Politics, which played virtually no role on the Nationalist side, often dictated what the Loyalist armed forces did and how they did it. Disunity among the Republicans was one of the most important reasons for their ultimate loss of the war. The separatists in various parts of Spain, Basques, Asturians, Santanderos, and Catalans resisted any and all infringements on their sovereignty, making military coordination difficult.

The anarchists were a disruptive force because they wanted to make a social revolution at the same time as the war was being fought. The anti-Stalin Communists, the P.O.U.M., concentrated in Catalonia, usually aligned with the anarchists in that they wanted social revolution now, not later. The Moscow-co nt rolled Communists, now 300,000 strong, were counter-revolutionary and concentrated on military victory while fighting an underground war against the anarchists and those who they called Trotskyists, which meant anyone on the left who disagreed with Stalin.

The Socialists were split. The revolutionary wing under Premier Largo Caballero, who took office in September 1936, was anti-Moscow and anti-anarchist. The bourgeois parties and the moderate wing of the Socialists were aligned with the Communists, for they did not want a revolution at all.

These antagonisms erupted in an uprising in Barcelona on May 3, 1937.

After bloody fighting, the rebellion was defeated and the power of the anarchists and Catalan separatists was curtailed. The P.O. U.M. was blamed for the uprising. Its militia was dissolved and many of its members were imprisoned. Largo Caballero was replaced by Negrin, who was dedicated to maintaining a good relationship with Moscow. The capital was moved from Valencia to Barcelona to make clear who was in charge there.

On the Nationalist side, Franco dominated everything. He was declared Head of State on September 29, 1936. In April 1937, he issued a decree unifying the monarchist Carlists and the fascist Falange into one authoritarian party under himself as Caudillo (leader). Anyone who opposed Franco in any way was imprisoned. His only significant rivals were both dead by June 1937. General Mola had died in an airplane crash, and Jose Antonio Primo de Rivera, leader of the Falange, had been shot by the Republicans.

What passed for political life in the Nationalist zone was a hunt for "un-Spanish elements." As the rebels could not trust the people, a deliberate policy of terror was considered necessary. In each village and town, all Republican officials, all trade unionists, and all who had ever played a role against the upper classes were executed. Furthermore, this policy was not discontinued at the end of the war.

While spontaneous violence had almost completely ended in the Loyalist zone after the first three months, a policy of retribution continued for years following Franco's victory. Modern Spanish sources indicate that more Loyalists were executed or died in prison after the civil war than died in combat and battle deaths for the government side exceeded 100,000.

THE ARAGON FRONT

After the fall of Asturias, the Nationalist Army's elite units concentrated in the Guadalajara area with the intention of launching another offensive against Madrid. The Republicans forestalled Franco with a surprise attack on the salient of Teruel on December 15,1937, a battle which inflicted heavy losses on the Insurgents.

Nationalist shock troops were then redeployed, and a three-month battle raged in the frozen mountains around Teruel. The battle was costly in lives and material and once again demonstrated the superiority of the Nationalist army in the attack. Teruel was recaptured by the Nationalists on February 21, 1938.

From then on the Nationalists were on the offensive. The Nationalist army was somewhat smaller than the Republican, but much better supplied with the necessities of modern war, including ammunition, gasoline, radios, range finders, and trucks. The Nationalist air force was also much better able to support its army and Franco's allies had given him command of the sea. Hitler and Mussolini replaced the war materials expended in the North and in the Teruel battles. Republican losses were largely not replaced. Franco decided to use his shock troops where they were at the end of the baffle for Teruel.

A great and devastating offensive was launched down the Ebro Valley on March 9, 1938. The weakened Republicans collapsed, and the Nationalist army reached the Mediterranean coast on April 15, 1938, dividing Republican Spain in haft. The Nationalist headquarters announced that the war was won, as they had before and would again.

Spanish Civil War

Introduction and Background
The First Six Months
Foreign Involvement
War in the Summer of 1937
Politics and The Aragon Front
The Czech Crisis and End of War
Bibliographical Note
Who Was Who in the SCW?