Coordinates	12°58′0″N77°34′0″N
En name	Izhevsk
Ru name	Ижевск
Loc name1	Иж, Ижкар
Loc lang1	Udmurt
Coordinates	56°50′″N53°11′″N
Map label position	right
Holiday	June 12
Federal subject	Udmurt Republic
Capital of	Udmurt Republic
Inhabloc cat	City
Urban okrug jur	Izhevsk Urban Okrug
Leader title	Head
Leader name	Alexander Ushakov
Leader name ref
Representative body	City Duma
Area km2	316.66
Pop 2010census	628100
Pop 2010census rank	19th
Pop 2010census ref
Pop 2002census	632140
Pop 2002census ref
Pop 2002census rank	20th
Established date	April 10, 1760
Prev name1	Ustinov
Prev name1 date	1987
Postal codes	426xxx
Dialing codes	3412
Website	http://www.izh.ru/
Date	April 2010 }}

Izhevsk (; , ''Iž, Ižkar'') is the capital city of the Udmurt Republic, Russia. The city is situated on the Izh River in the Western Urals. From 1984 to 1987 Izhevsk carried the name Ustinov (, in honor of Minister of Defense of the USSR, Marshal of the Soviet Union, Dmitriy Ustinov). The city is an important industrial center, and is the economic, industrial and administrative hub of the republic. Izhevsk is especially noted for its military industry, with Russia's biggest munitions enterprise, Izhmash, manufacturer of the AK-47, based in the city. Population:

History

Izhevsk was founded in 1760 as a settlement surrounding a newly built ironworks. The ironworks and the town were built by Count Peter Shuvalov as a private venture and passed to the crown after the count's death in lieu of the latter's large debt to the treasury. The location was selected to better accommodate a dam on the river Izh, which was completed in 1763.

In 1774 the town was taken by Pugachev's rebel army, which executed the administrative staff of the ironworks and looted the factory.

In 1807 Alexander I ordered the construction of a munitions factory in place of the ironworks. The newly established plant came to dominated the economy of the town. In 1865 the plant passed into private ownership by a group of investors which included Ludwig Nobel. In 1884 the factory returned to government control.

On March 5, 1917, workers at the plant formed a worker's soviet, which included representatives of the workers, the army, and of other citizens. Two days later the factory administration resigned and was replaced with elected officials. By the middle of September of the same year, Bolsheviks came to control both the council and the council's influential newspaper.

On October 27, 1917, Soviet government was officially announced, with the council officially dissolved soon thereafter. The former leaders of the council were arrested June 1918, contributing to the beginning of an uprising against Bolshevik rule. The struggle for control of the city continued until the arrival of the Red Army, which took Izhevsk on November 7. On April 13, 1919 the city was occupied by units of Admiral Kolchak's White Army, only to fall again, this time decisively, to another assault by the Red Army in June 8 of the same year.

The Soviet period saw significant growth in the size and importance of Izhevsk. In 1921 the city became the capital of Votsk Autonomous Oblast, a precursor to the Udmurt Republic.

The first tramway lines were opened in 1935, and the now emblematic City Circus was founded in 1943.

World War II had a profound effect on the city, with much of the industrial infrastructure evacuated from the western regions of the Soviet Union, being relocated to the city. Elements of the evacuated enterprises were used to create the Izhevsk Mechanical Plant, which remains an important manufacturer of military components.

Military industry remained the core of the local economy after the war, leading to Izhvesk being designated a closed city, inaccessible to foreigners. The city's Izhmash factory began manufacturing the AK-47 automatic rifle in 1948, and continues to produce modern variants of the design to this day. The rifle's designer, Mikhail Kalashnikov still lives in Izhevsk. In 1966 Izhmash began manufacturing the Izh automobiles.

In 1984 the city changed its name to ''Ustinov''; in honor of former minister of defense Dmitriy Ustinov. Three years later, in spite of vocal protests by a significant number of citizens, Izhevsk regained its historical name.

Izhevsk weathered the turbulent post-soviet years reasonably well, carried through by the continued demand for its military production. The city remains an important industrial and military center of the country, being referred to as the "Armory of Russia" (a title it shares with the city of Tula).

Economy

Izhevsk is the most important economic center of the Udmurt Republic, with the majority of financial and industrial activity concentrated in the city. Military industry remains the backbone of the local economy, with a number of enterprises operating in the city. By far the most important of these is Izhmash which produces small arms, and assault rifles popular both in Russia and abroad. the plant also produces motorcycles and automobiles under IZH brandname.

In 2006, Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez visited Izhevsk to tour the Izhmash manufacturing center where he announced his government's intention to purchase a large number of Izhevsk-produced rifles.

Life and culture

Education

Izhevsk is the scientific and cultural center of the Udmurt Republic. The state took a major share in childcare and education from early on. 320 public kindergartens/ preschools provide affordable childcare for 32,000 children. 100 public schools provide free general education to over 100,000 Izhevsk students. A wide variety of technical colleges and two-year professional schools award associate degrees, most notably in medical assistance, performing arts and teaching.

The Ural department of the Russian Scientific Academy is represented in Izhevsk by several institutions, specializing in physics, applied mechanics and technical sciences, and economics, and the Institute of History, Language and Literature of Udmurtia does the same. Four out of five higher education institutes in the Udmurt Republic are located in Izhevsk: Udmurt State University, Izhevsk State Technical University, Agricultural Academy, and Medical Academy. Each of these educational institutions admits foreign students.

Udmurt State University celebrated its 75th anniversary in 2006. It is the oldest educational institution in the Udmurt Republic. Some 28,000 students are currently studying at the University, which offers 86 different majors. The University has thirteen departments and seven institutes. Out of 1,000 faculty members 130 hold Doctor of Science (Dr.Sc.) degrees, and 460 are Candidates of Sciences (Cand.Sc., equivalent to first year of Ph.D.). UdSU graduate school offers 11 attestation committees qualified to award Cand.Sc. and Dr.Sc. degrees in ecology, economics, law, psychology, pedagogics, ethnology, history, culture, linguistics of the Ural region, and Udmurt linguistics.

Izhevsk is a pilot city of the Council of Europe and European Commission Intercultural cities programme.

Museums

Izhevsk's most notable museums include the Kalashnikov Museum, the Arsenal Museum, the Galina Kulakova Museum, the National Fine Arts Gallery, the "Galeria" Arts Center, the Izhmash Museum, the National Kuzebai Gerd Museum, and the Gennadiy Krasilnikov Apartment-Museum. The Presidential Palace is also popular with tourists.

Theatre

Izhevsk has a number of theaters, among the most prominent of which are:

State Opera and Ballet Theater of the Udmurt Republic

Korolenko State Russian Theater for Drama

"Young Man" Alternative Theater

State Puppet Theater of the Udmurt Republic

National State Theater of the Udmurt Republic

Academic Choir Chapel

State Philarmony of the Udmurt Republic

Izhevsk Circus

Sport

The Izhvesk ice hockey team HC Izhstal play in the Russian Major League. The city football club FC SOYUZ-Gazprom Izhevsk play in the Russian Second Division.

Entertainment

In the post-Soviet period Izhevsk became known as home to a vibrant art and music scene. Some of the most famous institutions include the Italmas, an Udmurt folk theater and dance company, and the local circus. In 2001-2004 a beautiful new auditorium was built in the center of town to serve as a permanent home for the city circus. Today circus acts from Izhevsk and other Russian and European cities entertain visitors at the Izhevsk Circus.

Cityscape

Remarkable buildings and structures

Alexander Nevsky Cathedral is a Neoclassical building from 1823 patterned after St. Andrew's Cathedral in Kronstadt (whose architect was Andreyan Zakharov).

St. Michael's Cathedral was built by the Izhevsk arms works in the early 20th century, destroyed by the Bolsheviks and rebuilt to the original design in 2007.

Pesochnaya TV Mast ( 195 m tall guyed tubular steel mast built in 1962, which is equipped with 6 crossbars running in 2 levels from the mast structure to the guys, )

Izhevsk Pond

Izhvesk City Pond is now one of the city's most popular places for recreation. Its area is over 22 km², yet it was artificially created (in parts dug by hand) in the 1760s for industrial needs. Empress Elizabeth of Russia granted Count Peter Shuvalov official permission to create three factories in the Kama River region September 15^th, 1757.

Construction of the three-step industrial dam at the critical point where the two rivers (Izh and Yagul/Podborenka) join started both the pond and the city in April 1760.

The dam was reconstructed in 1809–1815 when Alexander Deryabin converted the original metalworking factory into the new arms producing facility. It was subsequently modernized again in 1983–1984 in order to extend the dam. Today a number of major Izhevsk industrial plants are still located along the pond.

In 1972, the Izhevsk Pond Embankment, a three mile-long walkway and a system of boulevards and squares, was extended along the pond. Some consider the resulting esplanade and pond embankment one of Izhevsk finest attractions. The “Friendship of Nations” Square, with its central monument celebrating 400 years of Udmurtia's union with Russia, is a focal point of the esplanade and a hip place for youth recreation. During the summer months excursion boats operate from Izhevsk to the village of Volozhka.

International relations

Izhevsk is a pilot city of the Council of Europe and the EU Intercultural cities programme.

Twin towns — Sister cities

Izhevsk is twinned with the following sister cities:

	* Bedzin, Poland	Córdoba, Argentina>Córdoba, Argentina	* Lusaka, Zambia	* Maracay, Venezuela		Tatabánya, Hungary	Xining, People's Republic of China>China	* Yambol, Bulgaria

References

External links

Official website of Izhevsk

RussianLessons' Izhevsk guide

Kalashnikov Museum

Udmurt State University

The IZHMASH website

A guide to the contemporary art, music and culture of Izhevsk (in Russian)

National Library of Udmurt Republic

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Coordinates	12°58′0″N77°34′0″N
Conflict	Spanish Civil War
Date	17 July 1936  – 1 April 1939
Place	Continental Spain, Spanish Morocco, Spanish Sahara, Canary Islands, Balearic Islands, Spanish Guinea, Mediterranean, North Sea
Result	Nationalist (rebel) victory Dissolution of the Second Spanish Republic Beginning of Franco's dictatorship
Combatant1	Republican Popular Front CNT/FAI UGT ERC Basque Army (1936–1937) ---- Supported by: International Brigades (1936–1938)
Combatant2	National Falange Carlists (1936–1937) CEDA (1936–1937) Alfonsists (1936–1937) Army of Africa Supported by: (CTV) (Condor Legion) Portugal (Viriatos) Foreign volunteers
Commander1	Manuel Azaña Julián Besteiro Francisco Largo Caballero Juan Negrín Indalecio Prieto Vicente Rojo Lluch José Miaja Juan Modesto Juan Hernández Saravia Buenaventura Durruti Lluís Companys José Antonio Aguirre * Manfred Stern "Kléber"
Commander2	José Sanjurjo Emilio Mola Francisco Franco Miguel Cabanellas Manuel Goded Llopis Gonzalo Queipo de Llano Juan Yagüe Manuel Hedilla Manuel Fal Conde José María Gil-Robles y Quiñones
Strength1	450,000 infantry350 aircraft200 batteries(1938)
Strength2	600,000 infantry600 aircraft290 batteries(1938)
Casualties3	~500,000 killed :450,000 fled
Notes	}}

The Spanish Civil War was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939. The war began after a ''pronunciamiento'' (declaration of opposition) by a group of conservative generals under the leadership of José Sanjurjo against the Government of the Second Spanish Republic, at the time under the leadership of President Manuel Azaña. The rebel coup was supported by a number of conservative groups including the Spanish Confederation of the Autonomous Right, monarchists such as the Carlists, and the Fascist Falange.

Following the only partially successful coup, Spain was left militarily and politically divided. From that moment onwards Mola's successor, General Franco, began a protracted war with the established government, as loyalist supporters of the centre-left Republican Government fought the rebel forces for control of the country. The conservative generals (''nacionales'') received the support of Nazi Germany and the Kingdom of Italy, as well as neighbouring Portugal, while the Soviet Union and Mexico intervened in support of the Republican government.

Bloody purges occurred in pieces of territory conquered from the republic in order to consolidate Franco's future regime, while similar killings took place in areas taken by the Republicans. The Civil War became notable for the passion and political division it inspired. Many civilians on both sides were killed for their political or religious views, and after the War's conclusion in 1939, those associated with the losing Republicans were persecuted by the victorious Nationalists.

The war ended with the victory of the rebel Nationalists, the overthrow of the Republican Government, and the exile of thousands of Spanish Republicans, many of whom fled to 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.

Background

Constitutional monarchy

The century preceding Spain's Civil War was a turbulent time for the nation, which underwent several internal conflicts and revolts among the reformists and conservatives who jockeyed for control. A liberal tradition that first ascended politically with the Spanish Constitution of 1812 sought to abolish the monarchy of the old regime and to establish a more ideologically compatible state. Between 1812 and the Civil War more than a century later, Liberalism's reformists attempted to realign the political system in a way that would accurately reflect Spain's societal realities.

The increasing power of liberals was felt strongly between 1868 and 1874, when a popular uprising led to the overthrowing of Isabella II. Her replacement, King Amadeo I, met a similar fate when he abdicated in 1873 as the monarchy faced mounting political pressure. The First Spanish Republic was soon proclaimed, but the restoration of the Bourbons came in December 1874 while the military quelled demonstrations. While universal male suffrage was introduced in 1890, the resulting elections were dominated by ''caciques'', local political bosses. Carlists – supporters of Infante Carlos and his descendants – opposed all liberal measures, while Anarchism became popular among the Spanish working class to a degree not seen anywhere else in Europe.

In the first two decades of the twentieth century, the industrial working class grew in number. There was a growing discontent amongst Basque and Catalonian people, where much of Spain's industry was based, that the government failed to represent their interests. Spain's socialist party, the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) and its associated trade union, the ''Unión General de Trabajadores'' (UGT), gained support. A related anti-clericalism arose that was influenced by men such as republican Reformist Party founder Alejandro Lerroux, who argued that the church was inseparable from the systematic oppression felt by Spaniards.

The military was keen to avoid the fracture of the state, and frowned upon regional nationalism. Resentment of the military and conscription grew with the disastrous Rif War, and culminated in the confrontations of Tragic Week that followed on Barcelona's streets. Animosity directed toward the military and government led to the establishment of the National Confederation of Labour (CNT), an anarchist-controlled trade union. After the formation of Comintern in 1919, a growing fear of Communism emerged, and the ideology was repressed by the government through military means. The Socialist PSOE split, with more radical members founding the Communist Party in 1921.

In 1923, Miguel Primo de Rivera seized power in a military coup, and governed Spain as a military dictatorship. He instituted new polices, including a sweeping programme of public works, and attempted to defend the agrarian-industrial monarchist coalition formed during the First World War. His support faded, but following Rivera's resignation in January 1930, there was little support for a return to the pre-1923 system, and the monarchy's backing of the military government caused it to forfeit democratic credibility.

The municipal elections of April 12, 1931 were supported little in major cities, and large numbers of people gathered in the streets of Madrid. King Alfonso XIII abdicated, lest he become then cause of an ensuing "fratricidal civil war." The Second Spanish Republic was formed.

Second Republic

The Second Republic had the broad support of all segments of society. Republican Niceto Alcalá-Zamora was made the Prime Minister of the republic. Elections to a constituent Cortes in June 1931 returned a large majority of Republicans and Socialists who formed a coalition of members with differing goals. The state's financial position was poor, and an opposition composed of Catholic movements such as the Asociación Católica de Propagandistas, catastrophic monarchists including Carlists and the Renovación Española, and Fascist organisations fought republican and socialist measures.

Those parts of the CNT willing to cooperate with the republic were forced out while it continued to mount opposition to the government. The opposition gained the support of the church and military, which felt alienated by increasing regional autonomy granted by the central government, and saw governmental reforms aimed at boosting army efficiency as a direct attack. The General Military Academy in Zaragoza, directed by Francisco Franco, was closed by Minister of War Manuel Azaña.

On December 9, 1931, a new constitution, the Spanish Constitution of 1931, was declared. The document was reformist, liberal and democratic in nature, and welcomed by the Republican-Socialist coalition. It appalled landowners, industrialists, the organised church, and army officers. The 1931 constitution removed any special Catholic rights, as the new government believed it was necessary to break the control the church had over Spanish affairs.

On 18 October 1931, Gil Robles the leading spokesman of the parliamentary opposition, called for a crusade against the republic. In October, both Alcalá Zamora and his interior minister, Miguel Maura, resigned, and Manuel Azaña became Prime Minister. Reformist Party founder Alejandro Lerroux, who had sought Azaña's position, felt alienated and led his Radicals to join the opposition, leaving the Prime Minister dependent only on the socialists.

By the end of 1931, King Alfonso, in exile, ceased attempting to prevent an armed insurrection of monarchists in Spain. Azaña declared that Spain had 'ceased to be Catholic'; although statistically justifiable, his remarks were politically unwise. Spanish Catholics enlisted in the opposition.

In August 1932, an unsuccessful uprising by General José Sanjurjo quickly disintegrated, and while Socialists stood by Azaña, the left as a whole fractured, while the right coalesced. Gil Robles set up a new party, the tacitly Fascist Spanish Confederation of the Autonomous Right (, CEDA) to contest the 1933 election. The poll resulted in an overwhelming victory for the right, with the CEDA and Radicals together winning 219 seats, and outspending the Socialists, who campaigned alone.

Between 1934 and 1936, Spain entered a period deemed the "black two years" due to the rising tension and violence before the start of the war. Radicals became more aggressive, and conservatives turned to paramilitary and vigilante actions. The Socialist opposition began to propagate a revolutionary ideal. President Niceto Alcalá-Zamora declined to invite the leader of the CEDA, Gil Robles, to form a government and instead invited the Radical Republican Party's Lerroux to do so. The government set about removing price controls, selling state favours and monopolies, and removing the land reforms, which resulted in growing malnourishment in the south of Spain. The agrarian reforms went largely unenforced.

The first anarchist protests came on 8 December 1933, and were crushed by force easily in most of Spain. Both Carlists and Alfonsist monarchists prepared for fighting, the former undergoing military drills in Navarre. Open violence occurred in the streets of Spanish cities. Lerroux resigned in April 1934. Parts of the Socialist Party attempted to prevent the move towards Bolshevism they saw in the movement, leading to ruptures within the party's structure.

In September, Gil Robles' CEDA announced it would no longer support the Radicals' minority government; it was replaced by a Radical Party cabinet that included three members of his CEDA. A mostly unsuccessful UGT Socialist worker strike was followed by months of retaliation, repression and torture of political prisoners. Robles once again prompted a cabinet collapse, and five members of Lerroux's new government were conceded to CEDA. Farm workers' wages were halved, and the military was purged of Republican members and reformed; those loyal to Robles were promoted – Francisco Franco was made Chief of Staff.

In 1935, Azaña and Indalecio Prieto started to unify the left,staging large, popular rallies, in what would become the Popular Front. Lerroux's Radical government collapsed after two large scandals, including the Straperlo affair. However, Zamora did not allow the CEDA to form a government, and called elections, which were narrowly won by the under-financed Popular Front. Figures on the right began planning to overthrow of the republic. The republicans were left to govern alone; Azaña led a minority government. Acts of violence and reprisals spiralled, and in April parliament replaced Zamora with Azaña by appealing to a constitutional technicality.

CEDA turned its campaign chest over to Emilio Mola, whose organizational skills made him a formidable planner. The Fascist Falange expanded massively. Prieto did his best to avoid revolution, but Communists quickly took over the ranks of socialist organisations, which scared the middle classes. Several generals determined that the government had to be replaced if the dissolution of Spain was to be prevented. Their actions would lead to the military coup that started the Spanish Civil War.

Military coup

Preparations

The republican government had been attempting to remove suspect generals from their posts, and so Franco was sacked as chief of staff and transferred to command of the Canary islands. Goded was sacked as Inspector General and made general of the Balearic islands; Emilio Mola was moved from head of the Army of Africa to be military commander of Pamplona in Navarre. However, this allowed Mola to direct the mainland uprising. General José Sanjurjo became the figurehead of the operation, and helped to come to an agreement with the Carlists. Mola was chief planner and second in command. José Antonio Primo de Rivera was put in prison in mid-March in order to restrict the Falange. However, government actions were not as thorough as they might have been: warnings by the Director of Security and other figures were not acted upon.

On 12 June, Prime Minister Casares Quiroga met General Juan Yagüe, but Yagüe managed to convince Casares of his loyalty to the Republic. Mola began serious planning in the spring. Franco was a key player because of his prestige as a former director of the military academy and as the man who suppressed the Socialist uprising of 1934. He was well respected in the Army of Africa, Spain's toughest military force. He wrote a cryptic letter to Casares on 23 June, suggesting that the military was disloyal, but could be restrained if he were put in charge; Casares did nothing, failing to arrest or buy off Franco. On July 5, an aircraft was chartered to take Franco from the Canary Islands to Morocco. It arrived on July 14.

On 12 July 1936, in Madrid, members of the Falange murdered Lieutenant José Castillo of the Assault Guards police force. Castillo was a member of the Socialist party. The next day, members of the Assault Guards arrested José Calvo Sotelo, a leading Spanish monarchist and a prominent parliamentary conservative. Calvo Sotelo was shot by the Guards without trial. The killing of Sotelo, a prominent member of Parliament, with involvement of the police, aroused suspicions and strong reactions among the government's opponents on the right. Massive reprisals followed. Although the conservative Nationalist generals were already in advanced stages of a planned uprising, the event provided a catalyst and convenient public justification for their coup. The Socialists and Communists (lead by Prieto) demanded that arms be distributed to the people, before the military took over. The Prime Minister was hesitant. Franco's plane landed in Gran Canaria on July 14.

Beginning of the coup

[[File:Guerra Civil Española.svg|thumb|350px|General map of the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939). 10px Main Nationalist centres 10px Main Republican centres 25px Land battles 25px Naval battles 25px Bombed cities 25px Concentration camps 25px Massacres 10px Refugee camps ]] The uprising's timing was fixed at 17 July, at 5:00 p.m.; this was agreed to by the leader of the Carlists, Manuel Fal Conde. However, the timing was changed: the men in Spanish Morocco were to rise up at 5:00 a.m. and those in Spain itself starting exactly a day later, so control of Spanish Morocco could be achieved and forces sent to Iberia from Morocco to coincide with the risings there. The rising was intended to be a swift coup d'état, but the government retained control of most of the country.

Control in Spanish Morocco was all but certain. The plan was discovered in Morocco during 17 July, which prompted it to be enacted immediately. Little resistance was encountered; in total, 189 people were shot by the rebels. Goded and Franco immediately took control of the islands to which they were assigned. On 18 July, Casares Quiroga refused an offer of help from the CNT and UGT, leading the groups to proclaim a general strike, in effect mobilising. They open weapons caches, some buried since the 1934 risings. The paramilitary forces often waited to see the outcome of militia action before either joining or suppressing the rebellion. Quick action by either the rebels or anarchist militias was often enough to decide the fate of a town. General Queipo de Llano managed to secure Seville for the rebels, arresting a number of other officers.

Outcome

The rebels failed to take any major cities with the critical exception of Seville which provided a landing point for Franco’s African troops. The primarily conservative and Catholic areas of Old Castile and León fell quickly. The government retained control of Málaga, Jaén and Almería. Cadiz was taken for the rebels with the help of the first troops from the Army of Africa. In Madrid they were hemmed into the Montaña barracks, with fell with much bloodshed. Republican leader Santiago Casares Quiroga was replaced by José Giral who ordered the distribution of weapons among the civilian population. This facilitated the defeat of the army insurrection in the main industrial centres, including Madrid, Barcelona, and Valencia, but it allowed the anarchists to take control of Barcelona and large swathes of Aragon and Catalonia. General Goded surrendered in Barcelona and was later condemned to death.

The Republican Government ended up with controlling almost all of the east coast and central area around Madrid, as well as Asturias, Cantabria and part of the Basque Country in the north. Mola was keen to create a sense of fear within Nationalist-controlled areas.The rebels termed themselves "Nacionales", normally translated as "Nationalists", although the former implies "true Spaniards" rather than a pure nationalistic cause.

The result of the coup was a nationalist area of control containing 11 million of Spain's population of 25 million. The Nationalists had secured the support of around half of Spain's territorial army, some 60,000 men, joined by the Army of Africa, made up of 35,000 men, and a little under half of Spain's militaristic police forces, the Assault Guards, the Civil Guards, and the Carabineers. Republicans controlled under half of rifles, and about a third of both machine guns and artillery pieces. The Spanish Army had just 18 tanks of a sufficiently modern design, and the Republicans retained 10. Naval capacity was fairly even, with the Republicans retaining a numerical advantage but with the Navy's top ships in Nationalist hands. The Republican navy suffered from the same problems as the army: many officers had defected or had been killed after trying to do so. Two-thirds of air capability was retained by the government – however, the whole of the air service was very outdated.

Combatants

The war was cast by Republican sympathizers as a struggle between "tyranny and democracy", and by Nationalist supporters as between communist and anarchist "red hordes" and "Christian civilization". Nationalists also claimed to be protecting the establishment and bringing security and direction to an ungoverned and lawless society.

Spanish politics, especially on the left, were quite fragmented, as socialists and radicals supported democracy, while communists and anarchists opposed the institution of the republic as much as monarchists. There were internal divisions even among the socialists: a group that adhered to classical Marxism, and a more progressive Marxist group. The Conservatives, by contrast, were united by their fervent opposition to the Republican government, and presented a more unified front.

Republicans

The Republicans (also known as Spanish loyalists) received weapons and volunteers from the Soviet Union, Mexico, the international Marxists movement and International Brigades. Their supporters ranged from centrists who supported a moderately capitalist liberal democracy to revolutionary anarchists; their base was primarily secular and urban, but also included landless peasants, and was particularly strong in industrial regions like Asturias and Catalonia.

This faction was called variously the "loyalists" by its supporters; the "Republicans", "the Popular Front" or "the Government" by all parties, while its enemies referred to Republicans as "the reds". Republicans were supported by most urban workers, a large share of peasants, and much of the educated middle class.

The conservative, strongly Catholic Basque country, along with Galicia and the more left-leaning Catalonia, sought autonomy or even independence from the central government of Madrid. The Republican government allowed for the possibility of self-government for the two regions, whose forces were gathered under the People's Republican Army (''Ejército Popular Republicano'', or EPR).

Nationalists

The Nationalists (''nacionales''), (also called "insurgents", "rebels" or by opponents "Francoists" or "Fascists") fearing national fragmentation, opposed the separatist movements, and were chiefly defined by their anti-communism, which galvanized diverse or opposed movements like falangists and monarchists. Their leaders had a generally wealthier, more conservative, monarchist, landowning background.

The Nationalist side included the Carlists and Alfonsist monarchists, Spanish nationalists, the fascist Falange, and most conservatives and monarchist liberals. Virtually all Nationalist groups had strong Catholic convictions and supported the native Spanish clergy. The Nationals included the majority of the Catholic clergy and practitioners (outside of the Basque region), important elements of the army, most large landowners, and many businessmen.

One of the rightists' principal stated motives was to confront the anti-clericalism of the Republican regime and to defend the Church, which had been the targeted by opponents, including Republicans who blamed the institution for the country's ills. Prior to the war, in the Asturias uprising of 1934, religious buildings were burnt and at least one hundred clergy, religious civilians, and police were killed by revolutionaries against whom the president and the radicals prevented the implementation of serious sanctions or punishment.

Articles 24 and 26 of the Constitution of Spain's Republic had banned the Jesuits, which deeply offended many within the conservative fold. The revolution in the Republican zone at the outset of the war, killing 7,000 clergy and thousands of lay people, drove many Catholics to the Nationalist faction.

Other factions

Catalan and Basque nationalists were not univocal. Left-wing Catalan nationalists sided with the Republicans, while Conservative Catalan nationalists were far less vocal supporting the government due to anti-clericalism and confiscations occurring in areas within its control. Basque nationalists, heralded by the conservative Basque Nationalist Party, were mildly supportive of the Republican government, even though some in Navarre sided with the uprising for the same reasons influencing conservative Catalans. Notwithstanding religious matters, Basque nationalists, who were for the most part Catholic, generally sided with the Republicans.

Foreign involvement

The Spanish Civil War involved large numbers of non-Spanish citizens who participated in combat and advisory positions. Germany and Italy contributed large amounts of financial assistance and military aid to forces led by Franco. Forces fighting on behalf of the Republican faction also received support, but the Republic's allies were seriously hampered by the non-intervention proclaimed by France and the United Kingdom. The attempted suppression of imported materials was largely ineffective, however, and France especially was accused of allowing large shipments to Republican troops. The clandestine actions of the various European powers were at the time considered to be risking another 'Great War'.

The League of Nations' reaction to the war was mostly neutral and insufficient to contain the massive importation by fighting factions of arms and other war resources. Although a Non-Intervention Committee was formed, its policies accomplished little, and its directives were dismantled due to the policies of appeasement practised by European states; the official Spanish government of Juan Negrín was gradually abandoned within the organization during this period.

Support for the Nationalists

Germany

Despite the German signing of a non-intervention agreement in September 1936, various forms of aid and military help from Germany found their way to both sides of the Spanish conflict, largely in support of the Nationalist faction. Nazi actions included the formation of the multitasking Condor Legion, while German efforts to move the Army of Africa to mainland Spain proved successful in the war's early stages. German operations slowly expanded to include strike targets, most notably —and controversially— the bombing of Guernica, which on 26 April 1937 killed 200 to 300 civilians.

German involvement was further manifested through undertakings such as Operation Ursula, a U-boat undertaking, and contributions from the Kriegsmarine. The Legion spearheaded many Nationalist victories, particularly in aerial combat, while Spain further provided a proving ground for German tank tactics. The training German units provided to Nationalist force would prove valuable; by the War's end, perhaps fifty-six thousand Nationalist soldiers encompassing infantry, artillery, aerial and naval forces had been trained by German detachments.

Probably a total of 16,000 German citizens fought in the War, including approximately 300 killed, though no more than ten thousand participated at any one time. German aid to the Nationalists amounted to approximately £43,000,000 ($215,000,000) in 1939 prices, 15.5% of which was used for salaries and expenses and 21.9% for direct delivery of supplies to Spain, while 62.6% was expended on the Condor Legion.

Italy

After Francisco Franco’s request and encouragement by Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini joined the war. While the conquest of Abyssinia had made Italy's delirious of power, a Spanish ally would help secure Italian control of the Mediterranean. The Royal Italian Navy (''Regia Marina Italiana'') played a substantial role in the Mediterranean blockade and ultimately Italy supplied machine guns, artillery, aircraft, tankettes, the Legionary Air Force (), and the Corps of Volunteer Troops (, or CTV) to the Nationalist cause. The Italian CTV would at its peak supply the Nationalists with 50,000 men.

Portugal

António de Oliveira Salazar's Estado Novo played an important role in supplying Franco’s forces with ammunition and logistical help. Despite its discreet direct military involvement — restrained to a somewhat "semi-official" endorsement, by its authoritarian regime, of a volunteer force of up to 20,000, so-called "Viriatos" — for the whole duration of the conflict, Portugal was instrumental in providing the Nationalists with a organizational skills and reassurance from the Spanish neighbor to Franco and his allies that no interference would hinder the supply traffic directed to the Nationalist cause.

Others

Despite the Irish government's prohibition against participating in the war, around six hundred Irishmen, followers of Eoin O'Duffy known as the "Irish Brigade", went to Spain to fight alongside Franco. Romanian volunteers were led by Ion I Moţa, deputy-leader of the Legion of the Archangel Michael (or Iron Guard), whose group of seven Legionaries visited Spain in December 1936 to ally their movement with the Nationalists.

Support for the Republicans

International Brigades

Many non-Spaniards, often affiliated with radical communist or socialist entities, joined the International Brigades, believing that the Spanish Republic was a front line in the war against fascism. The units' represented the largest foreign contingent of those fighting for the Republicans. Roughly forty thousand foreign nationals fought with the Brigades, though no more than 18,000 were entered into the conflict at any given time; they claimed to represent 53 states.

Significant numbers of volunteers originated in France (10,000), Germany and Austria (5,000) and Italy (3,350). More than 1,000 came from the USSR, United States, United Kingdom, Yugoslavia, Hungary and Canada. The Thälmann Battalion, a group of Germans, distinguished their unit during the Siege of Madrid. Americans fought in units such as the Abraham Lincoln Brigade, while Canadians joined the Mackenzie-Papineau Battalion.

Over five hundred Romanians fought on the Republican side, including Romanian Communist Party members Petre Borilă and Valter Roman. About 80 volunteers from Ireland formed the Connolly Column. Some Chinese joined the Brigades, the majority of which returned to China, while some went to prison or French refugee camps, and a handful remained in Spain.

Soviet Union

The Soviet Union primarily provided material assistance to the Republican forces. In total the USSR provided the leftists with 806 planes, 362 tanks, and 1,555 artillery pieces. The Soviet Union ignored the League of Nations embargo and sold arms to the Republic when few other nations would do so; it was therefore the Republic's only source of major weapons. Stalin had signed the Non-Intervention Agreement but decided to break the pact, though he tried doing so secretly, unlike Hitler and Mussolini.

The Soviet premier created a section X of the Soviet Union military to head the weapons shipment operation, coined Operation X. Despite Stalin's interest in aiding the Republicans, however, most of the weapons and artillery sent to Spain were relics, some captured from past conflicts. Occasionally, modern weapons such as BT-5 tanks were sent.

Many of the Soviet deliveries were lost, due to short notice on orders, or arrived only partially matching what Stalin had authorised. When the ships left with supplies for the Republican cause, their journeys were extremely slow. Stalin ordered the builders to include false decks in the original designs of boats. Furthermore, once the sea vessels left shore, the Soviets were required to change flags and boat colors to minimize capture by the Nationalists. Such manoeuvres become unnecessary in 1938, however, when Stalin withdrew his troops and tanks as government ranks floundered. The Republican-Soviet alliance was an uneasy affair, and had the Spanish leftists had the opportunity to buy transport and weapons from alternative sources, they may have cut ties with Moscow.

The Republic was obligated to pay for Soviet arms with official Bank of Spain gold reserves, in an affair that would become a frequent subject of Francoist propaganda, under the term "Moscow Gold". The cost to the Republic of Soviet arms was more than US $500 million (in 1936 prices); the entire of Spain's gold reserve, the fourth-largest in the world. 176 tonnes was transferred through France.

The USSR further sent a number of military advisers to Spain (2,000–3,000), and while Soviet troops amounted to no more than 500 men at a time, Soviet volunteers often operated Soviet-made Republican tanks and aircraft, particularly at the beginning of the war. In addition, the Soviet Union directed Communist parties around the world to organize and recruit the International Brigades. Another significant Soviet involvement were the pervasive activities of the NKVD spanning the Republican rearguard. Communist figures like Vittorio Vidali ("Comandante Contreras"), Iosif Grigulevich and, most prominently, Alexander Orlov led "secret" operations that included murders like those of Andreu Nin and José Robles.

Mexico

Unlike the United States and major Latin American governments such as the ABC Powers and Peru, the Mexican government supported the Republicans. Mexico refused to follow the French-British non-intervention proposals, furnishing $2,000,000 in aid and material assistance, which included 20,000 rifles and 20 million cartridges.

Mexico's most important contributions to the Spanish Republic were its diplomatic help, as well as the sanctuary the nation arranged for Republican refugees, including Spanish intellectuals and orphaned children from Republican families. Some 50,000 took refuge, primarily in Mexico City, accompanied by $300 million in various treasures still owned by the Left.

Course of the war

1936

[[File:Map of the Spanish Civil War in September 1936.png|right|thumb|Map showing Spain in September 1936: ]]

A large air and sea-lift of Nationalist troops in Spanish Morocco was organised to the south-west of Spain. Coup leader Sanjurjo was killed in a plane crash on 20 July, leaving an effective command split between Mola in the North and Franco in the South. This period also saw the worst actions of the so-called "Red" and "White" "Terrors" in Spain. On 21 July, the fifth day of the rebellion, the Nationalists captured the central Spanish naval base, located in Ferrol in north-western Spain.

A rebel force under Colonel Beorlegui Canet, sent by General Mola, undertook the Campaign of Guipúzcoa from July to September. The capture of Guipúzcoa isolated the Republican provinces in the north. On 5 September, after heavy fighting the force took Irún, closing the French border to the Republicans. On 15 September, San Sebastián, home to a divided Republican force of anarchists and Basque nationalists, was taken by Nationalist soldiers. The Nationalists then advanced toward their capital, Bilbao, but were halted by Republican militias on the border of Vizcaya at the end of September.

The Republican government under Giral resigned on 4 September, unable to cope with the situation in which it found itself, and was replaced by a mostly Socialist organization under Largo Caballero. The new leadership began to unify central command in the republican zone. On the Nationalist side, Franco was chosen as chief military commander at a meeting of ranking generals at Salamanca on 21 September, now called by the title ''Generalísimo''. Franco won another victory on 27 September when his troops relieved the Alcázar in Toledo that had been held by a Nationalist garrison under Colonel Moscardo since the beginning of the rebellion, resisting thousands of Republican troops who totally surrounded the isolated building. Two days after relieving the siege, Franco proclaimed himself ''Caudillo'' ("chieftain"), while forcibly unifying the various and diverse Falangist, Royalist and other elements within the Nationalist cause. The diversion to Toledo gave Madrid time to prepare a defense, but was hailed as a major propaganda victory and personal success for Franco.

In October, the Francoist troops launched a major offensive toward Madrid, reaching it in early November and launching a major assault on the city on 8 November. The Republican government was forced to shift from Madrid to Valencia, outside the combat zone, on 6 November. However, the Nationalists' attack on the capital was repulsed in fierce fighting between 8 November and 23 November. A contributory factor in the successful Republican defense was the arrival of the International Brigades, though only an approximate three thousand foreign volunteers participated in the battle. Having failed to take the capital, Franco bombarded it from the air and, in the following two years, mounted several offensives to try to encircle Madrid. The battle of the Corunna Road, a Nationalist offensive to the north-west, pushed Republican forces back, but failed to isolate Madrid. The city lasted into January.

1937

[[File:Map of the Spanish Civil War in October 1937.png|right|thumb|Map showing Spain in October 1937: ]]

With his ranks swelled by Italian troops and Spanish colonial soldiers from Morocco, Franco made another attempt to capture Madrid in January and February 1937, but was again unsuccessful. The Battle of Málaga started in mid-January; this Nationalist offensive in Spain's south-east would turn into a disaster for the Republicans, who were poorly organised and armed. The city was taken by Franco on 8 February. The consolidation of various militias into the Republican Army had started in December 1936. The main Nationalist advance, to cross the Jarama river and cut the supply of Madrid by the Valencia road, termed the Battle of Jarama, led to heavy casualties (6–20,000) on both sides. The operation's main objective was not met, though Nationalists gained a modest amount of territory. A similar Nationalist offensive, the Battle of Guadalajara, was a more significant defeat for Franco and his armies; it proved the only publicised Republican victory of the war. Italian troops and blitzkrieg tactics were used by Franco, and while many strategists blamed the latter for the rightists' defeat, the Germans believed it was the former at fault for the Nationalists' 5,000 casualties and loss of valuable equipment. The German strategists successfully argued that the Nationalists needed to concentrate on vulnerable areas first.

thumb|right|Ruins of [[Guernica (town)|Guernica ]] The "War in the North" began in mid-March, with Vizcaya as a first target. The Basques suffered most from the lack of a suitable air force; on 26 April, the Condor Legion bombed the town of Guernica, killing two to three hundred. The destruction had a significant effect on international opinion. The Basques retreated.

April and May saw infighting among Republican groups in Catalonia. The dispute was between an ultimately victorious government–Communist force and the anarchist CNT. The disturbance pleased Nationalist command, but little was done to exploit Republican divisions. After the fall of Guernica, the Republican government began to fight back with increasing effectiveness. In July, it made a move to recapture Segovia, forcing Franco to delay his advance on the Bilbao front, but for only two weeks. A similar Republican attack on Huesca failed similarly. Mola, Franco's second-in-command, was killed on 3 June. In early July, despite the earlier fall in June of Bilbao, the government launched a strong counter-offensive to the west of Madrid, focusing on Brunete. The Battle of Brunete, however, was a significant defeat for the Republic, which lost many of its most accomplished troops. The offensive had led to an advance of , and left 25,000 Republican casualties.

A Republican offensive against Zaragoza was also a failure. Despite having land and aerial advantages, the Battle of Belchite resulted in an advance of only ten kilometres and the loss of much equipment. Franco invaded Aragón in August and then took the city of Santander. With the surrender of the Republican army in the Basque territory came the Santoña Agreement; Gijón finally fell in late October. Franco had effectively won in the north. At November's end, with Franco's troops closing in on Valencia, the government had to move again, this time to Barcelona.

1938

[[File:Map of the Spanish Civil War in July 1938.png|thumb|right|Map showing Spain in July 1938: ]] The Battle of Teruel was an important confrontation. The city, which had formerly belonged to the Nationalists, was conquered by Republicans in January. The Francoist troops launched an offensive and recovered the city by 22 February, but Franco was forced to rely heavily on German and Italian air support.

On 7 March, Nationalists launched the Aragon Offensive, and by 14 April, they had pushed through to the Mediterranean, cutting the Republican-held portion of Spain in two. The Republican government attempted suing for peace in May, but Franco demanded unconditional surrender; the war raged on. In July, the Nationalist army pressed southward from Teruel and south along the coast toward the capital of the Republic at Valencia, but was halted in heavy fighting along the XYZ Line, a system of fortifications defending Valencia.

The Republican government then launched an all-out campaign to reconnect their territory in the Battle of the Ebro, from 24 July until 26 November. The campaign was unsuccessful, and was undermined by the Franco-British appeasement of Hitler in Munich. The agreement with Britain effectively destroyed Republican morale by ending hope of an anti-fascist alliance with Western powers. The retreat from the Ebro all but determined the final outcome of the war. Eight days before the new year, Franco threw massive forces into an invasion of Catalonia.

1939

[[File:Map of the Spanish Civil War in February 1939.png|thumb|right|Map showing Spain in February 1939: ]] Franco's troops conquered Catalonia in a whirlwind campaign during the first two months of 1939. Tarragona fell on 15 January, followed by Barcelona on 26 January and Gerona on 2 February. On 27 February, the United Kingdom and France recognized the Franco regime.

Only Madrid and a few other strongholds remained for the Republican forces. On 28 March, with the help of pro-Franco forces inside the city, Madrid fell to the Nationalists. The next day, Valencia, which had held out from Nationalists for close to two years, also surrendered. Franco proclaimed victory in a radio speech aired on 1 April, when the last of the Republican forces surrendered.

After the end of the War, there were harsh reprisals against Franco's former enemies; thousands of Republicans were imprisoned and at least 30,000 executed. Other calculations of these deaths range from 50,000 to 200,000 depending on which killings are included.Many others were put to forced labour, building railways, drying out swamps, and digging canals.

Hundreds of thousands of Republicans fled abroad, some 500,000 to France. Refugees were confined in internment camps of the French Third Republic, such as Camp Gurs or Camp Vernet, where twelve thousand Republicans were housed in squalid conditions. Of the 17,000 refugees housed in Gurs, farmers and others who could not find relations in France were encouraged by the Third Republic, in agreement with the Francoist government, to return to Spain. The great majority did so and were turned over to the Francoist authorities in Irún. From there they were transferred to the Miranda de Ebro camp for "purification" according to the Law of Political Responsibilities. After the proclamation by Marshal Philippe Pétain of the Vichy regime, the refugees became political prisoners, and the French police attempted to round up those who had been liberated from the camp. Along with other "undesirables", the Spaniards were sent to the Drancy internment camp before being deported to Nazi Germany. About 5,000 Spaniards thus died in the Mauthausen concentration camp.

After the official end of the war, guerrilla war was waged on an irregular basis by the Spanish Maquis well into the 1950s, being gradually reduced by military defeats and scant support from the exhausted population. In 1944, a group of republican veterans, who also fought in the French resistance against the Nazis, invaded the Val d'Aran in northwest Catalonia, but were defeated after ten days.

Evacuation of children

The Republicans oversaw the evacuation of 30–35,000 children from their zone. This started with Basque areas, from which 20,000 were evacuated. Their destinations included the United Kingdom and the USSR, and many other locations in Europe, along with Mexico. Around 4,000 were taken to the UK against initial opposition from both the government and charitable groups who saw the removal of children from their native country as potentially harmful. The upper age limit was initially set at 12 but raised to 15.

Atrocities

Death totals remain debated. Antony Beevor writes in his history of the Civil War that Franco's ensuing 'white terror' resulted in the deaths of 200,000 people and that the 'red terror' killed 38,000. Julius Ruiz contends that "although the figures remain disputed, a minimum of 37,843 executions were carried out in the Republican zone with a maximum of 150,000 executions (including 50,000 after the war) in Nationalist Spain". In 2008 a Spanish judge, Baltasar Garzón, opened an investigation into the executions and disappearances of 114,266 people between 17 July 1936 and December 1951 (Garzón has since been indicted for violating a 1977 amnesty law through his actions). Among the executions investigated was that of the poet and dramatist Federico García Lorca; mention of his death was forbidden during Franco's regime.

Nationalists

Atrocities of the Nationalists, frequently ordered by authorities in order to eradicate any trace of leftism in Spain, were common. According to historian Paul Preston, the minimum number of those executed by the rebels is 130,000, and is likely to have been far higher. The violence carried out in the rebel zone was carried out by the military, the Civil Guard and the Falange in the name of the regime and legitimized by the Catholic Church.

Many such acts were committed by reactionary groups during the first weeks of the war. This included the execution of school teachers, because the efforts of the Second Spanish Republic to promote laicism and displace the Church from schools by closing religious educational institutions were considered by the Nationalists as an attack on the Roman Catholic Church. Extensive killings of civilians were carried out in the cities Nationalists captured, along with the execution of unwanted individuals. These included non-combatants such as trade-unionists, Popular Front politicians, suspected Freemasons, Basque, Catalan, Andalusian and Galician Nationalists, Republican intellectuals, relatives of known Republicans and those suspected of voting for the Popular Front.

Nationalist forces massacred civilians in Seville, where some 8,000 people were shot; ten thousand were killed in Córdoba. 6–12,000 were killed in Badajoz. In Granada, at least 2000 people were murdered. In February 1937, over seven thousand were killed after the capture of Málaga. When Bilbao was conquered thousands of people were sent to prison; there were fewer executions than usual, however, because of the effect Guernica left on Nationalists' reputations internationally. The numbers killed as the successful columns of the Army of Africa devastated and pillaged their way between Seville and Madrid are particularly difficult to calculate.

Nationalists also murdered Catholic clerics. In one particular incident, following the capture of Bilbao, hundreds of people, including 16 priests who had served as chaplains for the Republican forces, were taken to the countryside or graveyards to be murdered.

Franco's forces also persecuted Protestants, including the murder of twenty Protestant ministers. Franco's forces were determined to remove the "Protestant heresy" from Spain. The Nationalists also persecuted Basques, as they strived to eradicate Basque culture. According to Basque sources, some 22,000 Basques were murdered by Nationalists immediately after the Civil War.

The Nationalist side also conducted aerial bombing of cities in Republican territory, carried out mainly by the ''Luftwaffe'' volunteers of the ''Condor Legion'' and the ''Italian air force'' volunteers of the ''Corpo Truppe Volontarie'', Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Guernica, Durango and other cities were targeted, the Bombing of Guernica was among the most controversial.

Republicans

According to the Nationalists, an estimated 55,000 civilians died in Republican-held territories. This is considered excessive by Antony Beevor; however, it was much less than the half a million claimed during the war. The deaths would form the prevailing outside opinion of the Republic up until the bombing of Guernica. The Republican government was anticlerical, and supporters attacked and murdered Roman Catholic clergy in reaction to news of military revolt. In Republican held territories, Roman Catholic churches were desecrated. Through the war, nearly all segments of the Republicans, Basques being a notable exception, took part in semi-organized anti-Roman Catholic killing of 6,832 members of Catholic clergy and religious orders (including 13 bishops, 4,184 priests, 2,365 monks and friars, and 283 nuns). The "Execution" of the Sacred Heart of Jesus by Communist militiamen at Cerro de los Ángeles near Madrid, on 7 August 1936, was the most infamous of widespread desecration of religious property. It was justified by reference to the Church's political role in the Civil War, which was considerable. By the conflict's end 20 percent of the nation's clergy had been killed, though some argue the totals were lower.

Like clergy, civilians were executed in Republican territories. Some civilians were executed as suspected Falangists. Others died in acts of revenge after Republicans heard of massacres carried out in the Nationalist zone. Air raids committed against Republican cities were another driving factor. Republican authorities did not order such measures to be taken. Shopkeepers and industrialists, if rightist collaborators, were shot; if they were well regarded for their attitude to the poor, they were usually spared. Fake justice was sought though commission, known by its name in Russia as ''checas''. As pressure mounted with increasing success of the Nationalists, many civilians were executed by councils and tribunals controlled by competing Communist and Anarchist groups. Some members of the latter were executed by Soviet-advised communist functionaries in Catalonia, as described by George Orwell's description of the purges in Barcelona in 1937 in ''Homage to Catalonia'', which followed a period of increasing tension between Competing elements of the Catalan political scene. Some individuals fled to friendly embassies, which would house up to 8,500 people during the war.

In the Andalusian town of Ronda, 512 alleged Nationalists were executed in the first month of the war. Communist Santiago Carrillo Solares has been accused of the killing of Nationalists in the Paracuellos massacre near Paracuellos del Jarama. Pro-Soviet Communists committed numerous atrocities against fellow Republicans, including other Marxists: André Marty, known as the Butcher of Albacete, was responsible for the deaths of some 500 members of the International Brigades. Andreu Nin, leader of the POUM (Workers' Party of Marxist Unification), and many other prominent POUM members, were murdered by the Communists, with the help of the USSR's NKVD.

Thirty eight thousand people were killed in the Republican zone during the war, 17,000 of whom were killed in Madrid or Catalonia within a month of the coup. Whilst the Communists were forthright in their support of extrajudicial killings, much of the Republican side was appalled by the murders. Azaña came close to resigning. He, alongside other members of parliament and a great number of other local officials, attempted to prevent Nationalist supporters being lynched. Some of those in positions of power intervened personally to stop the killings.

Social revolution

In the anarchist-controlled areas, Aragón and Catalonia, in addition to the temporary military success, there was a vast social revolution in which the workers and peasants collectivised land and industry, and set up councils parallel to the paralyzed Republican government. This revolution was opposed by both the Soviet-supported communists who, perhaps surprisingly, campaigned against the loss of civil property rights. The agrarian collectives had considerable success despite opposition and lack of resources.

As the war progressed, the government and the communists were able to leverage their access to Soviet arms to restore government control over the war effort, through both diplomacy and force. Anarchists and the Workers' Party of Marxist Unification (''Partido Obrero de Unificación Marxista'', POUM) were integrated into the regular army, albeit with resistance; the POUM was outlawed and falsely denounced as an instrument of the fascists. In the ''May Days'' of 1937, many thousands of anarchist and communist Republican soldiers fought for control of strategic points in Barcelona.

The pre-war Falange was a small party of some 30–40,000 members. It also called for a social revolution that would have seen Spanish society transformed by National Syndicalism. Following the execution of its leader, José Antonio Primo de Rivera, by the Republicans, the party swelled in size to several hundred thousand members. The leadership of the Falange suffered 60% casualties in the early days of the civil war and the party was transformed by new members and rising new leaders, called ''camisas nuevas'' ("new shirts"), who were less interested in the revolutionary aspects of National Syndicalism. Subsequently, Franco united all rightist parties into the Traditionalist Spanish Falange and the National Syndicalist Offensive Juntas (, FET y de las JONS).

The 1930s also saw Spain become a focus for pacifist organizations including the Fellowship of Reconciliation, the War Resisters League and the War Resisters' International. Many people including, as they are now called, the 'insumisos' ('defiant ones', conscientious objectors) argued and worked for non-violent strategies. Prominent Spanish pacifists such as Amparo Poch y Gascón and José Brocca supported the Republicans. Brocca argued that Spanish pacifists had no alternative but to make a stand against fascism. He put this stand into practice by various means including organizing agricultural workers to maintain food supplies and through humanitarian work with war refugees.

People

Figures identified with the Nationalist side :''Military''

Francisco Franco (Spain)

Miguel Cabanellas (Spain)

José Sanjurjo (Spain)

Emilio Mola (Spain)

Gonzalo Queipo de Llano (Spain)

Juan Yagüe (Spain)

Hugo Sperrle (Germany)

Wilhelm Ritter von Thoma (Germany)

Wolfram Freiherr von Richthofen (Germany)

Mario Roatta (Italy)

Ettore Bastico (Italy)

:''Non-military''

Salvador Dalí

Pedro Muñoz Seca (assassinated)

Ramón Serrano Súñer

Miguel Delibes

Figures identified with the Republican side :''Politicians or military''

Manuel Azaña (Republican)

Santiago Carrillo (Communist)

Valentin González (''"El Campesino"'') (Communist)

Dolores Ibarruri (''"La Pasionaria"'') (Communist)

Francisco Largo Caballero (Socialist)

Diego Martínez Barrio (Republican)

Juan Negrín (Socialist)

Andrés Nin (Communist)

Indalecio Prieto (Socialist)

:''Others (including volunteers)''

W. H. Auden

Federico García Lorca (assassinated)

Pablo Picasso

Ernest Hemingway

Laurie Lee

George Orwell

Political parties and organizations

See also

List of foreign ships wrecked or lost in the Spanish Civil War

Catholicism in the Second Spanish Republic

''Guernica'' (painting)

''The Falling Soldier''

List of war films and TV specials#Spanish Civil War (1936–1939)

List of foreign correspondents in the Spanish Civil War

Polish volunteers in the Spanish Civil War

Jewish volunteers in the Spanish Civil War

European Civil War

Spain in World War II

Surviving veterans of the Spanish Civil War

SS ''Cantabria''

Nationalist Foreign Volunteers

Pacifism in Spain

Spanish Republican Air Force

References

Notes

Citations

Bibliography and books by noted authors

First published as ''The Spanish Civil War''.

Further reading

External links

Primary documents

Magazines and journals published during the war, an online exhibit maintained by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (English, Spanish)

A collection of essays by Albert and Vera Weisbord with about a dozen essays written during and about the Spanish Civil War.

La Cucaracha, The Spanish Civil War Diary, a detailed chronicle of the events of the war

Ronald Hilton, ''Spain, 1931–36, From Monarchy to Civil War, An Eyewitness Account''

Mary Low and Juan Breá: ''Red Spanish Book''. A testimony by two surrealists and trotskytes

Spanish Civil War and Revolution text archive in the libcom.org library

Southworth Spanish Civil War Collection, books and other literature housed at Mandeville Special Collection Library, University of California, San Diego

Images and films

Spain in Revolt, newsreel documentary (Video Stream) (Part 1, 2)

Imperial War Museum Collection of Spanish Civil War Posters hosted online by Visual Arts Data Service (VADS)

Posters of the Spanish Civil War from UCSD's Southworth collection

Civil War Documentaries made by the CNT

Spanish Civil War and Revolution image gallery – photographs and posters from the conflict

Aircraft of the Spanish Civil War

Battle of Rio Segre Photographs Capa, Robert (1938) International Center of Photography.

Academics and governments

A History of the Spanish Civil War, excerpted from a U.S. government country study.

''Dutch Involvement in the Spanish Civil War''. Columbia Historical Review.

"The Spanish Civil War – causes and legacy" on BBC Radio 4's ''In Our Time'' featuring Paul Preston, Helen Graham and Dr Mary Vincent

Other

Original war reports from ''The Times''

The Anarcho-Statists of Spain, a different view of the anarchists in the Spanish Civil War, George Mason University

Spanish Civil War information from Spartacus Educational

American Jews in Spanish Civil War, by Martin Sugarman

The Spanish Revolution, 1936–39 articles and links, from Anarchy Now!

The Revolutionary Institutions: The Central Committee of Anti-Fascist Militias, by Juan García Oliver

Warships of the Spanish Civil War

¡No Pasarán! Speech Dolores Ibárruri's famous rousing address for the defense of the Second Republic

New Zealand and the Spanish Civil War

Category:Carlism Category:Civil wars involving the states and peoples of Europe Category:Civil wars post-1945 Category:1930s conflicts Category:1930s in Spain Category:Francoist Spain Category:Succession-based civil wars Category:Wars involving Spain Category:Wars involving the states and peoples of Europe

af:Spaanse Burgeroorlog ar:الحرب الأهلية الإسبانية an:Guerra Civil Espanyola ast:Guerra Civil Española az:İspaniya vətəndaş müharibəsi be:Грамадзянская вайна ў Іспаніі be-x-old:Грамадзянская вайна ў Гішпаніі bs:Španski građanski rat br:Brezel Spagn bg:Гражданска война в Испания ca:Guerra Civil Espanyola cs:Španělská občanská válka cy:Rhyfel Cartref Sbaen da:Spanske borgerkrig de:Spanischer Bürgerkrieg et:Hispaania kodusõda el:Ισπανικός Εμφύλιος es:Guerra Civil Española eo:Hispana Enlanda Milito ext:Guerra Cevil Española eu:Espainiako Gerra Zibila fa:جنگ داخلی اسپانیا hif:Spanish Civil War fr:Guerre d'Espagne fy:Spaanske boargerkriich fur:Vuere di Spagne ga:Cogadh Cathartha na Spáinne gl:Guerra Civil Española ko:스페인 내전 hi:स्पेनी गृहयुद्ध hr:Španjolski građanski rat io:Hispaniana interna milito id:Perang Saudara Spanyol ia:Guerra Civil Espaniol is:Spænska borgarastyrjöldin it:Guerra civile spagnola he:מלחמת האזרחים בספרד ka:ესპანეთის სამოქალაქო ომი kk:Испан азамат соғысы sw:Vita ya wenyewe kwa wenyewe ya Hispania la:Bellum Civile Hispanicum lv:Spānijas pilsoņu karš lb:Spuenesche Biergerkrich lt:Ispanijos pilietinis karas hu:Spanyol polgárháború mk:Шпанска граѓанска војна ml:സ്പാനിഷ് ആഭ്യന്തരയുദ്ധം arz:حرب اهليه اسبانيه ms:Perang Saudara Sepanyol mwl:Guerra Cebil Spanhola nl:Spaanse Burgeroorlog ja:スペイン内戦 no:Den spanske borgerkrig nn:Den spanske borgarkrigen oc:Guèrra Civiu Espanhòla nds:Spaansche Börgerkrieg pl:Hiszpańska wojna domowa pt:Guerra Civil Espanhola ro:Războiul Civil Spaniol ru:Гражданская война в Испании sq:Lufta civile spanjolle scn:Guerra civili spagnola simple:Spanish Civil War sk:Španielska občianska vojna (1936) sl:Španska državljanska vojna sr:Шпански грађански рат sh:Španski građanski rat fi:Espanjan sisällissota sv:Spanska inbördeskriget tl:Digmaang Sibil ng Espanya ta:எசுப்பானிய உள்நாட்டுப் போர் kab:Amgaru aɣarim n Spenyul th:สงครามกลางเมืองสเปน tg:Ҷанги шаҳрвандии Испания tr:İspanya İç Savaşı uk:Громадянська війна в Іспанії vi:Nội chiến Tây Ban Nha fiu-vro:Hispaania kodosõda wa:Guere civile espagnole war:Gyera Sibil Espanyol yi:שפּאנישע בירגער קריג zh-yue:西班牙內戰 bat-smg:Ėspanėjės cėvėlėnė vaina zh:西班牙内战