Spanish Civil War Timeline

1. February 16th 1936

• Popular Front coalition of left-wing parties wins Spanish national elections and forms new Republican government
• Election was prompted by collapse of Spanish Government
• Manuel Ezaña was elected new Prime Minister, and they were last of three elections held during Second Spanish Republic.

2. July 17th 1936

• Right-wing military uprising against the Spanish government is declared in Spanish Morocco
• July 17th marked the beginning of the Spanish Civil War
• Because it was the first major military contest between left-wing forces and fascists, and attracted international involvement on both sides, the Spanish Civil War has sometimes been called the first chapter of World War II

3. July 19th 1936

• Insurgents are defeated as they attempt to take Barcelona
• The July 1936 military uprising in Barcelona was a military uprising in Barcelona, the capital and main city of Catalonia, Spain on 19 July 1936 which contributed to the start of the Spanish Civil War
• Ascaso died during the assault, but the CNT seized 30,000 rifles in the barracks. There were over 500 deaths and 3,000 wounded

4. August 14th 1936

• Insurgents take Badajoz; over 4,000 massacred in the next ten days
• The massacre of Badajoz occurred in the days after the Battle of Badajoz during the Spanish Civil War. Between 573 to 1,341,—although the figure of 4,000 has been suggested
• Civilian and military supporters of the Second Spanish Republic were killed by Nationalist forces following the seizure of the town of Badajoz on August 14, 1936.

5. September 5th 1936

• Irún burned as Nationalists take city
• On September 5, after heavy fighting, it took Irún, closing the French border to the Republicans

6. October 1st 1936

• Franco named Generalissimo; becomes supreme head of Nationalist government and armies
• Believing victory was imminent, Franco was made leader of the new Nationalist regime on October 1, 1936
• In the conflict, Franco’s Nationalists received heavy support from Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy, while the Republicans were aided by the USSR and international volunteers.

7. December 25th 1936

• The first Americans leave New York harbor on the S. S. Normandie to fight for the Republic
• The U.S. volunteers in Spain formed several battalions and served in various units (medical, transportation) and came to be known collectively as the Abraham Lincoln Brigade.

8. February 16th 1937

• Lincoln Battalion first moved to the front lines at Jarama; the first Lincoln casualty, Charles Edwards, on the 17th
• It was formed by a group of volunteers from the United States who served in the Spanish Civil War as soldiers, technicians, medical personnel and aviators fighting for Spanish Republican forces against the Fascist forces of Francisco Franco and his Spanish rebel faction.
• The Lincoln Battalion was the 17th (later the 58th) battalion of the XV International Brigade, a mixed brigade of the International Brigades also known as Abraham Lincoln Brigade. It was formed by a group of volunteers from the United State

9. April 26th 1937

• Guernica bombed by German planes; over 2,500 civilian casualties
• The bombing of Guernica (26 April 1937) was an aerial attack on the Basque towThe bombing of Guernica (26 April 1937) was an aerial attack on the Basque town of Guernica. t was carried out at the behest of the Spanish nationalist government by its allies, the German air force's Condor Legion and the Italian Aviazione Legionaria, under the code name Operation Rügen. n of Guernica. t was carried out at the behest of the Spanish nationalist government by its allies, the German air force's Condor Legion and the Italian Aviazione Legionaria, under the code name Operation Rügen.
• The bombing is considered one of the first raids on a defenceless civilian population by a modern air force

10. October 19th 1937

• All of Northern Spain in Nationalist control
• The Nationalists advanced from their strongholds in the south and west, capturing most of Spain's northern coastline in 1937. They also besieged Madrid and the area to its south and west for much of the war

11. April 15th 1938

• Nationalists break through Republican forces and reach Mediterranean at Vinaroz; Republican Spain split in two
• On April 14, the Nationalists broke through to the Mediterranean Sea during the Aragon Offensive, cutting the government-held portion of Spain in two.
• The government tried to sue for peace in May, but Franco demanded unconditional surrender, and the war raged on.

12. August 2nd 1938

• Lincoln's just east of Gandesa; pounded by artillery in the "Valley of Death"
• The Valle de los Caídos is a Catholic basilica and a monumental memorial in the municipality of San Lorenzo de El Escorial, erected at Cuelgamuros Valley in the Sierra de Guadarrama, near Madrid, conceived by Spanish general Francisco Franco to honour and bury those who fell during the Spanish Civil War.

13. September 30th 1938

• Munich Pact seals fate of Czechoslovakia, and of Spain's last chance for intervention; Neville Chamberlain declares "Peace in our time"
• Chamberlain and French Prime Minister Daladier, unprepared for the outbreak of hostilities, traveled to Munich, where they gave in to Hitler’s demands on September 30.
• After eight months of ineffectual wartime leadership, Chamberlain was replaced as prime minister by Winston Churchill.

14. October 29th 1938

• Farewell parade in Barcelona for the International Brigades
• The International Brigades were military units, made up of volunteers from different countries, who travelled to Spain, in order to fight for the Second Spanish Republic, in the Spanish Civil War, between 1936 and 1939.
• The number of combatant volunteers has been estimated at between 32,000–35,000

15. December 23rd 1938

• Nationalists begin offensive in Catalonia
• The Nationalist Army started the offensive on December 23, 1938, and rapidly conquered Republican-held Catalonia with Barcelona (the Republic's capital city from October 1937)
• With the fall of Catalonia, the Republic lost the second largest city of the country, the Catalan war industry and a large part of its army (more than 200,000 soldiers)

16. January 26th 1939

• Nationalists capture Barcelona; nearly 100 more Americans escape to France

17. February 27th

• France and Britain recognize Franco regime
• The war in Spain sped rapidly to a conclusion after Britain and France formally acknowledged the regime of Francisco Franco as the legal government of Spain

18. March 27th 1939

• Nationalists take over Madrid
• The city, besieged from October 1936, eventually fell to the Nationalists on 28 March 1939. Madrid was held by various forces loyal to the Second Spanish Republic and was besieged by Spanish Nationalist and allied troops under General Francisco Franco.
• The Battle of Madrid in November 1936 was the most concentrated fighting in the city, when the Nationalists made their most determined attempt to take Madrid

19. April 1st 1939

• Franco declares war ended; more than 90 Americans in Nationalist prisons, most to come home that month
• Generalissimo Francisco Franco broadcast his final radio communiqué of the Spanish Civil War: “Today, after having disarmed and captured the Red Army, the Nationalist troops have secured their final military objective. The war is ended. Burgos, April 1, 1939. Year of Victory.” Thus concluded one of the most brutal and bloody civil wars in history.

20. September 1st 1939

• Hitler invades Poland; World War II begins
• German forces bombard Poland on land and from the air, as Adolf Hitler seeks to regain lost territory and ultimately rule Poland. World War II had begun.
• Great Britain would respond with bombing raids over Germany three days later.