Madrid withstood three successive attacks by the Nationalist army. For the time being, Franco gave up trying to seize the capital and directed his military effort towards the North. In the meantime, the Movimiento has formed its unity. It adopted as its symbol the coat of arms of the Catholic Monarchs:the eagle of Saint John, the yoke and the bundle of arrows. There is now only one political party in which are gathered the monarchists, the Carlists, the requetés, the traditional Spanish phalanxes, founded by José Antonio Primo de Rivera, and the J.O.N.S. In the other camp, Largo Caballero succeeded Giral. Head of the army and of the state, he must both lead the war well and keep the country alive. Administrator and strategist! Its task is made difficult by the rivalries between parties and tendencies, although both agree on the final goal:the victory of the Republic.
The reduction of the encircled fronts will be , now the main objective of Franco. And first, the Basque-Asturian area.
Monday, April 26, 1937, Guernica is very lively, because it is market day. We will dance tonight around the sacred oak under which, since time immemorial, the Spanish sovereigns took the oath of observation of the Basque fueros (freedoms). Suddenly, a terrifying roar. For nearly three hours, the holy city will be subjected to a terrible bombardment which would have killed more than 1,500 people and injured nearly 900.
Is there still a "Guernica mystery"? ? It is more difficult to dispute today that the authors of the bombardment of Guernica were German airmen, whose Heinkels and Junkers were visible, than to retain the nationalist thesis of the time according to which the Basques themselves would have set fire to their city, in a spirit of resistance. In any case, there remains a masterpiece:Picasso's Guernica.
Two months after Guernica, it is Bilbao's turn to fall into the hands of Mola's troops. Despite its fortifications, which were considered impregnable, the ciudad invicta could not resist the nationalist artillery. Mola, the winner, will not attend his victory. He will disappear shortly before in a plane crash. For not only are casualties high on both sides, but death in battle or execution beheads either side. José Antonio, the soul of the Movimiento, will be shot in Alicante by the Republicans, while in retaliation the Nationalists will shoot the son of Largo Caballero. The struggle is merciless.
While the Nationalists continue their successes in the North, their adversaries, in order to delay their advance, attempt diversions. At Brunete, near Madrid, after a three-day battle, the Republicans broke through the front, but could go no further. In Aragon, they seize Belchite, ahead of Zaragoza, but are stopped in front of the city. In short, half successes. Despite the fierce resistance of the miners, Asturias falls into the hands of the nationalists. This period of bloody fighting—second and third quarters of 1937—is also the time when we fight on the political front. There are many episodes in this battle:Germany and Italy withdraw from the Non-Intervention Committee and the International Maritime Control Committee; Neville Chamberlain expresses before the House of Commons the British will to avoid the internationalization of the Spanish war; Azana denounces foreign “complicity” with the rebellion and the fiction of “non-interference”; the Spanish episcopate, in an open letter to Catholics throughout the world, affirms and legitimizes its unreserved support for the Movement... Speeches, committees, and the spilling of Spanish blood.
The corvette is a category of small warship, light and fast, which appeared in France at the end of the 17th century. Until 1746, this category of ship was associated with that of the long boat. It is first of all a small three-masted ship, which is never armed with more than twenty guns in batter