ABSTRACT
The coup d’état led by part of the Spanish army in July 1936 against the democratic government of the Second Spanish Republic was only partially successful. It left Spain divided into two warring zones for nearly three years. The leaders of the coup attempted to achieve power by defeating the enemy on the battlefront and cleansing of all elements considered undesirable on the home front. Blessed by the Catholic Church as crusaders defending religion and the West, the coup leaders implemented a set of genocidal practices. These practices led to the death of more than 150,000 Spaniards and the confinement of more than one million alleged atheists and communists in prisons and concentration camps. All of this occurred within the context of an international conflict that would mark the prelude to World War II. This conflict would combine the modern elements of warfare—such as mass bombings against civilians—with the ancient rhetoric of holy war in defense of Christianity and the West, enabling genocide.
