Spain's 1936 Civil War erupts after failed coup and Calvo Sotelo killing

In the first half of 1936 the Second Spanish Republic was plunged into a deep political and social crisis. The narrow victory of the left‑wing Popular Front in the February elections radicalised both the right‑wing bloc, which feared Bolshevism, and the radical socialist and anarchist groups that began seizing large estates, striking and attacking churches.

The government of Santiago Casares Quiroga failed to curb the violence, and street clashes erupted in Madrid, Barcelona and Andalusia. On 12 July Lieutenant José del Castillo of the Assault Guard was murdered; the following day a Civil Guard unit arrested right‑wing deputy José Calvo Sotelo and killed him in a police vehicle. The killings shattered hopes for a political solution and prompted hesitant army officers to join the rebellion organised by General Emilio Mola, whose plan called for a coordinated, rapid uprising across Spain. These events sparked the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War.