Narrow your results
"On July 17, 1936, Franco and his Nacionales-aligned Army of Africa—comprised of fighters from Spanish Morocco—rose against the Second Spanish Republic and swarmed the south of Spain, taking Seville with relative ease. By July 18, Franco had assumed command of the legion and begun dealing with opposition fiercely. Civilians, in response, organized militias and mobilized to defend the Republic against the Nationalist threat. Anarchist workers emerged in Barcelona; factories were collectivized and money abolished in parts of Catalonia. For a time, there was hope that the revolt could be the impetus for a socialist revolution, as the Republican government in Madrid scrambled to build a popular front. The war that was later immortalized by George Orwell and Ernest Hemingway in literary works influenced by their experiences on the frontline. "