic Islands, Spanish Guinea, Mediterranean, North Sea | | Result | Nationalist victory; dissolution of the Second Spanish Republic, beginning of Franco's dictatorship. | | Flag of the Second Spanish Republic.svg Spanish Republic (Bando republicano)
*Bandera_CNT-AIT.svg CNT/FAI
*Red flag.svgUGT, POUM, PCE
*Flag of the International Brigades.svg International Brigades
*Soviet Union Soviet volunteers | | Bandera del bando nacional 1936-1938.svg Spanish Nacionales (Bando nacional)
*Bandera FE JONS.svg Falange
*Nazi Germany Nazi Germany
*Bandera Tradicionalista.png Requetés
*Flag of Italy (1861-1946).svg Italian CTV
*Banner of the Blueshirts.svg Irish Brigade
*Portugal Portugal
*Flag of Spanish Morocco.svg Muslim troops from Spanish Morocco - Regulares
*Foreign volunteers | Flag of the Second Spanish Republic.svg Manuel Azaña
Flag of the Second Spanish Republic.svg Julián Besteiro
Flag of the Second Spanish Republic.svg Francisco Largo Caballero
Spain Juan Negrín
Spain Indalecio Prieto
Flag of the Second Spanish Republic.svg Vicente Rojo Lluch
Flag of the Second Spanish Republic.svg José Miaja
Flag of the Second Spanish Republic.svg Juan Modesto
Flag of the Second Spanish Republic.svg Juan Hernández Saravia
Bandera_CNT-AIT.svg Buenaventura Durruti
Flag of the International Brigades.svg Mehmet Shehu | Bandera del bando nacional 1936-1938.svg Francisco Franco
Bandera del bando nacional 1936-1938.svg José Sanjurjo
Bandera del bando nacional 1936-1938.svg Gonzalo Queipo de Llano
Bandera del bando nacional 1936-1938.svg Emilio Mola
Bandera del bando nacional 1936-1938.svg Juan Yagüe
Bandera del bando nacional 1936-1938.svg Manuel Goded Llopis
Bandera del bando nacional 1936-1938.svg Miguel Cabanellas | 450,000 infantry
350 aircraft
200 batteries
(1938) | 600,000 infantry
600 aircraft
290 batteries
(1938) | ~500,000 |
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The Spanish Civil War was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939. It began after a military rebellion by a group of conservative generals led by Francisco Franco against the established Government of the Second Spanish Republic, then under the leadership of President Manuel Azaña. The rebel coup was supported by the conservative groups including the Spanish Confederation of the Autonomous Right (Confederación Española de Derechas Autónomas, or CEDA), monarchists known as Carlist groups, and the Fascist Falange (Falange Española de las JONS). Following the only partially successful coup -important cities like Madrid, Barcelona, Oviedo, Bilbao, Badajoz, and Málaga didn't join in the rebellion as did Morocco, Pamplona, Burgos, Valladolid, Cádiz, Cordoba, Seville, and Jerez for example- Spain was left militarily and politically divided. From that moment onwards General Franco began a protracted war of attrition against the legally established government, as loyalist supporters of the centre-left Republican Government fought the rebel forces behind the coup for control of the country. There were bloody purges in every piece of territory conquered from the republic in order to consolidate Franco's future regime.
The War ended with the victory of the rebels, who called themselves 'Nationalists', the overthrow of the Republican Government, and the exile of thousands of Spanish Republicans, many of whom ended up in refugee camps in Southern France. With the establishment of a conservative dictatorship led by General Francisco Franco in the aftermath of the Civil War, all right-wing parties were fused into the structure of the Franco regime.
The conservative generals (nacionales) received the support of Nazi Germany and the Fascist Italy, as well as neighbouring Portugal. The Soviet Union intervened in support of the socialist Republicans, although it encouraged factional conflict to the benefit of the Soviet foreign policy, and its actions may have been detrimental to the Republican war effort as a whole. Hispanist Hugh Thomas: "Had they been able to purchase and transport good arms from US, British, and French manufacturers, the socialist and republican members of the Spanish government might have tried to cut themselves loose from Stalin." The American Government offered no official support for either side, although over 2,000 Americans volunteered on the Republican side. Meanwhile, American corporations such as Texaco, General Motors, Ford Motors, and The Firestone Tire and Rubber Company greatly assisted the Nationalist army, furnishing a regular supply of trucks, tires, machine tools, and fuel.
The new tank warfare tactics and the terror bombing of cities from the air were features of the Spanish Civil War which played a significant part in the later general European war.
The Spanish Civil War has been dubbed "the first media war," with several writers and journalists covering it wanting their work "to support the cause." Foreign correspondents and writers covering it included Ernest Hemingway, Georges Bernanos, Martha Gellhorn, César Vallejo, George Orwell, Arthur Koestler, Halfdan Rasmussen, and Robert Capa. Like most international observers, they tended to support the Republicans, with some such as Orwell participating directly in the fighting.
Like most civil wars, it became notable for the passion and political division it inspired. The Spanish Civil War often pitted family members, neighbors, and friends against each other. Apart from the combatants, many civilians were killed for their political or religious views by both sides, and after the War ended in 1939, the losing Republicans were persecuted by the victorious Nationalists.
An estimated total of approximately 500,000 people lost their lives as a consequence of the War.
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