On this day, 17 July 1936, a Spanish military uprising began in Morocco as right wing generals declared war on the new Republican government. The rising had been due to begin at 5 AM on July 18, but the plot in Melilla, Spanish Morocco, had been uncovered, and so a local military officer decided to initiate the coup attempt a day early.
The rebel officers arrested loyal officers, seized all the public buildings in the city, as well as the aerodrome, and made lists of union members, left-wing activists, Republicans and Freemasons, and arrested them all..
Some residents in working class districts attempted to resist, but they had no arms, and so were quickly overcome. Anyone who resisted was summarily shot, including the mayor and the loyal local general. Rebels in Melilla then telephoned plotters in Ceuta and Tetuán, who then initiated their rising as well, arresting or executing anyone who resisted.
The following day, workers across Spain began to go on strike and requisition weapons to defend themselves and the Republic, even though the Republican government would refuse to give them arms.
These events marked the beginning of the Spanish civil war. In the coming days, full-scale social revolution would break out which would set the Spanish working class, and volunteers from across the world, against the combined might of the bulk of the Spanish military backed up by Nazi Germany and fascist Italy.
Our podcast episodes 39-40 give an overview of the conflict: https://workingclasshistory.com/2020/06/17/e39-the-spanish-civil-war-an-introduction/
Support our work on Patreon at https://patreon.com/workingclasshistory
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