After having explained very briefly very important historical periods in Spain, such as the Second Republic or the Restoration in order to be able to do their respective school work, it is time to talk about one of the most significant moments in the history of our country. , how was the Civil War and give you ideas to be able to do a complete job about it and for the 2nd year of Baccalaureate.
Points to touch on in our work on the Second World War
- What was the Civil War about?
- Work on the Civil War
- Other Ideas for Civil War Work
- Civil War PDF
- video of the civil war
What was the Civil War about?
The Spanish Civil War, which lasted from 1936 to 1939, was a military conflict that opposed the Spanish republic ruled by the leftunited in the Popular Front, and the insurrectionary forces of the right, organized by the nationalists, and concluded with the victory of the latter.
Origin of the Spanish Civil War
Matured in the climate of growing radicalization of the political and social situation in Spain after the proclamation of the second republic (1931), the crisis plunged the country into civil war it was triggered by the rise of the left after the February 1936 elections and by the immediate reaction of the right supported by the leaders of the army (generals José Sanjurjo Sacanell, Emilio Mola and Francisco Franco).
The military conspiracy, prepared by the action of the fascist squads of the Spanish Falange that gave way to a spiral of violence and disorder, it began after the assassination of the monarchist leader José Calvo Sotelo (July 13), by elements of the left.
The start of the Spanish Civil War
On July 17 the Spanish troops rose from Morocco and the following day the rebellion spread to the garrisons of Spain, settling in the rural north-central provinces and in the cities of Burgos, Salamanca and Ávila. Government forces, backed by workers’ militias, crushed the revolt in Madrid, Barcelona and many industrial centers in the north and east, but not in the south, where in Cadiz, Seville and Granada it expressed the resistance of the workers who nevertheless she was immediately suffocated by blood.
At the end of July, the nationalists controlled almost a third of Spain, including the vast bloc of north-central regions (Galicia, León, Castilla la Vieja, Aragón and part of Extremadura) and the so-called Andalusian triangle to the south (Huelva-Sevilla-Córdoba) and had their own command center, the military junta from Burgos.
Frank’s role
Decisive for the success of the insurrection was the contribution of the African colonial army of General Franco who, trapped in Morocco by the republican army, was able to land in the south of Spain between the end of July and the beginning of August thanks to an air and naval bridge organized by Germany and Italy.
While this was a prelude to the support of the two Nazi-Fascist powers in the cause of the Nationalists, it dashed the hopes of the Republicans for the support of Western democracy, both because of England’s fear of causing a conflict of European dimensions, such as the doubts of the French Prime Minister, Léon Blum, paralyzed by internal opposition. Therefore, the republican government in Madrid was forced to focus above all on aid from the Soviet Union.
In the first two weeks of August, the nationalists went on the offensive: in the north, Mola attacked the Basque province of Guipúzcoa to isolate it from France, while From the south Franco advanced towards Madrid, without hesitation in carrying out massacres. The position of the nationalists was further consolidated between August and September with the conquest of the Alcázar fortress in Toledo, tenaciously defended by the Republican militia, and the cities of Oviedo and Zaragoza.
Frank the Generalissimo
Between September 29 and 30, the Burgos military junta named Franco generalissimo and head of the nationalist government, recognized just over a month later by Hitler and Mussolini, who helped the insurgents by sending substantial aid in arms and men: the Italians in the Voluntary Corps (CTV), the Germans in the Condor Legion.
In favor of this circumstance, Franco thought he could hasten the course of events by marching on Madridwhere the cohesion of the republican government was strongly shaken by the ongoing clash between communists and moderate socialists, on the one hand, concerned with safeguarding the military survival of the democratic regime, and anarchists, Trotskyists, and far left socialists on the other, who gave priority to the social revolution.
the republican defense
With the imminent attack on the capital, full of refugees and without water and food, the republicans could count on supplies of vehicles and weapons from the Soviet Union and the arrival of the first contingents of volunteers from the International Brigades.
On November 6, the republican government moved to Valencia, while the command of the plaza in Madrid was entrusted to General José Miaja, flanked by a communist-led Defense Council and under the strategic direction of the brilliant Chief of Staff, Colonel Vicente Rojo. The Nationalists’ assault, which began the following day, was repulsed and the city held out for another twenty-eight months.
A series of battles followed in December 1936 and March 1937 at Boadilla, Jarama and Guadalajara. with which the republican troops tried to break the siege of Madrid at the cost of serious losses. This did not prevent the progress of the nationalists who, strengthened in the south by the capture of Malaga (February 1937), completed the conquest of the Basque provinces in the following spring-summer, making use of the air cover of the Condor Legion. , which was infamous for bombing the population. civilian of Guernica.
The already considerable superiority of the Nationalists in men, tanks and aircraft became overwhelming after the conquest, between September and October, of Asturias, which gave them total control of the enormous industrial and mineral resources of northern Spain.
For its part, Rojo tried to block the nationalists with a series of offensives to Brunete (July) and Zaragoza (August), whose success was short-lived. Rojo’s attack on Teruel was no different, taken by the Republicans on January 8, 1938 and reconquered by the Nationalists two weeks later.
Taking advantage of the difficulties of the Republicans, on March 7, 1938, Franco launched a massive offensive in Aragon and Castile, mobilizing most of his forces (100,000 men, 200 tanks and almost 1000 planes) which, having penetrated the Ebro valley, arrived on April 15. the Mediterranean, separating Catalonia from the government of Valencia.
The end of the Spanish Civil War
In July, the Republicans launched their last major offensive on the Ebro River, involving both camps in a violent battle that lasted until November 16, when the Nationalists took over. Franco’s final attack began in late December 1938. The Catalonia front was immediately broken and on January 26, 1939, Barcelona fell..
While in Valencia the republican government tried to organize resistance, on March 5 a dissident junta was created in Madrid headed by Colonel Segismundo Casado who, after unsuccessfully trying to negotiate surrender, allowed the nationalist troops to enter the capital on March 27. of March.
On April 1, the Burgos government officially announced the end of the civil war. The consequences of the conflict were very heavy: 400,000 republicans were forced into exile and Franco’s victory was institutionalized in 38 years of dictatorship. More than a million opponents of the Franco regime spent their lives in prison or in labor camps. More than 400,000 people died during the war, while around 100,000 were executed between 1939 and 1943.
After what has been explained, Franco’s dictatorship would arrive as the result of a Civil War for which we must summarize background, causes, reasons and development to be able to do a good school work in 2nd year of Baccalaureate in this regard.
Work on the Civil War
To do the work on the Civil War it is better to divide by years, from 1936 to 39, how the war conflict develops with the most outstanding battles or confrontations. The most advisable thing will be to be able to make a good schematic map.
In this scheme we can indicate for example:
Explanation of which were the two sides of the Civil Waron the one hand the National and on the other hand the Republican side.
Civil War timeline outlinefrom the entry of Franco and his army into the republican government to impose the dictatorship, and how they gained ground throughout 1936, passing through the international arrival in 1937 to fight on the republican side, as well as the help of countries such as Italy to the national side and until the bombings of 1939 that ended with Franco’s victory.
Finally we can conclude our work, speaking of the impact that occurred after the end of the Civil War, and among those that stand out, of course, is the large number of human losses (almost one million), not all of them attributable to actual war actions, but many of them related to the violent repression carried out or consented to by both sides, which may include the deaths caused by the bombing of civilian populations.
Other Ideas for Civil War Work
- In addition to the scheme that you can use to develop your work on The Civil War, we can make a geographic and political map of the spanish peninsula in which to mark with dates and others, the different territories conquered by Franco as the conflict developed
Other articles of interest in Superhistory