July 1936 military uprising in Barcelona

Barcelona's 19 July military rising
Part of the Spanish Civil War
Date 19 July 1936 Location Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain Result Republican strategic victory.
Belligerents
Second Spanish Republic Generalitat of Catalonia CNT/FAI	Nationalist Spain
Commanders and leaders
Buenaventura Durruti Francisco Ascaso † General Francisco Llano de la Encomienda Colonel Antonio Escobar Huertas President Lluís Companys Captain Frederic Escofet	General Manuel Goded  General Álvaro Fernández Burriel
Strength
5,000 men (Civil Guard, Police, Assault Guard, Mossos d'Esquadra) CNT Militia	5,000 men
Casualties and losses
200	300

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. Most of the army officers in the city supported the coup, but the Civil Guard and the Assault Guard (Guardia de Asalto) remained loyal to the government. Furthermore, Barcelona was one of the strongholds of the anarchist union, the Confederación Nacional del Trabajo (CNT). The rebel troops were defeated after bloody combat.

The defeat of the military coup in Barcelona was a great success for the Republic, although after the defeat of the Francoists it became clear that the workers' militias - in particular, the anarcho-syndicalist militias - were the ones that really controlled the city. The defeat of the rebels marked the beginning of the Spanish Revolution and also the beginning of a harsh repression in Catalonia against those elements of being "fascist" or opposed to the revolution.

On July 17–18, a part of the Spanish army, led by a group of officers (among them the generals José Sanjurjo, Francisco Franco, Emilio Mola, Manuel Goded Llopis and Gonzalo Queipo de Llano), tried to overthrow the Popular Front government of the Second Spanish Republic in the Spanish coup of July 1936. One of the main goals of the coup was to take control of the main cities of the country, among them Barcelona.

In Barcelona, the plotters led by the General Fernández Burriel planned to use the troops of the garrisons in the periphery of the city, about 5000 men of the IV division of the Spanish Army in order to march towards the city center and join up in the Plaça de Catalunya. Then they would occupy the city and wait the arrival of General Goded. The general Llano de la Encomienda, commander of the IV division, stayed loyal to the government, but most of the officers supported the coup. Nevertheless, the Guardia Civil (Civil Guard) in Barcelona, led by General Aranguren; the Guardia de Asalto; and the Catalan police, called Mossos d'Esquadra, led by Colonel Frederic Escofet, (around 5000 men) remained loyal to the government. Also remaining loyal was El Prat air base, commanded by Colonel Diaz Sandino, whose planes bombed the rebel troops.

...
Wikipedia