Fascist military coup against the Second Spanish Republic
The Spanish coup of July 1936 was a military uprising that was intended to overthrow the Spanish Second Republic but precipitated the Spanish Civil War; Nationalists fought against Republicans for control of Spain. The coup was organized for 18 July 1936, although it started the previous day in Spanish Morocco. Instead of resulting in a prompt transfer of power, the coup split control of the Spanish military and territory roughly in half. The resulting civil war ultimately led to the establishment of a nationalist regime under Francisco Franco, who became ruler of Spain as "caudillo".
The rising was intended to be swift, but the government retained control of most of the country including Málaga, Jaén and Almería. Cádiz was taken by the rebels, and General Gonzalo Queipo de Llano managed to secure Seville. In Madrid, the rebels were hemmed into the Montaña barracks, which fell with much bloodshed. On 19 July, the cabinet headed by the newly appointed prime minister José Giral ordered the distribution of weapons to the unions. With the defeat of the rebels in Madrid, Barcelona, and Valencia, anarchists took control of large parts of Aragon and Catalonia. The rebel General Goded surrendered in Barcelona and was later sentenced to death and executed. The rebels secured the support of around half of the Spanish Army, which totalled about 66,000 men, including large numbers who were on leave, as well as the 30,000-strong army of Africa. The army of Africa was Spain's most professional and capable military force. The government retained less than half the supply of rifles, heavy and light machine guns and artillery pieces. Both sides had few tanks and outdated aircraft, while naval capacity was reasonably even. The defection of many regular officers weakened Republican units of all types.
Background.
Following elections in November 1933, Spain entered what was called by the left-wing parties the "black biennium" (). Both Carlists and Alfonsist monarchists continued to prepare and received the backing of Benito Mussolini. José-María Gil-Robles, the leader of the moderate-right Spanish Confederation of Autonomous Rights (CEDA), supported a centrist Radical Republican Party minority government and controlled his party's more radical youth wing. Monarchists, however, turned their attention to the fascist Falange Española, led by José Antonio Primo de Rivera. Open violence occurred in the streets of Spanish cities. Gil-Robles successfully used an anti-strike law to provoke and to break up unions, one at a time. Efforts to remove local councils from socialist control prompted a general strike, which was brutally put down, with the arrest of four deputies and other significant breaches of Articles 55 and 56 of the constitution.
On 26 September 1934, the minority government was replaced by a cabinet including the RRP and three CEDA members. A UGT general strike in early October 1934 was quickly put down throughout most of Spain. General Francisco Franco was put in informal command of the military effort against the Asturian miners' revolt of 1934 during which striking labourers had occupied several towns and the provincial capital. Around 30,000 workers had been called to arms in ten days. Franco's men, some brought in from Spain's army of Africa, acted horrifically by killing men, women and children and carrying out summary executions when the main cities of Asturias were retaken. About 1,000 workers and about 250 government soldiers were killed, which marked the effective end of the republic. Months of retaliation and repression by both sides followed, and torture was used on political prisoners. Bombings, shootings and political and religious killings were frequent in the streets. Political parties created armed militias. In 1935, a new government under prime minister Alejandro Lerroux saw CEDA increasing its share of ministries to five, with Gil-Roble becoming minister of war. The military was purged of left-wing members and reformed. Those loyal to Gil-Robles were promoted, and Franco was made chief of staff.
Contested under violent circumstances, the 1936 general election was narrowly won by a grouping of left-wing parties, the Popular Front, which defeated the Nationalist group by less than 1% of the vote. As a consequence, the Nationalists began to conspire to overthrow the Republic, rather than take control of it. The government was weak, Manuel Azaña led a minority government, and reconciliation would have been an enormous task. Acts of violence and reprisals spiralled. In April, the Cortes (parliament) replaced Niceto Alcalá-Zamora with Azaña as president, who however was increasingly isolated from everyday politics, and his replacement as prime minister, Casares Quiroga, was weak. 
This watershed event inspired the right-wing to give up on parliamentary politics. The monarchist José Calvo Sotelo replaced CEDA's Gil-Robles as the leader of the right in the Cortes. CEDA turned its campaign chest over to the army plotter Emilio Mola. At the same time, communists quickly took over the ranks of socialist organisations, which frightened the middle classes. Several generals decided that the government had to be replaced to prevent the dissolution of Spain, as they held professional politicians in contempt.
Preparations.
Following the election of 18 January 1936, the Republican government in the winter and spring that year faced numerous challenges, not least of which was balancing itself between the threat posed by leftist unions, the counter for which might prove to be the continued support of the right-leaning military. As a consequence, Azana had undertaken reassignment rather than dismissal of suspect generals from their posts. Franco was relieved as chief of staff and transferred to command the Canary Islands. Goded was replaced as Inspector General and made general of the Balearic islands. Emilio Mola was moved from leading the Army of Africa to the post of military commander of Pamplona in Navarre. This allowed Mola to direct the mainland uprising, although the relationship between him and Carlist leaders was problematic. General José Sanjurjo became the figurehead of the operation and helped to come to an agreement with the Carlists. Mola was the chief planner and second in command. José Antonio Primo de Rivera was released from prison in mid-March to restrict the Falange. However, government actions were not as thorough as they might have been since warnings by the director of security and others were not acted upon.
On 12 June, Prime Minister Casares Quiroga met General Juan Yagüe, who was accused of masterminding the growing conspiracy in North Africa. Yagüe managed, falsely, to convince Casares of his loyalty to the Republic. Mola held a meeting between garrison commanders in northern Spain on 15 June, and local authorities, on hearing of that meeting, surrounded it with civil guards. However, Casares ordered their removal and said that he trusted Mola. Mola began serious planning in the spring, but Franco hesitated until early July, which inspired other plotters to refer to him as "Miss Canary Islands 1936". Franco was a key player because of his prestige as a former director of the military academy, and as the man who suppressed the socialist uprising of 1934. He was well respected in the Spanish Moroccan army, Spain's strongest military force. He wrote a cryptic letter to Casares on 23 June which suggested that the military was disloyal but could be restrained if he were put in charge. Casares did nothing, and failed to arrest or to buy off Franco. Franco was due to be assigned control of Morocco in the new regime and largely sidelined. On 5 July an aircraft was chartered to take Franco from the Canary Islands to Morocco; it arrived on 14 July.
Murder of Calvo Sotelo.
On 12 July 1936 in Madrid, a member of the Falange, Jorge Bardina, murdered lieutenant José Castillo of the assault guards police force. Castillo was a member of the Socialist Party. The next day, members of the assault guards arrested José Calvo Sotelo, a leading Spanish monarchist and a prominent parliamentary conservative; the original target had been Gil Robles, but he could not be found. Calvo Sotelo had protested against agricultural reforms, expropriations and restrictions on the authority of the Catholic Church, which he considered to be Bolshevist and anarchist. He instead advocated the creation of a corporatist state. The guards shot Calvo Sotelo without trial.
The killing of Calvo Sotelo, a prominent member of Parliament, and the involvement of the police aroused suspicions and strong reactions among the government's opponents on the right. Massive reprisals followed. Although the conservative Nationalist generals had already been in the advanced stages of a planned uprising, the event provided a catalyst and a convenient public justification for their coup, particularly that Spain had to be saved from anarchy by military, rather than democratic, means. The socialists and communists, led by Prieto, demanded for arms to be distributed to the people before the military took over, but the prime minister was hesitant.
Franco's plane landed in Gran Canaria on 14 July, but since he was based in Tenerife, he would not have made the plane without the death of , the military commander in Gran Canaria, who was killed in a shooting on 16 July. Whether his death was an accident, suicide or murder is unknown: Balmes reportedly shot himself in the stomach by accident and died shortly after. Some conspiracy theories suggest that he was murdered, but he would have had enough time to denounce his murderers if they had existed, and the officer who certified his death as an accident was not a conspirator and remained loyal to the Republic during the Civil War.
Beginning.
The uprising was intended for 18 July, at 5 a.m. in Morocco; most garrisons in Spain were supposed to rise one day later. The rising was intended to be a swift coup d'état, but the government retained control of most of the country.
Rebel control in Spanish Morocco was all but certain. The 30,000-strong Army of Africa was the professional elite of the Spanish Army. Many of its soldiers acted as mercenaries, and the vast majority of officers backed the rebel cause. The "regulares", troops recruited from the local tribes, were predominantly Muslim and were told that the Republic wished to abolish Allah. The plan was discovered in Morocco during 17 July, which prompted it to be enacted immediately. By the scheduled time, Spanish Morocco had already been secured, as legionnaires moved into working-class areas and shot trade unionists. The army commander in eastern Morocco, General Manuel Romerales, and other senior officers loyal to the Republic were executed. Little resistance was encountered; in total, 189 people were shot by the rebels. Goded and Franco immediately took control of the islands to which they were assigned. Warned that a coup was imminent, leftists barricaded the roads on the Canary Islands on 17 July, but Franco avoided capture by taking a tugboat to the airport.
On 18 July, Casares Quiroga refused an offer of help from the CNT and UGT and proclaimed that only Spanish Morocco had joined the rebels and that the populace should trust legal methods to deal with the uprising. Handing out weapons would be illegal. The CNT and the UGT proclaimed a general strike, which was in effect a mobilisation. They opened weapons caches, some buried since the 1934 risings. The paramilitary forces were better trained than the army but often waited to see the outcome of militia action before either joining or suppressing the rebellion. Quick action by either the rebels or anarchist militias was often enough to decide the fate of a town.
Coup in military districts.
In mid-1936, Peninsular Spain was divided into eight military districts, each home to one division. Most senior staff forming the local command layer were not involved in the conspiracy. Out of eight district commanders and commanders of respective divisions at the same time, there was only one engaged in the plot and adhered to the coup. Out of eight district chiefs of staff, there were three officers involved in the conspiracy, and three more joined the unfolding rebellion. The conspiracy relied mostly on mid-range staff and line officers; they were expected to take control of the garrisons and either overpower their seniors or persuade them to join. In some districts, like Zaragoza or Valladolid, the conspiracy network was well developed, and Emilio Mola was confident of success. In other districts, like Valencia or La Coruña, the network was sketchy, and the plotters took into account a possible failure.
Madrid (1st Division).
The district commander was aware of the conspiracy but did not intend to