The Andalusia Campaign refers to the set of military operations that took place in Andalusia between the nationalist and republican forces, during the first months of the Spanish Civil War.
The military coup had managed to triumph in several Andalusian provincial capitals —Seville, Córdoba, Granada or Cádiz—,Thomas 1976 p. 282 but most of the territory remained loyal to the Republic. The arrival of powerful reinforcements from the Army of Africa and the inability of the republican forces allowed the rebels to gain control of most of western Andalusia, uniting the main centers that they controlled. However, the bulk of the rebel forces headed towards Extremadura and the central area of the peninsula,Thomas 1976 p. 402-409 so the Andalusian front would end up becoming a secondary sector during the rest of the contest.El Merroun 2003 p. 104
Background On July 17, in the afternoon, the military garrison of Melilla unexpectedly revolted.Thomas 1976 p. 239-241 After Melilla, the other places of the protectorate of Morocco followed, and then the day following the uprising of the garrison of the Canary Islands took place, under the command of General Francisco FrancoAróstegui 2006 p. 42-45
That day the uprising spread to the Iberian Peninsula. At two in the afternoon on July 18, a part of the Seville garrison revolted against the Government. General Queipo de Llano, main leader of the conspiracy in Andalusia, arrested the commanders of the II Organic Division and took control of it.Salas 1992 p. 247-260 Although he encountered strong popular resistance in various parts of the city, Queipo de Llano managed to dominate the urban center and the Tablada airfield. He then gave the order to the remaining Andalusian garrisons to revolt, without waiting until the 19th as planned in Emilio Mola.Salas 1992 p. 265 A few hours later, in the city of Córdoba, Colonel Ciriaco Cascajo revolted the artillery regiment and proclaimed a state of war, managing to dominate the city.Aróstegui 2006 p. 68 Throughout In the afternoon the garrisons of Cádiz (general José López-Pinto), Jerez de la Frontera (commander Salvador de Arizón), Algeciras (lieutenant colonel Manuel Coco) and Málaga (general Francisco Patxot).Hurtado 2011 p. 19-20 The uprising in the capital of Malaga failed miserably and left this province under government control; On the contrary, the triumph of the uprising in the province of Cádiz gave the opportunity to cross the Strait of Gibraltar to some units of the Army of Africa that would be decisive.Ortiz 2006 p. 144
The garrison of Granada revolted finally on the afternoon of July 20, and managed to take full control of the city only several days later, after subduing popular resistance.Thomas 1976 p. 289Gibson 1981 p. 103 For their part, Huelva, Jaén and Almería remained faithful to the republican authorities, despite the failed attempt at rebellion in Almería.Aróstegui 2006 p. 70-71
Development of operations Seville, base of operations On the afternoon of July 22, the rebel forces managed to secure control of Seville.Ortiz 2006 p. 165-169 This allowed them to have a very important base of operations in the south of Spain, as well as an important logistics and communications center. From Seville, various expeditions began to be sent to the surrounding towns in order to ensure control of the capital of Seville. On the 19th they managed to conquer Dos Hermanas.Ortiz 2006 p. 146 Two days later a column of regulars was rejected in Carmona by anarchist militias,Ortiz 2006 p. 147 although this town would finally be taken the following dayOrtiz 2006 p. 164 after being subjected to intense artillery fire. These movements were important, since the conquest of Dos Hermanas made it possible to secure communications from Seville with Cádiz, while Carmona assured them communications with Córdoba.Ortiz 2006 p. 146, 164 On the 22nd also Arahal fell,Ortiz 2006 p. 146 after which between 146 and 1,600 people were executed.Preston 2013 p. 228 On August 7, a column from Seville to conquer Lora del Río, which fell the next day after a brief artillery and aerial bombardment.Preston 2013 p. 32-233 In revenge for the murders that some leftists had carried out after the outbreak of the war, the conquerors undertook a very harsh repression: between 600 and 1,000 people were shot, sometimes entire families were executed.Preston 2013 p. 233-234
A column commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Castejón left Seville heading east, and in a series of raids his forces managed to conquer Alcalá de Guadaira, La Puebla de Cazalla, and Morón de la Frontera, Écija, Osuna, Estepa and La Roda.Preston 2013 p. 217 The taking of Alcalá de Guadaira was significant, due to its important bakery production.Álvarez Rey 2006 p. 180 In another action, on July 26, Castejón's forces took the Huelva town of La Palma del Condado, after a brief bombardment.Preston 2013 p. 217
From Huelva the republican authorities organized a column of miners and civil guards with the intention of quelling the uprising in Seville. The column left Huelva and picked up volunteers on its way to the capital of Seville, but on the morning of July 19 it suffered an ambush in La Pañoleta, near Camas, and was practically destroyed.Ortiz 2006 p. 136-139 Shortly after, the rebels organized a column under the command of Lieutenant Commander Ramón de Carranza, who in a quick raid would end up taking Huelva on July 29.Aróstegui 2006 p. 65 The rebels led by Carranza entered the city after discovering that many of the republican authorities had fled by sea. With this action, the majority of towns that went to the Portuguese border fell into the hands of the rebel columns.Álvarez Rey 2006 p. 181 Next, the rebels launched themselves into the mining basins of Tharsis mining basin and Riotinto mining basin,Andrade 1979 p. 222 of great strategic importance. The rest of the province remained in Republican hands until the end of August.Aróstegui 2006 p. 65 The resistance in the mining regions was very tough, despite the serious military inferiority in which the militias found themselves.Preston 2013 p. 217-218 On September 19, 1936, with the taking of Cumbres de Enmedio, Cumbres Mayores and Hinojales it was considered occupied the entire province.
In Cádiz the rebels dominated from the first days Cádiz and its naval base, Algeciras, Jerez de la Frontera and other important towns. There were important pockets of resistance in places like San Fernando or La Línea de la Concepción, where they even had to send the 2nd Tabor of Regulars of Ceuta. The arrival of reinforcements from the Army of Africa and the formation of local militias made it possible to ensure control of the rest of the province of Cádiz by the end of August.Aróstegui 2006 p. 65-67 In fact, for the August 18, most of the cities or towns in Cadiz were under the control of the rebel forces.Preston 2013 p. 243 The repression in the province was especially harsh: in almost all towns there were executions.Preston 2013 p. 43-244 The Tercio Mora-Figueroa stood out for its actions, which conquered several towns in its advance to the Serranía de Ronda.Preston 2013 p. 244
Since the end of July, Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy had provided transport planes to the rebels to transport the troops of the Army of Africa to the Iberian Peninsula.Thomas 1976 p. 402 Between July 29 and August 5, the airlift managed to transport some 1,500 African troops. From that day on, the number of soldiers transported by air daily to the peninsula was 500.Thomas 1976 p. 402 Furthermore, on August 5 a convoy rebellious managed to cross the Strait of Gibraltar and transfer another 3,000 African soldiers to the peninsula along with all their equipment.Thomas 1976 p. 403 With all these troops a powerful military column could be organized that He left Seville on August 2 and headed to Extremadura,Espinosa 2003 p. 8 under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Juan Yagüe. On their way they managed to conquer some towns in the mountains, such as Cazalla or Constantina; the latter was captured on August 9, after which the rebel forces unleashed a brutal repression. Previously, after the uprising, the Popular Front militias had carried out 92 murders.Salas 2009 p. 543-544 which led to the murder of some 990 people.Salas 2009 p. 609-610
These rapid advances by the rebellious columns managed, already at the end of July, to dominate a large territory that went from the Portuguese border to Huelva and Seville, and from there to Algeciras. This allowed the rebels to link together some of the original centers of the uprising, constituting an important «beachhead» in the southern territory of Spain.Thomas 1976 p. 355
Granada Front By July 25, the rebels already controlled Granada and the surrounding towns, but they found themselves isolated in the middle of the republican zone,Álvarez Rey 2006 p. 182Thomas 1976 p. 282 since most of the province remained faithful to the Republic.Aróstegui 2006 p. 70 During the first days of the war the front line passed by Güéjar Sierra, Sierra Nevada, Órgiva, La Malahá, Santa Fe, Láchar , Íllora, Cogollos Vega, Huétor Santillán, Beas, Dúdar and Quéntar. In some points the Republicans were only eight kilometers from the urban center.Gibson 1981 p. 105 In the capital of Granada the rebel forces did not have a large number of forces and within the city they were still There are many supporters or possible sympathizers of the Republic. On the outskirts of Granada, the town of Víznar became an important strategic point for the rebels since from there they could intercept all possible Republican incursions into Granada, especially from the mountainous positions that the Republic had to the north of the city. During the rest of the contest the Republicans kept these positions under their control,Gibson 1981 p. 237 which did not suffer any significant alteration. Despite its proximity to the war front, Víznar also became famous for being a place where the rebels took many of their victims to be shot.Gibson 1981 p. 238-241
With the city surrounded by Republican territory, they tried to recover it. During the first days the government forces carried out several aerial bombardments over the city.Solé i Sabaté Villarroya 2003 p. 32-33 On July 30, a column of militiamen tried to reconquer Granada by attacking the sector of Huétor Santillán, but these were rejected by the defenders; The militiamen withdrew, leaving behind a good number of dead and a large amount of abandoned weapons.Gibson 1981 p. 106 That was the only significant Republican attempt to recover the city. At the beginning of August a flag of the Legion was sent by air and garrisoned in the city to reinforce its defense.Aróstegui 2006 p. 70
Córdoba Front After the triumph of the uprising in the capital of Cordoba, an important part of the province remains faithful to the Republic.Aróstegui 2006 p. 68 Numerous municipalities initially fell into the hands of the rebels, but after the On July 21, many of the rebellious towns would once again be under Republican control: that same day Nueva Carteya, Santa Eufemia and Pedro Abad fell. On the 22nd, peasants from Espejo and Castro del Río take control of the towns after massacring the most prominent right-wingers; Montoro and Villafranca de Córdoba also fell; On July 23, Posadas and Puente Genil returned to Republican control after a strong fight. Despite this, several towns in the province remained under the control of the rebels. In the capital of the province, the garrison was very small and barely had support from other rebel troops.Martínez Bande 1985 p. 91-92