Abstract
"Indeed, there was a confrontation, the will of extermination, one more organized that is true, the other more instinctive, one and the other exacerbated" The Spanish civil war was in fact a bloodshed provoked by the confrontation of two political, ideological and social groups: the Nationalists (los Nationalistas), also called "rebels" "insurgents" or "fascists" and "francists" by their opponents, the Republicans (los Republicanos) also known as "loyalist" "the Popular Front" or "los rojos" by their enemies. Before the beginning of the civil war, the Republicans played an important role in Spanish Politics. After getting rid of the dictator Miguel Primo Rivera, the unpopular king Alfonso XIII tried to pick up the thread of the Republicans allowing a democratic vote in 1931, confident that the traditional Spanish landlords, the Church and the army - would give the majority to the monarchist party. After the Republicans won a resounding majority, he left the country, leaving behind him the Second Spanish Republic and later on, a very controversial constitution. Why, after being so successful at the beginning of the 30s, did the Republicans lose the civil war in 1939? What was the nature of the causes which lead the Republicans to such a dreadful end? What helped the Nationalist and the Generalissimo Franco to put in place a dictatorship?
