Originally published at: http://timeghost.tv/how-left-right-partisanship-starts-a-civil-war-in-spain-between-2-wars-1936-part-2-of-4/
Spain in the early 1930’s was practically Europe in Microcosm, with numerous political and ideological movements clashing in debate and open battles on the streets of Spain. All of this worsened in 1936 as Spain slowly descends into Civil War. Join us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/TimeGhostHistory Subscribe to our World War Two series: https://www.youtube.com/c/worldwartwo?sub_confirmation=1 Like TimeGhost…
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By the summer of 1937 Franco had seized power in the nationalist zone and consolidated it quickly, having been greatly helped by all of his chief rivals for power being dead, without which it is unlikely he would ever have come even close to the leadership.
General Jose Sanjurjo (the ‘Lion of the Rif’) was to be the caudillo of Spain. However, when he was about to return to Spain when the uprising started in July 1936, upon takeoff of his plane in Portugal it crashed and he died, so he never arrived for the military uprising/coup for which he was the senior officer and at least nominal leader.
His deputy, Emilio Mola was discredited by the failure to take Madrid quickly. Overshadowed by Franco who did lead a succesful, albeit more minor, campaign (the relief of besieged nationalists holding the Alcazar of Toledo) his star waned quickly and he also died in a plane crash, about a year after this happened to Sanjurjo.
The third of the triumvirate who were the leaders of the anti republican military/conservative uprising was general Manuel Goded. But he was captured after the failure of the uprising in Catalonia and immediately executed. Goded, if he had been succesful in Catalonia would almost certainly have become the nationalist leader after Sanjurjo’s death, certainly after Mola’s failure to take Madrid.
And with the political leader of the Falange, Jose Antonio Primo de Rivera also dead (executed in a republican jail) there were few left who could challenge Franco who had seen to it that his succesful relief of the Alcazar of Toledo had gotten massive publicity.
Franco’s succes in a relatively minor campaign (certainly compared to the affairs in Madrid and Catalonia) got him the credits he needed to seize power. His succesful relief of besieged nationalists defending the Alcazar of Toledo, along with the deaths of his chief rivals (who did not entirely trust him) gave him the opportunity to seize power in the nationalist zone in 1937, in what may well be described as a coup against the remaining nationalist leaders.
And the spring of 1937 also saw the Civil war within the civil war as the communists seized power in Catalonia from the anarchists. The republican side could hardly have been more disunited.
Had the republican government not been paralyzed with indecision when the uprising started in July 1936, they might well have crushed it before it really got going. But prime minister Santiago Casares Quiroga refused to believe already established facts, even telling a subordinate that “Mola is loyal to the republic” when the uprising had already started.
Antony Beevor refers to the paradox of the republic. It is the idea that ultimately, the government of the republic dithered and delayed arming the workers, thus depriving them of the means to defend the government they had elected.
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@marsattacks Oi! Spoilers. 
I couldn’t help but wonder one thing:
What was the difference between the Weimar Republic from 1919 to 1933 and the Spanish Republic from 1931 to 1939(?)?
If I got the hint of Indy right, the Spanish constitution was far more robust, still the Spanish Republic only lasted 5-8 years, compared to Weimars 13. So an comparing analysis would be really thrilling to me. And maybe not only me.
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If I may be so rude, I contend that calling the Republicans (Fascists) and Loyalists (Communists) “opposite ends of the political spectrum” is akin to defining the spectrum of soft drinks as “from Coke to Pepsi.” Nothing else–two colas, only Coke or only Pepsi.
This artificial framing allowed World War Two to become so extreme. Calling Imperial Japan “fascist” is an injustice. Politics is far more complicated.
If there are only two flavors of politics during the Spanish Civil War period, was the United States a fascist dictatorship or a communist dictatorship?
Or in the words of Good Witch Glenda of Oz, “are you a good witch or a bad witch?” Dorothy Gale’s answer was “I’m not a witch at all.”
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Good point, these “ism” labels are easily applied but often lack a precise definition. Communism and Fascism both came in many forms and these forms all had dissenters.
Labels can be misleading and can lead to bias. E.g. Let’s prove that group X was fascist and go look for evidence. In Spain with a wildly complex history which still causes issues today.
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