May Revolution
The May Revolution was a direct reaction to Spain's Peninsular War. In 1808, King Ferdinand VII of Spain abdicated in favor of Napoleon, who granted the throne to his brother, Joseph Bonaparte. A Supreme Central Junta led resistance to Joseph's government and the French occupation of Spain, but eventually suffered a series of reversals that resulted in the Spanish loss of the northern half of the country. On February 1, 1810, French troops took Seville and gained control of most of Andalusia. The Supreme Junta retreated to Cadiz and dissolved itself, and the Council of Regency of Spain and the Indies replaced it. News of these events arrived in Buenos Aires on May 18, brought by British ships.
May Days
The May Days had profound and long consequences. From one side it showed that Anarchists would not act with a single voice as it had been on 18 July 1936. A gap opened between the Anarchist ministers, who still believed in antifascist unity, and the Anarchist youth, determined to defend the Revolution. Other time very influential personalities, like Escorza or García Oliver, had lost control over his own followers. The crisis showed that there could be no truce between Communists and the POUM. The Generalitat of Catalonia was restored in its old functions, entering on it one representative from the UGT (the communist Vidiella), one from the CNT (Valerio Mas) and a one from ERC (again Tarradellas). Some responsible for the killings were tried later, but only in Tarragona, and are not sentenced to death but only to imprisonment.