4 Pre-War 1936 Flashcards
When did POUM form?
September 1935
What was Azana doing in 1935?
negotiating with left wing leaders
October: speech stating the left wing needed to unite against dictatorship
When did the Popular Front form?
January 1936
What was the Popular Front?
broad left wing alliance
guided by USSR - scared right wing
When were the last elections of the Republic?
16 February 1936
What was the outcome of the last election?
right wing: 46%
Popular Front: 48%
What was the response of the military to the last elections?
unwilling to sit back, especially the younger officers
Franco called for a State of War to be declared and for martial law
What was the incoming administration like?
interventionist and radical to undo conservative changes
- created a cyclical and destructive political process
What did Azana initially do as Prime Minister?
tried to restore stability
- press censorship
- ‘State of Alarm’ enhanced government powers
- regional government in Catalonia restored
- Generals Franco and Goded relocated to Canary and Balearic islands
What did Azana do to the Falange to suppress the right wing?
March 1936: banned the Falange, arrested leaders
caused unrest, shootings, violence
BUT membership still grew to 40,000 by mid 1936
When was Alcala-Zamora dismissed as President and who replaced him?
May 1936
Azana
What Agrarian reforms were made?
March 1936: 60,000 peasants took 3000 farms in Extremadura
first half of 1936: 72,000 junteros allocated new plots of land
What happened economically with the new administration?
high taxation meant wealthy withdrew money from Spain
What did the new administration do for the radical left?
release of those detained in 1934 Asturias Rising
then opening of prisons in Oviedo, Valencia and Catalonia
led to February - June 1936:
270 deaths
300 strikes
250 attacks on churches
What is seen as the catalyst for the Generals Rising?
12 July 1936: Castillo (Assault Guard lieutenant) assassinated by right wing Falange militia
13 July 1936: Sotelo (outspoken leader of CEDA) assassinated by police officers (left wing) in response
Who orchestrated the Generals Rising?
Mola
support of Gil Robles and politicians
What were the motivations of the Generals Rising?
hatred of the Republic
belief in imminent communist revolution - fearful of links to Moscow
When did the Generals Rising (military coup) begin?
17 July 1936
What happened on 17 July 1936?
army overthrew civilian government in Spanish Northern Morocco (base of the elite troops the Army of Africa)
When did the Civil War start?
18 July 1936
What happened on 18 July 1936?
Franco arrived in Morocco
coup spread to the mainland
invasion launched in the South
What happened to different regions at the beginning of the Civil War?
geographically secluded areas and the countryside fell quickly
resilience of Republicans in urban areas was harder
What happened in the major cities initially?
5/7 remained under government control
Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia
What happened to the left wing initially to fight back?
left wing militias emerged
eg. overran Montana barracks 20 July 1936 - 2500 soldiers massacred
