The Spanish military conspiracy of 1936 was a plot developed within the Spanish army from March to July of 1936. It commenced shortly after the Popular Front government assumed power. Initially, it was barely more than an informal group of Madrid-based generals, who agreed to monitor political developments, and be ready to intervene in case of a breakdown of state structures and a forthcoming proletarian revolution. Over time, conspirators assumed that military action was inevitable, and started to prepare for a coup. Its political objectives were not clear, but its most important one was toppling the Popular Front government, leading to major rectifications of the republican regime towards some sort of corporative state. The conspiracy network grew to hundreds of officers in most Spanish garrisons. The person who agreed to lead the future coup was the exiled general José Sanjurjo. His representative in Spain was initially general Ángel Rodríguez del Barrio, but since late May, this role was assumed by general Emilio Mola, who emerged as the de facto leader of the conspiracy. Some right-wing politicians were given vague information, but they were neither told any details nor admitted to the decision-making process. The government was aware of the plot unfolding, but since there was only circumstantial evidence in hand, they opted not to launch a pre-emptive strike, and to instead wait for the plotters to come out. The conspiracy climaxed in a coup, which began on July 17, 1936, and which effectively commenced the Spanish Civil War.
Background
Throughout most of the 19th century the army acted as an arbiter in political conflicts, with a decisive role in coups, risings and civil wars. The beginning of the Restoration regime, established in the mid-1870s, commenced a period of stabilization, with the military driven out of politics. However, since the early 20th century, the system was decreasingly capable of dealing with new challenges, and the voice of the army was beginning to be heard again. The 1923 coup of general Miguel Primo de Rivera was praetorian in character; the 6-year-long military dictatorship successfully tackled key immediate problems, but it failed to re-define the regime. Primo acknowledged defeat and stepped down in 1930, but no new solution within the format of liberal democracy has been found and the monarchy collapsed in 1931.
The military greeted the advent of the Republic with little enthusiasm, but no particular hostility. The officer corps was generally monarchist rather than republican and conservative rather than progressive, but following last years of Primo dictatorship, which had compromised and discredited the army, most military men preferred to stay clear of politics. It was only when the new regime started to target the army for serious reform that voices of dissent started to be heard. A series of reforms, introduced since 1931, were aimed at scaling down the overgrown officer corps, structural reform, and bringing the armed forces firmly under the civilian control. This proved to make way for the growth of corporative disenchantment and for loose conspiracy by a minor fraction of the officer corps, which produced the politically vague 1932 coup known as Sanjurjada, defeated easily in about 24 hours.
In 1933-1935 the army did not play a protagonist role in politics, except that in October 1934 it was engaged in defending the constitutional republican regime against a localized revolution staged by Anarchist, Socialist and Catalanist groupings; combat involved much bloodshed and massive repression followed. It was mostly individual military men – usually retired or without assignment – that took part in anti-Republican plots engineered by some right-wing political movements, especially the Carlists. A semi-official structure, Unión Militar Española, emerged in the early 1930s and grouped a minoritarian, yet significant group of officers, especially at junior and mid-rank positions; it was flavored by right-wing sympathies but initially it did not assume a clearly anti-Republican format, and it remained as sort of a corporative organization.
General elections of February 1936 produced the triumph of Popular Front, the alliance partially composed of parties which organized the 1934 revolution and the one which placed amnesty to the revolutionaries as the key point of its program. On election night, triumphant celebrations in many cities turned into riots and produced numerous assaults on town halls and prison. A few highly-positioned officers suggested that the government introduce state of war, which some scholars consider the first, unsuccessful attempt of a military coup. The new Popular Front government embarked on radical left-wing policy and declared amnesty; suspicious about the army, it replaced most of the command layer with trusted officers. Politically-motivated street violence kept growing, soon to approach breakdown of public order. In early March legal action was launched against some officers who had fought the 1934 revolution, while radical parties demanded that all state functionaries involved in repressing the 1934 rebels be subject to juridical proceedings.
Development
Generals' Junta (early March – late April)
On March 8 a group of generals – later to be named Junta de Generales by some historians - met in Madrid and formed the first nucleus of the conspiracy. According to the official ministerial list, the most senior officer was 1) Rodriguez del Barrio, followed by 2) Villegas, 3) Saliquet, 4) González Carrasco, 5) Franco, 6) Fanjul (division generals), 7) Orgaz, and 8) Mola (brigadiers). Some generals (especially Goded, after del Barrio, the second highest-ranking conspirator and by some historians considered "el principal inspirador de la conspiración militar") were absent, though aware and supportive. Among those present only Franco and Mola commanded troops (or rather were appointed to command, yet to assume their new duties); the remaining ones held administrative roles or remained at ministerial disposal. The generals did not initially plan to stage a coup; instead, they agreed to watch political developments closely and get ready for intervention in case of total breakdown of public order, dissolution of Guardia Civil, release of all conscripts, or armed rising on part of the Left. They also agreed that the leading role should be entrusted to general Sanjurjo, at the time on exile in Portugal, with del Barrio acting as his representative. Soon afterwards Franco left for Canary Islands and Mola for Navarre, while other participants remained in Madrid. Unión Militar Española structures were taken advantage of as communication channels, especially that colonel Galarza, the co-founder of UME, also took part in the meeting.
Some time in mid-March, Sanjurjo, who was in touch with conspirators by means of emissaries and encrypted postal correspondence, accepted the leadership role, with del Barrio as the one "quien me gusta más" and Varela as "la mejor cabeza y el único intelligente". Development of the conspiracy network is unclear; it was mostly a Madrid-based enterprise and sketchy plans, in place by late March, were also centered on Madrid. At the time the plotters did not consider the situation in Spain detrimental enough to warrant a coup and preferred to simply wait in standby. This irritated Sanjurjo, who from his Portuguese exile pushed for immediate action; he developed doubts about what he considered an indecisive stand of the Madrid conspirators and as a measure of encouragement pledged to move to Spain the same moment the coup is declared. A review, performed by the plotters and dated early April, listed Morocco, Valladolid, Burgos, Pamplona, Vitoria and Zaragoza garrisons as firmly adhering to conspiracy, with Madrid unclear and Barcelona highly doubtful; first personal suggestions, later largely to be changed, were offered.
In early April the president Alcalá-Zamora was deposed. Some conspirators thought it a first step towards revolutionaries taking over power; Galarza asked Alcalá not to step down and offered military support, but it is not clear whether he represented other plotters. Others remained skeptical, e.g. on April 12 Franco sent a dilatory note. On April 14 celebrations of the anniversary of the Republic turned into riots and a respected right-wing Guardia Civil commander was killed; his funeral two days later turned into a large anti-governmental demonstration. This has probably prompted the conspirators to act. On April 17 Rodríguez del Barrio, González Carrasco, Varela and Orgaz set April 20 as the date of the rising. Its details remain rather obscure, apart that Varela was to seize the Ministry of War and Orgaz to lead sub-units taking control of Capitania General. However, at least some of those involved had second thoughts, as they were well aware of rather sketchy and improvised nature of the scheme. On April 18 del Barrio claimed health problems – at the time his cancer was well advanced – and withdrew. The coup was cancelled in the last minute.
Realignment (late April – late May)
Preparations to the April 20 coup exposed some of the conspirators, as state services were able at least to identify key suspects, e.g. security got hold of a list with members of the future governing Junta. Many were either (like Orgaz) transferred to minor peripheral positions or (like Saliquet) moved to the "disponibles forzosos" category, in service but with no assignement. The transfers weakened the plot, especially in Madrid, yet neither a disciplinary nor legal action has been taken. Cancellation of the April 20 coup produced much frustration among some mid-level officers, disillusioned about dithering and wavering on part of key plotters. In late April some Madrid conspirators informed Sanujro that "all is lost". At the time the conspiracy appeared to have been at its lowest point. Sanjurjo estimated that Varela, under constant surveillance in Cádiz, had no means to act, while Mola in Pamplona did have room for maneuvering, but remained vacillating.
On April 19, following cancellation of the coup, mid-rank UME officers from some garrisons of the VI. Military Region (Burgos, Pamplona, Logroño) staged a meeting. Disappointment as to indecision of the Madrid conspirators was running high, and these present decided that an alternative path should be taken. They focused on Mola, who for some 5 weeks had been cautiously tying the knots of local conspiracy in Pamplona; the officers suggested that he takes the initiative, which he apparently agreed to do. Few days later, on April 25, Mola issued and sent to fellow conspirators a document named Instrucción reservada no. 1; it laid out basic rules for organisation of the coup on the local level. It is not clear whether the document was a proposal or rather an instruction, as at the time the author was merely one of a few senior generals behind the plot and by no means an agreed leader, which he would become few weeks later.
The Madrid conspirators unexpectedly devised another scheme. On May 8 Fanjul, García de la Herrán, Carrasco, Orgaz, Ponte, Saliquet and Villegas decided to act 3 days later. The newly elected president, Manuel Azaña, was to take the oath in the Cortes; a presidential battalion, supposedly controlled by rebels, was to detain all Popular Front politicians during the ceremony, while an artillery detachment was to serve as backup with some civilians from Falange and Comunión Tradicionalista also taking part. Little is known of this plan, including to what extent the scheme went beyond a mere idea and what preparations have been actually taken; eventually on May 11 nothing happened. It seems that the episode has furtherly compromised conspirators from Junta de Generales.
A manuscript note found in Sanjurjo's papers and dated May 15 claimed that the unique option left was "elementos civiles de Navarra, y Mola". In the second half of May the correspondence between Mola and Sanjurjo was in full swing and some sort of agreement between the two was being forged. On May 25 Mola issued two more documents, Instrucción Reservada No. 2, and El objetivo, los medios y los itinerarios; for the first time they outlined a plan of rebel units converging upon Madrid. On May 29 Sanjurjo declared that his representative in Spain would be Mola, who hence replaced Rodríguez del Barrio at this role. By that time to most conspirators it became clear that the coup was not – as originally agreed in early March – an option, to be acted upon or not depending on developments, but a firm objective.
Plan sealed (late May – late June)
Since mid-May the centre of gravity of the conspiracy clearly moved from Madrid to Pamplona, and "a broader network of conspiracy began to form". On May 31 Mola issued Directiva para la V División and Directiva para la VII División, fairly detailed instructions for Zaragoza and Valladolid military regions. It seems that at the time he was already the key brain behind the conspiracy, acting on behalf of Sanjurjo and de facto assuming the role of the rebel chief of staff. His documents demonstrate that he reversed the centrifugal plan, produced by Junta de Generales, and kept developing details of a centripetal scheme. Thanks to a warning from conspirators in state security structures Mola managed to outsmart director general de Seguridad, who on June 3 showed up in Pamplona but found no compromising evidence.