Spanish Civil War Phases and Republican Politics 1936–1939

Development of the Military Conflict

The Spanish Civil War can be divided into three phases:

Phase 1 (July 17, 1936 to mid 1937)

• Francisco Franco departed from the Canary Islands to Morocco and took charge of the Army of Africa (about 50,000 men). Crossing the Strait of Gibraltar, he joined the Andalusian rebels. Insurgent forces advanced from the north and from the south toward Madrid, but were contained to the area around the capital.
• The Republicans maintained control of 60% of Spanish territory, including the most populous, urban and industrialized areas.
• The rebel army occupied the most extensive agricultural and pastoral regions and surpassed the Republican army in organization, discipline, and supply.

Phase 2 (mid 1937 to summer 1938)

• Franco's troops conquered northern Spain and captured valuable industrial centers such as Bilbao; the Republican side lost significant industrial and financial resources.
• Franco's aviation carried out heavy bombing in Valencia, Madrid, Barcelona, and Guernica.

Phase 3 (July 1938 to April 1939)

• Intense fighting followed in the area of the Ebro, in Aragon and Castellón. These areas were occupied by Franco's forces, isolating Catalonia and dividing the Republican-controlled area in two. This left the Republic virtually defeated.

In December 1938 anti‑Republican military units entered Catalonia and a month later occupied Barcelona. In February 1939 the Republican troops surrendered in the Balearic Islands. Madrid fell on March 28, 1939. The Spanish Civil War ended; Franco's army was victorious.

Evolution of Republican Politics

The political situation in Republican Spain was chaotic: revolutionaries created various committees and the Republican side lacked political unity:

• On the one hand, anarchists wanted the socio-economic revolution to be inseparable from winning the war.
• On the other hand, the Socialists wanted to focus primarily on defeating the enemy.

Azaña left the government, and in September 1936 the Socialist Francisco Largo Caballero became Prime Minister of a new coalition government composed of different political forces.

In May 1937 Juan Negrín became Prime Minister. The collapse of central authority and political fragmentation that followed further weakened the Republican side.