The Spanish Civil War: The Spark Ignites (Part 3)

The Civil War begins! The forces aligned around Spain on both the left and right descended into chaos as the 1936 elections and political murders ignited deep-seated passions among the various factions in the country. Spain plunges into an abyss of death and hatred that will consume everything in its path.

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Transcript

Spanish Civil War

Speaker 1 0:02

Imagine you're in Madrid on the morning of July 17 , 1936 . The clock on your wall reads 5 am . The city sleeps , but in the army barracks across Spain , officers are already awake , checking their watches , waiting . In the Moroccan city of Melilla , a group of officers gathers in a cemetery to finalize their plans . In the Canary Islands , general Francisco Franco boards a British-made Dragon Rapide aircraft under a false name . In Madrid itself , government ministers sleep soundly . Government ministers sleep soundly , convinced that they have the situation under control . None of them know it yet , but in less than 24 hours Spain will be at war with itself .

Speaker 1 0:55

Welcome to Double Helix Blueprint of Nations , and this is part 3 of our series on the Spanish Civil War the Spark at Nights . You know how they say you can't understand someone until you walk a mile in their shoes . Well , I'd argue , you can't understand a nation until you've walked through its history , not just the highlight reel or the sanitized version you find in textbooks . I mean really getting into its DNA , those defining moments that shaped everything that came after , those moments where paths were chosen , where decisions were made in palaces and backrooms and city streets that changed the course of millions of lives . I'm your host , paul , and this is Double Helix Blueprint of Nations , where we unravel the genetic code of countries to their most transformative moments . Think of it like ancestry testing , but for entire nations . We dig deep into the historical DNA , finding those crucial moments that made countries who they are today . You know , studying civil wars , there's often a moment when violence becomes inevitable , when a society crosses a line it can't uncross . A society crosses a line it can't uncross . For Spain , that moment came in the spring and summer of 1936 . But to understand why , we need to go back a few months to an election that would seal Spain's fate .

Speaker 1 2:36

Dawn breaks over Madrid on February 16 , 1936 , election day . The air is crisp , with winter cold , but the streets are already alive with tension . In working-class Vallecas , people have been queuing since before sunrise , stamping their feet to stay warm . In the wealthy neighborhoods , chauffeur-driven cars deliver voters to the polls . Two Spains sharing the same same city but living in different worlds . What makes this election different is something called the popular front .

Speaker 1 3:19

Imagine a political coalition so broad . It includes everyone from middle-class shopkeepers who want moderate reform to anarchists who want to burn the whole system down . At his heart are the socialists led by Francisco Largo Caballero . They're calling him the Spanish Lenin now . Then there are the Republicans , middle-class liberals like Manuel Asana , who want change but fear revolution . The Communist Party is still small but growing fast , especially among the young .

Speaker 1 3:47

In Moscow , stalin watches with keen interest . Spain has become the first test of his new strategy the idea that left-wing parties must unite to fight fascism . His agents have been quietly helping to broker disalliance , sending money through secret channels , offering advice . But most Spanish leftists care more about land reform and workers' rights than they do about international revolution . The right has its own international connections . José Antonio Primo de Rivera , leader of the fascist Falange , has been receiving funds from Mussolini since 1934 . His party's blue-shirted militants fight pitched battles in the streets with socialist youth . The conservative SIDA party campaigns with dire warnings about Spain becoming a Soviet satellite . Their posters show churches in flames , priests being executed , hammer and sickle flags all over Madrid .

Speaker 1 4:47

Meanwhile , in Berlin , hitler sees opportunity . His advisors tell him Spain could be a valuable ally against France . It's iron ore essential for German rearmament . The Nazi intelligence service , the Abwehr , has already established networks in major Spanish ports as agents posing as businessmen and tourists . The tension is palpable everywhere . In a small town in Toledo , there is an old man who remembers that day , his father was a railway worker and he retells the story of the day when they went to vote as a family . As they approached the polling station , the local priest emerged . Their eyes met . The priest made the sign of the cross . His father spat on the ground , two Spains unable even to pass each other on the street without hostility . When the results came in , they hit Spain like an earthquake . The Popular Front wins 4.7 million votes to the right's 4 million .

Speaker 1 5:53

In Madrid's Puerta del Sol , crowds gather before the official announcement . They're singing the Internacional , waving red flags , the communist anthem . In Barcelona , workers are already breaking into prisons , freeing those arrested after the 1934 uprising . But in the wealthy neighborhood of Salamanca , the scene is very different . The writer Agustin de Foxa watches from his window as servants load trunks into cars . The exodus has begun , he writes in his diary . They're like rats leaving a sinking ship .

Speaker 1 6:30

Within days , capital starts flowing out of Spain . The stock market plunges . Army officers begin holding secret meetings . The new government tries to restore calm . Manuel Asana , now promoted from prime minister to president , declares the republic is not in danger . There will be no revolution , no expropriations , no collected farms . But his words fall on deaf ears . The right is convinced Spain is about to become a Soviet republic . The far left sees their victory as a mandate for revolution .

Speaker 1 7:05

And so spring turns into summer and Spain descends into what one historian called the practice run for the civil war . Each morning brings new and fresh violence . In Madrid , people wake to find churches smoldering their charred spires reaching into the dawn sky . By evening , word arrives of another political assassination , another strike , another clash in the streets . A British diplomat writes home that May , and he says I'm watching a nation tear itself apart in slow motion . A British diplomat writes home that May , and he says and he wasn't exaggerating Between February and July , spain averages a political murder every single day . Churches burn at a rate of nearly two per day .

Speaker 1 7:51

In Valencia , someone throws a bomb into a religious procession day . In Valencia , someone throws a bomb into a religious procession . In Badajoz , peasants occupy large estates , declaring them collectivized . In Madrid , falange's militants and socialist youth groups wage running battles throughout the streets . The Falange itself is transforming .

Speaker 1 8:11

Before the election , there were mainly university students playing at revolution , but now the ranks are swelling with soldiers , police officers , wealthy youths looking for action . Their leader , josé Antonio , writes from his prison cell . Spain has only two destinies left . Revolution or counter-revolution . We choose the latter latter . Meanwhile , in army barracks across Spain , another kind of revolution is being planned .

Speaker 1 8:43

This is where we meet General Emilio Mola , the director of what is coming . Unlike Franco , who cultivates an image of stern military discipline , mola is known for his intelligence and political acumen . In early March , he begins writing a series of secret documents outlining plans for a military uprising . These documents are known as the director's instructions , and they're chilling in their clarity . They say it will be necessary to create an atmosphere of terror . We must eliminate , without scruple or hesitation , all those who do not think as we do . This isn't just about changing the government . It's about destroying one vision of Spain to impose another .

Speaker 1 9:30

The conspiracy grows through the spring . Mola establishes a network that he calls the organization . They communicate in code , using commercial terms . The goods will be delivered , they say , which means weapons are being smuggled . The clients are satisfied , which means officers are ready to rebel . Money flows in from right-wing supporters across Europe . The Italian government secretly promises aid . German agents arrange weapons shipments disguised as commercial cargo .

Speaker 1 10:03

Franco , watching from his exile in the Canary Islands , stays cautiously on the sidelines , at least for now and this is classic Franco Careful , calculating , waiting to see which way the wind blows . When other generals press him to commit , he responds with vague promises . He wants to be sure of success before he risks his career . The government isn't entirely blind to what's coming . They transfer suspicious officers to remote posts , like Franco to the Canaries or Mola to Pamplona , godet to the Balearics . But this backfires . It actually puts key conspirators in perfect positions to launch a nationwide uprising .

Speaker 1 10:45

And then comes July 12 , 1936 . The spark that lights the powder keg Lieutenant Jose Castillo , a Republican officer known for training leftist militias , is shot dead by right-wing extremists . His fellow officers , seeking revenge , decide to kill a prominent right-wing leader , and they choose José Calvo Sotelo . Sotelo was a leading right-wing voice in Parliament . Sotelo was a leading right-wing voice in Parliament . At 43 , brilliant and charismatic , he was convinced Spain needed authoritarian rule . In one famous speech he declared Better a red Spain than a broken Spain , but give me a Spain that is both whole and white .

Speaker 1 11:30

In the early hours of July 13 , a group of assault guards and socialist militants , led by Civil Guard Captain Fernando Condes , arrive at Calvo Sotelo's home . They tell him he's under arrest . He goes with them , perhaps suspecting a trap , but too proud to resist . Hours later , his body is found the next morning in Madrid's Easter Cemetery , shot in the back of the head . The assassination of Calvo Sotelo changes everything . At his funeral , right-wing leader José María Gildrobles thunders . The next corpse will be that of the government . The conservative newspaper ABC prints his entire edition with black borders .

Speaker 1 12:17

In army barracks across Spain , officers who were hesitating about joining the conspiracy finally make up their mind . And this is when Franco finally commits . He sends a cryptic telegram Glory to the Immaculate One which is the signal that he's in . And so , on July 17 , he boards that Dragon Rapid aircraft paid for by right-wing supporters in London and flies to Morocco to take command of Spain's most effective fighting force , the Army of Africa . The same day , the garrison in Melilla rises up ahead of schedule . The conspiracy has been discovered and they have to act fast . By nightfall , the Spanish Foreign Legion and Moroccan regulars control most of Spanish Morocco .

Speaker 1 13:06

The next morning , garrisons across Spain begin to rebel . But something unexpected happens . The coup , which was meant to be quick and decisive , meets fierce resistance In Madrid , barcelona , valencia and other major cities . Workers' organizations immediately declare a general strike . They storm gun shops , they distribute weapons and they set up barricades , the government finally shaking out of its complacency begins arming worker militias . Spain fractures along lines that had been drawn over centuries . The industrialized north , except for Navarre , the Mediterranean coast and the central region around Madrid , remain loyal to the Republic . The agricultural north and west , along with much of Andalusia , fall to the rebels .

Speaker 1 13:57

The writer José María Perman captures the moment perfectly . Jose Maria Perman captures the moment perfectly . It was as if all the dead of Spanish history had risen from their graves to fight one last battle . You know what's tragic about this moment . Both sides still thought this would be over quickly . The rebels expected the republic to collapse within days . The government believed the uprising would be crushed like the 1932 Sanjurho coup . Both were catastrophically wrong . I've always found it fascinating how history can mislead us .

Speaker 1 14:35

The republican government's confidence came from their experience with the Sanjurho coup . Just four years earlier , in August 1932 , general José Sanjurjo , nicknamed the Lion of the Rift for his victories in Morocco , had attempted a similar military uprising . The parallels seemed obvious . Like Mola's conspiracy in 1936 , sanjurjo had planned to coordinate simultaneous risings in various cities . Like Franco , he commanded enormous prestige within the army and like the 1936 bludders , he claimed he was saving Spain from chaos and revolution . But the 1932 coup was almost comically inept . Sanjurjo's manifesto declaring himself Captain General of Spain was printed too early and discovered by police . Most of his supposed supporters got cold feet at the last minute . In Madrid , the crucial garrison stayed loyal after the government simply promoted its commander . Only in Seville did Sanjurjo briefly take control , and even there he found himself facing massive worker resistance . Within 24 hours it was all over .

Speaker 1 15:46

Sanjurjo fled towards Portugal in a car but was caught because he'd insisted on bringing along his dress , uniform and medals . The car was too weighed down to outrun his pursuers . The Lion of the Rift ended up in prison , sentenced to death , but quickly given a reprieve by a government that saw him as more pathetic than dangerous . This experience shaped how the Republic viewed military threats going forward . When warnings came about Mola's conspiracy in 1936 , government ministers recalled Sanjurjo's failed adventure and shrugged . Prime Minister Casares Quiroga famously said of Franco if he doesn't sleep , he'll make himself sick . The Republic thought it was facing another general playing at politics . Instead , they were facing a methodically planned coup with international support and a willingness to unleash unprecedented violence . Ironically , sanjuro himself was supposed to lead the 1936 uprising , but he died in a plane crash in Portugal on his way to take command . The aircraft was overloaded again with his dress uniforms . His death left space for Franco to eventually take control of the rebel cause .

Speaker 1 17:04

Sometimes history doesn't just mislead . It comes with a brutal sense of irony . There is another key reason why 1936 wasn't 1932 . Of course we know that the Sanjurhuku had been poorly planned , poorly coordinated and lacked the international support needed . But this time things were different . When Franco landed in Morocco , he found German and Italian help already waiting . Hitler had sent 20 Junkers , 52 transport planes disguised as civilian aircraft , to create history's first major military airlift . Without these planes , franco's army of Africa might have remained stranded in Morocco , unable to cross the straits where Republican warships waited . The Italian contribution was even more immediate . Mussolini sent nine bombers and transport aircraft complete with crews . Within days , italian planes were bombing Republican ships in the Straits of Gibraltar . They're in the way for Franco's troops to cross by July 20th .

Speaker 1 18:10

It is clear the coup has both succeeded and failed . It has succeeded in splitting Spain in two , but failed to achieve its primary objective a quick takeover of power . As one rebel officer grimly tells his men , we wanted a surgical operation , but we're going to get a long and bloody war instead . Let me leave you with one final scene that captures everything about this moment . In the city of Burgos , which has fallen to the rebels , a group of workers has been lined up against a wall for execution . The local rebel commander asks if anyone wants to confess their sins before dying . One worker steps forward and says yes , I confess that we trusted too much in your word of honor as soldiers . Those words would echo through the war to come . Trust was dead in Spain . The time for words was over . The time for bullets had begun .

Echoes of Political Divide in Spain

Speaker 1 19:13

Standing in Spain today , you can still feel the echoes of these moments . When Catalans push for independence , when Basques demand more autonomy , when arguments break out over removing Franco's remains from the Valley of the Fallen . It all traces back to these days . In July 1936 .

Speaker 1 19:32

The coup created what Spaniards call the Two Spains , not just two sides in a war , but two completely different visions of what Spain should be or is . Completely different visions of what Spain should be or is Conservative and progressive , centralist and regionalist , traditional and modern . These visions weren't created by the coup , of course , as we've discussed , but they were frozen into place by what followed . In many ways , modern Spanish politics is still a conversation about which of these visions will ultimately prevail Next time on Double Helix . As Spain divides between nationalists and republicans , a wave of terror sweeps both zones . In nationalist territory , generals promise to purify Spain through violence . In republican areas , revolutionary justice leads to church burnings and revenge killings . We'll see how a political conflict became a crusade and how both sides convinced themselves that the only solution was the complete destruction of the other . Until then , thank you for listening and we will see you soon . Thank you .