SPAIN AND ITS CIVIL WARFor a while Spain had a lot of political turmoil. When the left-wing government took over, a group of generals under the leader Emilio Mola began to plan a revolt to restore Spain to its right-wing ways. Franco agreed with their ways, but with a new government he didn't want to be involved in an overthrow that was risky.
In 1935, Francisco Franco was appointed to go to the Canary Islands to serve as military governor there. Franco waited until he felt that Mola's forces had a good chance to succeed. Once he felt this was the situation, he led the Army of Africa onto the Spanish mainland with the help of Mussolini and Hitler. Franco met up with Mola's forces of the North and they headed to Madrid. This group of forces was the Nationalist side, while the other group that favored the left-wing government was the Loyalist side. Before the forces invaded at Madrid, they decided to assign someone to be the commander in chief. Due to multiple reasons including strong military background and having the help of Mussolini and Hitler, Francisco Franco was chosen to fulfill this role. The Spanish Civil War started in July of 1936. While Franco became El Caudillo of the new Nationalist regime on October 1, 1936, the new government didn't gain control over the whole country for another few years. Due to the massive strength that Franco and his Nationalist army held, they won complete and unconditional victory on April 1st of 1939. Franco wanted to restore Spain to what it once was, but with the start of WWII only months after the end of the civil war, Spain had little time to prepare. More information on Spain's involvement in WWII can be found on the WWII page. |