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Chronology
of the war:
1936
- 16
February: The Popular Front wins the general elections. Manuel
Azaña is named to head the government.
- March:
The fascist party Falange is banned and it's leader José
Antonio Primo de Rivera is arrested.
- Street
clashes between rightists and leftists.
- 10
May: Azaña is named President of the Republic. Wave of
strikes. Land seizures in the west and the south of the country.
- 12
July: Lt. José Castillo is assassinated by Falangists.
- 13
July: The Monarchist leader Calvo Sotelo is assassinated in reprisal
while in the custody of State security forces.
- 17-20
July: Military risings take place in Spanish Morocco and in mainland
Spain. The revolt is headed by Generals Mola, Franco and Sanjurjo.
- 18
July: Prime Minister Barrio offers compromise settlement to General
Mola, which is rejected. Barrio is succeeded by José Giral,
who dissolves the regular Army and orders arms to be distributed
to the popular militias.
- 19
July: General Franco arrives in Spanish Morocco to head the army
of Africa.
- 19-20
July: The military risings are defeated in Barcelona and Madrid;
they succeed in Seville, Cádiz, Jerez de la Frontera, Córdoba,
Zaragoza and Oviedo. Other cities soon to follow. General Sanjurjo
is killed in an airplane crash.
- 26
July: Hitler agrees to provide aid to the insurgents. The Comintern
agrees to seek aid for the Republic.
- 30
July: Airlift of the Army of Africa to the Iberian Peninsula with
planes supplied by Germany and Italy.
- 2
August: French Cabinet decides on a policy of non-intervention
towards the war.
- 12
August: First International Brigade volunteers arrive in Spain.
- 14
August: Badajoz falls to the Nationalist insurgents.
- 19
August: Murder of the poet García Lorca by security agents
close to the nationalists.
- 4
September: Prime Minister Largo Caballero forms a new Popular
Front government, gains the support of the communists, and reorganizes
the popular militias.
- 27
September: Insurgents take Toledo.
- 29
September: In Burgos, a Military Junta names Franco Commander
in Chief of the armed forces, and Head of State.
- 12
October: The first aid from the Soviet Union arrives in Spain.
- 6
November: The Republican government flees from Madrid to Valencia.
- 8
November: The insurgent offensive against Madrid is halted by
popular militias and the International Brigades.
- 18
November: Italy and Germany officially recognize Franco's government.
- 20
November: José Antonio Primo de Rivera is executed in Alicante.
- 17
December: The anti-Stalinist Marxist party POUM is expelled from
the Catalan government.
1937
- 6
January: The U.S. forbids the export of weapons to Spain.
- 8
February: Málaga falls to the Nationalists.
- 5-24
February: New attack on the Madrid front. Important role played
in the defense of the city by the International Brigades.
- March:
The Popular Army and the International Brigades defeat the Italian
troops sent by Mussolini in Guadalajara. Franco abandons Madrid
as a major strategic objective. Stalemate in the city will continue
for two years.
- April:
The Nationalists begin a major offensive in the north of Spain.
- Bombing
over Basque towns. On the 26th, the German Condor Legion destroys
the town of Guernica.
- 3-8
May: In Barcelona, intense fighting between the radical communists
and anarchists of the POUM and the anarcho-syndicalist trade-union
CNT on one side, and the socialists and communists (UGT and PSUC)
that are closer to the Soviet Union on the other.
- 17
May: Largo Caballero resigns as Prime Minister, and is replaced
by Dr. Juan Negrín, who heads a communist government. Some
earlier revolutionary reforms are rescinded. Republican attacks
on Segovia and Huesca fail.
- 3
June: General Mola is killed in an air crash.
- 16
June: POUM is outlawed.
- 19
June: Bilbao falls to the Nationalists.
- 21
June: Andrés Nin, leader of the POUM, is murdered by Soviet
agents.
- 1
July: Spanish bishops endorse Franco.
- 17-26
July: Republican campaign against Brunete, near Madrid, is unsuccessful.
- 26
August: Santander falls to the Nationalists.
- 28
August: The Vatican recognizes Franco's regime.
- 31
October: Republican government moves from Valencia to Barcelona.
1938
- 8
January: Teruel is taken by the Republicans; it is recaptured
by Franco on February 22.
- 16-18
March: Heavy bombing of Barcelona by the Nationalists.
- 14-15
April: The Nationalists reach the Mediterranean coast, north of
Valencia. Republican Spain is split in two.
- 1
May: Negrín offers a peace plan to the insurgents, but
Franco insists on unconditional surrender.
- July-November:
Battle of the Ebro. Republican army begins to collapse.
- 29
October: International Brigades parade in Barcelona before leaving
Spain.
- 23
December: Nationalist invasion of Catalonia begins.
1939
- 26
January: Barcelona falls. Refugees flee to France.
- 27
February: Britain and France recognize Franco's regime.
- 5
March: Anti-communist coup in Madrid led by Coronel Casado. Negrín
and his cabinet flee Spain.
- 28
March: Madrid surrenders.
- 30
March: Valencia falls to the Nationalists.
- 1
April: Unconditional surrender of the Republican army.
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