Spanish Civil War: Republican and Nationalist Zones
Republican Spain
The military uprising led to the collapse of order and Republican power. The coup, intended to prevent revolution, ultimately triggered it. The bankruptcy of the Republican State initiated a period of social revolution and uncontrolled repression.
Casares Quiroga, unable to control the situation, resigned. Diego Martinez Barrio formed a government and attempted to negotiate with Mola to stop the war, but this was refused. Following the failed negotiation, President Azana commissioned Joseph Giral to form a government and distribute weapons to labor organizations. This action fragmented Republican Spain’s power, placing it in the hands of numerous committees and independent armed militias, initiating a revolution and repression against the rebels.
The Republican state collapsed. Uncontrolled terror ensued, targeting those involved in the uprising or those with right-wing ideologies. Churches and convents were burned. The initial victims of this “cleansing” were primarily military personnel, clergy, landowners, and businessmen labeled as ‘fascists,’ with the government unable to prevent it. These violent acts negatively impacted the Republic’s attempts to gain external support.
Anarchists from the CNT and UGT largely undertook a profound social revolution, best exemplified by the collectives. Many industries and services were seized and collectivized, with production controlled by trade union committees. Republicans, Socialists, and even Communists opposed this revolution, prioritizing victory against the rebels.
Largo Caballero formed a government including Socialists, Republicans, Communists, and Nationalists. He later reshuffled it, incorporating four syndicalist ministers, an unprecedented move inconsistent with anarchist ideology. Communist power grew as the Republic relied on Soviet aid and the International Brigades.
The priority became forming a regular army, the Popular Army of the Republic, with a centralized command. Measures included militarizing the militias, leading to tensions and confrontations due to anarchist and POUM resistance. The central government couldn’t prevent Catalonia and the Basque Country from expanding their autonomy, creating their own armies, and controlling their economies and public policies.
The 1937 Barcelona fighting was the crisis’s final trigger. Armed clashes erupted at the Telefónica building, a power struggle between Republicans and Communists against the CNT’s radical revolutionary ideals. After days of fighting, the Assault Guard took control. Caballero’s refusal to outlaw the POUM, as demanded by the Communists, led to his downfall.
Juan Negrín’s new socialist government, formed in 1937, aimed to restore central authority, ending the revolutionary era, dismantling collectives, and returning land to owners. The POUM was outlawed, and its political secretary, Andrés Nin, assassinated. Negrín outlined his “Thirteen Points” program, aiming for a negotiated peace without retaliation or resistance in anticipation of a world war.
Negrín desperately sought international mediation. Defeats at the Ebro and in Catalonia, recognition of Franco by France and the UK, and the dire situation in the rear, with food shortages and hunger, lowered morale. Only Negrín, with his slogan “resistance is victory,” and the Communists advocated for continued resistance. A coup by Colonel Casado, head of the Central Army, hastened the Republic’s end and Franco’s triumph.
Nationalist Spain
As the political forces supporting the uprising lacked a unified political project, the army became the new state’s foundation. From the outset, the insurgents implemented brutal, systematic, and selective repression. Their aims were to spread terror, eliminate resistance, and annihilate political and ideological enemies. They imprisoned, tortured, and executed individuals, often without trial or through summary military court proceedings.