Spanish Civil War

:Alternative meaning: Spanish Civil War, 1820-1823

The war: 1937

:For a much more detailed chronology see Spanish Civil War chronology 1937

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With his ranks being swelled by Italian troops and Spanish colonial soldiers from Morocco, Franco made another attempt to capture Madrid in January and February of 1937, but failed again. On February 21 the League of Nations Non-Intervention Committee ban on foreign national "volunteers" went into effect. The large city of Málaga was taken on February 8, and on April 28, Franco's men entered Guernica, in the Basque Country, two days after the bombing of that city by the German Condor Legion equipped with Heinkel He 51 biplanes (the legion arrived in Spain on May 7). After the fall of Guernica, the government began to fight back with increasing effectiveness.

Related Topics:
February 21 - Volunteers - Málaga - February 8 - April 28 - Guernica - Basque Country - Condor Legion - Heinkel He 51 - May 7

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In May, the government made a move to recapture Segovia, forcing Franco to pull troops away from the Madrid front to halt their advance. Mola, Franco's second-in-command, was killed on June 3, and in early July, despite the fall of Bilbao in June, the government actually launched a strong counter-offensive in the Madrid area, which the Nationalists repulsed with some difficulty.

Related Topics:
Segovia - Bilbao

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After that, Franco regained the initiative, invading Aragon in August and then taking the city of Santander (now in Cantabria). Two months of bitter fighting followed and, despite determined Asturian resistance, Gijón (in Asturias) fell in late October, which effectively ended the war in the North.

Related Topics:
Aragon - Santander - Cantabria - Gijón - Asturias

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Meanwhile, on August 28, the Vatican recognized Franco under pressure from Mussolini, and at the end of November, with the Nationalists closing in on Valencia, the government moved again, to Barcelona.

Related Topics:
August 28 - Vatican - Valencia - Barcelona

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