Spanish History · Chronicle VIII of X

Early 20th Century & Civil War

España en guerra

From Alfonso XIII to Guernica: the road to and through the Spanish Civil War.

Span: 1898 – 1939
Entries: 14
Next: Francoist Spain

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Entry 1 of 14

May 1902
Alfonso XIIIPolitical
Alfonso XIII comes of age
On his sixteenth birthday, 17 May, Alfonso XIII takes the oath at the Cortes and ends the regency of his mother María Cristina. He inherits a wounded country: the Disaster of '98 still raw, the army humiliated, the Restoration's turno pacífico already eroding.
Meanwhile, elsewhere
Meanwhile, elsewhere · 3
July 1909
Tragic WeekPolitical
The Tragic Week in Barcelona
On 26 July, news that reservists are being called up for the war in Morocco ignites a week of strikes, barricades, and church-burnings in Barcelona. Some seventy convents and parishes are sacked; over a hundred dead. The prime minister Antonio Maura responds with mass arrests and five executions, including that of the educator Francisco Ferrer.
Meanwhile, elsewhere · 3
August 1917
Triple CrisisPolitical
The crisis of 1917
Within four months, military Defence Juntas demand pay and reform; Catalan and Republican deputies hold an Assembly of Parliamentarians at Barcelona; and the UGT and CNT call a general strike. The Restoration regime survives — barely — and only by playing each of its three challenges against the others.
Meanwhile, elsewhere · 3
July 1921
AnnualMilitary
The Disaster of Annual
In the rocky country of the Rif in northern Morocco, the army of the Berber leader Abd el-Krim annihilates the Spanish column of General Manuel Fernández Silvestre. Some thirteen thousand Spanish soldiers die in a few July days; the Republic of the Rif is proclaimed.
Meanwhile, elsewhere · 3
September 1923
DictatorshipPolitical
Primo de Rivera's coup
On the night of 13 September, the captain-general of Catalonia, Miguel Primo de Rivera, issues a manifesto in Barcelona and demands full powers. King Alfonso XIII accepts; for the next six years Spain is governed by military directory.
Meanwhile, elsewhere · 3
April 1931
Second RepublicPolitical
The Second Spanish Republic
On 12 April, municipal elections return republican–socialist majorities in every major city. On 14 April, Alfonso XIII leaves for Cartagena and exile; a Provisional Government proclaims the Second Republic in Madrid amid scenes of popular celebration.
Meanwhile, elsewhere · 3
October 1933
FalangePolitical
José Antonio founds the Falange
On 29 October at the Comedy Theatre of Madrid, the elder son of the late dictator, José Antonio Primo de Rivera, founds Falange Española — a small fascist movement that within three years will become the official party of nationalist Spain.
Meanwhile, elsewhere · 3
February 1936
Popular FrontMilitary
The Popular Front wins; the generals rise
On 16 February, a Popular Front of Republicans, Socialists, Communists, and Catalan and Galician nationalists wins the elections. Five months of escalating political violence end on 17 July with a military rising in Spanish Morocco that spreads to the peninsula the next day. The Civil War begins.
Meanwhile, elsewhere · 3
October 1936
CaudilloPolitical
Franco named head of state at Burgos
On 1 October at Burgos, the council of generals proclaims Francisco Franco — already commander-in-chief — Head of State of nationalist Spain, with the title Caudillo. The Defence Junta becomes the embryo of the new regime.
Meanwhile, elsewhere · 3
November 1936
Defence of MadridMilitary
¡No pasarán!
On 7 November, Franco's African columns reach the western suburbs of Madrid. The government has fled to Valencia, but a Defence Junta under General Miaja and the Communist deputy Dolores Ibárruri — La Pasionaria — rallies the city: 'They shall not pass.' For three years, Madrid will hold.
Meanwhile, elsewhere · 3
April 1937
GuernicaMilitary
The bombing of Guernica
On the afternoon of 26 April — a Monday, market day — the German Condor Legion and Italian Aviazione Legionaria firebomb the Basque town of Guernica for over three hours. Hundreds are killed; the wooden town centre is destroyed. The world is shown what aerial warfare against cities will mean.
Meanwhile, elsewhere · 3
May 1937
May DaysMilitary
The May Days of Barcelona
Between 3 and 8 May, a Republican attempt to take over the telephone exchange in Barcelona provokes street fighting between the Communists and the central government on one side, and the CNT anarchists and the POUM Marxists on the other. Hundreds die; the POUM is later outlawed and its leader Andreu Nin tortured to death.
Meanwhile, elsewhere · 3
July 1938
The EbroMilitary
The Battle of the Ebro
On the night of 24 July, the Republican Army of the Ebro under Juan Modesto crosses the river in surprise from the north. For one hundred and fifteen days, in the worst battle of the war, two hundred thousand men fight in the mountains of southern Catalonia. By mid-November the Republic has been broken.
Meanwhile, elsewhere · 3
March 1939
End of the RepublicPolitical
Madrid falls; the war ends
On 26 January Barcelona falls without resistance and the Republican government crosses into France through the snow with half a million refugees. On 28 March Madrid surrenders. On 1 April the Burgos government issues its last war communiqué: 'The Red Army is captive and disarmed.'
Meanwhile, elsewhere · 3
6 more entries, to March 1939

Early 20th Century & Civil War

Alfonso XIII comes of age

The Tragic Week in Barcelona

The crisis of 1917

The Disaster of Annual

Primo de Rivera's coup

The Second Spanish Republic

José Antonio founds the Falange

The Popular Front wins; the generals rise

Franco named head of state at Burgos

¡No pasarán!

The bombing of Guernica

The May Days of Barcelona

The Battle of the Ebro

Madrid falls; the war ends