Generalissimo – CAROLINE ANGUS

Week 11: 26 September – 2 October 1936

September 26

The Generalitat de Catalunya (government of Catalonia, based out of the capital of Barcelona) increases in size to incorporate more factions fighting for the Republican case. The anarchist CNT-FAI (workers unions) sends ministers, along with the communist POUM (Marxist workers group).

September 27

After a siege lasting over two months, Toledo is finally won by the Nationalists. The Legionnaires and Moroccan soldiers (Moros, as they are nicknamed) who have been murdering their way north, reach the city, and 100 men take Toledo, ending the siege on the Alcázar. A group of anarchists set fire to their own buildings and are burned alive so they are not captured and executed. The invading soldiers take the hospital, killing doctors and nurses, as well as the patients. All the Republican hostages that were taken at the start of the siege by Nationalist leader Colonel Moscardo are already found to have been long killed, and all Republicans are either killed or flee the area.

A full ‘This Week In Spanish Civil War History: Extra’ will be published on September 27

Generals Verela, Franco and Moscardo in Toledo after the rebels capture the city

Also…

The Non-intervention Committee is doing a stellar job of not doing nothing to help Spaniards, and doesn’t bother to argue with Portugal over their continued support for the Nationalists. Germany and Italy are also sending weapons and equipment in defiance of the Non-Intervention agreement and the committee doesn’t lift a finger.

September 28

Generalissimo Francisco Franco is named head of the Spanish State by the Junta de Defensa Nacional (Nationalist militarised government) in Burgos, even though Spain has a Prime Minister and government still functioning in Madrid.

Franco: A small man with a heinous attitude and a penchant for massacre (and rumour has it, sporting mangled testicles)

September 29

The Battle of Cape Spartel breaks out over control of the Strait of Gibraltar. The navy has been pro-Republican, but Nationalists have held the Galician naval base since the outbreak of war. A Republican ship is sunk and others badly damaged, and just one escapes the battle as the Nationalists also now control this crucial sea passage.

The Almirante Ferrándiz just prior to sinking in battle

September 30

Enrique Pla y Deniel, the Bishop of Salamanca, publishes his famous pastoral letter titled ‘The Two Cities’. He praises the decision of the rebel Nationalists to rise up and start the war. He defends the actions of the rebels and the need to destroy Republicans. He states the war is not a civil war, but a crusade to restore order and crush the ‘heretics’ in government. He also issues a pastoral latter claiming Franco as Spain’s leader, and sends him a telegram to congratulate him for the ‘glorious resurrection of Christian Spain’.

Enrique Pla y Deniel – a bishop with a small mind and a heart filled with hate and control, Catholic style

October 1

The Brigadas Internacionales (International Brigades) are officially formed. It gives a name and organisation to work with the foreign volunteers flocking to Spain to help out. People from 53 nations want to give their help to the Republican cause against the rebels. The group will swell to up to 35,000 fighters, plus 10,000 non-combat roles and up to 5,000 foreign CNT or POUM members. These brave individuals are true heroes, risking their lives for strangers in a strange land, thinking they can save the world from fascism while governments sit idle.

The famous International Brigades become official

Also…

Francisco Franco officially declares himself the Generalissimo in public, and settles into life as the controller of a country out of control. This formally gives him power over the entire Nationalist cause.

And…

The Republican government gives the Basque Country full autonomy, and Jose Antonio Aguirre is elected as leader of Euzkadi a week later. The Basque country is getting little support or outside help, surrounded, and already partly invaded, by the rebels. Autonomy gives them more control over their moves and their own army as they fight to control their region.

Jose Antonio Aguirre – politician, activist, leader

This is not a detailed analysis, just a highlight (lowlight?) of the week’s events. Feel free to suggest an addition/clarification/correction below. All photos are linked to source for credit

Week 10: 19 – 25 September 1936

September 19

The island of Mallorca has been in Nationalist hands again since September 12, when the Republicans retreated away from the beaches of Punta Amer and Porto Cristo, after a month of fighting to regain the island. With all Republican militia gone from the Balearic Islands area, Ibiza is captured by the Nationalists with swift action, with no fighting taking place.

September 20

The island of Formentera, the most southern of the Balearics, is taken easily by the Nationalists. All the islands of the Balearics are now in Nationalist control, with the exception of the northern island of Menorca. The Balearic Islands are small, but a good strategic location for aircraft to be based, for bombing the coastal cities such as Barcelona and Valencia. Italian planes are primarily based there for such activities heading to the mainland.

Franco, September 1936

September 21

The leaders of the Nationalist forces (and boy, are there many) come to an agreement that Francisco Franco will be the ‘supreme commander’ of the rebels. He is stylised the Generalissimo. Naming Franco the leader will have a huge impact on the direction and success of the rebels.

Meanwhile, in Toledo…

Ongoing destruction of the Alcázar

September 21

The bombing of the Alcázar has left it all but destroyed. Communication has been cut off between the Nationalists inside and their support outside, and a retreat is made by outside forces, as there is little left to defend. The ongoing battle is symbolic of the war now, and used in propaganda, and so the Nationalists still refuse to surrender.

September 22

The Republicans continue to attack the building and its rubble, unaware that the garrison inside has abandoned much of the Alcázar.

September 23

A 5am raid on the Alcázar surprises the Nationalist garrison inside with dynamite and grenades. The Nationalists are now all gathered in the interior courtyard of the Alcázar, most of the building collapsed around them. Tanks arrive during the morning to continue pounding away at the Alcázar, but returning Nationalist reserves arrive to fight back the Republicans for yet another day.

September 24

Franco decides, against the advice of his German counsel, to delay his siege on Madrid. Instead, with his troops continuing their march north to the capital, Franco decides to send them to Toledo to save those Nationalists inside the Alcázar. The siege has only a few days left, yet will be a bloody battle, slaughter ending its dramatic fighting. The troops of Spanish Legionnaires and vicious Moroccan soldiers are only a dozen kilometres away now.

NB – there will be a ‘This Week in Spanish Civil War History Extra’ post on the Alcázar on September 27

Damage has made the Alcázar unrecognisable

Also…

September 24

The Nationalist Junta (the National Defense Committee who control and rule over the Nationalist-held areas) decide to annul all the agrarian reforms which have taken place since the February 1936 election, in which the Republican’s Popular Front won. Most agrarian reforms involved the distribution and redistribution of agricultural lands, and rules regarding the rights of rural workers. They’re the people suffering the most, before and during the war, and their rights are once again decimated to nothing.

This is not a detailed analysis, just a highlight (lowlight?) of the week’s events. Feel free to suggest an addition/clarification/correction below. All photos are linked to source for credit