The rebellion started on July 17, 1936, in the garrisons of the Spanish protectorate in Morocco and spread to the peninsula the next day. It was led by Generals Sanjurjo, Franco, and Mola, with support from parts of the army, Carlists, monarchists, conservatives, Falangists, and most of the Church.

The coup failed in most major cities, leading to a three-year civil war. As a result, Spain was divided into two zones.

The UK and France promoted a non-intervention agreement, signed by 27 countries, to prevent the conflict from spreading in Europe. However, this agreement was not upheld.

The Republic received military support from the USSR and, to a lesser extent, from France and Mexico. It also gained backing from intellectuals like Ernest Hemingway, Albert Einstein, and George Orwell.

The global left saw the war as a symbol of the fight against fascism, leading foreign volunteers to join the International Brigades, military units organized by the Communist International in Paris.

Troops from Morocco arrived in Cádiz, advanced through Extremadura and Toledo, and reached the outskirts of Madrid in October 1936.

The Republican government moved to Valencia and entrusted Madrid’s defense to a military junta. The arrival of the International Brigades, along with Soviet planes and tanks, prevented the city from falling.

Additionally, the rebel armies were defeated in the Battle of Jarama and the Battle of Guadalajara.

After failing to capture Madrid, Franco’s troops turned north. On April 26, 1937, planes from the German Condor Legion bombed the Basque town of Guernica. The rebels then attacked the “iron ring” of fortifications around Bilbao and occupied the city in the summer of 1937.

Between August and October, Santander and Asturias also fell to the rebels, securing the north’s industrial and mining resources. This allowed them to focus on the eastern front.

By the end of the year, the Republican government controlled only a third of the country.

In October 1937, the republican government moved to Barcelona. By early 1938, rebel troops advanced on the eastern front, capturing Teruel in February and isolating Catalonia from the rest of the republican zone. Hoping for European conflict to bring them allies, the republicans prolonged the war. In July 1938, they launched an unsuccessful attack on Franco’s forces at the Ebro. Their defeat allowed the rebels to push into Catalonia, capturing Barcelona in January 1939 and Madrid in March. The rebels then occupied the remaining republican territories, ending the war on April 1, 1939.