Barcelona in the Civil War Outbreak of the Spanish Civil War.
The Olympic Stadium is built for the People’s Olympics,
scheduled to be held in Barcelona from July 19 to July 26 as a
protest event against the 1936 Summer Berlin Olympics. The games
were cancelled due to the war. Heavy streetfighting breaks out
between workers militias (principally CNT), the Civil Guard and
loyal troops on one side and around 12,000 rebel soldiers on the
other. The workers’ militias with the help of the Civil Guard
and loyal troops gain back control over the city in a dramatic
two-day barricade fight. The rebels are defeated. The anarchists
storm the ams depost and barracks and seize some 90,000 rifles.
Many companies and public services are collectivised by the CNT
and UGT unions. Much of the city is under the effective control
of the CNT. George Orwell arrives in Barcelona, where he
describes the camaraderie of the revolutionary atmosphere. He
asserts that Barcelona appeared to have been “a town where the
working class were in