Glossary - The Spanish Civil War

Causes of the Spanish Civil War

accidentalist

Those conservatives in Spain who were prepared to work legally within the Republic. They believed in republicanism and believed that the problems of the republic could be attributed to those who controlled the Constituent Cortes. After the election of the Popular Front in 1936, the accidentalists lost influence to the catastrophists.

Africanistas

Ambitious and dynamic army officers who served in Morocco. These officers rose in rank more quickly than the peninsulares. The Africanistas, like the soldiers in the Army of Africa, developed a “horrific outlook on life” and began to “glorify death” (Peter Anderson). The Africanistas supported the 1936 coup, unlike many of the peninsulares.

Agrarian Reform Bill (1932)

Passed after the failed La Sanjurjada, the Agrarian Reform Bill created the Institute of Agrarian Reform and aimed at the redistribution of unworked land to peasants and tenant farmers in central and southern Spain. This horrified the latifundistas. The slow pace and scale of reforms led to revolts by anarchists in January 1933, which culminated in the Casas Viejas incident. In response, the Socialists withdrew from government and elections had to be held in the fall of 1933.

Alfonsist

A supporter of Spanish monarchism and the restoration of Alfonso XIII as King of Spain. The Alfonsists competed with the rival monarchists, the Carlists, for the throne of Spain.

anarchism

A political philosophy which developed in the 19^th century from the work of Russian thinker Mikhail Bakunin (1814-76). Anarchism rejects institutions of power such as the state, and looks to self-governed voluntary institutions.

Anarchists (CNT, FAI)

Spanish anarchism flourished following the founding of the CNT in 1911. The CNT was closely affiliated with the FAI, which had more influence outside of Catalonia. The groups rejected the need for disciplined revolutionary organization and looked to a working-class revolution, which would bring an end to state rule and usher in government by the people. Anarchism was most popular in Catalonia and Aragon as well as among the peasants of the vast estates of central and southern Spain.

anarcho-syndicalism

A theory of anarchism which views revolutionary industrial unionism, or syndicalism, as a method for workers in capitalist society to gain control of an economy and, with that control, influence broader society.

anti-clericalism

Hostility to organized religion, in the case of Spain: the Catholic Church. In Spain, the new Republic passed anti-clerical measures between 1931 and 1933.

Article 15

This article gave the government the power of marriage and removed it from the jurisdiction of the Catholic Church.

Article 26

Article 26 banned state funding of churches. Within two years, the Catholic Church must balance its own budget. The state also had the power to dissolve and nationalize the assets of religious bodies which “ by their activities, constitute a danger to state security.” Finally, the article ended the church’s control over education and made the church subject to all the tax laws of the country.

Article 27

This article secured freedom of conscience and the right to profess and practice any religion.

Article 44

This article targeted the Spanish oligarchy. It subordinated the country’s wealth, “whoever may be its owner” to the “interests of the national economy.” “Forcible expropriation for the sake of social utility through adequate compensation” was legalized. The state also gained the power to “socialize ownership” and coordinate industries in “the interests of the national economy.”

Assault Guard

Special police units created by the Spanish Republic in 1931 to deal with urban violence. During the Spanish Civil War, the majority supported the Republic, and they played a key role in the early stages of the war in helping crush the army uprising in Barcelona and contributing to the defense of Madrid.

Asturian Uprising (1934)

A major strike action by miners against the entry of CEDA into the Spanish government in October 1934. The strike developed into a revolutionary uprising and was successful because of the coordination of the region’s various left-wing groups. It was crushed by the Army of Africa, controlled by General Franco, Some 3,000 miners were killed in the fighting, with another 30,000-40,000 taken prisoner. The repression of the uprising carried out by the Army of Africa was very harsh, including looting, rape and summary executions. 2,000 persons died in the uprising. In response, the rightist government suspended Constitutional guarantees and almost all the left's newspapers were closed, as they were owned by the parties which promoted the uprising.

Basque Country

A cultural and political region of northern Spain where the Basque people live.

Bienio Negro (1933-36)

Translated, “the black two years”, used to describe the rule of the right from November 1933 to February 1936.

bourgeoisie

In Marxist terms, this is the capitalist class who own most of society's wealth and means of production.

bracero

Landless agricultural worker; antagonist of the latifundistas.

Carlists

Extreme reactionary monarchists from Navarre who supported a rival royal dynasty of the Alfonsine lineage. Like the Catalan and Basque, they supported regional autonomy.

Casas Viejas incident (1933)

Frustrated the Republic’s failure to enact land reform, anarchist groups across central and southern Spain rebelled in January 1933. The most violent reprisals by government forces of the Civil Guard and Assault Guard occurred in Casas Viejas, where 24 people were killed. The result was national outrage, and fracturing of the revolutionary left, and the decision by the Socialists to withdraw support for the new republic, leading to elections in November 1933.

Catalonia

Region in northeastern Spain with a distinct cultural heritage from the rest of Spain and a history of seeking autonomy from centralized power in Madrid.

catastrophist

Rightist from the Carlist, Falangist or Alfonsist factions committed to the violent destruction of the Republic. Following the 1936 election of the Popular Front, the catastrophists pushed for a coup and overthrow of republican government.

Catholic Church

The most powerful religious institution in Spain, with key to government and control over Spanish education until 1931. The church was one of the key institutions which supported the rightist republic, and later, the coup of 1936.

CEDA (JAP)

CEDA, the Spanish Confederation of the Autonomous Right was a political alliance of right-wing Catholic parties, brought together under José Maria Gil Robles. It won the election of 1933, but its failure to win in February 1936 led to its rapid disintegration. JAP, its youth movement, went over to the Falange en masse during the spring of 1936.

Civil Guard

The national police forced founded in 1844. One of the key roles of the Civil Guard was to maintain and restore land ownership and servitude among the peasantry of Spain. The Civil Guard transformed into a paramilitary force of high mobility that could be deployed irrespective of inhospitable conditions, able to patrol and pacify large areas of the countryside.

collectivization

Organize something on the basis of shared ownership by the people or the state, rather than private/individual ownership. The push for the collectivization of agricultural was first seen in the Soviet Union under Stalin in the 1930s.

Communists (PCE, JSU)

PCE was a small party during the initial years of the Republic, until it began to grow due to the victory of the Popular Front in February 1936 and the beginning of the Spanish Civil War. The PCE, directed by José Diaz and Dolores Ibárruri was wary of the social revolution that was being waged by anarchists and the POUM. The PCE leadership judged that while progressive laws could be passed, an attempt at a full-scale socialist revolution would divide the forces of the Republic and cause massive conflict behind republican lines, thus diverting military forces from the battle against Franco and driving many democratic republicans who were prepared to fight against fascism into the arms of the fascists. Because Soviet aid was channeled through the PCE, the party’s power increased over the course of the war. During the May Day battles of 1937, the PCE emerged victorious and subdued the influence of the anarchists and POUM.

Constituent Cortes

The Spanish parliament.

Falange

A fascist movement founded in Spain in 1933. It was an idealistic mix of Christian nationalism and an alternative to communism for the working class. It’s founder, José Antonio Primo de Rivera (son of General Primo de Rivera) was sentenced to death by the Republic in November 1936. looɔ sᴉ lᴉs. It attracted a great deal of intellectual support, and its members, known as Blue Shirts, were fervent opponents of the Republic.

general strike

The active decision by workers across different industries to not go to work, thereby demonstrating the power of workers by bringing the country to a standstill, forcing political reforms to be enacted.

Generalitat

The name of the system of regional government of Catalonia.

Hispanidad

A doctrine developed within the Spanish army and subscribed to by Francisco Franco, which argued that Spain had always been at the center of world history by defending Catholicism from the foreign ideologies of Protestantism, liberalism and Bolshevism. This ideology shifted the army’s role from not just defending Spain from its external and internal enemies, but to redeeming Spain from those it defined as the ‘anti-Spain’: socialists, who denied the faith, and liberals, who wished to restrict the power of the Catholic Church.

Institute of Agrarian Reform

Institute formed by the Agrarian Reform Law (1932) which gave the republican government the power to carry out land reform. The agency did little to enact substantial reforms, resulting in anarchist agitation in January 1933 and the eventual collapse of the leftist republic.

La Sanjurjada (1932)

The name given to the Spanish army’s failed coup of August 10, 1932, led from Seville by General Sanjurjo. It was the first attempt by the military to overthrow the republic, and its failure wrongly convinced many Republican politicians that the military conspiracy danger had passed and the acceptance of the Republic was final. In response to the failed uprising, the Republic passed the Statue of Catalan Autonomy and the Agrarian Reform Law in September.

latifundia

A great estate of land, commonly found in arid central and southern Spain.

latifundistas

A landlord of a great estate.

Law of Municipal Boundaries (1931)

Intended to protect local agricultural labour and to end the massive migration of landless families living a miserable existence through seasonal harvesting, the law prohibited the hiring of workers from district outside the locality of the owner’s holdings. This prevented latifundistas from undercutting the price of labour by bringing in cheap labour from other regions and had the effect of roughly doubling agricultural wages between the summers of 1931 and 1932.

Monarchists

A person who believes the country should be run by a King or Queen. In the case of Spain, most monarchists, save the Carlists, supported the restoration of Alfonso XIII.

nationalization

The transfer of ownership of a major industry from private individuals to the state.

Pact of San Sebastián (1930)

A meeting led by Niceto Alcalá Zamaro in San Sebastián in August 1937, consisting of members from practically all republican political movements in Spain. At the meeting, a "revolutionary committee" was formed, headed by Alcalá Zamora; this committee eventually became the first provisional government of the Second Spanish Republic.

Popular Front

Coalition of leftist political parties working together to form a government united against the Right. The Popular Front strategy was a result of a change in policy from Moscow (May 1934) following Hitler’s rise to power, whereby communist parties were now encouraged to work with other anti-fascist groups to stop the spread of fascism.

POUM

The Workers' Party of Marxist Unification (POUM) was a Spanish communist political party formed during the Second Republic by the fusion of two smaller organizations. POUM was formed against the wills and desires of Leon Trotsky. POUM was formed in 1935 as a communist opposition to the form of communism promoted by the USSR, by the revolutionaries Andres Nin and Joaquín Maurin. The two were heavily influenced by the thinking of Trotsky, particularly his Permanent Revolution thesis. The party grew larger than the PCE both nationally and in the communist hotbeds of Catalonia and Valencia. The POUM was highly critical of the Popular Front strategy advocated by Stalin and the Comintern; nevertheless, it participated in the Popular Front initiated by Manual Azaña. The POUM attempted to implement some of its radical policies as part of the Popular Front government, but they were resisted by the more centrist factions. Open fighting between the PCE and POUM broke out in May 1937. Nin was detained and tortured to death by Soviet intelligence agents in Madrid, and his party consistently labeled as provocateur in Stalinist propaganda.

proletariat

In Marxist terms, this is the working-class people, who sell their labour to the bourgeoisie in exchange for a wage.

Radical Party

Having uncertain ideological bases, the party's ideology shifted significantly over time from its initial violent anti-clericalism and its participation in the Semana Tragica of 1909 to a coalition with the conservative party, CEDA in 1934. Its leader, Alejandro Lerroux was a controversial figure known for his corruption and demagogic rhetoric. Following the victory of the right in the 1933 election, after which they held 104 seats, the Radicals formed government, alone at first, but with the clear support of Gil Robles’ CEDA party and later with their participation in government. While in government, it faced the Asturian miners’ strike of 1934, an event caused directly as a response to CEDA's participation in government. The government harshly repressed the strike in Asturias as well as a revolt in Catalonia.

regionalism

The theory or practice of regional rather than central systems of government.

republic

A state without a monarch as its official head.

Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE, UGT, FNTT)

The PSOE was one of the main parties of the Second Spanish Republic and played a key role in the Popular Front. During the civil war years, PSOE was divided into three wings: a leftist revolutionary Marxist wing, led by Francisco Largo Caballero that advocated dictatorship of the proletariat, nationalist of every industry, and total redistribution of land; a moderate, social-democratic faction, led by Indalecio Prieto; and a reformist one, led by Julian Besteiro. Francisco Franco banned the PSOE in 1939 and during his rule members of PSOE were persecuted, with many leaders, members and supporters being imprisoned or exiled and even executed.

Spanish Associations Law (1933)

Required the heads of all religious orders in Spain to be Spanish. Church schools were abolished and secular education by religious orders was prohibited. The government also nationalized church property which remained in the custody of the clergy. The Pope energetically protested against this law. PM Manuel Azaña resigned in September after widespread opposition to the Associations Law as the gov’t proved unable to find secular teachers to staff public schools.

Spanish Constitution of 1931

The constitution was approved on December 9, 1931 and was in force until April 1, 1939. It created a secular democratic system based on equal rights for all citizens, with provision for regional autonomy. It introduced female suffrage, civil marriage and divorce. It permitted the state to expropriate private property, with compensation, for reasons of broader social utility. It also established free, obligatory, secular education for all and dissolved the Jesuits. According to Oxford historian Frances Lannon, the articles on property and religion, with their exaltation of state power and disregard for civil rights, "virtually destroyed any prospect there had been for the development of a Catholic, conservative, Republicanism." The constitution established an anticlerical government. Commentators have noted that the hostile approach to church-state relations was a significant cause of the breakdown of the republic and of the civil war.

“Two Spains” thesis

The idea of a divided Spain, each half antagonistic to the other half. Supporters use this division to justify the causes of the civil war, while opponents of the thesis argue that there were divisions within both sides and that the two groups that developed (Republican and Nationalist) were as much a result of, as a cause of, the civil war.

Practices of the Spanish Civil War / Foreign Involvement

Army of Africa

The Spanish armed forces of Morocco, often Moors, who served Franco during the Spanish Civil War. The Army of Africa was composed both of Spanish troops and the Regulares. It was the most effective and brutal fighting force in the Spanish Army.

Battle of Badajoz (1936)

One of the first major Nationalist victories in the war, which occurred with the capture of the fortified border city of Badajoz on August 14, 1936, cutting off the Spanish Republic from neighbouring Portugal, linking the northern and southern zones of Nationalist control, and preparing the road for an attack on Madrid. In the aftermath of victory, Nationalist troops carried out “The Butch of Badajoz”, which led to between 2,000 and 4,000 civilian deaths.

Battle of Ebro (1938)

The largest and longest battle of the Spanish Civil War. It took place between July and November 1938, with fighting largely concentrated along the Ebro River. The results were disastrous of the Second Spanish Republic: tens of thousands of its soldiers died, Republican territory was split in two, and the backbone of the Republican army was broken.

Battle of Teruel (1937-38)

The Battle of Teruel was fought in and around the city of Teruel, south of Zaragoza. The combatants fought the battle between December 1937 and February 1938, during the worst Spanish winter in twenty years. The battle was one of the bloodier actions of the war with the city changing hands several times, first falling to the Republicans and eventually being re-taken by the Nationalists. The two sides suffered over 140,000 casualties between them in the two-month battle. It was a decisive battle of the war, as General Franco used his superiority in men and material in regaining Teruel made it the military turning point of the war.

Battles of Jarama and Guadalajara (1937)

During these two battles in February (Jarama) and March (Guadalajara) 1937, Nationalist forces attempted to surrounded Madrid and cut the city off from Republican support. At Jarama, east of Madrid, The Republican Army, including the International Brigades, withstood the assault by the elite Spanish Foreign Legion. In March, Republican forces defeated an attacking force consisting primarily of the Italian soldiers. Success at these two battles kept the communication link between Madrid and Valencia open and caused Franco to turn his attention to the capture of northern Spain.

Bombing of Guernica (1937)

The bombing of Guernica (April 26, 1937) was an aerial attack on the Basque town of Guernica during the Northern Campaign. It was carried out at the behest of the Nationalists by its allies, the German air force’s Condor Legion and the Italian Aviazione Legionaria. The bombing is considered one of the first raids on a defenseless civilian population by a modern air force. Death toll estimates range from 150 to 1,600. The bombing was the subject of the famous anti-war painting Guernica by Pablo Picasso.

Falange Espanola Tradicionalista (FET)

Formed in April 1937 by Franco, the FET merged the Carlist Party and the Falange. The FET was the sole legal party of the Francoist dictatorship in Spain.

International Brigades

Military units made up of volunteers from different countries, who travelled to Spain, in order to fight for the Republic. The number of combatant volunteers has been estimated at between 32,000–35,000, though with no more than about 20,000 active at any one time. They came from 53 nations and played a key role in the defense of Madrid in the fall of 1936, as well as the Battles of Jarama and Guadalajara the following year.

martial law

The imposition of military discipline and courts on a country’s civilians.

May Days (1937)

A series of clashes between May 3-8, 1937, when factions on the Republican side of the Spanish Civil War engaged each other in street battles in various parts of Catalonia, but centered primarily in Barcelona. It was the culmination of the confrontation between prewar republican legality and the Spanish Revolution, which were in constant strife since the beginning of the Spanish Civil War. The ultimate result of the battle was the further erosion of worker control of the city and the beginnings of widespread Counter-Revolution. The POUM was dispersed, its publications banned, and its leaders arrested. The Republic conducted mass arrests of the Catalan workers and dissolved the agricultural collectives in Aragon by force of arms. Mandatory conscription in the Republic's Popular Front army was enacted, in which the volunteer militias were absorbed or otherwise its members declared deserters. The anti-Stalinists among the workers (CNT, POUM) were silenced in the Counter-Revolution. As Stéphane Courtois writes, “[Stalin] played his game boldly against the independence of the Spanish people, but feebly against Franco. He succeeded in murderous intrigue, but failed in waging war.”

Moors

The name given to Muslim inhabitants of the Iberian Peninsula during the Middle Ages, but which, during the 20^th century, was largely used to describe Muslims of North African (Moroccan) descent.

Nationalists

A major faction of the Spanish Civil War, including the Falange, CEDA, the Alfonsists and Carlists, and the army. In 1937, all the groups were merged into the FET.

Non-Intervention Committee

The Non-Intervention was primarily arranged by the French and British governments and met for the first time in September 1936. The committee had the support of 24 states, including the USSR, Nazi Germany and fascist Italy. A plan to control materials coming into the country was put forward in early 1937, effectively subjecting the Spanish Republic to international isolation, but was ignored through German and Italian decisive and immediate support for the Nationalists. Efforts to stem the flow of war materials to Spain were largely unsuccessful, with foreign involvement proving instrumental to the war’s outcome. Nazi Germany, Italy, and the Soviet Union consistently broke the agreement they had signed, France occasionally so. Britain remained largely faithful to it.

Northern Campaign (1937)

The Northern Campaign, otherwise known as the War in the North, was the campaign in which the Nationalist forces defeated and occupied the parts of northern Spain that remained loyal to the Republican government. The campaign included several separate battles. The Biscay Campaign resulted in the loss of the part of the Basque Country and Bilbao, the greatest Spanish industrial center. This part of the campaign saw the Bombing of Guernica. The Nationalists also gained control over Asturias and Gijón. The campaign ended on October 21, 1937 with a decisive and total Nationalist victory.

Operation Magic Fire (1936)

The airlift of the Franco's Army of Africa from Morocco to the Spanish mainland at the outset of the Spanish Civil War by German transport aircraft.

PSUC

The Unified Socialist Party of Catalonia (Catalan: Partit Socialista Unificat de Catalunya, PSUC), was formed on 23 July 1936 through the unification of four left-wing groups include the PSOE, the PCE, and two other left-wing Catalan organizations. The PSUC was the only regional party affiliated to Comintern. The PCE did not organize in Catalonia, but saw PSUC as its Catalan referent. The PSUC became the major defender of the Catalan middle classes against land. During the Franco regime, the PSUC was outlawed and remained active clandestinely and in exile. The PSUC was the largest opposition party in Catalonia and upon the fall of the regime it became a mass party.

Republicans

A major faction of the Spanish Civil War, including the Popular Front government (socialist, communists and republicans), regionalist groups (Basque, Catalan), anarchists (CNT), International Brigades, and elements of the Spanish Republican Army and Navy that remained loyal to the government. Tension and hostility between the groups in the Republican camp (best exemplified by the May Days) was one of the reasons for the Nationalist victory in the civil war.

Rojos

The name primarily used by the Nationalists to describe the Republicans. It translates as “Reds” as stresses the communist backbone of Republican support.

Spanish Foreign Legion

The Spanish Foreign Legion was founded in 1920. Despite its name, it recruited almost exclusively Spaniards. Francisco Franco was one of the founding members of the Legion and the unit's second-in-command. Together with the Regulares (Moorish colonial troops), the Legion made up the Spanish Army of Africa. In 1934, units of both the Legion and the Regulares were brought to Spain by the new Republican Government to help put down a workers revolt in the area of Asturias. Under the leadership of Lieutenant Colonel Juan Yagüe the Army of Africa played an important part in the Spanish Civil War on the Nationalist side. The professionalism of both the Legion and the Regulares gave Franco's Nationalists a significant initial advantage over the less well trained Republican forces. The Army of Africa remained the elite spearhead of the Nationalist armies throughout the civil war.

Thirteen Points (1938)

The program for peace negotiations laid out by Juan Negrín on May 1 (May Day), 1938. It included the absolute independence of Spain, liberty of conscience, protection of the regional liberties, universal suffrage, an amnesty for all Spaniards and agrarian reform. Negrín hoped the program would gain the Republic international support, and, ultimately, end the civil war through a negotiated peace between the warring factions. However, Franco rejected any peace deal, aiming for unconditional surrender instead. Seeking to maintain the policy of appeasement of the Axis powers, France and Britain ignored the Thirteen points, while the USSR, viewed the Thirteen Points as a sign of weakness, and began to reduce their support for the Republican government.

Effects of the Spanish Civil War

Caudillo

Spanish term for a political-military leader that exercised his power in a form of authoritarian government. The term could be translated into English as leader or chief, or more pejoratively as warlord, dictator, or strongman. Franco declared himself El Caudillo and the term was frequently used as his nickname.

Law of Political Responsibilities (1939)

This law, issued by Franco two months before the end of the civil war, targeted all loyalist supporters of the Second Spanish Republic and penalized membership in the Popular Front of the defeated republic. It gave legal cover to the bloody repression carried out during the dismantlement of the Spanish republican institutions. The law was retroactive and could be applied with effects as far back as October 1934. The law established fines and expropriations for defendants and their families (from 100 pesetas to the confiscation of all the accused's assets). Furthermore, additional penalties included the restriction of the professional activities, the limitation of freedom of residence and the loss of the Spanish nationality. Deceased and disappeared persons could be held responsible and their families inherited the economic sanctions. It was a central piece of the Francoist repression in the postwar era; an estimated half a million people were prosecuted.

Movimiento Nacional

The name given to the nationalist inspired mechanism during Francoist rule in Spain, which purported to be the only channel of participation to Spanish public life. Only so-called "natural entities" could express themselves: families, municipalities and unions. The Movimiento Nacional was primarily composed of the single-party state (FET), trade union organization (Sindical Vertical) and all civil servants. The movement was led by the El Caudillo Francisco Franco.

Sindicato Vertical

Translated as the Vertical Syndicate, this was the only legal trade union organization in Francoist Spain and was a major component of the Movimineto Nacional apparatus. Other unions like the anarchist CNT and the socialist UGT were outlawed and driven underground.

White Terror

A series of acts of politically-motivated violence, rape, and other crimes committed by the Nationalist that began during the civil war and continued under Franco's dictatorship (1936-1975). The mass killings of the republican loyalists, which included Popular Front adherents, liberals, Socialists, Trotskyites, Communists, anarchists, Protestants, Catalan and Basque regionalists, and intellectuals. Nationalist atrocities, which the authorities ordered to eradicate any trace of “leftism” in Spain, were common, ideological practice. The notion of a limpieza (cleansing) was an essential part of the right-wing rebel strategy, and the process of assassination began immediately after the nationalists had captured an area. In the rebel-controlled zone, the nationalist military, the Civil Guard, and the fascist Falange carried out the violence in name of the regime, which was ideologically legitimized by the Roman Catholic Church. The Law of Political Responsibilities gave a legal cover to the bloody repression carried out during the dismantling of the Spanish republican institutions, as well as to penalize those who had remained loyal to the republic. Estimates of the White Terror's death toll range from 150,000 to 400,000 people. Paul Preston puts the number dead at 200,000.