In Spain, in southern Europe, the smoke in the sky is getting thicker and thicker.
At the beginning of the century, Spain was an economically poor and politically backward agricultural country. The Spanish political system was still biased towards the feudal autocratic form, and most government officials and military generals were senior Catholic monks or aristocratic landowners and other upper-class figures. Semi-feudal large-scale rule prevailed in the countryside.
Under the manorial system, large landowners control most of the land and resources in the country, and the lower class people live in poverty.
Miguel Primo de Rivera, with the consent of King Alfonso XIII, launched a coup on September 13, 1923, establishing a seven-year dictatorship and vigorously suppressing domestic strife.
But in 1931, a revolution broke out in Spain, the de Rivera regime was overthrown, Alfonso XIII went into exile, and Niceto Alcalá-Zamora established the Second Spanish Republic.
However, the Second Spanish Republic was also in a turbulent situation, and at least 28 governments were established.
The earliest government was the left-wing Socialist Alliance led by Zamora, which implemented a series of democratic and land reforms, and implemented a series of measures such as disarmament and the closure of military academies.
However, these reforms were not very effective. Landowners and royalist officers still accounted for the majority in the Spanish Congress and the government army. The same was true for the land reform. When most of the land was nationalized or the land of the landlords was purchased at a high price, the poor peasants were only allocated a small part.
Crown land.
Catholics also opposed the republican government and attacked each other. The constitution stipulated the separation of church and state. However, the government took advantage of the establishment of the Second Republic to organize an anti-Catholic government, strongly interfered with the Catholic Church, prohibited religious groups from preaching, and restricted property rights and investments.
Outlaw the Jesuits.
It even allowed anti-Catholic radicals to attack monasteries and believers, and the Catholic Church also spread anti-republican government ideas to believers.
The welfare system of the working class is not enforced strongly, most capitalists do not comply with regulations such as the eight-hour work system, and only Catalonia allows the autonomous region's requirements to be established.
In August 1932, General Jose Sanjujo attempted a coup, but failed and was arrested. Internal fighting and the Great Depression of the 1930s made domestic society unstable. Nazism and communism spread rapidly in Spain. The country was full of
With various political forces of different ideologies, the left and right parties conflict with each other and unite with other activists to expand their power.
Among them, the communist Falange Party and the Spanish Communist Party have the most violent methods. They have caused numerous violent incidents in the country, which has also intensified the opposition between the camps in the civil war, leading to a gradual escalation in the scale of the conflict.
In October 1935, the Spanish left-wing group formed the Popular Front from the Spanish Communist Party (PCE), the Marxist Workers' Party (POUM), the Workers' Union (UGT), the Basques, Catalans and anarchists.
The political propositions of the Popular Front before the election include: pardoning political prisoners imprisoned by the right-wing government, providing basic wages and limiting working hours for agricultural workers, restoring the constitution and the establishment of autonomous regions, democratizing public institutions and the military, and outlawing terrorism and royalism.
People, reduced taxes and land rents, etc., were widely supported by the workers, peasants and petty bourgeoisie people, and won the election in 1936 and regained power.
Jose Sanjujo founded an organization called the Spanish Military Alliance, planning to overthrow the republican government by force, implement a right-wing dictatorship, and restore domestic order.
Supporters are divided into three groups: conservative soldiers who represent the interests of rich peasants, liberals who represent the interests of the middle class, and Falangists who represent the interests of small farmers and handicraftsmen. This organization has not many active officers, but many retired officers, and Sanhu
Hoban was still living in Portugal at the time, and his commanding officer at home was Brigadier General Emilio Mora.
At the same time, the royalists also opposed the reforms of the Republic. The leader of the royalists was Antonio Gorecchia. In 1937, he wanted to declare the collapse of the Republic through a military coup or civil war, and went to the Kingdom of Italy to gain support from Mussolini.
The leader of the Orthodox faction is Far Gente. They are also preparing to overthrow the republican government by force and train militias in the Navar mountains.
In 1933, Spain held another election, and the right-wing Radical Republicans won, with Alejandro Leruz as president and regained power.
Lerous canceled various reforms of the previous government, including terminating land reform, returning church property, abolishing the constitution and autonomous regions, and releasing many right-wing and royalist elements. The right-wing government imposed armed suppression on opponents.
In the February 1936 election, out of a total of 9.25 million votes, the left-wing alliance narrowly won with 4.75 million votes and regained power. It won 267 seats in Congress, while the right-wing alliance won 132 seats. It was led by Manuel A.
Zania serves as president and Casalos Giroca serves as prime minister.
The left-wing government once again changed various policies of the right-wing, which aroused the dissatisfaction of many nationalists, communists, royalists and other forces, and attempted to overthrow the republican government. Franco's friend Joaquín Araras once described Azania
A "disgusting caterpillar in Red Spain", Spanish officers particularly disliked Azanilla, especially since he cut many military expenditures and closed military schools during his tenure as Minister of War in 1931.
In these stormy days, both the left and the right adopted eye-popping "struggle" methods such as gun battles, assassinations, and kidnappings. In 4 months, 260 political murders occurred in Spain, involving 70 large and small parties and political groups.
The headquarters was destroyed and 10 newspaper offices were destroyed.
Important political figures were not spared. In 1936, Asua, the director of the Constitution Drafting Committee, and Dr. Martinez, a former minister and democratic liberal, were assassinated.
Among them, Sotelo's death became the trigger that detonated the two parties.
On July 13, members of the Assault Guard serving the government broke into the home of José Calvo Sodero, the conservative leader, congressman, and former finance minister of the Rivera government, and kidnapped him. In a police pickup truck
During the attack, Captain Fernando Cuencas of the Assault Guard shot Sodro twice in the head. Then, they dumped the blood-stained body of the congressman in a Madrid public cemetery.
When the conservatives held a huge funeral and demonstration for him, the Republican police opened fire on the crowd and killed two people on the spot.
Sodero's death shocked Spain and even the whole of Europe. It also made other members of the right wing feel angry, so the famous telegram "It's sunny all over Spain today" caused the Spanish Civil War to break out.
Spain's "Foreign Legion" and "Moorish Legion" took advantage of the opportunity of military exercises in Spanish Morocco to break out in rebellion. The pro-right-wing officers of the "Spanish Military League" rallied against the Republic and elected San Juljo, who was exiled in Portugal.
as their leader.
At the same time, the alliance issued a declaration to all Spanish provinces and Morocco: all officers participating in the movement will receive promotions and lifetime pensions, and called for the purge of "unreliable" officers and soldiers in the army.
On the afternoon of the 17th, the Foreign Legion stationed in Genta and Melilla, Morocco, openly launched a rebellion in various cities in Spanish Morocco. The total number of rebels was about 35,000. The rebel forces imprisoned the commander-in-chief, General Gomez, and executed him
General Manuel Mosralis refused to cooperate.
On this day, General Franco, the military governor of the Canary Islands, also mobilized his troops to start a rebellion. He issued this call: "The army has decided to restore order in Spain...General Franco has been in place to lead
This movement. He appealed to the sentiments of all Spaniards who were willing to work for Spain's revival."
Franco immediately flew to Tetouan, Morocco, to take command of the rebel forces.
Because Franco was so popular among the most elite Spanish African Army, other troops stationed in Morocco also participated in the rebellion. The rebel forces were so powerful that they occupied Melilla and Ceuta, and controlled all of Spanish Morocco.
territory.
On the morning of the 19th, escorted by a cruiser, the rebel troop transport fleet crossed the Strait of Gibraltar and anchored in front of the Algeciras Fortress. After a burst of artillery bombardment, the fortress surrendered. The rebel Moorish soldiers immediately landed and occupied the fortress.
city.
Faced with the army's move to stand up against the government (80% of the regular army (120,000 officers and soldiers) turned against the government), the Madrid government called on workers to join the fight to defend the republic. More than 200,000 workers responded to the call and came from all over the country.
Toward Madrid.
At the same time, battles between the army and workers were also unfolding in other areas of the country. Despite the lack of training, the workers' armed forces performed extremely bravely in the battle. Due to the lack of regular weapons, many of them carried shotguns and knives.
Forks, grenades or dynamite charges were used in the battle to defend the Republic.
The rebellions in some places were suppressed, while others were controlled by the National Army. By July 20, when the first round of the contest between the two sides was basically over, the National Army controlled almost all of Morocco and the Canary Islands.
The entire Balearic Islands except Minorca, the Sierra de Guadarrama and a large area north of the Ebro River.
The government of the Republic occupies the eastern coast, the Basque Country, Catalonia and other places, and cuts off the connection between the north and south of the National Army in the province of Badajoz. At the same time, Spain's largest cities, Madrid and Barcelona, are still in the hands of the Republic. Some
The region is in a stalemate: in Asturias, government-controlled areas and national army-controlled areas are intertwined.
When both parties discovered that the war might continue, looking for foreign aid became a common choice for both parties.
