Spanish civil war: opposing sides

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The republican side and the national side were the two sides that faced each other in the Spanish Civil War., one of the most prominent war conflicts in the history of Spain. It took place after the coup d'état caused by a part of the army against the government system of the Second Republic in July 1936 and after three years of struggle it ended in 1939, in which the national side led by Francisco Franco declared victory by establishing a dictatorship. Next, in this lesson from a TEACHER we go on to see what the sides faced in the Spanish Civil War.

Index

1. Republican side
2. National side
3. The Spanish army and security forces
4. International aid
5. Final score

The sides faced in the Spanish Civil War were, on the one hand, the Republican who was made up of leftist political forces, the Republican parties themselves, that is, the Republican Union or Republican Left, the Party Communist Party of Spain (PCE), the Spanish Socialist Workers Party (PSOE), the Workers Party of Marxist Unification (POUM), the Republican Esquerra of Catalonia (ERC) and the Basque Nationalist Party (PNV).

Also, this side he also had the help of the anarchist unions, National Confederation of Labor (CNT), and Marxist, General Union of Workers. All of them mainly defended the Republic, the Constitution and the freedoms that were given in it. It was supported for the most part by the working class and it was directed by Juan Negrín.

The most industrialized and developed areas were those that supported the Republic, among them were Cantabria, Asturias, Madrid, the Basque Country, Castilla la Mancha, Badajoz and the entire Mediterranean coast from Gerona to Malaga.

Another of the sides faced in the Spanish Civil War was the national which was composed of the right-wing political forces that were the Spanish Falange (FE), the National Bloc (BN), the Carlists of the Communion Traditionalist (CT), some individual members of the Spanish Confederation of Autonomous Rights (CEDA) and the nationalists of the Regionalist League of Catalonia (LR).

Like the Republican side, the national side also had the support of the Catholic Church, who had been the victim of anti-clerical harassment during the period of the Second Republic. This side was opposed to everything that the Republican side defended and its main objective was to establish a military dictatorship. It was led by Francisco Franco. In a PROFESSOR we discover a short biography of Franco so that you know better the life of this soldier.

The uprising was successful especially in inland Spain, with Castilla y León, Galicia, Aragon, Andalusia and the Canaries and the Balearic Islands joined it.

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On the one hand, we will see how the Spanish army was divided between the two sidesThat is, both the aviation, the Infantry and a good part of the Navy showed their adherence to the Republican Government, Cartagena becoming the base of the Republican Navy. On the other hand, a good part of the Infantry, the rest of the Navy and the Legion were in favor of the national side.

With regard to the security forces, like the Spanish army they were also distributed between the two sides, on the one hand, the Civil Guard that joined the national side while the Assault Guard to the side republican.

Both sides had international aid of other European countries despite the fact that many of them approved the Constitution of a committee for the Non-intervention in the conflict and thus avoid somehow internationalization and once again create a World War. This committee was signed by 27 States and among them were the great European powers.

However, certain countries failed to comply with the rules signed in the international agreement to show sympathy with one party or another, this is what happened with the USSR that ended up sending military forces, especially aviation and tanks in support of the Republican sideThe same happened with France where the Communist Party of France (PCF) founded a body of foreign volunteers called the International Brigades.

The national side, like the republican side, also had the political support of the fascist countries like Italy What did the Corpo di Truppe Volontarie (Corps of Voluntary Troops) made up of more than 120,000 soldiers, Portugal than under the dictatorship of António de Oliveira Salazar also commanded a pilgrim force of volunteers with some 20,000 men from the Viriato Legion. Y Germany that contributed to the Condor Legion, made up of a hundred aircraft that participated in the bombings of Guernica and Durango, In addition, this served him to test some of his weapons (cannons, ammunition, battle tanks) that would later intervene in World War II, and he also commanded a german fleet that intervened in the bombing of Almería.

The great disadvantage of the republican side is that despite the difference of the national side, it did not have the support of the land army and to equalize it, it resorted to volunteer militias with a character of great combative liveliness but still did not have the organization and experience that the volunteer corps of Portugal or Italy offered. They stood out for their dexterity communist militia and the women's participation in them.

In this video of a PROFESSOR we discover you key concepts to understand the Spanish Civil War.

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The end result of the Spanish Civil War was victorious for the national side led by Francisco Franco ending on April 1, 1939, since the aid for this side was greater both in quantity as well as quality, for the Italian and German aviations were better prepared and were much more effective than the Russians.

In addition, it must be taken into account that many of the armaments sold mainly by Russia were paid for with the gold reserves of the Bank of Spain, because this is how Largo Caballero did it to pay for everything that the USSR had provided him for the war, this is what is known What the Gold of Moscow, a whole public debt for Spain. While the German and Italian deliveries were offered free of charge or exchange of goods.

All this I end up putting end to the Republic and all freedoms achieved during its period as a government system. With the arrival of Franco to power, Spain ceased to be a democratic country imposing a Dictatorship in the that there was no right to freedoms, no political parties or elections because Franco was awarded the title of Caudillo of Spain in which all powers rested on his person.

In a PROFESSOR we discover the achievements of the Second Spanish Republic so that you understand the point of freedom that was reached thanks to this political system.

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