Editing Francisco Franco (section)

=== First months ===
[[File:Spanish Civil War - Mass grave - Estépar, Burgos.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|Twenty-six Republicans executed by Francoists at the beginning of the Spanish Civil War, buried in a mass grave at [[Estépar]]]]
Following the ''[[pronunciamiento]]'' of 18 July 1936, Franco assumed the leadership of the 30,000 soldiers of the [[Spanish Army of Africa]].<ref name="Keene2007">{{cite book |last1=Keene |first1=Judith |title=Fighting For Franco: International Volunteers in Nationalist Spain During the Spanish Civil War |year=2007 |publisher=A&C Black |isbn=978-1-85285-593-2 |page=27 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=e4qtAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA27 |language=en}}</ref> The first days of the insurgency were marked by an imperative need to secure control over the [[Spanish Morocco|Spanish Moroccan Protectorate]]. On one side, Franco had to win the support of the native Moroccan population and their (nominal) authorities, and, on the other, he had to ensure his control over the army. His method was the summary execution of some 200 senior officers loyal to the Republic (one of them his own cousin). His loyal bodyguard was shot by Manuel Blanco. Franco's first problem was how to move his troops to the [[Iberian Peninsula]], since most units of the Navy had remained in control of the Republic and were blocking the [[Strait of Gibraltar]]. He requested help from [[Benito Mussolini]], who responded with an offer of arms and planes.<ref name="RadoshHabek2001">{{cite book |editor1-last=Radosh |editor1-first=Ronald |editor2-last=Habeck |editor2-first=Mary R. |editor3-last=Sevostʹi͡anov |editor3-first=G. N. |title=Spain Betrayed: The Soviet Union in the Spanish Civil War |year=2001 |publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=978-0-300-08981-3 |page=29 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IayGhrEQX_QC&pg=PA29 |language=en |chapter=Historical Background}}</ref> In Germany [[Wilhelm Canaris]], the head of the ''[[Abwehr]]'' military intelligence service, persuaded Hitler to support the Nationalists;<ref name="Bassett2012">{{cite book |last1=Bassett |first1=Richard |title=Hitler's Spy Chief: The Wilhelm Canaris Mystery |year=2012 |publisher=Open Road Media |isbn=978-1-4532-4929-1 |page=92 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IwXzYNoZ9FUC&pg=PT92 |language=en}}</ref> Hitler sent 20 [[Junkers Ju 52|Ju 52 transport aircraft]] and six [[Heinkel]] biplane fighters, on the condition that they were not to be used in hostilities unless the Republicans attacked first.<ref name="Mueller2017">{{cite book |last1=Mueller |first1=Michael |title=Nazi Spymaster: The Life and Death of Admiral Wilhelm Canaris |year=2017 |publisher=Skyhorse |isbn=978-1-5107-1777-0 |page=iii17 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BpHRDgAAQBAJ&pg=PR3-IA17 |language=en}}</ref> Mussolini sent 12 [[Savoia-Marchetti SM.81 Pipistrello|Savoia-Marchetti SM.81]] transport/bombers, and a few fighter aircraft. From 20 July onward Franco was able, with this small squadron of aircraft, to initiate an [[Airbridge (logistics)|air bridge]] that carried 1,500 soldiers of the Army of Africa to [[Seville]], where these troops helped to ensure rebel control of the city.<ref name="Candil2021">{{cite book |last1=Candil |first1=Anthony J. |title=Tank Combat in Spain: Armored Warfare During the Spanish Civil War 1936–1939 |year=2021 |publisher=Casemate |isbn=978-1-61200-971-1 |page=2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=170pEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA2 |language=en}}</ref>  He successfully negotiated with Germany, and Italy for more military support, and above all for more aircraft. On 25 July aircraft began to arrive in [[Tetouan]] and on 5 August Franco was able to break the blockade, successfully deploying a convoy of fishing boats and merchant ships carrying some 3,000 soldiers; between 29 July and 15 August about 15,000 more men were moved.<ref name="Candil2021" />

On 26 July, just eight days after the revolt had started, foreign allies of the Republican government convened an international communist conference at Prague to arrange plans to help the Popular Front forces in Spain. Communist parties throughout the world quickly launched a full scale propaganda campaign in support of the Popular Front. The [[Communist International]] (Comintern) immediately reinforced its activity, sending to Spain its Secretary-General, the Bulgarian [[Georgi Dimitrov]], and the Italian [[Palmiro Togliatti]], chief of the [[Italian Communist Party|Communist Party of Italy]].{{sfn|Hayes|1951|p=117}}{{sfn|Richardson|2014|p=12}} From August onward, aid from the Soviet Union began; by February 1937 two ships per day arrived at Spain's Mediterranean ports carrying munitions, rifles, machine guns, hand grenades, artillery, and trucks. With the cargo came Soviet agents, technicians, instructors and propagandists.{{sfn|Hayes|1951|p=116}}

The [[Communist International]] immediately started to organise the [[International Brigades]], volunteer military units which included the [[Brigate Garibaldi|Garibaldi Brigade]] from Italy and the [[Lincoln Battalion]] from the United States. The International Brigades were usually deployed as [[shock troops]], and as a result they suffered high casualties.{{sfn|Payne|2012|p=154}}

In early August, the situation in western [[Andalucia]] was stable enough to allow Franco to organise a column (some 15,000 men at its height), under the command of then Lieutenant-Colonel [[Juan Yagüe]], which would march through [[Extremadura]] towards Madrid. On 11 August [[Battle of Mérida|Mérida was taken]], and on 15 August [[Battle of Badajoz (1936)|Badajoz]], thus joining both nationalist-controlled areas. Additionally, Mussolini ordered a voluntary army, the ''[[Corpo Truppe Volontarie]]'' (CTV) of fully motorised units (some 12,000 Italians), to Seville, and Hitler added to them a professional squadron from the [[Luftwaffe]] (2JG/88) with about 24 planes. All these planes had the Nationalist Spanish insignia painted on them, but were flown by Italian and German nationals. The backbone of Franco's air force in those days was the Italian [[SM.79]] and [[SM.81]] bombers, the biplane Fiat [[CR.32]] fighter and the German [[Junkers Ju 52]] cargo-bomber and the [[Heinkel He 51]] biplane fighter.<ref name="MacDougall2017">{{cite book |last1=MacDougall |first1=Philip |title=Air Wars 1920–1939: The Development and Evolution of Fighter Tactics |year=2017 |publisher=Fonthill Media |pages=133–135 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sYDzDQAAQBAJ&pg=PT133 |language=en}}</ref>

On 21 September, with the head of the column at the town of [[Maqueda]] (some 80&nbsp;km away from Madrid), Franco ordered a detour to free the [[Siege of the Alcázar|besieged garrison at the Alcázar]] of [[Toledo (Spain)|Toledo]], which was achieved on 27 September.<ref name="Tucker2021">{{cite book |last1=Tucker |first1=Spencer C. |title=Great Sieges in World History: From Ancient Times to the 21st Century |year=2021 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=978-1-4408-6803-0 |page=218 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H94aEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA218 |language=en}}</ref> This controversial decision gave the [[Popular Front (Spain)|Popular Front]] time to strengthen its defences in Madrid and hold the city that year,<ref name="Seidman2002">{{cite book |last1=Seidman |first1=Michael |title=Republic of Egos: A Social History of the Spanish Civil War |year=2002 |publisher=Univ of Wisconsin Press |isbn=978-0-299-17863-5 |pages=50–51 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VE4YVw9iBksC&pg=PA50}}</ref> but with Soviet support.<ref name="Cazorla-Sanchez2013">{{cite book |last1=Cazorla-Sanchez |first1=Antonio |title=Franco: The Biography of the Myth |year=2013 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-134-44949-1 |page=61 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EdcdAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA61 |language=en}}</ref> Kennan alleges that once Stalin had decided to assist the Spanish Republicans, the operation was put in place with remarkable speed and energy. The first load of arms and tanks arrived as early as 26 September and was secretly unloaded at night. Advisers accompanied the armaments. Soviet officers were in effective charge of military operations on the Madrid front. Kennan believes that this operation was originally conducted in good faith with no other purpose than saving the Republic.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Russia and the West under Lenin and Stalin|last=Kennan|first=George|pages=309}}</ref>

Hitler's policy for Spain was shrewd and pragmatic.<ref name="Whealey2021">{{cite book |last1=Whealey |first1=Robert H. |title=Hitler And Spain: The Nazi Role in the Spanish Civil War, 1936–1939 |year=2021 |publisher=University Press of Kentucky |isbn=978-0-8131-8275-9 |page=135 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=B0wgEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT135 |language=en}}</ref> The minutes of a conference with his foreign minister and army chiefs at the [[Reich Chancellery]] in Berlin on 10 November 1937 summarised his views on foreign policy regarding the Spanish Civil War: "On the other hand, a 100 percent victory for Franco was not desirable either, from the German point of view; rather were we interested in a continuance of the war and in the keeping up of the tension in the Mediterranean."<ref name="USGovPrintingOffice1949">{{cite book |title=Documents on German Foreign Policy: 1918–1945 {{!}} From the Archives of the German Foreign Ministry |year=1949 |publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=09gWAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA37 |volume=12 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="Tucker2016">{{cite book |last1=Tucker |first1=Spencer C. |title=World War II: The Definitive Encyclopedia and Document Collection [5 volumes]: The Definitive Encyclopedia and Document Collection |year=2016 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=978-1-85109-969-6 |page=1982 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wm_YDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA1982 |language=en}}</ref> Hitler distrusted Franco; according to the comments he made at the conference he wanted the war to continue, but he did not want Franco to achieve total victory. He felt that with Franco in undisputed control of Spain, the possibility of Italy intervening further or of its continuing to occupy the Balearic Islands would be prevented.{{sfn|Hayes|1951|pp=127–128}}

By February 1937 the Soviet Union's military help started to taper off, to be replaced by limited economic aid.