Spanish Civil War 1936-1939. Popular Fronts. Civil War in Spain. Historical background to the civil war

Republican Popular Song

THE CIVIL WAR IN SPAIN (1936-1939) took place between the left-wing socialist republican government of the country, supported by the communists, and the right-wing monarchist forces that launched an armed rebellion, on the side of which most of the Spanish army led by General F. Franco took the side.

Dolores Ibarruri

Francisco Franco

The rebels were supported by Germany and Italy, and the Republicans by the Soviet Union. The mutiny began on July 17, 1936 in Spanish Morocco. On July 18, most of the garrisons on the peninsula rebelled. Initially, the leader of the monarchist forces was General José Sanjurjo, but soon after the start of the rebellion he died in a plane crash. After this, the rebels were led by the commander of the troops in Morocco, General F. Franco. In total, out of 145 thousand soldiers and officers, more than 100 thousand supported him. Despite this, the government, with the help of the army units remaining on its side and hastily formed units of the people's militia, managed to suppress the riots in most of the country's major cities. Only Spanish Morocco, the Balearic Islands (with the exception of the island of Menorca) and a number of provinces in the north and southwest of Spain were under the control of the Francoists.

From the very first days, the rebels received support from Italy and Germany, who began supplying Franco with weapons and ammunition. This helped the Francoists capture the city of Badajoz in August 1936 and establish a land connection between their northern and southern armies. After this, the rebel troops managed to establish control over the cities of Irun and San Sebastian and thereby complicate the connection of the Republican North with France, but Franco directed his main blow against the capital of the country, Madrid.

At the end of October 1936, the German Condor aviation legion and the Italian motorized corps arrived in the country. The Soviet Union, in turn, sent significant quantities of weapons and military equipment, including tanks and aircraft, to the republican government, and also sent military advisers and volunteers. At the call of the communist parties of European countries, volunteer international brigades began to be formed and went to Spain to help the Republicans. The total number of foreign volunteers who fought on the side of the Spanish Republic exceeded 42 thousand people. With their help, the Republican army managed to repel the Francoist attack on Madrid in the fall of 1936.

The war became protracted. In February 1937, Franco's troops, with the support of Italian expeditionary forces, captured the city of Malaga in the south of the country. At the same time, the Francoists launched an offensive on the Jarama River south of Madrid. On the eastern bank of the Harama they managed to seize a bridgehead, but after fierce fighting the Republicans pushed the enemy back to their original position. In March 1937, a rebel army attacked the Spanish capital from the north. The Italian expeditionary force played the main role in this offensive. In the Guadalajara area it was defeated. Soviet pilots and tank crews played a big role in this Republican victory.

After the defeat at Guadalajara, Franco shifted his main efforts to the north of the country. The Republicans, in turn, carried out offensive operations in the Brunete region and near Zaragoza in July - September 1937, which ended in vain. These attacks did not prevent the Francoists from completing the destruction of the enemy in the north, where the last Republican stronghold, the city of Gijon, fell on October 22.

Soon the Republicans managed to achieve serious success. In December 1937, they launched an attack on the city of Teruel and captured it in January 1938. However, then the Republicans transferred a significant part of their forces and resources from here to the south. The Frankists took advantage of this, launched a counter-offensive and in March 1938 recaptured Teruel from the enemy. In mid-April they reached the Mediterranean coast at Vinaris, cutting the territory under Republican control in two. The defeats prompted a reorganization of the Republican armed forces. From mid-April they were united into six main armies, subordinate to the commander-in-chief, General Miaha. One of these armies, the Eastern, was cut off in Catalonia from the rest of Republican Spain and acted in isolation. On May 29, 1938, another army was separated from its composition, called the Army of the Ebro. On July 11, the reserve army corps joined both armies. They were also given 2 tank divisions, 2 anti-aircraft artillery brigades and 4 cavalry brigades. The Republican command was preparing a major offensive to restore Catalonia's land connection with the rest of the country.

After the reorganization, the People's Army of the Spanish Republic consisted of 22 corps, 66 divisions and 202 brigades with a total number of 1,250 thousand people. The Army of the Ebro, commanded by General H.M. Guillot,” accounted for about 100 thousand people. Head of the Republican General Staff General V. Rojo developed an operation plan that included crossing the Ebro and developing an offensive against the cities of Gandes; Vadderrobres and Morella. Secretly concentrating, the Ebro army began crossing the river on June 25, 1938. Since the width of the Ebro River ranged from 80 to 150 m, the Francoists considered it an insurmountable obstacle. On the offensive sector of the Republican army, they had only one infantry division.

On June 25 and 26, six Republican divisions under the command of Colonel Modesto occupied a bridgehead on the right bank of the Ebro, 40 km wide along one front and 20 km deep. The 35th International Division, under the command of General K. Swierczewski (in Spain he was known under the pseudonym "Walter"), part of the XV Army Corps, captured the heights of Fatarella and the Sierra de Cabals. The Battle of the Ebro River was the last battle of the Civil War in which the International Brigades took part. In the fall of 1938, at the request of the Republican government, they, together with Soviet advisers and volunteers, left Spain. The Republicans hoped that thanks to this they would be able to obtain permission from the French authorities to allow weapons and equipment purchased by the socialist government of Juan Negrin to enter Spain.

The X and XV Army Corps of the Republicans, commanded by Generals M. Tatuena and E. Lister, were supposed to surround the group of Franco troops in the Ebro region. However, their advance was stopped with the help of reinforcements that Franco brought from other fronts. Due to the Republican attack on the Ebro, the Nationalists had to stop their attack on Valencia.

The Frankists managed to stop the advance of the enemy's V Corps at Gandesa. Franco's aircraft seized air supremacy and constantly bombed and shelled crossings across the Ebro. During 8 days of fighting, the Republican troops lost 12 thousand killed, wounded and missing. A long battle of attrition began in the area of ​​the Republican bridgehead. Until the end of October 1938, the Francoists launched unsuccessful attacks, trying to throw the Republicans into the Ebro. Only at the beginning of November did the seventh offensive of Franco’s troops end with a breakthrough of the defense on the right bank of the Ebro.

The Republicans had to leave the bridgehead. Their defeat was predetermined by the fact that the French government closed the Franco-Spanish border and did not allow weapons for the Republican army. Nevertheless, the Battle of the Ebro delayed the fall of the Spanish Republic for several months. Franco's army lost about 80 thousand people killed, wounded and missing in this battle.

During the Spanish Civil War, the Republican army lost more than 100 thousand people killed and died from wounds. The irretrievable losses of Franco's army exceeded 70 thousand people. The same number of National Army soldiers died from disease. It can be assumed that in the Republican army the losses from disease were somewhat less, since it was inferior in number to the Franco army. In addition, the losses of the international brigades exceeded 6.5 thousand people, and the losses of Soviet advisers and volunteers reached 158 people killed, died of wounds and missing. There is no reliable data on the losses of the German Condor aviation legion and the Italian expeditionary force who fought on the side of Franco.

The Spanish Civil War in 1936-1939, at its core, was a confrontation between monarchical and democratic regimes. It began after the Popular Front Republican party won the majority of votes in the February 1936 elections. The current monarchical regime did not like its priorities - reducing the tax rate, developing agrarian reforms, amnesty for prisoners serving time on political charges. It was these factors that became the main causes of the intrastate armed conflict and involved all the political forces of Spain in it.

Causes and participants of the Spanish Civil War

This war became the first large-scale European conflict after the First World War and a kind of prerequisite for the start of the Second. Not only internal but also external forces were involved in the revolutionary actions in Spain:

• Italy,
• USSR,
• France,
• Germany.

In fact, all of those who tried to help resolve this conflict found themselves on opposite sides of the “barricades,” and their help only resulted in inciting hostilities.

Historically, there was an opinion that the cause of the war in Spain was internal preconditions, but there were also external factors - a difficult economic and political world situation, reducing the standard of living of the Spaniards, the growing confrontation between communists and fascists in Europe. Of course, the main impetus for the outbreak of hostilities was internal strife and long dictatorial rule.

Main stages and results of the Spanish Civil War

This armed conflict is considered by political scientists as a fascist rebellion and a civil war in Spain. This opinion was formed due to the participation in it of representatives of the political forces of the state itself, and the attempts of the allies on the part of Germany to establish a regime they liked in Spain. Main stages of the war:

• military operations on the mainland of a state with a preponderance of forces fascist Germany and Italy,
• drawing the forces of the USSR and France into the conflict, moving the fighting to the northern part of the country and another victory for Franco, a supporter of the Nazi regime,
• the final weakening of the forces of the Popular Front of Spain, the strengthening of the forces and authority of the Francoists, the establishment of a fascist regime.

The result of the civil war in Spain was not only enormous material damage and the loss of more than 450,000 Spaniards who died in battle, but also the establishment of the most brutal regime in the state - the regime of dictator Francisco Franco, and the strengthening of the influence of Catholicism in the country. Both the regime and its dictator are unique record holders in world history. Franco led Catholic Spain from 1939 to 1975. The form of his government was distinguished by a strong cult of personality, which historians compare only with the cult of Stalin in the USSR.

Everything about the Spanish Civil War

The Spanish Civil War (Spanish: Guerra Civil Española), commonly known in Spain simply as the Civil War (Spanish: Guerra Civil) or the War (Spanish: La Guerra), lasted in the country between 1936 and 1939. The war was fought between republicans loyal to the democratic leftist urban forces of the Second Spanish Republic, allied with anarchists against nationalists, Falangists, supporters of the monarchy or Carlists, allied with supporters of the aristocratic conservative group led by General Francisco Franco. Although the war is often portrayed as a struggle between democracy and fascism, some historians give it more precise definition, calling it a struggle between left-wing revolutionary forces and right-wing ones, or counter-revolution. Ultimately, the Nationalists won, bringing Franco to power and ruling Spain for the next 36 years, from April 1939 until his death in November 1975.

The war began after a group of generals from the Spanish Republican Armed Forces, initially under the command of José Sanjurjo, rebelled against the elected leftist government of the Second Spanish Republic, led by President Manuel Azaña. The nationalist grouping was supported by a number of conservative groups, including the right-wing Confederation of Autonomous Forces of Spain (Confederación Española de Derechas Autónomas or CEDA), monarchists such as religious conservatives (Catholics), Carlists and Falange, the traditionalist forces of Spain, the Unions of the National-Syndicalist Offensive and the fascist groups. Sanjurjo died in a plane crash while trying to return from exile in Portugal, after which Franco became the leader of the Nationalists.

The coup was supported by military units in the Spanish protectorate of Morocco, Pamplona, ​​Burgos, Zaragoza, Valladolid, Cadiz, Cordoba and Seville. However, rebel units in some important cities, such as Madrid, Barcelona, ​​Valencia, Bilbao and Malaga failed to achieve their goals, leaving these cities under government control. As a result, Spain found itself divided both militarily and politically. The nationalists and the republican government continued to fight for control of the country. The Nationalist forces received ammunition and reinforcements from Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy, while the Republicans (Loyalists) received support from the communist regime of the Soviet Union and socialist Mexico. Other countries, such as Britain and France, maintained an official policy of non-intervention.

The Nationalists expanded their positions in the south and west, capturing most of the northern coast of Spain in 1937. For a considerable period of time they kept Madrid and the surrounding territories to the south and west of it under siege. After large parts of Catalonia fell to the Nationalists in 1938 and 1939, the war ended with their victory and the expulsion of thousands of leftist Spanish supporters, many of whom were forced to flee to refugee camps in the south of France. Republican supporters defeated in this war, were persecuted by the nationalists who won it. With the establishment of the dictatorship led by General Franco, all right-wing parties in the post-war period united into a single structure of the Franco regime.

The results of the war resulted in rampant passions, became the result of political discord and inspired numerous atrocities. In the territories captured by Franco's forces, purges were organized in order to strengthen the future regime. A significant number of murders took place in Republican-controlled territories. The number of murders that were carried out with the participation of Republican authorities in the territories under their control was not clear.

Causes of the Spanish Civil War

The 19th century was a turbulent time for Spain. Proponents of reforming the Spanish government vied for political power with conservatives who tried to prevent reforms. Some liberals, adherents of the traditions of the Spanish Constitution, adopted in 1812, sought to limit the power of the Spanish monarchy and create a liberal state. However, the reforms of 1812 ended after King Ferdinand VII abolished the Constitution and dissolved Trienio's liberal government. Between 1814 and 1874 There were 12 coups. Until the 1850s, Spain's economy was based primarily on agriculture. The bourgeois industrial or commercial part of the population had an insignificant level of development. The main force was an oligarchy of large landowners; Not large number people owned significant estates called latifundia, which simultaneously occupied all important government posts.

In 1868, popular uprisings led to the overthrow of Queen Isabella II of the House of Bourbon. Two various factors led to uprisings: a series of urban riots and the emergence of a liberal movement in the middle strata of the population and in military circles (led by General Joan Prima), directed against the ultra-conservatism of the monarchy. In 1873, following the replacement of Isabella and the abdication of King Amadeo I of the House of Savoy following growing political pressure, the short-lived First Spanish Republic was proclaimed. After the restoration of Bourbon power in December 1874, the Carlists and anarchists moved into opposition to the monarchy. Alejandro Lerrox, a Spanish politician and leader of the Radical Republican Party, contributed to the emergence of the spirit of republicanism in the camp of Catalonia, where the issue of poverty was especially acute. Growing disappointment and dissatisfaction with the call for military service culminated in events known as the Tragic Week in Barcelona in 1909.

In World War I, Spain maintained neutrality. After the end of the war, the working class, industrialists and military united in the hope of overthrowing the central government, but this hope was unsuccessful. During this period, the popular perception of communism as a serious aid to achieving this goal also increased significantly. In 1923, as a result of a military coup, Miguel Primo de Rivera came to power; as a result, power in Spain passed to the government of a military dictatorship. However, support for Rivera's regime gradually faded, and he resigned in January 1930. He was succeeded by General Berenguer, who was then replaced by Admiral Juan Bautista Aznar-Cabañas; both military men professed a policy of ruling by decrees. In large cities, the monarchy had little support. As a consequence of this, in 1931, King Alfonso XIII made concessions to popular pressure in favor of the creation of a republic and called municipal elections on April 12 of the same year. The Socialist and Liberal Republicans won the elections in almost all provincial capitals, and after the resignation of the Aznar government, King Alfonso XIII fled the country. Thus, the Second Spanish Republic was formed in the country, which lasted until the end of the Spanish Civil War

The revolutionary committee led by Niceto Alcala-Zamora became a provisional government in the country, in which Alcala-Zamora acted as both president and head of state. The republic enjoyed broad support from all sectors of society. In May, an incident in which a taxi driver was attacked outside a monarchist club sparked an anti-clerical backlash of violence throughout Madrid and southwest Spain. The government's slow response frustrated the right and thus reinforced their view that the republic was intended to persecute the church. In June and July, the National Confederation of Labor (CNT) called for a series of demonstrations, which resulted in clashes between its members and the Civil Guard and a brutal suppression of the CNT by the Civil Guard and the army in Seville. These events led many workers to believe that the Second Spanish Republic was as much an oppressor as the monarchy and the CNT announced their intention to overthrow it by revolutionary means. Elections in June 1931 returned a significant majority to the Republicans and Socialists. With the onset of the Great Depression, the government made an attempt to support the agricultural part of Spain by introducing an eight-hour working day and making land available to agricultural workers.

Fascism remained a reactive threat, fueled by controversial reforms in the military. In December, a new reformist, liberal and democratic constitution was proclaimed. It included provisions that significantly strengthened the centuries-old traditions of Catholicism in the country, which was opposed by many communities of moderate Catholics. In 1931, the Republican Azaña became prime minister of a minority government. In 1933, right-wing parties won the general elections, thanks in large part to the neutrality of anarchists who abstained from voting, which increased the influence of right-wing forces dissatisfied with the unwise actions of the government, which issued a controversial decree on land reform, causing the Casas Viejas incident, which led to the creation an alliance of all right-wing forces in the country, called the Spanish Confederation of Autonomous Right-wing Groups (CEDA). The empowerment of women, allowed the day before in the country, most of whom voted for the center-right parties, was an additional factor for them that contributed to their victory

Events that followed November 1933, known as the “two black years,” seemed to help make civil war more likely. Radical Republican Party (RPR) representative Alejandro Lero formed a government, promising to reverse the changes made by the previous administration and grant amnesty to participants in the failed uprising of General Sanjurjo, which took place in August 1932. To achieve their goals, some monarchists allied with representatives of the then fascist Nationalist Party Falange Hispaniola y de las Jon ("phalanx"). Open violent clashes took place on the streets of Spanish cities, where militancy continued to grow, reflecting a trend towards radical rather than peaceful democratic means to resolve differences.

In the last months of 1934, two successive governments failed, bringing to power a government of CEDA representatives. Wages for agricultural workers were cut in half, and the military purged the Republicans. A popular alliance was created, which narrowly won elections in 1936. Azaña led a weak minority government, but was soon replaced as president by Zamora in April. Prime Minister Santiago Casares Quiroga ignored warnings of a military plot involving several generals who decided that this government had to be replaced to avoid the collapse of Spain.

Military coup in Spain

Preparations for a military coup in Spain

In an attempt to neutralize the generals who came under suspicion, the Republican government dismissed Franco as chief of staff and, as commander of the armed forces, he was transferred to the Canary Islands. Manuel Goded Llopis was removed from his post as inspector general of the armed forces and was transferred to the Balearic Islands as a general. Emilio Mola was transferred from his position as commander-in-chief of the Spanish contingent in Africa and transferred to Pamplona to serve as commander in Navarre. However, this did not stop Mola from leading the uprising on the mainland. General José Sanjurjo nominally took charge of the operation and was instrumental in reaching an agreement with the Carlists. Mola led the planning of the operation and was the second person in its implementation. In order to limit the capabilities of the Falange, José Antonio Primo de Rivera was placed in prison in mid-March. However, the government's actions were not as sufficient as they should have been, as the security chief warned, as was the effectiveness of the actions of other authorized persons.

On June 12, Prime Minister Casares Quiroga met with General Juan Yagüe, who, through deception, managed to convince Casares of his loyalty to the Republic. Mola has outlined serious plans for the spring. Franco was a key player because of his prestige as the former director of a military academy and as the man who crushed the Asturian miners' strike in 1934. He was respected within the Spanish African contingent and among the hardliners of the Spanish Republican Army. On June 23, he wrote a coded letter to Casares, in which he warned him about the disloyalty of the military and his ability to restrain them, provided that he was returned to the position at the head of the army. Casares did nothing, failing to arrest or pay off Franco. On July 5, on a Dragon Rapid aircraft belonging to the British secret intelligence service, Franco was transported from the Canary Islands to the Spanish territory of Morocco, where he was delivered on July 14.

On July 12, 1936, members of the Falange killed a policeman in Madrid, Lieutenant José Castillo, who served in the Assault Guard. He was a member of the Socialist Party, responsible, among other things, for the military training of youth in the UGT. Castillo was the commander of the Assault Guard unit that brutally suppressed riots after the funeral of police lieutenant Anastasio de los Reyes. Los Reyes was shot dead by anarchists during a parade on April 14, held to celebrate the 5th anniversary of the Republic.

Fernando Condes, commander of the Assault Guard, was a close friend of Castillo. The next day, his unit was spotted trying to arrest José María Gil-Robles, founder of CEDA, in retaliation for the murder of Castillo, at his home, but he was not there at the time, after which they went to the home of Calvo Sotelo, a famous Spanish monarchist and prominent Conservative MP. Luis Cuenca, a socialist member of this unit, simply shot Calvo Sotelo in the back of the head during his arrest. Hugh Thomas concludes that Condes intended to arrest Sotelo and that Cuenca acted on his own initiative, although other sources differ on this point.

followed mass repression. The murder of Sotelo, in which the police were involved, aroused suspicion and serious reaction among right-wing forces opposed to the government. Although the Nationalist generals were already in the last stages of their planned uprising, this event was the catalyst for the public justification of their coup.

The Socialists and Communists, led by Indalecio Prieto, demanded the distribution of weapons to the civilian population before the military began its operations. However, the Prime Minister hesitated.

Beginning of the military coup in Spain

The start date of the uprising, agreed with the Carlist leader Manuel Fal Conde, was set for July 17 at 17:01. However, the start dates were changed due to the fact that the time of the start of the uprising first in the territory of the Spanish protectorate in Morocco was not taken into account, as a result of which the inhabitants of Spanish Morocco had to start the uprising at 05:00 on July 18, i.e. a day later than in Spain itself, in order to send troops back to the Iberian Peninsula after its completion, so that the beginning of the uprising here would coincide with the appointed time. The coup was supposed to be almost instantaneous, but the government retained control over most of the country.

Securing control of the Spanish part of Morocco was a win-win situation. The plan for an uprising in Morocco was revealed on July 17, prompting the conspirators to accept it immediately. The rebels met little resistance. A total of 189 people were shot by the rebels. Goded and Franco quickly took control of the islands for which they were appointed commanders. On July 18, Casares Quiroga refused the help offered by the CNT and the General Workers' Union (UGT), the leading groups supporting the declaration of a general strike - in essence, mobilization. They opened gun shops that had been closed since the 1934 uprising. Paramilitary security forces often awaited the results of militia action before joining one side or the other. Quick action by rebels or anarchist volunteer units was often enough to seal the fate of a city. General Gonzalo Queipo de Llano managed to hold Seville for the rebels until their arrival, arresting a number of officers.

Result of the attempted military coup in Spain

The rebels were defeated in all attempts to capture major cities, with the sole exception of Seville, which turned into their only landing point for the African contingent of Franco's troops, as well as adherents of the conservative population of the regions of Old Castile and Leon, which quickly fell. Cadiz was taken by the rebels with the arrival of the first military units of the African contingent.

The government retained control over the cities of Malaga, Jaen and Almeria. In Madrid, the rebels were driven back to barracks in the Montagna district, which fell in bloody fighting. Republican leader Casares Quiroga was replaced by José Giral, who ordered the distribution of weapons to the civilian population. This contributed to the defeat of the rebel army in major industrial centers, including Madrid, Barcelona and Valencia, and allowed the anarchists to take control of Barcelona, ​​along with large regions such as Aragon and Catalonia. General Goded was surrounded and surrendered in Barcelona, ​​and was then sentenced to death. The Republican government eventually took control of almost the entire eastern coast and the central part of the area around Madrid, as well as most of Asturias, Cantabria and part of the Basque Country in the north.

The rebels called themselves "Nacionales", which is usually translated as "Nationalists", although the basic meaning of the word implies the term "true Spaniards" and does not carry any nationalist connotations. The coup brought an area of ​​11 million people out of Spain's total population of 25 million under Nationalist control. The Nationalists secured the support of about half of Spain's territorial army of approximately 60,000 men. At their disposal were approximately 35,000 men from the Spanish Army of Africa Expeditionary Corps, joined by slightly less than half of Spain's paramilitary police, the Assault Guards, the Gendarmen and the Carabineros. The Republicans had at their disposal less than half the total number of rifles and about a third of the number of machine guns and artillery pieces.

The Spanish Republican Army had only 18 tanks of a sufficiently modern level, 10 of which came under the control of the Nationalists. The capabilities of the naval forces that the opponents had were unequal. Republicans had numerical advantage, but the nationalists included the high command navy, and at their disposal were two of the most modern ship, heavy cruisers Ferrol and Baleares, captured at the shipyards of the Canary Islands. The Spanish Republican Navy suffered from the same problems as the army - many officers deserted or were killed while attempting to desert. Two-thirds of the Air Force remained in the hands of the government, but all the aircraft of the Republican Air Force were very outdated.

Participants in the Spanish Civil War

For Republican supporters, the war was an expression of the battle between tyranny and freedom, while for Nationalists it was the embodiment of the battle of the communist and anarchist "red hordes" against "Christian civilization." The nationalists also claimed that they brought security and order to a governed and law-abiding country. Since the moment when the socialists and communists began to support the Republic, Spanish politicians, especially those of the left, have been fragmented into small factions. During the reign of the Republic, anarchists had conflicting attitudes towards it, but most groups during the civil war opposed the nationalists. Conservatives, on the contrary, were united by their ardent idea of ​​opposition to the republican government and acted as a united front against it.

The coup divided the country's armed forces roughly equally. Some historians estimate that the forces remaining loyal to the government numbered approximately 87,000, while others estimate that 77,000 joined the rebels, although some historians suggest that the number of troops fighting on the Nationalist side should be revised to direction of increase, and that their number is most likely approaching 95,000.

Fascism remained a reactive threat, fueled by controversial reforms in the military. In December, a new reformist, liberal and democratic constitution was proclaimed. It included provisions that significantly strengthened the centuries-old traditions of the Catholic country, which was opposed by many communities of moderate Catholics. In 1931, the Republican Azaña became prime minister of a minority government. In 1933, right-wing parties won the general elections, largely due to the neutrality of anarchists who abstained from voting, which increased the influence of right-wing forces dissatisfied with the unwise actions of the government, which issued a controversial decree on land reform, causing the Casas Viejas incident, which led to the creation an alliance of all right-wing forces in the country, called the Spanish Confederation of Autonomous Right-wing Groups (CEDA). The empowerment of women, allowed the day before in the country, most of whom voted for center-right parties, was for them an additional factor contributing to their victory

Both armies continued to increase their numbers. The main source of influx of manpower was conscription; both sides implemented this strategy and expanded their schemes; used by the nationalists turned out to be more aggressive, as a result of which there were no longer enough places to accommodate the volunteers entering their ranks. Foreign volunteers are unlikely to have contributed to any significant increase in numbers; The pro-Nationalist Italians reduced their participation, while new additions to the International Brigades fighting on the Republican side barely compensated for the losses suffered by their units on the front line. At the turn of 1937/1938, both armies reached a balance in the number of their troops and there were approximately 700 thousand in the ranks.

Throughout 1938, the main, if not the only source of manpower replenishment remained the conscription; At this stage, it was the Republicans who implemented this project more effectively. In the middle of the year, shortly before the Battle of the Ebro, the Republicans reached their highest troop strength, with just over 800,000 men under their command; this, however, was not such a significant factor for the Nationalists, whose ranks numbered approximately 880,000. The Battle of the Ebro, the fall of Catalonia and the sharp decline in discipline led to a massive reduction in the number of Republican troops. At the end of February 1939, their army numbered 400,000 soldiers, while the Nationalists, by comparison, had twice as many. By the time of their final victory, they numbered 900,000 soldiers in their ranks.

The total officially recorded number of Spaniards fighting on the Republican side was 917,000; according to the assessment given in the latest scientific work, this number is estimated as "exceeding 1 million people" (1.2 million?), although earlier historiographical studies stated that in total (including foreigners) up to 1.75 million fought in their ranks. The total number of Spaniards on the Nationalist side is currently estimated at "nearly 1 million", although earlier works claim (including foreigners) that the total number was 1.26 million.

Republicans in the Spanish Civil War

Only two countries openly and fully supported the Republic: Mexico and the USSR. Of these, in particular, the USSR provided diplomatic support to the Republic, sent volunteer detachments, and also provided the opportunity to purchase weapons. Other countries adhered to neutrality, in other words, neutrality was distinctive feature and a source of intellectual disaster in the United States and the United Kingdom, to a lesser extent in other European countries and for Marxists throughout the world. This is what led to the emergence of the International Brigades; thousands of foreigners of all nationalities who voluntarily came to Spain to assist the Republic, they were full of moral spirit, but militarily they were not so significant.

The camp of supporters of the Republic in Spain consisted of representatives of a wide variety of segments of the population, from centrists who supported moderate capitalist liberal democracy, to revolutionary anarchists who opposed the Republic, but joined it, being opponents of military coups. Their base initially consisted mainly of layers of the secular and urban part of the population and even landless peasants, but they were especially strong in such industrial areas as Asturias, the Basque country and Catalonia.

This faction had various names: “loyalists”, as the supporters themselves called them, “republicans”, “popular front” or “government”, as representatives of all parties without exception called them; and/or los rojos "reds" - a term used by their opponents. The Republicans were supported by urban workers, peasants and some of the middle class.

The conservative, heavily Catholic Basque country, along with Galicia and the more left-leaning Catalonia, sought autonomy or independence from the central government in Madrid. The Republican government allowed the possibility of self-government for two regions whose forces joined the Republican People's Army, which after October 1936 were transformed into mixed brigades

Famous figures who fought on the Republican side included the English writer George Orwell (who wrote In Memoriam of Catalonia (1938), an account of his experiences in the war) and the Canadian surgeon Norman Bethune, who developed a method of mobile blood transfusion during operations at the front. . Simone Weil briefly joined the ranks of the anarchist forces, where she stayed in the columns of Buenaventura Durruti, although her colleagues, fearing that she might unintentionally shoot them due to myopia, tried not to take her with them on combat missions. According to her biographer Simone Petrement, Weil was evacuated from the front a few weeks later due to an injury she received in the kitchen.

Who are the Spanish nationalists?

True Spaniards or nationalists - also called "rebels", "rebels", "Francoists" or "fascists", as their opponents also called them - feared the fragmentation of the state and opposed separatist movements. Their main ideological mood was determined primarily by anti-communism, which galvanized various or even opposition movements to them, including groups of phalangists and monarchists. Their leaders were mostly rich and wealthy people, which determined their more conservative, monarchical mentality, or commitment to land ownership.

The nationalist camp included the Carlists and Alfonsists, Spanish nationalists, the fascist phalanx, as well as the majority of conservatives and monarchist liberals. Almost all nationalist groups had strong Catholic beliefs and supported the Spanish clergy. The majority of the Catholic clergy and those who practiced it (outside the Basque country), army commanders, the vast majority of large landowners and many businessmen considered themselves nationalists.

One of the leitmotifs of the right was “opposing the anti-clericalism of the republican regime and defending catholic church", which was the target of opponents, including Republicans, who blamed it for all the country's ills. The Church opposed the liberal principles that were enshrined in the Spanish Constitution of 1931. Before the start of the war, during the miners' strike in Asturias in 1934, Church buildings were burned and at least 100 clergy, religious civilians and pro-Catholic police were killed by the revolutionaries.

To suppress it, Franco brought in mercenaries from Spain's colonial Army in Africa (Spanish: Army of Spain or Expeditionary Force in Morocco) and, using shelling and bombing, forced the miners to surrender. The Spanish Legion committed atrocities - many men, women and children were killed, in addition to this the army carried out executions of leftist forces. The repressions continued to be brutal. Prisoners in Asturias were tortured.

Articles 24 and 26 of the 1931 Constitution prohibited the Society of Jesus. This ban deeply offended many conservatives. The revolution in the republican part of the country, which occurred at the very beginning of the war, during which 7,000 priests and thousands of laymen were killed, was another reason that strengthened Catholic support for the nationalists.

Indigenous units of the Moroccan Expeditionary Force joined the rebellion and played a significant role in the civil war.

Other conflict factions

Catalan and Basque nationalists were not clear in their allegiances. The left wing of Catalan nationalists sided with the Republicans, while conservative Catalan nationalists were much less supportive of the government, due to incidents of anti-clericalism and confiscations occurring in areas under its control. Basque nationalists, led by the conservative Basque Nationalist Party, provided moderate support for the Republican government, although some of them, as in Navarre, defected to the rebels for the same reasons as the Catalan conservatives. Regardless of religious considerations, the Basque nationalists, who were mostly Catholic, generally sided with the Republicans, although the PNV, the Basque nationalist party, was later reported to be intent on reducing the duration of the siege and the number of human casualties, handed over the plan for the defense of Bilbao to the nationalists.

Foreign assistance in the Spanish Civil War

The Spanish Civil War caused political divisions throughout Europe. Right-wingers and Catholics supported the nationalists in order to prevent the spread of Bolshevism. For leftist forces, including trade unions, students and intellectuals, the war was a battle that was supposed to stop the spread of fascism. Anti-war and pacifist sentiment, due to fear that the civil war could potentially escalate into a second world war, were strongly felt in many countries. Thus, the war was an indicator of growing instability throughout Europe.

The Spanish Civil War involved a significant number of foreigners, both in combat and as advisors. Great Britain and France led a political alliance of 27 countries that declared non-intervention in the Spanish Civil War, including an embargo on all types of weapons. The United States has unofficially gone further. Germany, Italy and the Soviet Union officially signed it, but ignored the embargo. The intention to exclude imports proved completely ineffective, with France especially being accused of allowing large supplies to Republican forces. Clandestine activities of this kind, tolerated by various European powers, were seen at the time as threatening the possibility of a Second World War, alarming anti-war forces around the world.

The League of Nations response to the threat of war was influenced by fears of communism and was insufficient to curb the massive supply of weapons and other war materials to the warring factions. The Laissez-faire Committee created at that time did little to resolve the problem, and its directives had no effect.

Help for Spanish nationalists

Germany's role in the Spanish Civil War

German participation began within days of the outbreak of hostilities in July 1936. Adolf Hitler immediately sent powerful air and armored units to assist the Nationalists. The war for the German military provided combat experience in using latest technologies. However, such intervention simultaneously carried the threat of the conflict escalating into a world war, for which Hitler was not yet ready. He therefore limited his assistance by inviting Benito Mussolini to send large Italian units.

Nazi Germany's actions also included the creation of the multi-purpose Condor Legion, consisting of volunteers from the Luftwaffe and German army(Heer), which was formed between July 1936 and March 1939. The participation of the Condor Legion proved particularly useful in 1936 at the Battle of Toledo. Already at an early stage of hostilities, Germany helped to redeploy the African army to the Spanish mainland. The Germans gradually expanded the range of their operations to include strikes and more significant actions, most notably those as controversial as the bombing of Guernica on April 26, 1937, which killed between 200 and 300 civilians. In addition, Germany used the war to test new weapons, such as the Luftwaffe Stukas and the Junkers Ju-52 tri-engine transport aircraft (also used as bombers), which proved effective.

German participation was also noted in such military activities as Operation Ursula, involving the U-class submarine, with the assistance of the navy. The Legion contributed to Republican victories in many battles, especially in the air, while Spain also became a testing ground for the Germans' use of their tanks. The training that German units provided to the Nationalist troops proved valuable. By the end of the war, approximately 56,000 soldiers, including infantry, artillery, air force and navy, had received training from German units.

In total, about 16,000 German citizens fought in the war, resulting in the death of about 300 people, although no more than 10,000 of them were constantly involved in combat. German aid to the Nationalists in 1939 amounted to about £43,000,000 ($215,000,000), 15.5 percent of which was used to pay allowances and related expenses and 21.9 percent to provide direct supplies to Spain, in while 62.6 percent was spent on maintaining the Condor Legion. In total, Germany supplied the nationalists with 600 aircraft and 200 tanks.

Italy's role in the Spanish Civil War

After Francisco Franco's request for help and with Hitler's blessing, Benito Mussolini joined the war. Although the conquest of Ethiopia in the Second Italo-Ethiopian War gave Italy self-confidence, nevertheless, Spain's ally limited itself to only helping it to ensure control over the Italian Mediterranean theater of operations. The Italian Navy played a significant role in the Mediterranean blockade; in addition, Italy supplied the Nationalists with machine guns, artillery, aircraft and light tanks, and also placed the forces of the Air Force Legion and the Italian Volunteer Corps at the disposal of the Nationalists. At the peak of its assistance, the Italian Corps numbered 50,000 men. Italian warships took part in breaking the blockade of the Republican navy, blocking from the sea the nationalist-held Spanish territory of Morocco, and participated in the shelling of the cities of Malaga, Valencia and Barcelona, ​​held by the Republicans. In total, Italy provided the Nationalists with 660 aircraft, 150 tanks, 800 artillery pieces, 10,000 machine guns and 240,000 rifles.

Portugal's role in the Spanish Civil War

The Estado Novo or New State regime of Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio de Oliveira Salazar played an important role in supplying Franco's troops with ammunition and logistics. Despite the covert direct participation in the hostilities, held back until some kind of "semi-official" approval was obtained by the authoritarian regime for sending a volunteer force, the so-called "Viriatos", numbering up to 20,000 people, throughout the conflict Portugal played an important role in providing the nationalists with organizational skills, assuring their Iberian neighbor Franco and his allies, that no intervention could prevent supplies in favor of the Nationalist cause.

Which other countries expressed support for the Spanish nationalists?

Britain's Conservative government, supported by the elite and the mainstream media, maintained a position of staunch neutrality, pushing the thought of aiding the Republic far away. The government refused to allow the arms transfers and sent warships to try to prevent them from happening. It was made a crime to travel to Spain, but about 4,000 people went there anyway. The intelligentsia strongly supported the Republicans. Many visited Spain hoping to encounter genuine anti-fascism. They did not have any significant influence on the government or shake the strong public sentiment in favor of peace. The Labor Party was split, with its Catholic section leaning towards the nationalists. The party officially approved the boycott and expelled the faction that demanded Republican support; but ultimately expressed some support for the loyalists.

The Romanian volunteers were led by Ion Motsa, deputy leader of the Iron Guard (Legion of the Archangel Michael). His group of seven legionnaires visited Spain in December 1936 to unite their movement with the nationalists.

Despite the Irish government's ban on participation in the war, about 600 Irish followers of the Irish politician and leader of the Irish Republican Army O'Duffy, known as the Irish Brigades, went to Spain to fight alongside Franco. Most of the volunteers were Catholics. and, in agreement with O'Duffy, volunteered to help the nationalists in their fight against communism.

Help for Spanish Republicans

International Brigades in the Spanish Civil War

Many foreign participants in the conflict, often associated with radical communist or socialist formations, joined the International Brigades, believing that the Spanish Republic was the front line in the fight against fascism. These units represented the largest formations of the contingent foreign citizens who fought in the ranks of the Republicans. Approximately 40,000 foreigners fought in the brigades, although the conflict itself involved no more than 18,000 men. According to them, their ranks included citizens of 53 countries.

A significant number of volunteers came from the French Third Republic (10,000), Nazi Germany, the Federal State of Austria (5,000) and the Kingdom of Italy (3,350). 1,000 volunteers each came from the Soviet Union, the United States, the United Kingdom, the Second Polish Republic, the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, the Kingdoms of Hungary and Canada. The Thälmann Battalion, the German Group, the Garibaldi Battalion, and the Italian Group were units that distinguished themselves during the siege of Madrid. The Americans fought in units such as the XV International Brigade (the Abraham Lincoln Brigade), while the Canadians joined the Mackenzie-Papineau Battalion.

More than 500 Romanians fought on the Republican side, including Romanian Communist Party members Petre Boril and Walter Romana. Some 145 men from Ireland formed Connolly's Column, which was immortalized in the Irish singer Christy Moore's song "Long Live the Fifth Brigade". Some Chinese citizens joined the brigades; Most of them eventually returned to China, but some were imprisoned or ended up in French refugee camps, and only a handful of them remained in Spain.

USSR assistance in the Spanish Civil War

Although General Secretary Joseph Stalin signed the Non-Intervention Agreement, the Soviet Union violated the League of Nations embargo by providing material assistance to the Republican forces, becoming their only source of essential weapons. Unlike Hitler and Mussolini, Stalin tried to do this secretly. The amount of equipment supplied by the USSR to the Republicans ranges from 634 to 806 aircraft, 331 or 362 tanks, 1,034 or 1,895 pieces of artillery.

To organize and manage arms supply operations, Stalin created the X Directorate of the Military Council of the Soviet Union called “Operation X”. Despite Stalin's interest in helping the Republicans, the quality of the weapons was uneven. On the one hand, many of the rifles and field guns were old, obsolete or of limited use (some of them dated back to 1860). On the other hand, the T-26 and BT-5 tanks were modern and effective in combat. The aircraft supplied by the Soviet Union were in service with its own armed forces, but the aircraft supplied to the nationalists by Germany towards the end of the war were more effective.

The process of delivering weapons to Spain from Russia was extremely slow. Many of the delivered shipments were lost, or only a portion of what was shipped was delivered. Stalin ordered shipbuilders to build false decks into the original designs of ships, while at sea, to avoid detection by nationalists, Soviet ship captains resorted to using foreign flags and paint schemes.

The Republic paid for the supply of Soviet weapons officially from its gold reserves through the Bank of Spain. 176 tons of them were transferred through France. This would later become the subject of frequent attacks by Francoist propaganda called "Moscow Gold". The value of the weapons supplied by the Soviet Union exceeded Spain's gold reserves, which at the time were the fourth largest in the world, and were estimated at $500 million (as of 1936).

The USSR sent a number of military advisers to Spain (2,000-3,000 people), while the number of Soviet troops was less than 500 people. At that time, Soviet volunteers often flew Soviet-made tanks and aircraft, especially at the beginning of the war. In addition, the Soviet Union directed communist parties around the world to organize the sending of volunteers for the International Brigades.

Another important point of the USSR's participation was the activities of the People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs (NKVD), which was in the rearguard of the Republicans. Communist figures such as Vittorio Vidali (Comandante Contreras), Grigulevich, Mikhail Koltsov and especially Alexander Mikhailovich Orlov carried out operations to eliminate the Catalan anti-Stalinist poet Andreu Nin and the independent leftist activist José Robles. Another operation led by the NKVD (December 1936) resulted in the downing of a French plane in which International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) delegate Georges Henney was transporting numerous documents about the massacres in Paracuellos in France.

Mexico's role in the Spanish Civil War

Unlike the United States and the governments of large Latin American countries such as the ABC countries and Peru, Mexico supported the Republicans. Mexico refused to follow the Franco-British proposal for non-intervention and provided $2 million in financial support and material assistance, which included 20,000 rifles and 20 million rounds of ammunition.

The most important contribution of Mexico to the Spanish Republic was its diplomatic assistance, as well as the organization of such a holy cause as the reception of refugees, which this state organized for Republican refugees, including Spanish intellectuals and orphans from Republican families. About 50,000 people found shelter, mainly in Mexico City and Morelia, who were also given $300 million in various treasures that are still at the disposal of the left.

How did France react to the Spanish Civil War?

Fearing that such a step could provoke a civil war within France, the left-wing Popular Front, which rules in France, did not directly support the Republicans. French Prime Minister Léon Blum sympathized with the Republicans, fearing that the success of the Nationalist forces in Spain would lead to the emergence of another allied state for Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy, which would practically lead to the encirclement of France. Right-wing politicians opposed the provision of any assistance, for which they attacked the Blum government. In July 1936, British officials persuaded Bloom not to send arms to the Republicans, and by July 27 the French government announced that it would not send military equipment, technology or manpower to assist the Republicans. However, Blum made it clear that France reserves the right to provide assistance to the republic if it deems it necessary: ​​“We could supply arms to the Spanish government [Republicans], as a legitimate government... We did not do this, so that it would not serve as an excuse for those who would be tempted to send weapons to the rebels [nationalists]."

On August 1, 1936, at a pro-Republican rally, 20,000 participants demanded that Blum send planes to the Republicans, while right-wing politicians attacked him for supporting the Republic, blaming him for provoking Italian support for Franco. Germany brought to the attention of the French ambassador in Berlin that if France supported the Republicans, Germany would hold it responsible for supporting “Moscow’s maneuvers.” On August 21, 1936, France signed the Non-Intervention Agreement. However, Blum's government, with the help of Spanish Republican pilots, secretly supplied the Republicans with Potez 540 bombers (referred to as "Flying Coffins"), Devoitin type aircraft and Loir 46 fighters, which were delivered to them between August 7, 1936 and December of the same year. The French also sent their pilots and engineers to the Republicans. In addition, until September 8, 1936, aircraft purchased in third countries could fly freely from France to Spain.

The French novelist André Malraux was a staunch supporter of the Republicans; he tried to organize air force volunteers (Squadron España) to participate on the Republican side, but as a practical organizer and leader of the squadron he was somewhat idealistic and ineffective. The commander of the Spanish Air Force, Andrés García La Calle, openly criticized Malraux's effectiveness as a military man, but acknowledged his usefulness as a propagandist. The novel Le Espoir, which he wrote, and its film version, in which he acted as producer and director (Espoir: Sierra de Teruel), were of great help to the Republican cause in France.

Even after latent French support for the Republicans ended in December 1936, the possibility of French intervention against the Nationalists remained a serious concern throughout the war. German intelligence reported to Franco and the nationalists that there were open discussions among the French military about the need for military intervention in Catalonia and the Balearic Islands. In 1938, Franco feared the potential threat of immediate French intervention in the event of a Nationalist victory in Spain through the occupation of Catalonia, the Balearic Islands and Spanish Morocco.

Despite the fact that the majority of the French sympathized with the Republicans, some right-wing extremists sided with Franco. This was especially true for members of the Cagular group, who organized sabotage in French ports during the maintenance of ships carrying weapons and auxiliary equipment for emergency assistance to Republican Spain.

Progress of the Spanish Civil War

Beginning of the Spanish Civil War

In southwestern Spain, large-scale airlifts were organized to deliver nationalist troops from Spanish Morocco. After the supreme military commander Sanjurjo died in a plane crash on July 20, real control was divided between Mola in the North and Franco in the South. This was the period when the worst acts of the so-called "Red" and "White" terrorists in Spain took place. On July 21, the fifth day of the uprising, the nationalists captured Spain's main naval base, located in the port of Ferrol in Galicia.

Rebel forces under the command of Colonel Alfonso Borulegui Canet, under the orders of General Mola and Colonel Esteban García, undertook a campaign to capture Gipuzkoa between July and September. The capture of Gipuzkoa allowed them to cut off Republican-held provinces in the north of the country. On September 5, as a result of the victory in the Battle of Irun, the nationalists closed the border with France. On September 15, the nationalists captured San Sebastian, where separate forces of Republican anarchists and Basque nationalists were located. After this, the nationalists began to advance towards the provincial capital of Bilbao, but were stopped in September by Republican militias on the border of the Bay of Biscay.

The Republic proved militarily ineffective, relying on a disorganized revolutionary militia. The Republican government led by Giral, unable to cope with the situation, resigned on September 4 and was replaced by an organization consisting mainly of socialists, headed by Largo Caballero. The new leadership began to unify the central command in the republican zone.

On September 21, at a meeting of senior nationalist military leaders in Salamanca, Franco was elected commander-in-chief of the armed forces and received the title of Generalissimo. On September 27, Franco won another victory, breaking the siege of the city of Alcazar in Toledo, in which, from the very beginning of the uprising, there were nationalist units under the command of Colonel José Moscardo Ituartes, resisting thousands of Republican soldiers who completely surrounded them in the garrison buildings. The Moroccans and parts of the Spanish legion came to their aid. Two days after the siege was lifted, Franco proclaimed himself a caudillo ("leader", the Spanish equivalent of the Italian Duce or the German Fuhrer - "director"), forcibly joining the scattered and motley groupings of phalangists, royalists and supporters of other movements into the nationalist movement. The diversion of nationalist forces to carry out the operation to conquer Toledo gave Madrid time to prepare the city for defense, but at the same time served as the main trump card in order to promote the victory as a personal success for Franco. On October 1, 1936, in Burgos, General Franco was proclaimed head of state and armed forces of the country. A similar success for the nationalists occurred on October 17, when troops arriving from Galicia liberated the besieged city of Oviedo in northern Spain.

In October, Franco's troops launched a major offensive against Madrid, capturing its suburbs in early November and continuing their attack on the city on November 8. On November 6, the Republican government was forced to relocate from Madrid to Valencia, outside the combat zone. However, as a result of fierce fighting that took place from November 8 to 23, the nationalist offensive on the capital was repulsed. The main factor in the success of the Republican defense was the successful actions of the fifth regiment and the international brigades that subsequently arrived to help it, although only about 3,000 foreign volunteers took part in the battle. Having failed to capture the capital, Franco bombed it from the air, launching several offensives over the next two years to encircle Madrid, but he was eventually forced to resort to a siege that lasted three years. A repeated offensive was launched by the nationalists in the direction of the Corunna Road, in a northwestern direction, eventually somewhat pushing back the Republican troops, but the nationalists were never able to encircle Madrid. The battle continued in January.

Major events of the Spanish Civil War

Replenishing his ranks with Italian troops and Spanish soldiers from the colonial forces of Morocco, Franco made another attempt to capture Madrid in January and February 1937, but this too was unsuccessful. The Battle of Malaga began in mid-January, and the Nationalist advance into southeastern Spain proved a disaster for the poorly organized and poorly armed Republicans. On February 8, the city was captured by Franco. The unification of various militia groups into the Republican Army began in December 1936. A powerful offensive by Nationalist forces to cross the Jarama to cut off Madrid's supply along the road from Valencia, called the Battle of the Jarama, resulted in heavy casualties (6,000-20,000) for both sides. The main goal of the operation was not achieved, although the nationalists captured a small area of ​​territory.

A similar Nationalist offensive, called the Battle of Guadalajara, was the most significant defeat for Franco and his armies in this war. At the same time, this defeat of the nationalists was also the only victory of the Republicans from the very beginning of the war. In the war, Franco deployed Italian troops and used blitzkrieg tactics; at the time, many strategists blamed Franco for the defeat of the right; The Germans believed that “the defeat was due to the fault of the nationalists,” which was expressed in the loss of 5,000 people in manpower and the loss of important military equipment. German strategists argued that the nationalists first of all needed to concentrate their attention on vulnerable areas.

The "War in the North" began in mid-March, with the beginning of the Biscay Campaign. The Basques suffered most from the lack of an air force. On April 26, the Condor Legion bombed the city of Guernica, killing 200-300 people and causing significant damage. The destruction caused had a serious impact on international public opinion.

April and May were marked by divisions among Republican factions in Catalonia. Infighting occurred between the ultimately victorious communist government forces and the anarchists of the CNT. These divisions benefited the Nationalist team, but they did little to take advantage of these divisions among the Republican units. After the fall of Guernica, the Republican government began to resist with greater effectiveness. In July it attempted to recapture Segovia, thereby forcing Franco to delay his offensive on the Bilbao front, but only for two weeks. A similar Republican attack, the offensive against Huesca, was equally unsuccessful.

Mola, the second-highest military commander in Franco's command, died on June 3 in a plane crash. In early July, despite earlier losses at the Battle of Bilbao, the government launched a major counter-offensive west of Madrid, targeting Brunete. The Battle of Brunete was, however, a significant defeat for the Republicans and the loss of many of their most experienced military units. The resulting offensive advanced the Republican forces 50 square kilometers (19 sq mi) but lost 25,000 men.

The Republican offensive on Zaragoza was also unsuccessful. Despite the advantage on land and air in the Battle of Belchite, a settlement that did not represent any military interests, the Republicans were able to advance only 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) , having lost a large amount of equipment. Franco invaded Aragon in August and took the city of Santander. After the surrender of the Republican army in Basque territory, the Santon Agreement was signed. Later, as a result of the attack on Asturias, Gijon fell in October. Franco actually won in the north. At the end of November, when Franco's troops gained a foothold in Valencia, the government had to move again, this time to Barcelona.

Battle of Teruel

The Battle of Teruel was a serious confrontation between the parties. The city, previously owned by the Nationalists, was conquered by the Republicans in January. Franco's forces launched an offensive and retook the city by 22 February, but Franco was largely dependent on German and Italian air support.

On March 7, the nationalists launched an attack on Aragon and by April 14 they had broken through to the Mediterranean Sea, halving the territory of Spain belonging to the republic. In May, the Republican government tried to make peace, but Franco demanded unconditional surrender, so the war continued to rage. In July, the Nationalist army began pressing south from Teruel south along the coast towards the capital of the Republic in Valencia, but was stopped by heavy fighting along the XYZ line of the fortification system protecting Valencia.

Following this, between July 24 and November 26, the Republican government launched an all-out campaign to regain its territory in the Battle of the Ebro, in which Franco personally took command. This campaign was unsuccessful for the Republicans, and was also undermined by the Franco-British pacification deal at Munich. The agreement with England effectively destroyed the morale of the Republicans in their hope of creating an anti-fascist alliance with the Western powers. The retreat of the Republicans from the Ebro determined the final outcome of the war. Eight days before the new year, Franco launched a huge force to invade Catalonia.

Results of the Spanish Civil War

Franco's forces conquered Catalonia in a whirlwind campaign of battles during the first two months of 1939. Tarragona fell on 15 January, followed by Barcelona on 26 January and Girona on 2 February. On February 27, the United Kingdom and France recognized Franco's regime.

Only Madrid and a few other fortresses remained under the control of the Republican forces. On March 5, 1939, the Republican army, led by Colonel Segismundo Casado and politician Julián Besteiro, rebelled against Premier Juan Negrin and formed the Council of National Defense to negotiate a peace agreement. On March 6, Negrin fled to France, and communist troops stationed around Madrid rebelled against the junta, thus starting a short-lived civil war within a civil war. Casado defeated them and began peace negotiations with the Nationalists, but Franco refused to accept any other terms than unconditional surrender.

On March 26, the nationalists launched a joint offensive, on March 28, nationalist troops occupied Madrid, and by March 31, they already controlled the entire territory of Spain. On April 1, after the surrender of the last units of the Republican forces, Franco declared victory in his radio address.

After the end of the war, severe repression was carried out against Franco's former enemies. Thousands of Republicans were imprisoned and at least 30,000 were executed. According to other sources, the number of those executed, depending on their reasons, ranged from 50,000 to 200,000. Many others were sentenced to forced labor, sent to build railways, drain swamps and lay canals.

Hundreds of thousands of Republicans fled abroad, about 500,000 of them to France. Refugees were imprisoned in displaced persons camps of the French Third Republic, such as Camp Gurs or Camp Vernet, where 12,000 Republicans lived in squalid conditions. While serving as consul in Paris, the Chilean poet and politician Pablo Neruda organized the transfer of 2,200 Republican exiles from France to Chile on the SS Winnipeg.

Of the 17,000 refugees housed in Gours, farmers and other Spanish citizens who could not settle in France, with the assistance of the government of the Third Republic and in agreement with the Franco government, returned to Spain. The vast majority of the refugees did so, resulting in their being handed over to Franco's authorities in Irun. From there they were taken to the Miranda de Ebro camp for appropriate "cleansing" in accordance with the Law of Political Responsibility. After Marshal Philippe Perth declared the Vichy regime, refugees became political prisoners, and the French police tried to arrest those who had already been released from the camp. Along with other “undesirables,” the Spaniards were sent to an internment camp in Drancy for eventual deportation to Nazi Germany. About 5,000 Spaniards died in the Mauthausen concentration camp.

After the official end of the war, guerrilla warfare was carried out on an irregular basis until 1950 by the Spanish Maquis, gradually decreasing in intensity due to military defeats and meager support from an exhausted population. In 1944, a group of Republican veterans who had also fought in the French resistance against the Nazis invaded Val d'Aran in northwestern Catalonia, but were defeated after 10 days of fighting.

The fate of the Spanish "children of war"

The Republicans ensured the evacuation of 30,000-35,000 children from the zone under their control, starting with the Basque areas, from where a total of 20,000 people were evacuated. They were sent to the United Kingdom and the USSR and many other places in Europe, as well as Mexico. On May 21, 1937, some 4,000 children from the Basque Country were sent to Britain on the decrepit SS Havana from the Spanish port of Santurtsi. This came despite initial resistance from both the government itself and charity groups, who saw the removal of children from their home country as potentially harmful. Upon arrival in Southampton two days later, the children were scattered throughout England, with over 200 children placed in Wales. The upper age limit was initially set at 12, but was later raised to 15 years. As is known, by mid-September all Los Niños were housed in homes with their families. Most were repatriated to Spain after the end of the war, but 250 of them remained in Britain until the end of the Second World War in 1945.

Casualties in the Spanish Civil War

There is no consensus on the total number of deaths in the war. British historian Antony Beevor, in his history of the Spanish Civil War, wrote that Franco's "White Terror" that followed its end resulted in the death of 200,000 people, while the death toll from the "Red Terror" killed 38,000 people . Julius Ruiz states that "although the final figures are still disputed, it is believed that at least 37,843 executions were carried out in the Republican zone, and no more than 150,000 executions were carried out in the Nationalist part of Spain (including 50,000 after the war) "

In 2008, Spanish judge Baltasar Garzón began an investigation into the executions and disappearances of 114,266 people that occurred between July 17, 1936, and December 1951. An investigation into the executions revealed that the body of poet and playwright Federico García Lorca was never found. The very mention of Garcia Lorca's death during the Franco regime was prohibited.

To locate mass graves, recent research has begun to use a combination of search methods, including eyewitness testimony, remote sensing, and forensic equipment.

According to historians including Helen Graham, Paul Preston, Beevor, Gabriel Jackson and Hugh Thomas, mass executions behind Nationalist lines were organized and carried out with the approval of the rebel authorities, while executions behind Republican lines were the result of gaps in the jurisprudence of the republican state and anarchy:

Despite the fact that many senseless murders were committed in the rebellious part of Spain, the idea of ​​\u200b\u200b"limpies" or "cleansing" the country of the evil that had overtaken it was the discipline policy applied by the new authorities, part of their revival program. In Republican Spain, most of the murders were the result of anarchy, the division of the nation, and not the result of work carried out by the state, although individual political parties in some cities heinous acts were incited, with some of those responsible for their execution eventually occupying important positions of power. - Hugh Thomas.

Spanish nationalist atrocities

Atrocities carried out at the behest of the Nationalist authorities, often aimed at eradicating even the very traces of the “left,” were commonplace in Spain. The concept of limpies (cleansing) became an integral part of the rebel strategy, and this process began immediately after the capture of territory. According to historian Paul Preston, minimum quantity The number of citizens executed by the rebels was 130,000, and in all likelihood it was much higher, since other historians have given the figure at 200,000. Executions in the rebel zone on behalf of the regime were carried out by members of the Civil Guard and Phalangists.

Many of these acts were committed reactionary groups during the first weeks of the war. They included executions school teachers, as the efforts of the Second Spanish Republic to create a civil state by separating church from school and closing religious educational institutions were seen by nationalists as an attack on the Roman Catholic Church. Numerous murders of this kind of citizens, carried out in cities captured by the nationalists, were simultaneously accompanied by the elimination of undesirable persons. These included citizens who did not want to fight, such as members of trade unions and the Popular Political Front, persons suspected of membership in the Freemason society, Basques, Catalans, Andalusians and Galician nationalists, republican intelligentsia, relatives of prominent republicans, as well as persons suspected of voting for the Popular Front.

Nationalist forces executed civilians in Seville, where about 8,000 people were shot; 10,000 in Cordoba; 6,000-12,000 were shot in Badajoz after more than a thousand landowners and conservatives had been killed by the rebels. In Granada, where the working-class neighborhoods were subsequently hit by artillery fire and right-wing forces were given complete freedom of action against government supporters, at least 2,000 people were killed. In February 1937, more than 7,000 people were killed after the capture of Malaga. After the conquest of Bilbao, thousands of people were sent to prison. However, the number of executions here was lower than usual due to the fact that Guernica had already left a corresponding reputation about nationalists in the international community. The number of those killed by the columns of the African Army in the devastated and plundered settlements on its way from Seville to Madrid is extremely difficult to calculate.

The nationalists also killed Catholic clergy. In one particular case, after the capture of Bilbao they captured hundreds of people, including 16 priests who had served as chaplains in the Republican ranks, they were taken to a cemetery in the countryside and executed.

Franco's forces also persecuted Protestants, executing 20 Protestant ministers among them. The Frankists were determined to eradicate the "Protestant heresy" in Spain. They also persecuted the Basques, trying to eradicate their culture. According to Basque sources, immediately after the end of the civil war, the nationalists executed about 22,000 Basques.

The Nationalists carried out bombings of cities in Republican territory, carried out mainly by volunteers of the Luftwaffe Condor Legion and the forces of the Italian Volunteer Air Force: the cities of Madrid, Barcelona, ​​Valencia, Guernica, Durango and others were attacked. The bombing of Guernica was the most controversial.

War crimes of the Spanish Republicans

Nationalists say approximately 55,000 people died in Republican-controlled areas. Antony Beevor considers this figure to be overestimated. However, this is much less than half a million as was claimed during the war. Such a number of deaths would have formed a certain international opinion about the Republic even before the bombing of Guernica.

The Republican government was anti-clerical, and the attacks and murders of Roman Catholic clergy by its supporters were a reaction to reports of a military mutiny. Spanish Archbishop Antonio Montero Moreno, who was at that time director of the newspaper Ecclesia, wrote in his book in 1961 that during the war a total of 8,832 clergy were killed, 4,184 of them were priests, 2,365 monks, 283 nuns and 13 bishops. Historians, including Beevor, have agreed with these figures. Some sources claim that by the end of the conflict, 20 percent of the country's clergy had been killed. The "destruction" on August 7, 1936, by communists of the Shrine of the Society of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in Cerro de Los Angeles, near Madrid, was the most notorious case of desecration of religious property. In dioceses under overall Republican control, most - often the majority - of secular priests were killed.

As well as clergy, civilians were also executed in Republican territories. Some of them were shot on suspicion of belonging to the Phalangists. Others were killed in retaliation after reports of mass executions carried out by nationalists. Air raids carried out against Republican cities were another motive. Traders and industrialists were also shot if they did not show sympathy for the Republicans, or, as a rule, they were pardoned if they went over to their side. The creation of commissions based on the “check” principle in Russia created a false appearance of fairness in the sentences passed.

Under pressure from the growing success of the Nationalists, many civilians were executed by councils and tribunals controlled by competing communist and anarchist factions. The last of them were executed by the communists under the leadership of advisers from the USSR operating in Catalonia. It was precisely these purges in Barcelona, ​​which preceded a period of increasing tension between rival factions in Barcelona, ​​that George Orwell recounted in his 1937 book In Memoriam of Catalonia. Some citizens took refuge in embassies of friendly countries, which housed up to 8,500 people during the war.

In the Andalusian city of Ronda, 512 suspected nationalists were executed in the first month of the war. The communist Santiago Carrillo Solares was accused of exterminating nationalists in the Paracuellos massacre near Paracuellos del Jarama. Pro-Soviet communists committed numerous atrocities against their fellow Young Republicans, including other Marxists: Andre Marti, known as the Butcher of Albacete, was responsible for the murder of approximately 500 members of the International Brigades. Andreu Nin, leader of the POUM (Workers' Party of the Unification of Marxists), as well as many other prominent POUM figures, were killed by the communists with the assistance of the NKVD of the USSR.

Thirty-eight thousand people were killed in the Republican zone during the war, with 17,000 of them killed in Madrid and Catalonia in the month immediately following the coup. Despite the fact that the Communists openly supported extrajudicial killings, a significant part of the Republicans were shocked by these atrocities. Asanya was close to resigning. Along with other members of parliament and a large number of local officials, he tried to prevent the lynching of nationalist supporters. Some of those in important positions of power made attempts to intervene personally to stop the killings.

Social revolution in Spain

In Aragon and Catalonia, areas controlled by the anarchists, along with temporary military successes, a vast social revolution took place, as a result of which workers and peasants took collective ownership of land and industrial enterprises, organizing councils of management that operated in parallel with the paralyzed organs of the republican government. This revolution was opposed by pro-Soviet communists who, paradoxically as it may seem, opposed depriving citizens of the right to property.

During the course of the war, the government and communists were able to secure access to Soviet weapons supplies to ensure government control of the war effort through both diplomacy and force. The anarchists and the Labor Party of the Union of Marxists (POUM) were integrated into the regular army, although they opposed it. The Trotskyist POUM was outlawed and falsely condemned as a tool of the fascists. During the May days of 1937, many thousands of anarchist and republican communists fought for control of strategic points in Barcelona.

Before the outbreak of the war, the Phalangists were a small party with approximately 30,000 - 40,000 members. She called for social revolution, which would ensure the transformation of the country into a society of National Syndicalism. After the Republicans executed their leader, José Antonio Primo de Rivera, the party grew to several hundred thousand members. In the early days of the civil war, the party leadership lost 60 percent of its membership, after which, under the leadership of new leaders and party members who called themselves "new shirts", less interested in the revolutionary aspects of National Syndicalism, the party underwent changes. Franco subsequently united all the fighting groups into the United Traditionalist Spanish Phalanx and the Nationalist Syndicalist Offensive Hutnas.

In the thirties, Spain became the center of pacifist organizations such as the Brotherhood of Reconciliation, the War Resisters League and the War Resisters International. Many citizens, including those now commonly called "diehards," advocated and acted on nonviolent strategies. Prominent Spanish pacifists such as Amparo Poch y Gascon and José Brocca supported the Republicans. Brocca argued that Spanish pacifists had no alternative but to oppose fascism. He put this position into practice in a variety of ways, including organizing agricultural workers to maintain food supplies and providing humanitarian aid to war refugees.

Propaganda art of the Spanish Civil War

Throughout the Spanish Civil War, people around the world were influenced by events not only through traditional sources of information, but also through propaganda. Films, posters, books, radio programs and leaflets are just some examples of the kind of media art that proved so effective during the war. Propaganda, used by both nationalists and republicans, became a source for the Spaniards to disseminate information about the progress of the war throughout the world. The film, a co-production created by famous early twentieth-century writers such as Ernst Hemingway and Lillian Hellman, was used as a means of publicizing Spain's military and financial needs. The premiere of this film, entitled "Spanish Land", took place in America in July 1937. In 1938, George Orwell's In Memoriam of Catalonia was published in the United Kingdom, an account of his personal experience and observations in this war.

Outstanding works of sculpture such as Alberto Sánchez Pérez's stela "The Spanish people have a path that leads them to the star", a 12.5 m high monolith sculpted in plaster, representing the struggle for a socialist utopia; Julio González's sculpture entitled "Montserrat", an anti-war a work bearing the name of a mountain near Barcelona, ​​forged from a sheet of iron, on which a peasant woman is sculpted with a small child in one hand and a sickle in the other and "Fuente de Mercurio" ("Mercury") by Alexander Calder, which personifies the American protest against capture of Almadena mercury mines by nationalist troops.

Other works of art from this time period include the painting "Guernica" by Pablo Picasso, painted by him in 1937, inspired by the horrors of the bombing of the city of Guernica and inspiration received from Leonardo de Vinci's painting "The Battle of Anghiari". Guernica, like many other important Republican masterpieces of art, was presented at International exhibition in Paris 1937. The painting, measuring 11 by 25.6 feet, brought the horrors of the Spanish Civil War to the attention of large audiences, turning it into a global spotlight. The painting has since been hailed as a symbol of 20th century peace.

Joan Miró created the painting "The Reaper", whose full title is "The Revolting Catalan Peasant", which is a canvas measuring about 18 feet by 12 feet, depicting a peasant brandishing a sickle. Miro commented on his painting in such a way that “the sickle is not a communist symbol, but a working tool of the peasant, but when his freedom is threatened, it turns into his weapon.” This work was also presented at the 1937 International Exhibition in Paris, and after its completion it was sent back to the Spanish Republic in Valencia, its capital at that time, after which the painting disappeared or was destroyed.

(July - September 1936)

The revolt of July 17–20 destroyed the Spanish state, in the form in which it existed not only during the republican five-year period. In the first months of the republican zone there was no real power at all. In addition to the army and security forces, the republic lost almost its entire state apparatus, since most officials (especially senior officials) did not return to duty or defected to the rebels. 90% of Spain's diplomatic representatives abroad did the same, and the diplomats took with them many secret documents.

The integrity of the republican zone was actually violated. Along with the central government in Madrid, there were autonomous governments in Catalonia and the Basque Country. However, the power of the Catalan Generalidad became purely formal after the Central Committee of the Anti-Fascist Militia was formed in Barcelona on July 23, 1936 under the control of the CNT, which took over all administrative functions. When anarchist columns liberated part of Aragon, the Aragonese Council was created there - an absolutely illegitimate government body that did not pay attention to the decrees and laws of the Madrid government. The Republic was not even on the verge of collapse. She's already crossed that line.

As noted above, Premier Quiroga resigned on the night of July 18-19, unwilling to authorize the release of weapons to parties and trade unions. President Azaña entrusted the formation of a new cabinet to Cortes President Martínez Barrio, who brought into the government a representative of the right-wing Republicans, Sánchez Roman, whose party did not even join the Popular Front. This composition of the government was supposed to signal to the rebels Madrid's readiness to compromise. Martínez Barrio called Mola and offered him and his supporters two seats in the future cabinet of national unity. The general replied that there was no turning back. “You have your masses, and I have mine, and we both cannot betray them.”

In Madrid, the workers' parties understood the formation of the Martinez Barrio cabinet as an open capitulation to the putschists. The capital was overwhelmed by mass demonstrations, whose participants shouted: “Treason!” Martinez Barrio was forced to resign after serving only 9 hours in office.

On July 19, Azaña entrusted the formation of a new government to José Giral (1879–1962). Giral was born in Cuba. For my political activity(he was a staunch republican) was imprisoned in 1917, twice under the dictatorship of Primo de Rivera and once under Berenguer in 1930. Giral was a close friend of Azaña and together with him founded the Republican Action Party, which later changed its name to the Republican Left Party. In the governments of 1931–1933, Giral was Minister of the Navy.

Hiral's cabinet included only representatives of the Republican parties of the Popular Front. Communists and socialists declared their support.

Hiral's first measure was to authorize the issuance of weapons to the parties and trade unions that were part of the Popular Front. This has already happened all over the country in a violent and disorderly manner. Each party sought to obtain at its disposal as many weapons as possible, “just in case.” It often accumulated in warehouses, while it was sorely lacking at the fronts. So in Catalonia, the anarchists captured about 100 thousand rifles, and in the first months of the war the CNT sent no more than 20 thousand people into battle. During the storming of the La Montaña barracks in Madrid, a mass of modern Mauser rifles were dismantled by young girls who showed off the weapons as if they were just buying a necklace. As a result of inept handling, tens of thousands of rifles became unusable, and the Communists had to launch a special propaganda campaign in favor of surrendering the rifles. Party agitators argued that in modern army We need not only shooters, but also sappers, orderlies, and scouts, who can easily do without rifles. But the gun became a symbol of the new status, and people parted with it extremely reluctantly.

Having somehow solved the problem with weapons, Hiral tried to streamline the local authorities. Instead of them or in parallel with them, committees of the Popular Front were created. Initially, they only wanted to monitor the loyalty of local authorities to the republic, but in the conditions of paralysis of the administrative apparatus, they spontaneously took on the functions of local government bodies.

From the very beginning of the rebellion, disagreements arose in the camp of the left forces. The anarchists and left socialists of Largo Caballero demanded the immediate destruction of the entire old state machine, vaguely imagining what should replace it. The CNT even put forward the slogan: “Organize disorganization!” The communists, the centrists of the PSOE under the leadership of Prieto and the republicans convinced the masses, inspired by the first successes, that victory had not yet been achieved and the main thing now was iron discipline and the organization of all forces to eliminate the rebellion. Even then, anarchists began to reproach the Communist Party for betraying the revolution and moving into the “camp of the bourgeoisie.” The PSOE continued to prohibit its members from entering the government, and Prieto was forced to organize affairs in the navy without permission.

In that initial period of the war, it was the CPI that increasingly began to be considered by the population of the republican zone as the most “serious” party, capable of ensuring the normal functioning of the state apparatus. Immediately after the mutiny, several tens of thousands of people joined the Communist Party. The United Socialist Youth (USY), an organization created by merging the youth organizations of the CPI and the PSOE, actually stood on the positions of the communists. The same can be said about the United Socialist Party of Catalonia, founded on July 24, 1936 (it included local organizations of the PCI, PSOE and two small independent workers' parties). President Azaña publicly told foreign correspondents that if they wanted to correctly understand the situation in Spain, they should read the newspaper Mundo Obrero (Workers' World, central authority KPI).

On July 22, 1936, Giral issued a decree dismissing all civil servants involved in the rebellion or who were “open enemies” of the republic. Persons recommended by the Popular Front parties were invited to the civil service, who, unfortunately, sometimes did not have any administrative experience. On August 21, the old diplomatic service was dissolved and a new one was created.

On August 23, a special court was established to try cases of state crimes (three days later, the same courts were established in all provinces). Along with three professional judges, the new courts included fourteen lay judges (two each from the PCI, PSOE, Republican Left Party, Republican Union, CNT-FAI and OSM). In the case of a death sentence, the court, by a majority vote in a secret ballot, determined whether the defendant could apply for clemency.

But, of course, the matter of life or death for the republic was, first of all, the accelerated formation of its own armed forces. On August 10, the dissolution of the Civil Guard was announced and the National Republican Guard was created in its place on August 30. On August 3, a decree was issued on the formation of the so-called “ volunteer army", which was intended to replace the people's militia that fought the enemy in the first days of the rebellion.

The People's Militia is the collective name for the armed formations created by the Popular Front parties. They formed without any plan and fought wherever they wanted. There was often no coordination of any kind between individual units. There were no uniforms, logistics or sanitary services. The police included, of course, former officers and soldiers of the army and security forces. But they were clearly not trusted. Special commissions checked their political reliability. The officers were classified either as republicans, so-called "indifferents", or as "fascists". There were no clear criteria for these assessments. In the first days of the rebellion, about 300 thousand people signed up for the militia of different parties (for comparison, it can be noted that Mola had no more than 25 thousand fighters at the end of July), but only 60 thousand participated in the fighting to one degree or another.

Later general secretary The Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine José Diaz called the summer of 1936 a period of “romantic war” (although for him this definition was hardly suitable, since in the first days of the rebellion he lost his Komsomol daughter, killed by the rebels, in his native Seville). Young people, mostly members of the OSM and CNT, dressed in blue overalls (something like a revolutionary uniform, like leather jackets in Russia during the civil war) and armed with anything, loaded into requisitioned buses and trucks and went to fight the rebels. The losses were enormous, since combat experience and basic tactical techniques of combat were completely absent. But the greater the rejoicing in case of success. Having liberated a locality, the police often went home, and young people spent the night discussing their successes in cafes. And who remained at the front? Often no one. It was believed that each city or village had to stand on its own.

The people's militia was the only possible means of preventing the victory of the rebellion in its early days, but it, of course, could not resist the regular armed forces in a real war.

Giral's decree on the creation of a volunteer army was immediately supported by the communists and those members of the Socialist Party and the UGT who followed Prieto. However, anarchists and the Largo Caballero faction waged a massive campaign against this move. “The barracks and discipline are finished,” exclaimed one of the leading representatives of Spanish anarchism, Federica Montseny. “The army is slavery,” echoed the CNT newspaper Frente Libertario. Largo Caballero's comrade Arakistein wrote that Spain is the cradle of guerrillas, not soldiers. Anarchists and left-wing socialists were against unity of command in police units and against central military command in general.

In organizational terms, the militia, as a rule, consisted of hundreds (“centuries”), each of which elected one delegate to the battalion committee. Delegates from the battalions constituted the command of the “column” (the numerical composition of the column was completely arbitrary). All decisions of a military nature were made at general meetings. Needless to say, such military formations were simply, by definition, incapable of waging even some semblance of war.

The influence of the Communist Party, the Prieto group and the Giral government itself in the first months of the war was insufficient for the decree on the creation of a volunteer army to be implemented. He was simply ignored by the bulk of the police.

Under these conditions, the communists decided to show a real example and created the prototype of a new type of army - the legendary Fifth Regiment. This name was born in the following way. When the Communists informed the Minister of War that they had formed a battalion, he was assigned serial number“5”, since the first four battalions were formed by the government itself. The Fifth Battalion later became a regiment.

In fact, it was not a regiment at all, but a kind of military school of the Communist Party, training officers and non-commissioned officers, training police officers, instilling in them discipline and basic combat skills (advancing in a chain, digging in the ground, etc.). The regiment accepted not only communists, but everyone who wanted to fight the putschists competently and skillfully. Quartermaster and sanitary services were organized in the Fifth Regiment. Military textbooks were published and brief instructions. It published its own newspaper, Milisia Popular (People's Militia). The Communists actively recruited officers to the Fifth Regiment old army, entrusting them with leadership positions.

In the Fifth Regiment, for the first time, the people's militia had a communications service and its own weapon repair workshops. The commanders of the Fifth Regiment were the only ones who had maps made by a specially created cartographic service shelf.

It must be said that supporters of the republic had a careless attitude towards weapons throughout almost the entire war. If a rifle jammed, it was often abandoned. The machine guns did not fire because they were not cleaned. The Fifth Regiment, and then the regular units of the Republican Army, where the influence of the Communists was strong, were distinguished in this sense by much greater order.

The Fifth Regiment first introduced the institution of political commissars, clearly borrowed from the experience of the Russian revolution. But the commissars sought not to replace commanders (the latter were often former officers), but to maintain the morale of the soldiers. This was very important, since the police were easily inspired by successes and just as quickly became despondent by failures. The regiment also had its own anthem, “Song of the Fifth Regiment,” which became very popular at the front:

My mother, oh dear mother,

Come closer here!

This is our glorious Fifth Regiment

He goes into battle singing, look.

The Fifth Regiment was the first to organize propaganda against enemy troops by radio and loudspeakers, as well as by leaflets, which were scattered using primitive rockets.

By the time of its formation in the Francos Rodriguez barracks (former Capuchin monastery) on August 5, 1936, the Fifth Regiment consisted of no more than 600 people, after 10 days there were 10 times more, and when the regiment was merged into the regular army of the republic in December 1936 , 70 thousand soldiers passed through it. The combat training course was designed for seventeen days, but in the fall of 1936, due to the difficult situation at the fronts, the regiment's students went to the front line within two or three days.

But in July-August 1936, the Fifth Regiment was still too weak to have a decisive influence on the course of military operations. So far, only unorganized motley detachments that did not submit to a single command fought on the side of the republic, which, as a rule, had formidable names (“Eagles”, “Red Lions”, etc.). That is why the Republicans not only failed to realize their significant numerical superiority over the enemy, but also to stop their rapid advance towards Madrid. July-August 1936 was the time of the Republicans' greatest military failures.

What happened in the rebel camp? Of course, there was no such disorder there as in the republican zone. But with the death of Sanjurjo, the question arose of who would be the leader of the uprising, which was turning into a civil war with unclear prospects. Even the optimist Mola believed that victory could only be achieved in two or three weeks, and even then only if Madrid were captured. With what political program to win? While the generals were saying different things. Queipo de Llano still defended the republic. Mola, although not so firm in this point of view, still did not want Alfonso XIII to return. The only thing that all the military conspirators were united in was that there was no need to involve civilians in the administration of the part of Spain they occupied. That is why Mola’s consultations with Goikoechea, who demanded the creation of a broad right-wing government, failed.

Instead, on July 23, 1936, the Junta of National Defense was formed in Burgos as the highest body of the rebel forces. It included 5 generals and 2 colonels under the formal leadership of the most senior of them, General Miguel Cabanellas. The “strong man” in the junta was Mola. He made Cabanellas a nominal leader largely to get rid of him in Zaragoza, where Cabanellas, in Mola's opinion, was too liberal with the opposition. General Franco was not included in the junta, but on July 24 he was declared commander-in-chief of the rebel forces in southern Spain. On August 1, 1936, Admiral Francisco Moreno Fernandez became the commander of the scanty Navy. On August 3, when Franco's troops crossed Gibraltar, the general was brought into the junta along with his ill-wisher Queipo de Llano, who continued to rule in Seville, regardless of anyone's orders. In addition, the two generals shared different views on the future course of the war in the south. Queipo de Llano wanted to concentrate on “cleansing” Andalusia of Republicans, while Franco was eager to get to Madrid by the shortest route through the province of Extremadura adjacent to Portugal.

But we got ahead of ourselves a little. At the end of July 1936, the main threat to the republic was not yet Franco, locked in Morocco, but “director” Mola, whose troops were stationed just 60 kilometers north of Madrid, on the approach to the Sierra Guadarrama and Somosierra mountain ranges framing the capital. The fate of the republic in those days depended on who would take possession of the passes through these ridges.

Immediately after the start of the rebellion, small groups of military rebels and Phalangists settled in the Somosierra Pass, trying to hold these most important strategic points until the main forces of General Mola arrived. On July 20, two columns of rebels, consisting of 4 army battalions, 4 companies of Carlists, 3 companies of Phalangists and cavalry (totaling about 4 thousand people), with 24 guns, approached Somosierra and on July 25 attacked the pass. It was defended by policemen, carabinieri and a motorized detachment of the well-known captain Condes (the leader of the murder of Calvo Sotelo), who arrived from Madrid and who had previously occupied the pass and kept it from attacks by the initially not very strong rebel units. On the same day, July 25, the putschists broke through the republican positions and the police retreated, clearing the Somosierra Pass. But subsequent rebel attacks were unsuccessful and the front in the Somosierra region stabilized until the end of the war. These early battles demonstrated the tenacity of even untrained militia in defense when supported by strong natural (as in this case) or artificial (as later in Madrid) fortifications. The fighting in Somosierra promoted Major Vicente Rojo, who later became one of the leading military leaders of the Republicans (he then served as chief of staff of the front, which meant the totality of all militia units defending Somosierra).

In the Sierra Guadarrama mountains, from the first days of the rebellion, poorly armed detachments of lumberjacks, workers, shepherds and peasants arose, preventing groups of Falangists from entering the capital (the latter calmly moved by car to Madrid, thinking that it was already in the hands of the rebels).

On July 21, a militia detachment arrived from Madrid led by Juan Modesto (1906–1969), who also later became one of the most prominent commanders of the republic. "Modesto" means "humble" in Spanish. This was the party pseudonym of Juan Guillote, a simple worker who worked at a sawmill and later headed the general workers' union. Since 1931, Modesto was a member of the CPI, and after the outbreak of the rebellion he became one of the organizers of the Fifth Regiment. He took part in the assault on the La Montagna barracks, where he already proved himself to be a good organizer. Hundreds of Sierra workers and peasants joined Modesto's detachment. This is how the battalion named after Ernst Thälmann arose, which became the most combat-ready part of the republic on this section of the front.

When the rebel units of Mola approached the Sierra Guadarrama (they were supported by machine gun platoons and two batteries of light artillery), they immediately encountered stubborn resistance. Some of the soldiers of the Madrid infantry regiment “Vad Ras”, who were personally brought by Dolores Ibarruri, came to the aid of the Republicans. She and Jose Diaz went to the barracks, where the soldiers greeted the leaders of the Communist Party very warily. They were not particularly eager to fight for the republic, but when it was explained to them that the new government would give land (most of the soldiers were peasants), their mood changed and the soldiers went to the front. Together with Dolores Ibarruri, they were led by another prominent communist, Enrique Lister, who later became one of the best generals of the republic. The Frankists tried to explain his military talent in their own way, spreading rumors that Lister was a career German officer sent to Spain by the Comintern. In fact, Lister (1907–1994) was born in Galicia, the son of a stonemason and a peasant woman. Poverty forced him to emigrate to Cuba at the age of eleven. Upon his return, he went to prison for trade union activities and short time lived in exile in the USSR (1932–1935), where he worked as a tunneler on the construction of the Moscow Metro. On July 20, Lister participated in the assault on the La Montagna barracks and, along with Modesto, became one of the organizers of the Fifth Regiment.

On July 25, the Steel Company of 150 communists and socialists entered the battle and seriously pushed back the rebels, paying for it with the lives of 63 soldiers. On August 5, 1936, Mola made his last attempt to break through to Madrid across the Alto de Leon plateau. It was then that he declared that the Spanish capital would be taken by his four columns, supported by a fifth, which would strike from the rear. This is how the term “fifth column” was born, which later became widely known. But the “Director’s” plans to occupy Madrid by August 15 failed and already on August 10 the rebels went on the defensive in this section of the front.

After this, the putschists decided to outflank the Republican positions through the Sierra Gredos. There, the defense was held by a detachment of Madrid militia under the command of a career officer Mangada, who moved to the position on July 26. One day in July, members of the detachment stopped two cars. A man emerged from one of them and proudly declared that he was the leader of the Valladolid phalanx. During the civil war, both sides often wore the same Spanish army uniform and often mistook the enemy for one of their own. Fate played a cruel joke on Onesimo Redondo, the founder of the phalanx (and it was he). The police immediately shot him.

On August 19, the rebels launched an attack, but it quickly choked as a result of the work of the Republican artillery and 7 aircraft sent by the commander-in-chief of the Republic Air Force, a hereditary nobleman and communist Hidalgo de Cisneros. On August 20, the putschists brought into action the Moroccans, who by that time could already have been transferred to the northern front from Andalusia. But here, too, Republican aviation did a good job. With her support, the police launched a powerful counterattack and drove the rebels back almost to the city of Avila, which was already prepared for evacuation. But the Republicans did not build on their success and quickly went on the defensive. Such caution in offensive operations would become the real “Achilles heel” of the Republican army during the civil war.

On August 29, the rebels suddenly captured the poorly guarded Boqueron Pass and broke into the village of Pegerinos. The Moroccans, advancing in the vanguard, cut off the heads of peasants and raped women. The left flank of the Guadarrama Front was in danger of breaking through. But Modesto’s forces arrived in time, and together with a company of the assault guards, they surrounded the Moroccan battalion in Pegerinos and destroyed it.

By the end of August, the front had stabilized and it became finally clear to Mole that he could not take Madrid. This failure also buried the “Director’s” hopes for leadership in the rebel camp. By that time, it was not he, but Francisco Franco, who was basking in the rays of victory.

But until Franco's troops landed on the Iberian Peninsula, the struggle in southern Spain was of a special nature. There was no front line here and both warring parties, relying on the cities in their hands, carried out raids against each other, trying to bring under control as much of Andalusia as possible. Residents of rural areas for the most part sympathized with the Republicans. They organized several partisan detachments, which were even worse armed than the people's militia of the cities. In addition to flintlocks and shotguns, scythes, knives and even slings were used.

The features of the Andalusian war of July-early August 1936 can be traced through the example of the town of Baena. In the first days of the rebellion, the Civil Guard seized power there and unleashed brutal terror. Popular Front activists who fled from Baena, with the assistance of peasants from surrounding villages armed with scythes and hunting rifles, recaptured the town. On July 28, the Moroccans and Phalangists, with the support of several aircraft, after a stubborn battle, again took Baena, but already on August 5, a detachment of the assault guard, again with the help of peasants, liberated the city. The Republicans left him only on the orders of one of the commanders who were “straightening” the front line.

Having settled in Seville and physically eliminated all opposition there, Queipo de Llano, like a medieval robber knight, made punitive forays into neighboring areas. When attempting to resist, the rebels carried out mass executions of civilians. For example, in the town of Carmona near Seville, 1,500 people were killed. Queipo de Llano sought to ensure land communications between Seville, Cordoba and Granada (the latter's garrison fought virtually surrounded). But near these cities, more or less tightly knit detachments of the people's militia were already operating, and not peasants with scythes. Granada was squeezed from the south (from Malaga) and the east by militia units, in which there were many soldiers and sailors. The police also had machine guns. The rebels in Granada held out with all their might.

In early August, the Republicans decided to carry out their first major offensive operation since the beginning of the war and liberate the city of Cordoba. By the time of the offensive, local police detachments, in which miners armed with dynamite were the striking force, had already reached the outskirts of the city. But Cordova was a tough nut to crack. There the rebels had a regiment of heavy artillery, a cavalry regiment, almost the entire civil guard and detachments of phalangists who came over to their side. However, this was only enough to keep the city from the onslaught of the police.

In early August, three columns of Republicans began an attack on Cordoba in converging directions. The government troops were commanded by General José Miaja (1878–1958), who later became widely known. Like his colleagues, the general moved to Morocco. In the early 1930s, he was a member of the Spanish Military Union, but Gil Robles, taking the post of Minister of War in 1935, sent Miaja away to the provinces. The putsch found the general in the position of commander of the 1st Infantry Brigade in Madrid. Overweight, bald and owl-like with his thick glasses, Miaha did not enjoy authority among his fellow generals. He was considered a pathological loser, which even his last name seemed to support (miaja means “little” in Spanish).

On July 28, Miaja was entrusted with command of the Republican forces of the south (they numbered a total of 5,000 people) and on August 5 these forces were already in the vicinity of Cordoba.

At first, the Republican general offensive developed promisingly. Several settlements were liberated. The head of the rebels in Cordoba, Colonel Cascajo, was already ready to begin a retreat from the city and sent Queipo de Llano desperate calls about help. They were heard and the African units of General Varela moved to Cordoba in a forced march, clearing some areas of Andalusia of the “reds”. And here Miaha unexpectedly ordered a retreat, without even waiting for Varela’s forces to approach, fearing the use of aviation by the rebels. The front in the Cordoba area has stabilized. The Republicans' first offensive anticipated their major mistake in the war. Having learned to break through the enemy's front, they could not build on their success and retain the liberated territory. The rebels, on the contrary, were guided by Franco’s clear instructions to cling to every piece of land, and if it was lost, try to return the ceded territory at any cost.

But let's return to Franco himself, whom we left immediately after his arrival in Morocco on July 19. Having learned about the failure of the mutiny in the fleet, the general instantly realized that without foreign help it would be unlikely to transfer the African army to Spain. Immediately after landing in Morocco, he sent ABC's London correspondent Louis Bolin on the same plane to Rome via Lisbon, where Bolin was to meet Sanjurjo. The journalist carried with him a letter from Franco, which authorized him to conduct negotiations in England, Germany and Italy on the urgent purchase of aircraft and aviation weapons for the “Spanish non-Marxist army.” The general wanted to get at least 12 bombers, 3 fighters and bombs. Franco intended to use air power to suppress the Republican fleet patrolling the Strait of Gibraltar.

True, Franco had several transport aircraft (from among those damaged by his executed cousin, later repaired), including those transferred from Seville. Three three-engine Fokker VII aircraft made four flights a day, delivering Moroccan troops to Seville (16–20 soldiers with full equipment were transported per flight). Franco understood that such a pace of transfer was insufficient compared to the people's militia units constantly arriving in Andalusia. In addition, Franco feared that Mola would enter Madrid first and become the leader of the new state. At the end of July, the rebels restored several flying boats, 8 old Breguet 19 light bombers and two Newport 52 fighters. These works were led by perhaps the only major rebel aviation specialist, General Alfredo Kindelan (1879–1962). He graduated from the engineering academy and became a pilot. Military service in Morocco earned him the rank of general in 1929. As Alfonso XIII's personal aide-de-camp, Kindelan did not accept the republic and resigned, taking advantage of Azaña's military reform. After the putsch, Kindelan immediately placed himself at Franco's disposal and was appointed commander of the Air Force on August 18, a post he would retain throughout the war.

While the envoy Franco Bolin was heading by train from Marseille to Rome, the general talked with the Italian military attaché in Tangier, Major Luccardi, begging him to urgently send transport planes. Luccardi reported this to the management of the Italian military intelligence. But Mussolini hesitated. He remembered how in 1934 he had already sent weapons to the Spanish right (Carlists), but little good came of it. Even now, the Duce was not sure that the rebellion would not be suppressed in a few days. Therefore, when Mussolini received a telegram from the Italian envoy in Tangier de Rossi (Luccardi had arranged for him to meet Franco on July 22), outlining Franco's request to send 12 bombers or civilian transport aircraft, the Duce wrote “no” on it in blue pencil. At this time, Bolin, who arrived in Rome, secured a meeting with the Italian Foreign Minister Galeazzo Ciano (Mussolini's son-in-law). He seemed to initially take a favorable position, but after consulting with his father-in-law, he also refused.

On July 25, a delegation from Mola (who knew nothing about the contacts of Franco's emissary in Italy) led by Goicoechea arrived in Rome. Unlike Franco, Mola did not ask for planes, but for ammunition (there were 26 thousand left for his entire army). At this point, Mussolini learned that France had decided to send military aircraft to the Republican government and the first of them (in total there were 30 reconnaissance and bomber aircraft, 15 fighters and 10 transport aircraft) landed in Barcelona on July 25. True, the French removed all weapons from them, and for a certain time these aircraft could not be used in combat. But Mussolini was infuriated by the very fact of French intervention and, to spite Paris, sent Franco on July 28 12 Savoia-Marchetti (SM-81) bombers, which were called “Pipistrello” (i.e. “bat” in Italian). At that time, it was one of the best bombers in the world, already tested by the Italians during the war with Ethiopia (however, the Ethiopians did not have modern fighters). The plane reached speeds of up to 340 km per hour, and was thereby 20% faster than the German Ju-52. Armed with five machine guns (versus two for the Junkers), the Bat could carry twice as many bombs as the Yu-52 and had a flight range of 2,000 km (also twice as long as the Junkers).

The planes took off from Sardinia on July 30. One of them fell into the sea, and two, having used up their fuel, landed in Algeria and French Morocco. But even the 9 planes that reached Franco could not fly until a tanker with high-octane gasoline arrived from Italy. The rebels themselves could not fly planes, so their Italian pilots were formally enrolled in the Spanish Foreign Legion. Thus began the intervention of fascist Italy in the Iberian Peninsula.

Having learned that the first sounding in Rome was unsuccessful, Franco did not put everything on one card and decided to turn to Germany for help. Its “Führer” Adolf Hitler had little interest in Spain. If Mussolini rushed around with plans to turn the Mediterranean Sea into an “Italian lake” and tried to bring Spain under his control, then Hitler only remembered that Spain was neutral during the First World War (a fact in the eyes of front-line soldier Hitler is very shameful). True, already being a politician at the national level, the leader of the NSDAP reflected in the 1920s on the possibility of using Spain as a counterweight to France (exactly the same role was assigned to Spain by Bismarck in his time), but this was rather a secondary stake in the big geopolitical game of the Nazis.

Franco admired National Socialist Germany and, as Chief of the General Staff of the Spanish Army, led negotiations on the purchase of German weapons in 1935, which were interrupted after the victory of the Popular Front.

On July 22, Franco asked the German consulate in Tetouan to send a telegram to the military attache of the “Third Reich” in France and Spain (with residence in Paris) General Erich Kühlenthal asking him to send 10 transport aircraft with German crews. Kühlenthal forwarded the request to Berlin, where it was shelved. Franco had no choice but to look for a direct route to Hitler. Back on July 21, he met with a German whom the general knew as a supplier of cookstoves for the Spanish army in Morocco. It was the bankrupt sugar trader Johannes Bernhardt who fled from Germany from his creditors. But the ambitious Bernhardt was also an expert on economic issues of the NSDAP party organization in Spanish Morocco, which was headed by businessman Adolf Langenheim. Bernhardt had difficulty persuading Langenheim to fly with him and Franco’s representative, Captain Francisco Arrans (who served as chief of staff of the tiny Francoist Air Force) to Berlin. On a Lufthansa Junkers 52 m mail plane requisitioned from the Canary Islands, Franco's three emissaries arrived in the German capital on July 24, 1936. The German Foreign Ministry rejected Franco’s request, since diplomats of the old school did not want to involve their country in an incomprehensible conflict, and ideological considerations (“the fight against communism”) were alien to them. But Langenheim organized a meeting with his boss, the head of the foreign policy department of the NSDAP (all Nazi party organizations abroad were subordinate to him), Gauleiter Ernst Bohle. He had long been competing with the Foreign Ministry for influence on Hitler and did not miss an opportunity to do something contrary to the prim diplomats. At this time, Hitler was in Bavaria, at the Wagner music festival in Bayreuth. Bole sent Franco's envoys to the minister without portfolio Rudolf Hess (“Deputy Fuhrer for the Party”), who was also there, and he already arranged a personal meeting with Hitler for the rebel emissaries. On July 25 the "Führer" was in good mood(he had just listened to his favorite opera "Siegfried") and read a letter from Franco in which he asked for planes, small arms and anti-aircraft guns. At first, Hitler was skeptical and clearly expressed doubts about the success of the rebellion (“that’s not how you start a war”). To make a final decision, he convened a meeting and, fortunately for the rebels, in addition to the Minister of Aviation Goering and the Minister of War Werner von Blomberg, one person took part in it, who turned out to be the largest expert on Spain in Germany. His name was Wilhelm Canaris, and since 1935, with the rank of admiral, he headed Germany's military intelligence service, the Abwehr.

Even during the First World War, Canaris arrived in Madrid with a Chilean passport to organize communications with German submarines located in the Mediterranean Sea. The active German created a dense network of agents in the country's ports. In Spain, Canaris made useful connections, including with the wealthy industrialist and newspaper magnate, liberal and friend of King Alfonso XIII, Horacio Echevarieta (his secretary was Indalecio Prieto). Canaris tried to organize sabotage against Entente ships in Spain, but French counterintelligence was “on his tail” and the German was forced to hastily leave the country he loved aboard a submarine. Some sources claim that Major Francisco Franco was among Canaris' agents in Spain, but there is no clear evidence of this.

In 1925, Canaris was again sent on a secret mission to Madrid. He had to negotiate the participation of German pilots in the fighting of the Spanish army in Morocco (under the terms of the Treaty of Versailles of 1919, Germany was prohibited from having an air force and therefore the Germans were forced to train combat pilots in other countries, including the USSR). Canaris completed the task with the help of his new acquaintance, Lieutenant Colonel Alfredo Kindelan of the Spanish Air Force. On February 17, 1928, Canaris secured a secret agreement between German and Spanish security forces, which provided for the exchange of information and cooperation in the fight against subversive elements. Canaris's partner was the executioner of Catalonia, General Martinez Anido, who then held the post of Minister of the Interior (he later became Franco's first Minister of Security).

Thus, Canaris knew almost all the leaders of the rebellion in Spain, and was personally acquainted with many (he met Franco during Spanish-German negotiations on arms supplies in 1935).

During a meeting on Spain on July 25, 1936, Hitler wanted to know the opinion of all three present on whether to help Franco. To the Fuhrer himself, the rebellion seemed, as already mentioned, amateurishly prepared. Blomberg was vague. Goering supported the request of Franco's envoys to “stop world communism” and test the young Air Force of the “Third Reich” created in 1935. But the most detailed argument was presented by Canaris, who was outraged by the murder of many officers in the Spanish fleet (he experienced the same thing in October 1918 in Germany, when the sailors’ uprising began in Kiel). Stalin, Canaris said, wants to create a Bolshevik state in Spain, and if this succeeds, France with its Popular Front government, similar to the Spanish one, will slide into the quagmire of communism. And then the Reich will be squeezed into the “red pincers” from the West and the East. Finally, he, Canaris, personally knows General Franco as a brilliant soldier who deserves the trust of Germany.

When Hitler closed the meeting at 4 a.m. on July 26, he had already decided to help Franco, although two days earlier he was afraid that participation in the Spanish Civil War could drag Germany into major foreign policy complications ahead of schedule.

Now Hitler was in a hurry. He wanted to forestall Mussolini and prevent the Duce from placing Spain under sole Italian control. Already on the morning of July 26, in the building of the German Ministry of Aviation, the “Special Headquarters W” (after the first letter of the surname of its leader, General Helmut Wilberg), which was supposed to coordinate assistance to the rebels, gathered for its first meeting. Bernhardt was appointed by Goering on July 31, 1936 as the head of a specially created front “transport” company HISMA, through which Franco’s weapons were secretly to be supplied. These supplies were to be paid for by barter with supplies of raw materials from Spain, for which another company, ROWAK, was established on October 7, 1936. The entire operation was codenamed “Magic Fire.”

On July 28, at 4:30 a.m., the first of the 20 Junkers 52 transport aircraft promised by Hitler took off from Stuttgart. The vehicles were equipped with additional gas tanks (a total of 3800 liters of gasoline). Without landing, the Junkers flew over Switzerland, along the Franco-Italian border and across Spain straight to Morocco. Already on July 29, these planes, piloted by Lufthansa pilots, began to transfer units of the African army to Spain. On the same day, Franco sends a telegram to Molé, ending with the words: “We are the masters of the situation. Long live Spain! By August 9, all the Junkers arrived.

While waiting for the Moroccans, Queipo de Llano resorted to the following military trick in Seville. Some of the most tanned Spanish soldiers were dressed in Moroccan national clothes and drove around the city in trucks, shouting meaningless “Arab” phrases. This was to convince the recalcitrant workers that the African army had already arrived and further resistance was futile.

By July 27, at the largest Luftwaffe base, Deberitz, near Berlin, about 80 pilots and technicians were collected from various garrisons and agreed to voluntarily go to Spain. General Wilberg read Hitler’s telegram before the formation: “The Fuhrer decided to support the (Spanish) people now living in unbearable conditions and save them from Bolshevism. Hence the German help. For international reasons, open assistance is excluded, so a secret action of assistance is necessary.” Even relatives were forbidden to talk about the trip to Spain, who believed that their husbands and sons were performing a “special assignment” in Germany. All letters from Spain arrived in Berlin at the postal address “Max Winkler, Berlin SV 68”. There, envelopes were exchanged that received a postmark from one of the Berlin post offices. After this, the letters were sent to the recipients.

On the night of July 31 to August 1, the German merchant steamer Usaramo with a displacement of 22,000 tons left Hamburg for Cadiz, carrying 6 Xe-51 fighters, 20 anti-aircraft guns and 86 Luftwaffe pilots and technicians. The young people on board the ship introduced themselves to the crew as tourists. However, military bearing and identical civilian suits could not deceive the sailors. Some sailors even thought that a special operation was being prepared to capture the German colonies lost in the First World War in Africa.

Arriving in Seville by train from the port of Cadiz on August 6, the “German tourists” turned into several military units. Transport (11 Yu-52), bomber (9 Yu-52) and fighter (6 Xe-51), as well as anti-aircraft and ground groups were created. The Germans had to train the Spaniards to fly fighters and bombers as quickly as possible.

Problems immediately arose. Thus, during assembly it turned out that some parts of the Heinkels were missing, and with great difficulty the Germans managed to “put five cars on the wing.” But the Spanish pilots immediately ruined two of them during the first landing, which turned out to be on the belly. After this, the Germans decided to fly on their own for now.

Hitler's Germany was entering its first war.

Until mid-October 1936, German Junkers transferred 13,000 soldiers and 270 tons of military cargo to Andalusia from Morocco. To save time during the day, maintenance of the Junkers was carried out by German technicians at night with the car headlights on. In 1942, Hitler exclaimed that Franco should erect a monument to the glory of the Junkers and that the “Spanish Revolution” (the Führer meant the rebellion) should thank them for its victory.

The air bridge almost collapsed due to lack of gasoline. The rebels quickly used up army reserves and began purchasing fuel from private individuals. But the quality of this gasoline was insufficient for aircraft engines, and the Germans added benzene mixtures to the barrels. After this, the barrels were rolled on the ground until their contents became more or less homogeneous. In addition, the rebels managed to purchase aviation gasoline in French Morocco. And yet, when the long-awaited Cameroon tanker arrived from Germany on August 13, 1936, there was only one day’s worth of fuel left for the Junkers.

On August 5, the rebel air force raided Republican ships to divert their attention and lead a sea convoy with troops to Spain. But at first the fog got in the way. The convoy was able to put to sea again only in the evening.

At the same time, Franco tried to put pressure on the Republican fleet through diplomatic methods. After his protests, the authorities of the international zone of Tangier (the British played the first fiddle in the administration there) sent the Republican destroyer Lepanto out of this port. The authorities of the English colony of Gibraltar refused to refuel Republican ships. On August 2, a German squadron appeared in the Strait of Gibraltar, led by the most powerful ship of the Nazi Navy, the “pocket” battleship Deutschland (it is noteworthy that Franco initially set the date for the first sea convoy from Morocco to Spain on August 2). The formal reason for the appearance of the German squadron off the Spanish coast was the evacuation of citizens of the “Reich” from a country engulfed in civil war. In fact, German ships helped the rebels in every possible way. The Deutschland stood in the Ceuta roadstead and already on August 3 prevented the Republican ships from effectively bombing this coup stronghold.

And so, on August 5, Italian bombers attacked the Republican fleet. The inexperienced crews of the ships, not accustomed to operating in an air attack, set up a smoke screen and retreated, which allowed the rebels to transport 2,500 soldiers by sea that same day (Franco would later call this convoy the “victory convoy”). Starting from that day, the rebels freely transported their contingents by sea to Spain, and on August 6, Franco himself finally arrived on the peninsula, choosing Seville as his headquarters.

It should be recognized that Franco showed persistence and ingenuity in achieving his main goal - the transfer of the most combat-ready rebel troops to Spain. For the first time in the history of wars, an air bridge was organized for this purpose. Some historians believe that Franco would have transported troops by sea anyway, since the Republican fleet was of little combat capability. But the passivity of the Republic's Navy was explained not so much by the lack of experienced commanders as by the effective raids of Italian aircraft: many sailors were terrified of the threat from the air. Thus, we can conclude that without the help of Hitler and Mussolini, Franco in any case would not have been able to quickly deploy his troops in Andalusia and launch an attack on Madrid.

And yet the republic’s fleet did not lay down its arms. On August 5, a large naval force consisting of a battleship, two cruisers and several destroyers heavily shelled the southern Spanish port of Algeciras, sinking the gunboat Dato (it was she who transported the first soldiers from Africa) and damaging several transports. In addition, Republican ships periodically bombarded Ceuta, Tarifa and Cadiz. But under the cover of aviation, the rebels transported 7 thousand people by sea through the strait in August, and 10 thousand in September, not counting a significant amount of military cargo.

At the end of July, the Republic's navy planned to seize the port of Algeciras by amphibious assault, but the entire plan was abandoned when information arrived about strengthening the port with new artillery batteries.

On September 29, a battle between the Republican destroyers Gravina and Fernandez and the rebel cruisers Admiral Cervera and Canarias took place in the Strait of Gibraltar, during which one of the destroyers was sunk and the other was forced to take refuge in Casablanca (French Morocco). After this, control of the Strait of Gibraltar finally passed into the hands of the rebels.

Having transferred troops across the strait, Franco began to implement the main task of the war - the capture of Madrid. The shortest route to the capital lay through Cordoba, which misled the Republican command, which concentrated the most combat-ready forces near the city and tried to counterattack. Franco, with his usual caution, decided to first unite with Mola’s troops and only after that jointly capture Madrid.

Therefore, the African army launched an offensive from Seville through Extremadura - a poor, sparsely populated, rural province without large cities north of Andalusia, bordering Portugal. In this country, since 1926, there was a military dictatorial regime of Salazar, who from the very beginning of the rebellion did not hide his sympathy for the putschists. For example, Mola and Franco maintained telephone communications in the early weeks of the war using the Portuguese telephone network. When Mola's troops in the Guadarrama region found themselves in dire straits, the African army sent them desperately needed ammunition via Portugal. German and Italian planes accompanying the rush to the north of the Moroccans and legionnaires were often based at Portuguese airfields. Portuguese banks provided the rebels with preferential loans, and the putschists conducted their propaganda through the country's radio stations. The neighboring country's military factories were used to produce weapons and ammunition, and Portugal later sent 20,000 "volunteers" to Franco. In August 1936, German ships unloaded machine guns and ammunition in Portuguese ports, which were extremely necessary for the African army, which, by the shortest route, railways Portugal were brought to the front.

So, the left (Portuguese) flank of the advancing southern rebel army could be considered quite secure. On August 1, Franco ordered a column under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Asensio to march north, link up with Mola and hand over seven million rounds of ammunition to him. Queipo de Llano requisitioned vehicles, threatening to shoot the arrested leaders of the taxi drivers' union if the latter did not drive their cars to the general's residence. On August 3, the column of Major Castejon moved behind Asensio, and on August 7, the column of Lieutenant Colonel de Tella. Each column consisted of one “bandera” of the Foreign Legion, a “camp” (battalion) of Moroccans, engineering and sanitary services, as well as 1-2 batteries of artillery. From the air, the columns were covered by German and Italian aircraft, although Republican aviation did not provide serious opposition. In total, there were about 8,000 people in the three columns under the overall command of Yagüe.

The tactics of the African army were as follows. Two columns were in the vanguard, and the third formed a reserve, and the columns periodically changed places. Legionnaires were moving along the highway in cars, and the Moroccans were walking on both sides of the road, covering their flanks. The terrain in steppe Extremadura, with low vegetation and no natural obstacles, was very reminiscent of the war zone in Morocco.

Initially, the advancing columns encountered virtually no organized resistance. Approaching any populated area, the rebels through loudspeakers invited residents to hang white flags and open windows and doors wide. If the ultimatum was not accepted, the village was subjected to artillery fire and, if necessary, air strikes, after which the assault began. The Republicans, barricaded in houses (all Spanish villages consist of stone buildings with thick walls and narrow windows), shot back to the last bullet (and there were few of them), after which the rebels shot them themselves. Each Moroccan had in his backpack, in addition to 200 rounds of ammunition, a long curved knife, with which they cut the throats of the prisoners. After this, looting began, encouraged by the officers.

The tactics of the Republican police were very monotonous. The militiamen did not know how and were afraid to fight in open areas, so the unprotected flanks of Yagüe's three columns were safe. As a rule, resistance was offered only in populated areas, but as soon as the rebels began to surround them (or spread rumors about their outflanking maneuvers), the police began to gradually retreat and this retreat often turned into a disorderly flight. The rebels mowed down the retreating ranks with machine guns mounted on cars.

The morale of the battle-hardened African army was very high, which was facilitated by the close and democratic relations between officers and soldiers, which were completely atypical for the Spanish armed forces. Officers wrote letters to illiterate soldiers and, when going on leave, took them to their relatives (in addition to letters, gold teeth knocked out from captured policemen and civilians, rings and watches taken from victims were handed over). In the barracks of the Foreign Legion hung portraits of comrades who died in Madrid in the La Montagna barracks. They swore to take revenge for them and took revenge cruelly, killing all the wounded and captured policemen. To justify such an inhumane way of waging war, the following “legal” explanation was invented: the police did not wear military uniforms, therefore they were, they say, not soldiers, but “rebels” and “partisans” who were not subject to the laws of war.

The first serious resistance of Yagüe's column was met in the town of Almendralejo, where about 100 militiamen established themselves in a local church. Despite the lack of water and shelling, they held out for a week. On the eighth day, 41 survivors left the church. They were lined up and immediately shot. But Yagüe did not delay combat troops for such operations. As a rule, a platoon remained in populated areas, carrying out “cleansing” operations and ensuring extended communications. Extremadura and Andalusia were hostile lands for the rebels, whose people were treated much worse than the native inhabitants of Morocco.

In 7 days, having traveled 200 kilometers, Yagüe's troops captured the city of Merida and came into contact with Mola's army, transferring ammunition to it. This was the first modern blitzkrieg in European history. It was this tactic that the Nazis would later adopt, having learned from their Spanish charges. After all, blitzkrieg is nothing more than quick raids of motorized infantry columns with the support of tanks (the rebels still had few of them), aviation and artillery.

Yagüe wanted to immediately continue his advance towards Madrid, but the cautious Franco ordered him to turn southwest and take the city of Badajoz that remained in the rear (which had 41 thousand inhabitants and was located 10 kilometers from the Portuguese border).

Yagüe considered this order meaningless, since the 3,000 poorly armed militiamen and 800 army and security forces gathered in Badajoz did not think about attacking and did not pose any threat to the rear of the African army. In addition, the Republican command had previously transferred the most combat-ready units from Badajoz to Madrid.

The inhabitants of Badajoz and its environs were devoted to the republic, since it was here, in the area of ​​​​large latifundias, that agrarian reform and irrigation of farmland were most actively carried out.

On August 13, the rebels cut the Badajoz-Madrid road and surrounded the city, making it impossible to transfer reinforcements to help the defenders of the capital of Extremadura. The police column sent to Badajoz on August 12 was almost completely destroyed on the march by German aircraft and Moroccans.

The defenders of Badajoz took refuge behind the city's fairly strong medieval walls, blocking the gates with sandbags. They had only 2 old howitzers at their disposal, and most of the 3,000 policemen did not have any weapons. Throughout the first half of the day on August 13, the rebels subjected the city to massive shelling, and in the evening of the same day they launched an assault. At the same time, the civil guard rebelled in the city. It was only possible to suppress it at the cost of heavy losses. And yet all the attacks of the African army that day were repulsed. The next day, rebel sappers blew up the Trinidad gate (“Trinity” in Spanish) and, with the support of five light tanks, launched an assault in thick chains. Machine-gun fire from the defenders killed 127 attackers in the first 20 seconds. Only at 4 o'clock in the afternoon did the rebels break into the city, where fierce street fighting broke out. The last center of resistance was the cathedral, where fifty Republicans held out for another whole day. Some of them were later shot right in front of the altar.

After the capture of Badajoz, a wild massacre began, unseen in Europe since the Middle Ages. It became known only thanks to the presence of French, American and Portuguese correspondents in the city. For two days the pavement of the square in front of the commandant's office was covered with the blood of the executed. Massacres also took place in the bullring. American journalist Joe Allen wrote that after the night executions from a machine gun, the arena looked like a deep bloody puddle. The genitals of the dead were cut off and crosses were carved into their chests. Killing a peasant in rebel jargon meant “giving agrarian reform.” In total, according to various sources, the massacre in Badajoz claimed the lives of 2,000–4,000 people. And this despite the fact that the rebels released 380 arrested enemies of the republic unharmed from the city’s prisons.

The coup propaganda initially generally denied any “excesses” in Badajoz. But the presence of foreign correspondents made denial impossible. Then Yagüe publicly stated that he did not want to take thousands of “reds” with him to Madrid, who still needed to be fed, and could not simply leave them in Badajoz, since they would make the city “red” again. In Badajoz, the putschists cut down an entire hospital for the first time. Later, all this would be repeated more than once, but “Badajoz” became a household name, denoting brutal reprisals against innocent civilians.

The Badajoz massacre was not an accident at all. From the very beginning of the rebellion, Franco set himself the goal of not only taking power in Spain, but also exterminating as many political opponents as possible in order to more easily retain power. When one of the correspondents told the general on July 25, 1936 that to pacify Spain he would have to shoot half of its population, Franco replied that he would achieve his goal by any means.

In addition, massacres and violence against women had a strong demoralizing effect on the defenders of the republic. Queipo de Llano, in his radio appearances, took sadistic delight in describing the (partly fictitious) sexual adventures of Moroccans with the wives and sisters of killed or arrested supporters of the republic.

In general, it should be noted that the system of terror of the rebels (and this was precisely an invented and proven system) had its own characteristics in different regions of Spain. The putschists were especially atrocious in “red” Andalusia, which was considered as enemy territory captured during military operations.

Queipo de Llano introduced on July 23, 1936 death penalty for participation in strikes, and from July 24 the same punishment was applied to all “Marxists”. On July 28, they announced the introduction of capital punishment for anyone who hid weapons. On August 19, the “social general” Queipo de Llano extended the death penalty to those who exported capital from Spain. Meanwhile, the owner of Andalusia himself discovered remarkable commercial talent, establishing the export of olives, citrus fruits and wine. Part of the currency received in this way went to the rebel treasury, and the general kept part for himself.

For a long time, members of workers' organizations were practically game in Seville. At any moment they could be arrested and shot without trial or investigation. Queipo de Llano advised workers to join the phalanx, mockingly calling the Phalangists' blue uniform shirts "life jackets." Seville's prisons were overcrowded and many of those arrested were kept under guard in schools or simply in the courtyards of houses. Interestingly, membership in the Masonic lodge was considered almost the biggest crime. It’s strange, considering that many of the putsch officers were themselves Freemasons.

The head of the repressive apparatus at Queipo de Llano was the sadistic and alcoholic Colonel Diaz Criado. He sometimes gave life to prisoners if their wives, sisters or fiancees satisfied his violent sexual fantasies.

In some villages neighboring Seville, immediately after the coup, priests were taken hostage by supporters of the republic, some of them were shot. After capturing such villages, Queipo de Llano typically executed all members of the municipality, even if the freed priests asked him not to do so, citing good treatment by the Republicans.

In Castile, with its conservative population, the terror was more “targeted”. Typically, a committee consisting of the local priest, the landowner and the commander of the civil guard met in each locality. If all three believed someone was guilty, it meant the death penalty. In case of disagreement, the punishment was imposed in the form of imprisonment. These committees could even “forgive”, but at the same time the “forgiven” had to demonstrate his loyalty new government, volunteering to join the rebel forces or giving his son there. But along with this “orderly terror” there was also a “wild” one. Detachments of Falangists and Carlists killed their political opponents at night, leaving the corpses on the roadsides for public viewing. The “signature mark” of the phalanx was a shot between the eyes. General Mola (more “soft” than Franco) was even forced to issue an order to the authorities of Valladolid to carry out executions in places hidden from prying eyes and quickly bury the corpses.

The atrocities of the rebels gave pause to even those conservative politicians and thinkers who disliked either the left or the Popular Front. One of these was Miguel de Unamuno, a representative of the “generation of 1898”, who was disillusioned with the republic. The putsch found him in the post of rector of the university in Salamanca, captured by the rebels. On October 12, the university solemnly celebrated the so-called Race Day (the date of Columbus’s discovery of America, which marked the beginning of the spread Spanish and culture in the New World). Franco's wife Dona Carmen was also present. One of the speakers was the founder of the Foreign Legion, General Miljan Astray, whose supporters constantly interrupted the speech of their idol, shouting the legion's motto “Long live death!” Unamuno could not restrain himself and said that the military must not only win, but also convince. In response, Astray attacked the rector with his fists, shouting: “Death to the intelligentsia!” Only the intervention of Franco's wife prevented lynching. But the very next day Unamuno was not allowed into his favorite cafe, and then removed from his post as rector. In December 1936, he passed away, abandoned by all his friends and acquaintances.

In principle, it should be emphasized that all world-famous cultural figures in Spain were on the side of the republic.

Galicia turned out to be practically the only territory with a republican-minded population captured in the very first days of the rebellion (in Andalusia the struggle lasted for about a month). Resistance still continued there, taking the form of local strikes. A peculiarity of Galicia was cruelty towards teachers and doctors, who were universally considered leftists, while lawyers and humanities professors were considered as persons of conservative beliefs. In some localities, as in Andalusia, everyone who was suspected of sympathizing with the Popular Front was massacred. Mothers, wives and sisters of those executed were forbidden to mourn.

In Navarre, the Carlists, who played the main role there at the first stage of the rebellion, dealt with the Basque nationalists with particular hatred, although the latter were as zealous Catholics as the Carlists themselves. On August 15, 1936, a solemn religious procession in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary took place in the capital of Navarre, Pamplona. The Falangists and Carlists decided to mark the day in their own way, organizing the execution of 50–60 political prisoners, many of whom were baptized before execution. After killing defenseless people, among whom were several priests, the Carlists calmly joined the solemn procession, which had just reached the main cathedral of the city.

In general, during the massive and well-organized terror in the part of Spain captured by the rebels, according to various estimates, from 180 to 250 thousand people were killed (including the executions of Republicans immediately after the end of the civil war).

What was the situation in the republican zone? The main and fundamental difference was that physical reprisals against the “enemies of the republic” were carried out, as a rule, contrary to the laws and decrees of the central government, by various “uncontrolled” elements (primarily anarchists) in the first months after the rebellion. After the government managed to more or less bring numerous military formations, columns and committees under control at the beginning of 1937, revolutionary terror practically disappeared. However, it never acquired such a massive character as in the rebel zone.

After the failure of the rebellion in Madrid and Barcelona, ​​almost all captured putschist officers, including General Fanjul, were shot without trial. The government, however, later sanctioned capital punishment, since in this case it was fully consistent with the criminal code.

Local Popular Front committees took over the functions of courts, where, naturally, there were no lawyers. The accused, as a rule, himself had to look for witnesses confirming his innocence. And the accusations were very different. Those who listened too loudly to Seville's radio could be accused of undermining the fighting morale of the republic. Anyone who was looking for matches with a flashlight at night could be suspected of giving signals to fascist planes.

The anarchists, socialists and communists who were members of the committees kept their own lists of suspects. They were compared, and if someone had the misfortune of being on three lists at once, then guilt was considered proven. If the suspect was on only one list, they, as a rule, talked to him (and, mostly, quite favorably) and if the person was found innocent, the committee members sometimes drank a glass of wine with him and released him on all four sides (sometimes even under an honorary escort that accompanied the liberated person to the gates of the house). The committees fought against false denunciations: sometimes they were shot for them.

The situation was worse in those regions where power immediately after the rebellion was in the hands of anarchists (Catalonia, Aragon, some settlements in Andalusia and the Levant). There, the CNT-FAI militants settled scores not only with the “reactionaries,” but also with competitors from the CPI and PSOE. Some prominent socialists and communists were killed from behind the corner because they wanted to restore basic order.

Often, captured rebels or their supporters were dealt with after particularly brutal rebel aircraft bombed residential areas of peaceful cities. For example, after the raid on Madrid on August 23, 1936, 50 people were shot. When the rebel navy announced a naval attack on San Sebastian, the city authorities threatened to shoot two prisoners for every victim of this attack. This promise was fulfilled: 8 hostages paid with their lives for the four dead.

On August 23, 1936, after a mysterious fire in the Modelo prison in Madrid (at the direction of the “fifth column,” prisoners began to burn mattresses in an attempt to break free), 14 prominent representatives of right-wing parties were shot, including the brother of the phalanx leader Fernando Primo de Rivera.

After the rebellion, all churches in the republic were closed, since the highest clergy for the most part supported the coup (priests called at masses to “kill the red dogs”). Many temples were burned. Anarchists and other ultra-revolutionary elements killed thousands of clergy in the first months of the war (in total, about 2,000 church representatives died in the republican zone). Communists and most socialists condemned these actions, but often simply did not want to spoil relations with the anarchists, whose influence reached its apogee in the first months of the war. There is, however, a known case when Dolores Ibarruri took a nun into her car and took her to a safe place, where she remained until the very end of the war. In September 1936, the Communists organized a speech on their radio station by the Catholic priest Ossorio y Gallando, which caused a softening of the general policy towards the Church. However, until the beginning of 1938, all public church services on the territory of the republic were prohibited, although services in private homes were not prosecuted.

The situation in the republican zone was further aggravated by the fact that on February 22, 1936, not only political prisoners, but also ordinary criminals left the prison under an amnesty. After the rebellion, many of them joined the anarchists and were engaged in ordinary robbery or settling scores with the judges who put them behind bars. In the Valencia area, there was a whole so-called “iron” column of bandit elements, robbing banks and “requisitioning” the property of citizens. The column was only disarmed with the help of communist troops after real street fighting in Valencia.

The Hiral government tried to put an end to the excesses of criminals masquerading as police. Citizens were advised not to open their doors at night and to immediately call the Republican Guard at the first suspicion. The arrival of the guards (and often only the threat to call them) was usually enough for the self-proclaimed policemen (they were mostly teenagers) to leave.

Prieto and prominent figures of the Communist Party repeatedly spoke on the radio demanding an immediate end to acts of lynching. When, after the rebellion, thousands of supporters of the putschists, members of right-wing parties and simply wealthy people took refuge in foreign embassies (mostly Latin American), the Popular Front government not only did not insist on their extradition, but also allowed the diplomatic missions to rent additional premises, although in the fall of 1936 the staff of all embassies left the capital. In Madrid, more than 20,000 enemies of the republic were quietly holed up in embassies. From there, Republican patrols were periodically fired upon and light signals were given to rebel aircraft. The reactionary doyen of the diplomatic corps, the Chilean ambassador, even tried to involve the Soviet embassy in the “humanitarian action,” but to no avail. The British and Americans also refused to accept “refugees” into the territory of their embassies. They referred to international law, which prohibited the use of the territory of diplomatic missions for such purposes.

On December 4, 1936, the Spanish security service, with the assistance of seconded Soviet advisers from the NKVD, carried out a surprise raid on one of the buildings of the Finnish embassy in Madrid (from there they often fired on patrols) and found 2,000 people there, including 450 women, as well as a lot of weapons and a workshop for the production of hand grenades. Naturally, there was not a single Finn in the building. All diplomats were in Valencia, and each “guest” was charged from 150 to 1500 pesetas per month. By order of then Prime Minister Largo Caballero, all “refugees” from the Finnish embassy were deported to France, from where most returned to the rebel-controlled zone.

In one of the buildings under the care of the Turkish embassy, ​​100 boxes of rifles were discovered, and from the Peruvian embassy the Falangists generally broadcast radio broadcasts, informing the rebels about the situation of the Republican units near Madrid.

Despite these irrefutable facts, the government of the republic did not dare to stop the embassy “lawlessness”, fearing to spoil relations with Western countries.

Many Phalangists were able to escape from the embassies to the rebel zone, others quietly sat in diplomatic missions until the very end of the war. It should be noted that already in the first months of the war, the Republicans proposed to establish an exchange of prisoners through the Red Cross, as well as to allow free passage of women and children through the front line. The rebels refused this. They considered the Red Cross a Masonic (and therefore subversive) organization. Only captured Soviet, German and Italian pilots, as well as high-ranking officers and politicians of both sides, were exchanged on the French border.

Finishing comparative analysis political repression in the “two Spains” after July 18, 1936, one can only state that they cannot be compared. And the point is not even that in the republican zone, 10 times fewer people became victims of purges (about 20 thousand people). Every innocent life lost deserves compassion. But the rebels deliberately used mass terror as a weapon of war, anticipating the behavior of the Nazis in Eastern Europe and the USSR, while the Republic tried as much as possible to restrain the righteous anger that filled the masses, faced with treason and betrayal of their own army.

But let’s return to the situation at the fronts in this dark August for the republic, 1936. Despite the rapid pace of advance of the African army, the capture of Badajoz and the joining of two parts of the rebellious territory into a single whole, the republic did not yet feel the mortal danger looming over it and madly scattered its already not very powerful forces.

Operations on the Aragonese front began promisingly for the Republicans, where the rebels had neither aviation, nor artillery, nor a sufficient number of troops. In the first days of the war, a column of anarchists led by Durruti left Barcelona, ​​inspired by the victory over the putschists in the city. Instead of the 20 thousand fighters announced to the seeing-off population, the column barely had 3,000, but on the way it was overtaken by the columns of the PSUC (United Socialist Party of Catalonia) and the Trotskyist POUM party. In early August, the Republicans surrounded the Aragonese city of Huesca on three sides, where the front was already held by the regular army soldiers from the garrison of the town of Barbastro who remained loyal to the Republic. Despite the advantageous positions and overwhelming superiority in forces, a real assault on Huesca never happened. In the area of ​​the city cemetery, the positions of the parties were so close that the anarchists and rebels exchanged mostly curses rather than shots. Huesca, which the rebels called their Madrid, remained in their hands, although the only road connecting the city with the rear was under fire from the Republicans.

The anarchists justified their inaction at Huesca by the fact that their main forces were dedicated to the liberation of Zaragoza. After the capture of the capital of Aragon, the CNT-FAI planned to launch a revolution in its understanding throughout Spain. What such a revolution looked like was demonstrated by the Durruti column itself, proclaiming “libertarian communism” without money and private property in the liberated Aragonese villages. Resisting “reactionary” peasants were sometimes shot, although Durruti himself often stood up for them.

Finally 6,000 Durruti fighters approached Zaragoza. And here, on the advice of the commander of the military garrison of Barbastro, Colonel Villalba, the column suddenly retreated back, as the colonel feared encirclement. And this, despite the fact that the rebels in Zaragoza had twice fewer soldiers and they were much weaker in artillery. The fact that the anarchists did not have a clear command system also played a role. Colonel Villalba formally had no authority, and Durruti either listened to his advice or ignored it. Durruti himself, despite his seemingly unquestionable authority, had to speak to his soldiers twenty times a day, convincing them to go on the offensive. The column of anarchists quickly melted and soon there were 1,500 people left in it.

There was no communication or coordination of actions with the government in Madrid or even with the neighboring sectors of the front occupied by the “Marxist columns”. Thus, the real opportunity to take Zaragoza and connect with the north of the country, cut off from the main part of the republic, was missed. Until mid-1937, the Aragonese Front was a front only in name: the rebels kept a minimal number of troops here (30 thousand on the side of the putschists in the spring of 1937 were opposed by 86 thousand Republicans), and the anarchists who set the tone on the Republican side did not really bother them with combat activities.

In the last days of July, in Catalonia and Valencia, the idea arose to recapture the main island of the Balearic archipelago, Mallorca, from the rebels. The autonomous government of Catalonia did not consult with Madrid, but decided to carry out the operation at its own peril and risk. The landing plan was developed by two captains - Alberto Bayo (Air Force) and Manuel Uribarri (Valencia Civil Guard). The expeditionary force, totaling 8,000 men, included detachments from all major parties. The landing was carried out with the support of two destroyers, a gunboat, a torpedo boat and three submarines. There was even a floating hospital. The landing itself was placed on the same longboats that the army used in 1926 during the famous landing in Alusemas Bay, which decided the outcome of the Moroccan war.

On August 5 and 6, almost without a fight, the Republican landing occupied two small islands of Ibiza and Formentera. On August 16, the paratroopers landed on the eastern coast of Mallorca and, using the element of surprise, occupied the city of Porto Cristo. A bridgehead was formed in the shape of an arc 14 kilometers long and 7 kilometers deep. But instead of building on their success, the Republicans remained inactive all day and thereby gave the enemy the opportunity to come to their senses. Mussolini was especially afraid of losing the Balearic Islands. He had already agreed with the rebels that for the duration of the war (and perhaps for a longer period) the islands would become an Italian naval and air base. Therefore, already 10 days after the successful landing of the Republicans, Italian planes began to iron their positions. The Fiat fighters gave the Republican bombers no opportunity to do the same. Franco sent units of the Foreign Legion to help Mallorca.

The general leadership of the rebels was carried out by the Italian Arconvaldo Bonaccorsi, known as Count Rossi. The "Count" appeared in Mallorca immediately after the mutiny and removed the Spanish military governor appointed by General Goded. The Italian drove around in his own car in a black shirt with a white cross and proudly told society ladies that he needed a new woman every day. The “Count” and his henchmen killed more than 2,000 people in just a few weeks of ruling the island. Rossi organized the defense of the island, relying on aviation sent by Mussolini.

But in the meantime, Madrid realized that the main danger to the republic was threatening from the south, and demanded that the landing force be recalled from Mallorca and sent to the capital’s front. On September 3, 1936, the battleship Jaime I and the cruiser Libertad of the Republic Navy approached the island. The landing commander, Captain Bayo, was ordered to evacuate the troops within 12 hours. Otherwise, the fleet threatened to abandon the landing force to the mercy of fate. On September 4, the expeditionary force, having suffered virtually no losses, returned to Barcelona and Valencia. The hospital with the wounded left in Mallorca was cut down by Count Rossi. It is noteworthy that the Republicans located the hospital in a nunnery and did not harm a single nun during their stay on the island.

Thus, the Republican landing operation, which was very spectacular from a military point of view, did not lead to tangible results and did not ease the situation on other fronts.

By early August, Mola realized the futility of his attempts to break through to Madrid through the Sierra Guadarrama. Then he decided to strike the Basque Country in order to cut it off from the French border, the approaches to which were covered by the city of Irun. The Republicans still did not have a unified command. True, on paper there was a Junta of Defense of Gipuzkoa (that was the name of the province of the Basque Country adjacent to France), but in reality every city and every village defended itself at its own peril and risk.

On August 5, about 2,000 rebels, led by one of the Carlist leaders, Colonel Beorleghi, launched an attack on Irun. Mola transferred all his artillery to this group, and Franco sent 700 legionnaires. However, the Basques bravely resisted and Beorleghi’s soldiers could not take the San Marcial fortress dominating the city until August 25. Franco had to use Junkers to transport additional reinforcements to the colonel. A repeated offensive on August 25 was again repulsed by competent machine-gun fire, and the rebels suffered serious losses.

The defenders of Irun received reinforcements in the form of several hundred militiamen from Catalonia, who reached the Basque Country through the south of France. But on August 8, the French government closed the border with Spain (the first step of the notorious “policy of non-intervention”, which will be discussed below) and several trucks with ammunition sent from Catalonia were no longer able to reach Irún. Although the population of southern France still did not hide their sympathies. French peasants from the border hills used light signals to inform the Republicans about the positions of the rebels and the movements of troops in their camp. Militiamen from Irun often crossed into France to eat and rest, returning loaded with rifles, machine guns and ammunition. The French border guards turned a blind eye to this.

And yet, thanks to a more organized use of troops, the rebels captured the fortress of San Marcial on September 2, which sealed the fate of Irun. On September 4, with the support of Italian aviation, the mortally wounded Beorleghi nevertheless entered the city, which was set on fire by the retreating anarchists. By the way, the colonel himself was shot at by French communists from the other side of the border.

On September 13, after being bombed by a rebel fleet, the Basques abandoned the resort capital of what was then Spain, the city of San Sebastian. As a result of the northern campaign, Mola captured an area of ​​1,600 square kilometers with solid industrial potential, but unlike the “lucky” Franco, this victory came at a high price. Of the 45 companies brought into battle by the rebels (mostly Carlists), the Basques, who numbered only about 1,000 people with one artillery battery (75 mm guns), disabled one third.

What was happening at that time on the southern, main front of the civil war? After the capture of Badajoz, Yagüe's columns turned to the northeast and began to quickly advance along the Tagus River valley towards Madrid. In the week leading up to August 23, the rebels covered half the distance from Badajoz to the capital. In the Tagus Valley, as in Extremadura, there were practically no natural obstacles. Only in one place in the hills of Montes de Guadalupe did the people's militia resist, but after threatening to be encircled they were forced to withdraw.

On August 27, three columns of rebels united and launched an offensive towards the important transport hub of the city of Talavera de la Reina, from which Madrid was 114 kilometers away. In the Talavera region, mountain ranges narrowed the Tagus valley and the city was a convenient line of defense. In two weeks after Badajoz, 6,000 legionnaires and Moroccans from Yagüe marched 300 kilometers.

Republican troops in the Talavera area were commanded by a career officer, General Riquelme. The most combat-ready units of the republic, which had driven Mola back from Madrid a month ago, urgently approached the city: companies of the Fifth Communist Regiment and OSM youth battalions under the command of Modesto and Lister. But, having arrived at the front, they learned that Riquelme had surrendered Talavera without a fight, and the policemen fled in panic from the city on buses, like football fans from a stadium.

German-Italian aviation played a key role in the rebel victory at Talavera. The low-level flights of Junkers, Fiats and Heinkels were enough - and most of the policemen rushed to their heels.

The surrender of Talavera on September 4, 1936, struck the Republic like a bolt from the blue. The Hiral government was forced to resign. It became obvious that the new cabinet must include all the main forces of the Popular Front.

At first, President Azaña simply wanted to supplement the government with several prominent socialists and, above all, Largo Caballero, who often made militant speeches, including to the militia in Talavera. He said that the government was helpless and did not know how to properly conduct a war. Relying on his popularity, Largo Caballero refused to join the government as an ordinary minister, and demanded for himself the post of prime minister, which he eventually received, also becoming minister of war. To bolster Caballero's claims to power, 2,000–3,000 UGT militia fighters were concentrated in Madrid. Prieto headed the ministries of the Air Force and Navy. In general, PSOE members took the majority of portfolios, but Largo Caballero insisted that communists must be included in the government. The leaders of the CPI refused, citing international considerations. They say that the rebels already call Spain a “red” communist country, and in order not to give additional ground for these statements in the world, the Communist Party should not yet participate in the government. However, Largo Caballero did not lag behind, reproaching the communists for their reluctance in difficult times to share responsibility for the fate of the country. After consulting with the leadership of the Comintern, José Diaz eventually gave the go-ahead and the two communists became ministers of agriculture (Vicente Uribe, a former bricklayer) and public education (Jesus Fernandez). Thus, for the first time in history Western Europe Communists entered the government of a capitalist country. The anarchists still flatly refused to cooperate with the state power that they wanted to abolish.

The appointment of Largo Caballero as prime minister was not easy for Azaña. This step was suggested to him by Prieto, who always believed that his main rival in the PSOE was not capable of any serious administrative work (as we will see, Prieto was right). The communists were unpleasantly struck by the peremptory nature with which Caballero demanded for himself the post of prime minister and minister of war at the same time. And yet, at the moment of crisis, the head executive branch had to become a person who was trusted by the masses, and such a person at the beginning of September 1936 was only the “Spanish Lenin” - Largo Caballero. Prieto thought that Caballero would become the banner under which other people and, above all, himself, would begin the painstaking and grunt work of creating a regular army

But these hopes were not realized. True, Largo Caballero loudly declared that his cabinet was a “government of victory.” Dressed in a blue “mono” jumpsuit of the people’s militia with a rifle at the ready, Caballero met with the fighters and convinced them that a turning point would soon come. At first, the new prime minister streamlined the work of the War Ministry and the General Staff. There used to be a lot of crowding there different people, waving mandates of all kinds of committees and demanding weapons and food. Caballero established security and a clear daily routine. His direct telephone number was known to few, and he was very scrupulous about every visitor, so it became difficult to get an appointment with the Minister of War. 65-year-old Caballero appeared at his workplace exactly at 8 am, and at 8 pm he went to rest. He strictly forbade waking himself up at night, even for important matters. Soon, the ministry employees felt that the restoration of order (undoubtedly long overdue) began to result in some kind of too clumsy bureaucratic mechanism, making it difficult to make operational decisions precisely at a time when the fate of the war was decided by days and hours. Largo Caballero began to strive to resolve many minor issues single-handedly. For example, on his orders, unaccounted for pistols, of which there were 25 thousand, were confiscated from the population. Largo Caballero stated that he would distribute these pistols himself and only on the basis of an order written by him personally.

The new prime minister had another bad trait. Having headed the government of the Popular Front, he remained essentially a trade union leader, trying to strengthen the positions of “his” trade union center UGT at the expense of other parties and trade unions. Caballero was especially jealous of the communists, whose ranks, despite heavy losses during the days of the rebellion and in the first battles of the war, grew by leaps and bounds.

From a purely military point of view, Caballero had one “point” that almost led to the surrender of Madrid. For some reason, the prime minister resisted with all his might the construction of fortified defense lines around the capital. He believed that trenches and pillboxes dampened the morale of the police. For this man, it was as if the bitter lessons of the “black” August in the south of Spain, when legionnaires and Moroccans staged real massacres in an open field for the people’s militia, did not exist. In addition, Caballero opposed sending members of the construction trade union to build fortifications, since they were from “their”, “native” UGT!

We remember that Caballero and his supporters were at first generally against the regular army, considering the Spaniard to be the real force guerrilla warfare. But when the communists and Soviet military advisers proposed creating partisan detachments to operate behind rebel lines (given the sympathy of the population of almost all of Spain for the republic, this suggested itself), Caballero resisted this for a long time. He believed that partisans should fight at the front.

And yet, the “blitzkrieg” of the African army and the successes of the communist Fifth Regiment forced Largo Caballero to agree to the creation of six mixed regular brigades on the basis of the people’s militia People's Army, which was called for by the Soviet military attaché, brigade commander V.E., who appeared in Madrid in early September. Gorev (previously Vladimir Efimovich Gorev was a military adviser in China, and arrived in Spain from the post of commander of a tank brigade). Each brigade was to have four infantry battalions with machine guns, a mortar platoon, twelve guns, a cavalry squadron, a communications platoon, an engineer company, a motor transport company, a medical unit and a supply platoon. Such a brigade, which had a staff of 4,000 soldiers, was an autonomous unit capable of independently carrying out any combat missions. It was precisely these brigades (although they were called columns) that the legionnaires and Moroccans rushed to Madrid. But, having agreed with the creation of mixed brigades in principle, Caballero delayed their formation in practice. Each commander of the future brigade received 30,000 pesetas and the order to form brigades by November 15. If this deadline had been met, Madrid would not have been able to be defended. Brigades had to be thrown into battle “on wheels”, sacrificing time and people. But this led to the fact that during the decisive battle for Madrid the Republicans did not have any more or less trained reserves.

Yet Talavera shook up the Republic. The "romantic war" is over. A life and death struggle began. It took Yagüe's troops two weeks to march from Talavera to the city of Santa Olalla, i.e. 38 kilometers (recall that before that, in less than a month, the African army covered 600 kilometers).

In addition to the communist and youth shock companies mentioned above, other units also approached Talavera. The command of all the forces of the republic near Talavera (about 5 battalions) was entrusted to one of the few “African” career officers in the camp of the republic, Colonel Asencio Torrado (1892–1961), who was favored by Largo Caballero “himself”.

Asencio attacked Talavera the military "right" way, but was unable to reorganize his forces to repel the rebel counter-offensive and withdrew, fearing encirclement. Asensio did not bother to concentrate his forces on a fairly narrow front (4–5 km) on both sides of the Madrid highway and did not throw his battalions into battle immediately, but one after another. They were met by heavy fire from machine guns and artillery, and attacks from the Junkers from the air. The African army then pressed on the flanks of the exhausted Republicans and forced them to withdraw. Of course, the rebels no longer had a rapid pace of advancement, but this gain in time was given to the Republicans at the cost of colossal losses and was used terribly slowly by Madrid to build up trained reserves.

At Santa Olalla, the African army had, perhaps for the first time, to fight a battle-hardened people's militia. The Libertad (Freedom) column, which arrived from Catalonia on September 15, launched a counter-offensive and, skillfully using machine-gun fire, liberated the village of Pelaustan, throwing the rebels back 15 kilometers. But here, too, the Republicans were unable to consolidate their success: as a result of a counterattack by Yagüe’s forces, some parts of the Catalan militia were surrounded and were forced to fight their way to their own with losses. On September 20, the African army nevertheless took Santa Olalla, despite the heroic resistance of the Republicans, whose losses reached 80% of the personnel. In the town itself, 600 police officers who were captured were shot in cold blood.

On September 21, Yagüe captured the city of Maqueda, from which two roads led: one to the north - to Madrid, the other to the east - to the city of Toledo, the medieval capital of Spain. There, behind the thick fortress walls of the ancient Alcazar fortress, since the suppression of the rebellion in Madrid, a motley putschist garrison consisting of 150 officers, 160 soldiers, 600 civil guards, 60 Falangists, 18 members of the right-wing Popular Action party, 5 Carlists, 8 Toledo cadets held out infantry school and 15 other supporters of the rebellion. In total, the commander of this detachment, Colonel Miguel Moscardo, had 1024 fighters, but behind the walls of the Alcazar there were also 400 women and children, some of whom were members of the families of the rebels, and some taken hostage by relatives of prominent figures of left-wing organizations. The militia besieging the Alcazar at first had no artillery, and the rebels felt quite confident behind walls several meters thick. They had a sufficient amount of water and a lot of horse meat. There was no shortage of ammunition either. The Alcazar even published a newspaper and hosted football matches.

The police in Toledo were also not particularly active. Its fighters sat in the square in front of the Alcazar, exchanging various barbs with the besieged. Then improvised barricades arose from all sorts of rubbish, but still the rebels wounded and killed in shootouts much more policemen than they themselves lost in killed and wounded.

The siege continued unsteadily for about a month. During this time, rebel propaganda made the “heroes of the Alcazar” a symbol of devotion to the high ideals of the “new Spain.” Mola and Franco began to compete in the liberation of the Alcazar, realizing that the one who would first reach the fortress would become the undisputed leader of the rebel camp. Already on August 23, with the help of a communications plane, Franco promised Moscardo that the African army would come to the rescue in time. On July 30, Mola signaled the same thing, adding that his troops were closer to Toledo.

The rapid advance of the putschists from the south forced the Republican command to become more active in Toledo. At the end of August, a weak, but still artillery shelling of the fortress began: one 155 mm and several 75 mm shells were fired. Sappers dug a tunnel under the walls to plant explosives there. But the Republicans were kept from a decisive assault by the presence of women and children in the fortress, whom the “heroes of the Alcazar” used as human shields.

On September 9, Vicente Rojo, who had already become a lieutenant colonel, had previously served as a teacher at the Toledo Infantry School and personally knew many of the besieged, on the orders of Largo Caballero, he entered the Alcazar under a white flag, trying to achieve the release of women and children and the surrender of the garrison. Rojo was led blindfolded to Moscardo, but attempts to appeal to the colonel's military honor, which prohibited the forcible detention of women and children, led to nothing. On September 11, the Madrid priest Father Vázquez Camaraza arrived at the fortress with the same mission. “Good Christian” Moscardo ordered to bring one of the women, who naturally assured that she was in the Alcazar of her own free will and was ready to share its fate with the garrison. Two days later, the dean of the diplomatic corps, the Chilean ambassador, approached the walls of the fortress and again asked Moscardo to release the hostages. The colonel sent his adjutant to the wall, who told the diplomat through a loudspeaker that all requests should be transmitted through the military junta in Burgos.

On September 18, police detonated three mines near the Alcazar, which did not cause much harm to the besieged.

Another touching episode also appeared in the heroic legend of the Francoists about the Alcazar. All newspapers in the world reported that on July 23, 1936, the commander of the police besieging the fortress brought the son of Colonel Moscardo Luis to the telephone so that he could persuade his father to surrender, threatening otherwise to shoot his son. Moscardo wished his son a courageous death, after which Luis was allegedly immediately shot. In fact, Luis Moscardo was later shot along with others arrested as retaliation for a brutal rebel air raid on Toledo. Of course, Louis was not to blame for anything, but such was the terrible logic of that civil war. In addition, Moscardo’s son has already reached military age.

So, when Yague took Maqueda, Franco faced a painful choice: either go to Toledo, distracted from the main goal - Madrid, or rush to the capital with a forced march.

From a purely military point of view, of course, a rush to Madrid suggested itself, and Franco was well aware of this. The capital was absolutely not fortified, and the police were demoralized by a long retreat, fruitless counterattacks and terrible losses. But the general decides to stop the attack on Madrid and liberate the Alcazar. Naturally, this was publicly explained by Franco’s honest word given to Moscardo that the African army would come to his aid. They also talked about the sentimental feelings of Franco, who studied at the Toledo Infantry School. But this was not the main thing in the general’s motives. He needed the theatrical capture of the Alcazar to consolidate his claims to sole power in the rebel camp.

The Germans helped him take the first and decisive step on this path when, at the insistence of Canaris, they decided that any military assistance to the rebels would be provided only through Franco. On August 11, Mola, who had never achieved recognition abroad, agreed that Franco should be considered the main representative of the rebels. Germany continued to insist on the appointment of a sole leader and commander-in-chief of the “nationalists” (this is how the putschists began to officially call themselves, as opposed to the “Reds” - the Republicans; in turn, the Republicans called themselves “government forces”, and the rebels - fascists). In this case, of course, Franco was implied: Canaris again took on the main role in lobbying him.

Even before the first rebel delegation left Germany in July 1936, Canaris asked Langenheim (already an Abwehr agent by that time) to remain close to Franco and report on all the general’s moves. But Mola Canaris did not lose sight of him either, using his long-standing contacts with the “director’s” chief of staff, Colonel Juan Vigon. Vigon's information was supplemented by information received from Mola's headquarters through Abwehr agent Seidel. The German military attaché in Paris maintained contact with other prominent putschist generals. Sometimes even Franco communicated with Mola through Berlin, until both rebel armies established direct contact with each other. Canaris established agents in the republican zone and shared information with Franco. Soon the Abwehr suffered its first losses: its agent Eberhard Funk was detained while trying to collect information about the ammunition depots of the Republican army, and paid for his excessive curiosity with his life.

Canaris put aside all his affairs for a while and dealt only with Spain. A portrait of Franco, whom Canaris considered one of the most outstanding statesmen of the time, appeared on his desk. At the end of August, Canaris sent his employee and naval officer Messerschmidt (sometimes confused with the famous aircraft designer) to Franco via Portugal to find out the rebels' weapons needs. The condition for providing assistance was its concentration in the hands of Franco. In September, Johannes Bernhardt, already familiar to us, for his part, told Franco that Berlin sees only him as the head of the Spanish state.

On August 24, 1936, on the recommendation of Canaris, Hitler issued a special directive which stated: “Support General Franco as far as possible, materially and militarily. At the same time, active participation [of the Germans] in hostilities is ruled out for now.” It was after this directive that new batches of aircraft (disassembled and packed in boxes labeled “Furniture”), ammunition and volunteers went from Germany to Cadiz.

However, the military intelligence of Canaris made a serious mistake with the first steamship Usaramo. Docker workers in Hamburg, among whom communists were traditionally strong, became interested in the mysterious boxes and they deliberately “dropped” one of them, which contained aerial bombs. Counterintelligence officer of the German Communist Party (Abwehrapparat) in Hamburg, Herbert Werlin, reported this to his superiors in Paris. As a result, the flagship of the Republican fleet, the battleship Jaime I, was already waiting for Usaramo in the Strait of Gibraltar. The German ship did not respond to the order to stop and headed towards Cadiz at full speed. The battleship opened fire, but there were no competent artillery officers on board, and the shells did not cause any harm to the Usaramo. Still, it was a wake-up call for Canaris. If Jaime I had captured a German steamer, there would have been such a scandal in the world that Hitler might have stopped interfering in Spanish affairs.

On August 27, 1936, Canaris was sent to Italy to agree with the head of Italian military intelligence, Roatta, on forms of assistance from both states to the rebels. It was decided that Berlin and Rome would help in the same amount - and only Franco. The participation of Germans and Italians in hostilities was not envisaged unless the top leadership of the two countries decided otherwise. The meeting between Canaris and Roatta was the first step towards the formation of the Berlin-Rome military axis, born on the battlefields of Spain. During negotiations between Canaris and Italian Foreign Minister Ciano, the latter began to insist on the direct participation of German and Italian pilots in hostilities. Canaris did not object and, by telephone from Rome, persuaded the German Minister of War Blomberg to give the appropriate order. A few days later, the German fleet sent to Spanish waters was also given the green light to use weapons to protect German transport ships heading to Spain.

Soon, Lieutenant Colonel of the German General Staff Walter Warlimont (appointed coordinator of military assistance to Spain), together with Roatta, arrived at Franco’s headquarters via Morocco (it had been moved from Seville north to Caceres) and explained to the general the essence of the German-Italian agreements reached.

Having received the blessing of Germany and Italy directly from the lips of high-ranking representatives of the fascist states, Franco felt that the moment had finally come to declare his claims to power. On his initiative, a meeting of the military junta was scheduled for September 21, 1936, with the invitation of other prominent generals. Lobbying work with them was launched by Yagüe, who was specially recalled from the front (he was promoted to general) and longtime friend of Canaris Kindelan.

The meeting of the generals took place in a wooden house at the Salamanca airfield. The nominal head of the junta, Cabanellas, spoke out against the establishment of the post of sole commander-in-chief and refused to take part in the vote. The rest chose Franco as “Generalissimo,” although Queipo de Llano was already dissatisfied with this decision. True, he recognized that no one else (especially Mola) could win the war. It should be emphasized that the title “Generalissimo” in this case did not mean that Franco was given this title. They just decided to call him the chief among generals, that is, the first among equals.

Despite the formal support, Franco understood that his new position was still very fragile. The powers of the “Generalissimo” were not defined, and Queipo de Llano, as soon as he left the meeting, began to intrigue against the new leader. Therefore, on the same day, September 21, 1936, Franco decided to take Toledo and, on the wave of this success, finally consolidate his leadership.

The Republicans were also aware of the important symbolic significance of the Alcazar. In September, they began to bomb the fortress, although at that critical time every plane was worth its weight in gold, and air support was so lacking for the militia soldiers who were bleeding in battles with the African army. Franco used German Junkers to deliver food to the besieged in the Alcazar. On September 25, 1936, French-made Republican Devoitin fighters shot down one Yu-52 over Toledo. Three pilots left the bomber by parachute, but one was killed by machine gun fire from the fighter while still in the air. The second, having landed, managed to shoot three policemen before the same thing happened to him. The third pilot was most unlucky. He was given to women outraged by the barbaric bombing of Toledo, who literally tore the pilot into pieces.

On the same day, September 25, three columns of the African army under the command of the Carlist adherent General Varela moved towards Toledo. The very next day, fighting took place in the outskirts of the city. On September 27, foreign journalists were ordered to leave the rebel lines. It was clear that another terrible massacre was coming. And so it happened. The police did not put up strong resistance in Toledo, only the police held out for several hours at the city cemetery. The anarchists failed again, declaring that if the enemy artillery fire did not stop, they would refuse to fight.

However, the Moroccans and legionnaires took no prisoners. The streets were littered with corpses, and streams of blood flowed along the pavements. As always, the hospital was cut out, and grenades were thrown at the wounded Republicans. On September 28, Moscardo, emaciated and having grown a beard, leaving the gates of the fortress, reported to Varela: “There is no change in the Alcazar, my general.” Two days later, the “capture” of Alcazar was specially repeated for film and photojournalists (during this time, Toledo was somehow cleared of corpses), but this time Moscardo’s report was accepted by Franco himself.

The legend about the “lions of the Alcazar” and their “courageous liberators” was replicated by the world's leading media. This move in the first propaganda war in modern European history was left to the rebels.

Jubilant crowds gathered in front of Franco's palace in Caceres, chanting "Franco, Franco, Franco!" and raising their hands in a fascist salute. On the wave of “popular enthusiasm,” the general took a decisive step in the struggle for primacy in the rebel camp.

On September 28, a new and final meeting of the military junta took place in Salamanca. Franco became not only the commander-in-chief, but also the head of the Spanish government for the duration of the war. The Burgos junta was abolished, and in its place the so-called state administrative junta was created, which was simply an apparatus under the new leader (it consisted of committees that practically repeated the structure of the regular government: committees of justice, finance, labor, industry, trade, etc.)

Franco was made precisely the head of the government, and not the state, since the monarchical majority among the generals considered the king to be the head of Spain. Franco himself has not yet clearly defined his preferences. On August 10, 1936, he declared that Spain remained republican, and after 5 days he approved the red and yellow monarchist flag as the official standard of his troops.

After his election as leader, Franco suddenly began to call himself not the head of government, but the head of state (for this, Queipo de Llano called him a “pig”). It immediately became clear to smart people that Franco did not need any monarch: as long as the general was alive, he would not give up supreme power into anyone’s hands.

Having become the leader, Franco immediately notified Hitler and Mussolini about this. To the first he expressed his admiration for the new Germany. In addition to these feelings, Franco tried to copy the cult of personality that had already developed around the “Führer” by that time. The general introduced the address “caudillo” in relation to himself, i.e. “leader”, and one of the first slogans of the newly-minted dictator was the slogan - “One fatherland, one state, one caudillo” (in Germany it sounded like “One people, one Reich, one Fuhrer"). Franco's authority was strengthened in every possible way by the Catholic Church, whose highest hierarchs were hostile to the republic from the moment of its birth in April 1931. On September 30, 1936, Bishop Pla y Deniel of Salamanca delivered the pastoral message “Two Cities.” “The earthly city (i.e., the republic), where hatred, anarchy and communism reign, was contrasted with the “heavenly city” (i.e., the rebel zone), where love, heroism and martyrdom reign. For the first time in the message, the Spanish Civil War was called a “crusade.” Franco was not a particularly religious person, but after he was elevated to the rank of leader " crusade”, began to emphasize almost the entire ritual side of Catalystism and even got a personal confessor.

At this point, it is perhaps worth taking a closer look at the biography of the man who was destined to rule Spain from 1939 to 1975.

Francisco Franco Bahamonde was born on December 4, 1892 in the Galician city of El Ferrol. In Spain, as in other countries, residents of different historical provinces are endowed with certain special character traits that give them their own unique flavor. If Andalusians are considered straightforward (if not simple-minded), and Catalans are practical, then Galicians are considered cunning and resourceful. They say that when a Galician walks up the stairs, you cannot tell whether he is going up or down. In the case of Franco, popular rumor hit the mark. This man was cunning and cautious, and it was these two qualities that brought him to the pinnacle of power.

Franco's father was a man of very free (or, simply put, dissolute) morals. The mother, on the contrary, was a woman of strict rules, although gentle and kind in character and very pious. When the parents separated, the mother raised the children (there were five of them) alone. At first, Francisco wanted to become a sailor (for the residents of the largest Spanish naval base, El Ferrol, this was natural), but defeat in the war of 1898 led to a reduction in the fleet, and in 1907 he entered the Toledo Infantry School (it was officially called the Academy). There he was taught horse riding, shooting and fencing, just like 100 years ago. Equipment was not held in high esteem in the Spanish army. In 1910, after graduating from college (Franco was in 251st place out of 312 graduates in terms of academic performance), Franco was awarded the rank of lieutenant and sent to serve in his hometown. But a real military career could only be made in Morocco, where, after filing the appropriate petition, Franco arrived in February 1913.

The young officer demonstrated courage (albeit calculating) in battle and a year later received the rank of captain. He was not interested in women and devoted all his time to service. He was nominated for the rank of major, but the command considered the officer's career growth too rapid and canceled the nomination. And here Franco for the first time showed his hypertrophied ambition, filing a complaint in the name of the king (!) Persistence brought him major's shoulder straps in February 1917.

There were not enough major positions in Morocco, and Franco returned to Spain, where he began to command a battalion in the Asturian capital Oviedo. When labor unrest began there, the military governor, General Anido, called for the strikers to be killed as “wild animals.” Battalion commander Franco carried out this order without any remorse. Like most officers, he hated leftists, freemasons and pacifists.

In November 1918, Franco met Major Milian Astray, who was toying with the idea of ​​creating a Foreign Legion in Spain based on the French model. After these plans came to fruition on August 31, 1920, Franco took command of the first battalion ("bandera") of the legion and again arrived in Morocco in the fall. He was lucky: his unit did not take part in the offensive that ended in disaster at Annual in 1921. When the Moroccans began to be pushed back, Franco showed unprecedented cruelty. After one of the battles, he and his soldiers brought twelve severed heads as trophies.

But the officer was again passed over without being awarded the rank of colonel, and Franco left the legion, which had shaped in him such qualities as determination, cruelty and disregard for the rules of war. Thanks to the press, savored heroism young officer, Franco became widely known in Spain. The king awarded him the honorary title of chamberlain. Franco returned to Oviedo, but already in June 1923 he was promoted to colonel and made commander of the legion. Postponing his planned marriage, Franco returned to Morocco. After fighting a little, he finally married in October 1923 to a representative of an old but impoverished family, Maria del Carmen Polo, whom he met 6 years ago. The whole country was already watching the wedding of the hero of Morocco. And even then one of the Madrid magazines called him “caudillo”.

In 1923–1926, Franco again distinguished himself in operations in Morocco and was promoted to brigadier general, becoming the youngest general in Europe. Newspapers were already calling him a “national treasure” of Spain. And again his high rank forced him to leave Morocco. Franco was appointed commander of the army's most elite unit, the 1st Brigade of the 1st Division in Madrid. In September 1926, Franco gave birth to his first and only child, daughter Maria del Carmen. In the capital, the general makes many useful connections, primarily in political circles.

In 1927, King Alfonso XIII and Spanish dictator Primo de Rivera decided that the army needed higher educational institution, which trains officers of all branches of the military (before this, military schools in Spain were sectoral). In 1928 it was established Military Academy in Zaragoza and Franco became its first and last boss. We remember that Asanya during military reform abolished the academy. Franco's further path until July 1936, already described on the pages of this book, was the path of a conspirator against the republic, but a calculating conspirator, ready to act only for sure. Many considered Franco to be mediocre, which was undoubtedly fueled by his unassuming appearance - a puffy face, an early visible belly, short legs (the Republicans teased the general as “Shorty Franco”). But the general was anything but gray. Yes, he was ready to go into the shadows, to temporarily retreat, but only in order from new positions to achieve the goal of his life - supreme power in Spain. Perhaps it was this fantastic determination that made Francisco Franco the leader of Spain on October 1, 1936 (on this day his new titles were officially announced), which, however, had yet to be conquered.

To do this, Francisco Franco had to defeat another Francisco, Largo Caballero, who, having finally realized the mortal danger threatening the republic, began to act feverishly.

On September 28 and 29, decrees were issued on the transfer of soldiers, sergeants and police officers to military service. Confirmed to police officers military ranks(received, as a rule, by decision of the fighters themselves) a special certification commission. Anyone who did not want to become a regular army soldier could leave the ranks of the police. Thus, the army of the republic was created not on the basis of the old professional armed units, but on the basis of motley and poorly trained detachments of civilians. This made it difficult to form a real army, but in those conditions it was at least some step forward. The anarchists, naturally, ignored the government decrees, maintaining the previous “free” order.

Largo Caballero ordered the acceleration of the formation of 6 mixed regular brigades on the Central Front (i.e. around Madrid). At the head of the 1st brigade stood former commander Fifth Regiment Enrique Lister. Many commanders and commissars of this regiment joined the other 5 brigades.

The order to create brigades, already very late, was brought to their commanders only on October 14. As mentioned above, it was prescribed that their formation should be completed by November 15, and even then the War Ministry considered this deadline unrealistic. But the situation at the front was dictated not by the orders of Largo Caballero, but by the slowed, but still steady advance of the rebels towards the capital.

On October 15, 1936, Largo Caballero issued a decree establishing the General Military Commissariat, which in fact only legalized the political commissars operating in the militia, especially those under communist control. Caballero resisted this urgent measure for a long time. But the successes of the cadres of the Fifth Regiment sometimes contrasted very sharply with the combat effectiveness of the socialist militia (besides, the latter was very inferior in number to the communist troops). Caballero was unpleasantly surprised when, back in July, units of the socialist militia that arrived in Sierra Guadarrama could not withstand the first combat contact with the enemy and fled in panic. The commander of the republican forces on this mountain front, Colonel Mangada, angrily said: “I asked you to send me fighters, not hares.” The courage of the communist battalions was largely explained by the serious political work carried out there. One of the career officers even said that all recruits should be made members of the Communist Party for three months, and this would more than replace the course of a young fighter.

And finally, the positions of military delegates were established (as commissars were officially called, although the name “commissar” stuck, which was explained by the popularity of the USSR among the broad masses), whom the War Ministry appointed to all military units and military institutions. It was determined that the commissar should be the assistant and “right hand” of the commander, and his main concern was to explain the need for iron discipline, raise morale and fight the “intrigues of the enemy” in the ranks of the army. Thus, the commissar did not replace the commander, but was, in military language close to the Russian reader, a kind of political officer. The head of the General Military Commissariat (GMC) was the left socialist Alvarez del Vayo (who retained the portfolio of Minister of Foreign Affairs), his deputies were representatives of all parties and trade unions of the Popular Front. Largo Caballero addressed all Popular Front organizations with a proposal to nominate candidates for the positions of military delegates. The Communists submitted the most candidates - 200 by November 3, 1936.

Caballero did his best to prevent the predominance of PCI members among the commissars and even mobilized 600 people from the UGT trade union, which he himself headed, for this work.

Initially, the GVK held daily meetings at which directives for the day were approved. But events developed faster, and often the GVK simply could not keep up with them. Soon the practice of commissars arriving from the front to report was also abolished. In order not to disturb them, representatives of the GVK themselves went to the front line. The adviser to the Main Military Commissariat was Pravda’s special correspondent in Spain, Mikhail Koltsov (“Miguel Martinez”).

After the surrender of Talavera, Largo Caballero no longer opposed the proposals of the communists and General Staff officers to build several fortified defense lines around Madrid. However, the prime minister did not show ebullient energy on this issue. And in general, terrible confusion reigned in the organization of the defense of the capital until the beginning of November. The Communist Party had to, as in the case of the Fifth Regiment, act by example. The Madrid party organization mobilized thousands of its members to build fortifications (“fortifs,” as the Madrid residents called them). Only after this did the government create a special commission of specialists for the systematic construction of fortified areas. But it was too late. Instead of the three planned lines of defense, only one sector was built (and even then not completely), covering the western outskirts of the capital. At that time, the rebels struck the main blow from the south, but it was the western line of fortifications that saved Madrid in November 1936.

It can be concluded that Largo Caballero had learned a lot by October 1936. Now he not only spoke the right words, but also made the right decisions. There was only one thing missing - strict implementation of these decisions.

Before we begin to describe the key battle of the first stage of the Spanish Civil War, we should dwell on the international situation of the republic in August-September 1936.

With Germany and Italy everything was clear. While formally maintaining diplomatic relations with the republic, Berlin and Rome actively, although it seemed to them secretly, supported the rebels. In Madrid they knew this, but at first they could not prove the interference with any facts. Soon they appeared. On August 9, 1936, one of the Junkers flying from Germany to the rebels mistakenly landed in Madrid. The Lufthansa representative managed to warn the pilots, and they took their plane into the air before the airfield officials arrived. However, the crew got lost again and landed near Badajoz, which was still in Republican hands. This time the plane was seized and flown back to Madrid, where the crew and a Lufthansa representative were interned. The German government protested against the “illegal detention of a civilian aircraft” and its crew, which supposedly was only supposed to evacuate citizens of the “Reich” from war-torn Spain.

The Spanish government initially refused to hand over the plane and crew to Berlin, but then Azaña’s adjutant, Colonel Luis Riano, was detained in Germany. After this, the Spaniards agreed to release the pilots if Germany declared neutrality in the Spanish conflict. Hitler never had any problems with assurances and declarations of this kind. “The Fuhrer” considered international treaties to be “scraps of paper.” The Junkers pilots returned home, but the Republicans refused to hand over the plane, sealed it and parked it at one of the Madrid airfields. Subsequently, it was accidentally destroyed when the airfield was bombed by German planes.

On August 30, an Italian plane was shot down near Talavera, and its pilot, Italian Air Force Captain Ermete Monico, was captured.

But if the republic did not have to doubt the position of Germany, Italy and Portugal due to the ideological kinship of the local fascist regimes with the rebels, then it was precisely due to the same ideological kinship that the Spanish Popular Front hoped for help from France.

The fact is that in Paris, since May 1936, the Popular Front was also in power, whose government was headed by the socialist Leon Blum. Spanish socialists and republicans traditionally oriented themselves towards their French comrades, among whom they had many friends. During the dictatorship of Primo de Rivera, the center of Spanish Republican emigration was in Paris. Even the militant anticlericalism of the Spanish Republicans was largely inspired by the example of France.

The ideological kinship of the two governments was also reinforced by the trade agreement of 1935, which, at the insistence of the French, included a secret article obliging Spain to purchase French weapons and, above all, aviation equipment.

On July 20, the Spanish ambassador in Paris Cardenas, on behalf of his government, met with Blum and the Minister of Aviation Pierre Cote and asked for an urgent supply of weapons, mainly aircraft. To the ambassador’s surprise... the interlocutors agreed. Then the ambassador and military attache, who sympathized with the rebels, resigned and made public the essence of the negotiations, which only spurred Hitler and Mussolini.

Right-wing French newspapers created an incredible fuss. The British government (where the Conservatives were in power) at the Franco-English-Belgian summit in London on July 22–23 put pressure on the French, demanding that they refuse to supply weapons to the republic. British Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin threatened Bloom that if France came into conflict with Germany over Spain, it would have to fight alone. This position of the English conservatives was explained simply: they hated the “red” Spanish Republic much more than the Nazis or Italian fascists.

Yielding to pressure, Blum backed down. After all, quite recently - in February 1936 - a matured Germany occupied the demilitarized Rhineland, which completely tore apart Treaty of Versailles. The war with Hitler was already clearly looming on the horizon, and alone, without England, the French did not hope to win it. And yet, socialist convictions prevented Blum from simply abandoning his Spanish like-minded people in trouble, and in this he was supported by the majority of the government. On July 26, 1936, Blum instructed the Minister of Aviation to supply aircraft to the Spaniards using fictitious contracts with third countries (for example, Mexico, Lithuania and the Arab state of Hejaz). However, first, on July 30, 1936, the French forced the Republicans to send part of Spain's gold reserves to France.

The aircraft were supplied through the private company Office Generale del Er, which had been selling transport and military aircraft to Spain since 1923. An active role in the entire operation was played by the pilot (who flew over the Atlantic) and member of the French parliament from the radical socialist party, Lucien Busutreau.

On August 1, 1936, news was received of the forced landing of Italian planes heading to Franco on the territory of Algeria and French Morocco. Blum convened a new cabinet meeting, at which it was decided to allow the sale of aircraft directly to Spain. On August 5, the first six Devoitin 372 fighters flew from France to Madrid (26 of them were sent in total). To these were added 20 bombers "Potez 54" (more correctly "Pote", but in Russian-language literature the name "Potez" has already been established), three modern fighters "Devoitin 510", four bombers "Bloche 200" and two "Bloche 210". It was these aircraft that formed the backbone of the Republican Air Force until November 1936.

It is generally accepted to consider French aircraft sold to the republic to be obsolete. However, this was not entirely true. In principle, French aircraft were not very inferior to the German Heinkel 51 and Junkers 52. Thus, the Devoitin 372 fighter was the newest representative of this class in the French Air Force. It reached speeds of up to 320 km per hour (“Heinkel 51” - 330 km per hour) and could rise to a height of 9000 meters (the same figure for “Heinkel” - 7700 meters).

The French Bloche bomber could carry 1,600 kg of bombs (“Junkers 52” - 1,500 kg) and had automatically retractable landing gear, which was a rarity for that time. The Blosch was let down by its low speed - 240 km per hour, although even here the Junkers did not particularly stand out (260 km per hour). The flight altitude (7000 meters) made the “blosh” within reach of German and Italian fighters, but for the Yu-52 this figure was even lower - 5500 meters.

The Potez 543 bomber was much better than the Blosch, and therefore the Junkers. It reached speeds of up to 300 km per hour, carrying a 1000 kg bomb load. The flight altitude - 10,000 meters - was unsurpassed and the "potez" was equipped with oxygen masks for the pilots. The bomber defended itself with three machine guns, but did not have any armor protection.

But if the French planes were not inferior to their German opponents in class, then the young Republican pilots could not compete on equal terms with the Luftwaffe pilots and Italians (both Berlin and Rome sent the best to Spain). Therefore, the republic was in dire need of foreign aviators. In France he got down to business famous writer and member of the International Anti-Fascist Committee Andre Malraux. Through a network of recruiting centers, he recruited several dozen former civil airline pilots and participants in various regional conflicts in different countries (France, USA, Great Britain, Italy, Canada, Poland, etc.). There were also 6 Russian White emigrants in the squadron. Most were attracted by the crazy salary paid by the Spanish government by the standards of that time - 50,000 francs per month and 500,000 pesetas of insurance (paid to relatives in the event of the death of the pilot).

Malraux's international squadron was named "España" and was based near Madrid. A lot of time was spent on the redeployment of French aircraft from Catalonia to the capital. The situation with finishing and repairs was poor. Accidents on the ground and in the air often occurred. Therefore, España made full use of the standard Newport 52 fighters of the Republican Air Force of that time and the Breguet 19 light bombers.

The Breguet was developed in France as a light bomber and reconnaissance aircraft back in 1921 and was later produced in Spain under license. By the mid-1930s it was already obsolete. The plane's speed (240 km per hour) was clearly insufficient. Moreover, in reality, in combat the plane barely reached 120 km per hour. The Brega had 8 locks for hanging 10-kilogram bombs, but there weren’t any in the arsenals, and we had to make do with four- and five-kilogram bombs. The bomb-throwing mechanism itself was extremely primitive: in order to drop all eight bombs, the pilot had to simultaneously pull four cables. The aim was also bad. After the mutiny, the Republicans were left with about 60 Breguets, and the rebels - 45-50. Many aircraft on both sides failed due to technical reasons.

The main fighter of the Spanish Air Force in July 1936 was also the French Neuport 52 aircraft, produced under license. Developed in 1927, the wooden triplane theoretically reached speeds of up to 250 km per hour and was armed with one 7.62 mm machine gun. But in practice, the old Newports rarely reached more than 150–160 km per hour and could not catch up with even the slowest of the German aircraft, the Junkers 52. Machine guns often failed in combat and their rate of fire was low. 50 Newports went to the Republicans and 10 to the Rebels. Of course, this fighter could not compete on equal terms with Italian and German aircraft.

The commander-in-chief of the aviation of the Republic, Hidalgo de Cisneros, often complained about the indiscipline of Malraux’s “legionnaires”. The pilots lived in the capital's fashionable Florida Hotel, where they noisily discussed plans for military operations in the presence of women of easy virtue. When the alarm sounded, half-dressed pilots jumped out of their hotel rooms, accompanied by equally lightly dressed companions.

Hidalgo de Cisneros several times proposed disbanding the squadron (especially since the Spanish pilots were confused by the exorbitantly high salaries of the “internationalists”), but the Republican government refrained from this step, fearing the loss of its prestige in the international arena. But in November 1936, when Soviet pilots were already setting the tone in the Spanish skies, Malraux’s squadron was disbanded, and its pilots were offered to transfer to Republican aviation on normal terms. The vast majority refused and left Spain.

In addition to the Malraux squadron, another international unit of the Republican Air Force was formed under the command of the Spaniard Captain Antonio Martin-Luna Lersundi. Soviet pilots appeared there for the first time, flying until the end of October on Potheses, Newports and Breguets.

However, in August-September 1936, Malraux's squadron was the most combat-ready unit of the Republican Air Force. However, the Germans and Italians were superior to the French in their tactics. Republican pilots operated in small groups (two or three bombers accompanied by the same number of fighters), while the Germans and Italians intercepted them in large groups (up to 12 fighters) and quickly achieved success in an unequal duel. In addition, all Italian-German aviation was concentrated near Madrid, and the Republicans scattered their already modest forces on all fronts. Finally, the rebels actively used aviation to support their ground troops, bombing the positions of the defending Republicans, and the Republicans bombed airfields and other objects behind enemy lines in the old fashioned way, which did not affect the speed of the African army’s advance towards Madrid.

On August 13, 1936, the Italian steamship Nereida brought to Melilla the first 12 Fiat CR 32 Chirri (cricket) fighters, which became the most massive fighter of the Spanish Civil War on the side of the rebels (in total in 1936–1939 in the Iberian 348 “crickets” arrived on the peninsula). The Fiat was a very maneuverable and nimble biplane. In 1934, this fighter set the speed record of that time - 370 km per hour. He also had the largest-caliber weapons of the Spanish war - two 12.7 mm "delirium" machine guns (there were practically no aircraft armed with cannons in Spain, except for the 14 newest German Heinkel 112 fighters), so often the first stage of the "cricket" became fatal for the enemy.

Based at the Seville Tablada airfield, the Fiats shot down the first Republican Newport 52 fighter plane on August 20. But on August 31, when three Crickets and three Devoitin 372 met, the outcome of the battle was completely different: two Italian aircraft were shot down and one damaged. The Republicans had no losses. By mid-October 1936, despite the replenishment, one of the two Fiat fighter squadrons had to be disbanded due to losses.

The Germans came to the aid of the Allies, having received the go-ahead from Berlin at the end of August to take part in hostilities (this applied to fighters; bomber pilots had fought before). German pilots were only forbidden to go deeper into the territory occupied by the Republicans. On August 25, Luftwaffe pilots shot down two Republican Breguet 19 bombers (these were the first victories of the young Nazi Air Force), and on August 26–30, four Potez, two Breguet, and one Newport bombers fell victim to the Germans. On August 30, the Republican “Devoitin” shot down the first “Heinkel 51”, the pilot of which managed to jump out with a parachute and make his way to his own.

Republican pilots bravely resisted an enemy outnumbering them. So on September 13, 1936, Lieutenant of the Republic Air Force Felix Urtubi, in his New Port, accompanied three Breguet bombers that flew out to bomb rebel positions in the Talavera area. Nine Fiats rose to intercept, and quickly shot down two slow-moving Breguets. Urtubi knocked out one Fiat, and, bleeding from his wound, rammed the second. This was the first ram of the Spanish Civil War. The brave pilot died in the hands of the Republican soldiers who arrived in time, and the Italian who jumped out with a parachute was captured.

But even such heroism could not reverse the numerical superiority of the Germans and Italians. Retreating to Madrid, Malraux's squadron alone lost 65 of its 72 aircraft. The Junkers became bolder and on August 23 launched their first attack on the Madrid Getafe air base, destroying several aircraft on the ground. And on August 27 and 28, rebel planes bombed peaceful areas of Madrid for the first time.

It is interesting that the first Junkers delivered by Hitler were transport aircraft, absolutely not suitable for bombing. Therefore, first, a gondola was suspended from below, in which a man sat, who received bombs (some of them weighed 50 kg) from other crew members through a hole specially made in the body of the vehicle and dropped them by eye. Moreover, in order to aim, the “bomb thrower” had to hang his legs over the side of the gondola.

However, the Germans quickly got the hang of it and first of all decided to get even with the Republican battleship Jaime 1, which almost sent them to the bottom. On August 13, 1936, the Yu-52 planted two bombs into the battleship and took the flagship of the Republican fleet out of battle for several months.

Thus, the modest French assistance could not be compared with the scale of intervention in Spain by Hitler and Mussolini. But this help soon stopped.

On August 8, 1936, the French government suddenly decided to suspend supplies “in favor of the legitimate government of a friendly nation.” What happened? In the face of increasing British pressure, Blum decided that he would best help the republic if he cut off the channels of aid to the rebels from Germany, Italy and Portugal. On August 4, 1936, in agreement with Great Britain, France sent the governments of Germany, Italy, Portugal and England a draft agreement on non-interference in Spanish affairs. Since then, the term “non-intervention” has been a symbol of betrayal of the Spanish Republic, since the ban on the supply of weapons to both sides of the conflict (which is what the French proposed) equated the legitimate government of Spain with the putschists who rose up against it and are not recognized by the world community.

At a meeting on August 5, 1936, the French cabinet practically split (10 ministers were in favor of continuing arms supplies to Republican Spain, and 8 were against) and Blum wanted to resign. But Spanish Prime Minister Giral, fearing that a more right-wing government might come to power in France instead of Blum, persuaded him to stay, essentially agreeing to a policy of “non-intervention” (although Blum himself considered such a policy “meanness”).

On August 8, 1936, when the African army had already begun its assault on Madrid, France closed its southern border to the supply and transit of all military supplies to Spain.

Now the betrayal had to be formalized. An International Committee on Non-Interference in Spanish Affairs was created in London, which included ambassadors accredited to Great Britain from 27 states that agreed with the French proposal. Among them were Germany and Italy (later Portugal joined), who did not seriously intend to adhere to “non-intervention”.

The Soviet Union also joined the London committee. Moscow did not have any illusions about this body, but at that time the USSR sought to create, together with England and France, a collective security system in Europe aimed against Hitler and therefore did not want to quarrel with the Western powers. In addition, the Soviet Union did not want to hand over the committee to the fascist states, hoping through it to counteract the German-Italian intervention in Spain.

The first meeting of the committee opened in the Locarno State Hall of the British Foreign Office on September 9, 1936. The Spanish Republic was not invited to the committee. In general, this body was conceived by the British largely in order to prevent the question of German and Italian intervention in the Spanish conflict from being raised in the League of Nations. Like the modern UN, the League of Nations could impose sanctions against aggressive states and has just demonstrated this. After Italy's attack on Ethiopia in 1935, sanctions were imposed against Mussolini, which greatly affected Italy, which did not have its own raw materials (especially oil). But England in 1936 did not want this scenario to repeat itself. On the contrary, she courted Mussolini in every possible way, trying to prevent him from getting closer to Hitler. The “Führer” was a “bad” dictator in the eyes of the British, since he questioned the borders in Europe, while Mussolini still supported the status quo. Many English conservatives, including Winston Churchill, admired the Duce, whom the Italians themselves “loved” so much.

The very first meeting of the committee, chaired by the richest landowner and member of the Conservative Party, Lord Plymouth, boiled down to a skirmish over procedural issues. Lord was interested in such problems as whether gas masks could be considered weapons, and whether raising funds for the benefit of the republic could be considered “indirect intervention” in the war. In general, the problem of so-called “indirect intervention” was raised by fascist states who wanted to shift the focus to the USSR, where trade unions were launching a campaign to help Spain with clothing and food. Apart from this, there was nothing to blame the “Bolsheviks” for, but it was necessary to divert the discussion away from their own “help”, which in the form of bombs and shells was already destroying residential areas of Spanish cities. And in this shameful farce, the Germans and Italians could well count on the assistance of the “impartial” British.

In general, the work of the committee was clearly not going well. Then, for more thorough preparation of the meetings, they decided to create a permanent subcommittee consisting of France, Great Britain, the USSR, Germany, Italy, Belgium, Sweden and Czechoslovakia, with the first five states playing the main role in the discussions.

From September to December 1936, the permanent subcommittee met 17 times, and the non-intervention committee itself 14. Volumes of stenographic protocols were produced, filled with diplomatic tricks and successful remarks from masters of sophisticated discussions. But all attempts by the Soviet Union to draw attention to the glaring facts of Italian, German and Portuguese intervention in the Spanish Civil War were torpedoed by the British, who often coordinated their tactics in advance with Berlin and Rome.

The Spanish Republic understood perfectly well that the London committee was just a fig leaf to cover up the German-Italian intervention in favor of Franco. Already on September 25, 1936, Spanish Foreign Minister Alvarez del Vayo demanded at a meeting of the Assembly of the League of Nations to consider violations of the non-intervention regime and recognize the right of the legitimate government of the republic to purchase the weapons it needs. But, despite the support of the People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs of the USSR M. M. Litvinov, the League of Nations recommended that Spain transfer all the facts confirming the participation of foreigners in the civil war... to the London Committee. The diplomatic trap prepared by the British slammed shut.

The United States of America did not subscribe to the policy of non-intervention. True, back in 1935, Congress passed a neutrality law that prohibited American companies from selling weapons to warring countries. But this law did not apply to intrastate conflicts. The government of the Spanish Republic tried to use this to its advantage and purchase aircraft from the United States. But when the aircraft manufacturing company Glenn L. Martin turned to the US government for clarification, it was told on August 10, 1936 that the sale of aircraft to Spain was not in the spirit of US policy.

However, the desire of American entrepreneurs to do profitable business was stronger, and in December 1936, businessman Robert Cuse entered into a contract to sell aircraft engines to the republic. To prevent this, Congress passed an embargo law at record speed on January 8, 1937, which directly prohibited the supply of weapons and other strategic materials to Spain. But by that time the aircraft engines had already been loaded onto the Spanish ship Mar Cantabrica, which was able to leave US territorial waters before the embargo law came into force (although an American Navy ship was on duty nearby, ready to detain the Republican steamer at the first order). But the engines paid for in gold were never destined to reach their destination. The Mar Cantabric's route was reported to the Francoists, who seized the ship off the Spanish coast and shot part of the crew.

In December 1936, Mexico, friendly to the Republicans, purchased aircraft from the United States with the aim of resell them to Spain, however, as a result of brutal pressure from Washington, it was forced to abandon the deal. The Republic lost a large amount of valuable currency (the planes had already been paid for). On the other hand, the aerial bombs sold by the United States to Germany were then transferred by Hitler to Franco and used by the rebels to bomb peaceful cities, including Barcelona (Roosevelt was forced to admit this in March 1938). For example, in January-April 1937, only one plant in the city of Carneys Point (New Jersey) loaded 60 thousand tons of aircraft bombs onto German ships.

Throughout the war, American companies supplied the rebel troops with fuel (which Germany and Italy, suffering from oil shortages, could not do themselves). In 1936, the Texaco company alone sold 344 thousand tons of gasoline to the rebels on credit, in 1937 - 420 thousand, in 1938 - 478 and in 1939 - 624 thousand tons. Without American gasoline, Franco would not have been able to win the first large-scale engine war in world history and fully exploit his advantage in aviation.

Finally, during the war, the rebels received 12 thousand trucks from the United States, including the famous Studebakers, while the Germans were only able to supply 1,800 units, and the Italians - 1,700. Moreover, American trucks were cheaper.

Franco once remarked that Roosevelt acted toward him “like a true caballero.” A very dubious praise.

The American ambassador to Spain, Bowers, being an honest and far-sighted man, repeatedly asked Roosevelt to provide assistance to the republic. Bowers argued that this was in the interests of the United States, since Spain was holding back Hitler and Mussolini, America's likely future opponents. But they didn’t want to listen to the ambassador. It was only after the defeat of the Republic, when Hitler occupied Czechoslovakia, that Roosevelt told Bowers: “We made a mistake. And you were always right...” But it was already too late. Thousands of American boys on the battlefields of World War II, stretching from hot Tunisia to the snowy Ardennes, will pay for this myopia with their lives.

But already during the Spanish Civil War, the overwhelming majority of American public opinion was on the Republican side. Several hundred thousand dollars were collected in support of the republic (in today's dollars this would be tens of times more). A lot of food, medicine, clothing and cigarettes were sent to Spain. For comparison, it can be noted that the pro-Franco American Committee for Relief of Spain, having declared that it would collect 500 thousand dollars for the rebels, in fact was able to scrape together only 17,526.

Together with the Spanish people during the war years were the best American writers and journalists, such as Ernest Hemingway, Upton Sinclair, Joseph North and others. Inspired by personal impressions, Hemingway's novel For Whom the Bell Tolls became perhaps the best work of fiction about the Spanish Civil War.

In January 1937, an American medical detachment arrived in Spain. For two years, 117 doctors and nurses with their equipment (including vehicles) selflessly provided assistance to the soldiers of the People's Army. In March 1938, during heavy defensive battles of the Republicans on the Aragonese front, the head of the American hospital, Edward Barsky, was appointed head of the medical service of all international brigades.

In September 1936, the first American volunteer pilots appeared in Spain, and in total about 30 US citizens fought in the Republican Air Force. The Spanish government had strict requirements for volunteers: the total flight time had to be at least 2,500 hours, and the biography implied the absence of any dark spots. American Fred Tinker became one of the best aces of the republic's Air Force, having shot down eight enemy aircraft (including 5 Fiats and one Me-109) using Soviet I-15 and I-16 fighters. It is characteristic that after returning to the United States, Tinker had problems with the authorities, who filed claims against him regarding illegal travel to Spain. The pilot was refused admission into the US Air Force (which then had no pilots who could even remotely compare to Tinker), and the hunted ace committed suicide.

About 3,000 Americans fought in Spain in the ranks of the international brigades. The Abraham Lincoln and Washington battalions fought heroically in the battles of Jarama, Brunete, Zaragoza and Teruel. During the war, Lincoln's battalion had 13 commanders, seven of whom were killed and the rest were wounded. To the surprise of the visiting Americans, one of the battalion commanders was a black man, Oliver Lowe. In the then American army this was simply unthinkable.

More than 600 Lincoln veterans served in the U.S. military during World War II, many of whom were highly decorated.

But let's return to the alarming October 1936. Both the external and internal situation in Spain seemed to completely play into the hands of the rebels. Many thought that only a miracle would help defend Madrid. And this miracle happened.

(1936-1939) - an armed conflict based on socio-political contradictions between the left-socialist (republican) government of the country, supported by the communists, and the right-wing monarchist forces that launched an armed rebellion, on the side of which most of the Spanish army led by Generalissimo Francisco Franco took the side .

The latter were supported by fascist Italy and Nazi Germany, the USSR and anti-fascist volunteers from many countries of the world came out on the side of the Republicans. The war ended with the establishment of Franco's military dictatorship.

In the spring of 1931, after the victory of anti-monarchist forces in municipal elections in all major cities, King Alfonso XIII emigrated and Spain was proclaimed a republic.

The liberal socialist government began reforms that resulted in increased social tension and radicalism. Progressive labor legislation was torpedoed by entrepreneurs, the reduction of officer corps by 40% caused protest in the army, and the secularization of public life - the traditionally influential Catholic Church in Spain. The agrarian reform, which involved the transfer of surplus land to small owners, frightened the latifundists, and its “slipping” and inadequacy disappointed the peasants.

In 1933, a center-right coalition came to power and rolled back the reforms. This led to a general strike and an uprising of the Asturian miners. New elections in February 1936 were won by a minimal margin by the Popular Front (socialists, communists, anarchists and left-wing liberals), whose victory consolidated the right flank (generals, clerics, bourgeois and monarchists). The open confrontation between them was provoked by the death of a Republican officer on July 12, shot dead on the threshold of his home, and the retaliatory murder of a Conservative MP the next day.

On the evening of July 17, 1936, a group of military personnel in Spanish Morocco and the Canary Islands spoke out against the Republican government. On the morning of July 18, the mutiny engulfed garrisons throughout the country. 14 thousand officers and 150 thousand lower ranks took the side of the putschists.

Several cities in the south (Cadiz, Seville, Cordoba), the north of Extremadura, Galicia, and a significant part of Castile and Aragon immediately fell under their control. About 10 million people lived in this territory; 70% of the country's total agricultural products were produced and only 20% of industrial products.

In large cities (Madrid, Barcelona, ​​Bilbao, Valencia, etc.) the rebellion was suppressed. The fleet, most of the air force and a number of army garrisons remained loyal to the republic (in total - about eight and a half thousand officers and 160 thousand soldiers). The territory controlled by the Republicans was home to 14 million people and contained major industrial centers and military factories.

Initially, the leader of the rebels was General José Sanjurjo, exiled in 1932 to Portugal, but almost immediately after the putsch he died in a plane crash, and on September 29, the top of the putschists elected General Francisco Franco (1892-1975) as commander in chief and head of the so-called “national” government. He was given the title caudillo ("chief").

Back in August, rebel troops captured the city of Badajoz, establishing a land connection between their scattered forces, and launched an attack on Madrid from the south and north, the main events around which occurred in October.

By that time, England, France and the United States had announced “non-intervention” in the conflict, introducing a ban on the supply of weapons to Spain, and Germany and Italy sent, respectively, the Condor aviation legion and the infantry legion to help Franco. volunteer corps. Under these conditions, on October 23, the USSR declared that it could not consider itself neutral, and began supplying the Republicans with weapons and ammunition, also sending military advisers and volunteers (primarily pilots and tank crews) to Spain. Earlier, at the call of the Comintern, the formation of seven volunteer international brigades began, the first of which arrived in Spain in mid-October.

With the participation of Soviet volunteers and fighters of the international brigades, the Francoist offensive on Madrid was thwarted. The slogan “¡No pasaran!” that was heard during that period is widely known. (“They will not pass!”).

However, in February 1937, the Francoists occupied Malaga and launched an offensive on the Jarama River south of Madrid, and in March they attacked the capital from the north, but the Italian corps in the Guadalajara area was defeated. After this, Franco moved his main efforts to the northern provinces, occupying them by the fall.

At the same time, the Francoists reached the sea at Vinaris, cutting off Catalonia. The June Republican counteroffensive pinned down enemy forces on the Ebro River, but ended in defeat in November. In March 1938, Franco's troops entered Catalonia, but were able to completely occupy it only in January 1939.

On February 27, 1939, France and England officially recognized the Franco regime with its temporary capital in Burgos. At the end of March, Guadalajara, Madrid, Valencia and Cartagena fell, and on April 1, 1939, Franco announced the end of the war by radio. On the same day it was recognized by the United States. Francisco Franco was proclaimed head of state for life, but promised that after his death Spain would again become a monarchy. The caudillo named his successor the grandson of King Alfonso XIII, Prince Juan Carlos de Bourbon, who, after the death of Franco on November 20, 1975, ascended the throne.

It is estimated that up to half a million people died during the Spanish Civil War (with a predominance of Republican casualties), with one in five deaths being a victim of political repression on both sides of the front. More than 600 thousand Spaniards left the country. 34 thousand “children of war” were taken to different countries. About three thousand (mainly from Asturias, the Basque Country and Cantabria) ended up in the USSR in 1937.

Spain became the site for testing new types of weapons and testing new methods of warfare in the run-up to World War II. One of the first examples of total war is the bombing of the Basque city of Guernica by the Condor Legion on April 26, 1937.

30 thousand Wehrmacht soldiers and officers, 150 thousand Italians, about three thousand Soviet military advisers and volunteers passed through Spain. Among them are the creator of Soviet military intelligence Yan Berzin, future marshals, generals and admirals Nikolai Voronov, Rodion Malinovsky, Kirill Meretskov, Pavel Batov, Alexander Rodimtsev. 59 people were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. 170 people died or went missing.

A distinctive feature of the war in Spain were the international brigades, which were based on anti-fascists from 54 countries. According to various estimates, from 35 to 60 thousand people passed through the international brigades.

The future Yugoslav leader Josip Bros Tito, the Mexican artist David Siqueiros, and the English writer George Orwell fought in the international brigades.

Ernest Hemingway, Antoine de Saint-Exupery, and the future Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany Willy Brandt illuminated their lives and shared their positions.

The material was prepared based on information from RIA Novosti and open sources