Spanish President Appeals for Mass Uprising against Insurgents

Friday 24th July 1936

The military situation in Spain was deeply confused, but there was no doubt that a full-blown civil war was in progress. The President of the Republic likened the insurgent forces to Napoleon's troops, who had provoked a near-universal uprising of the Spanish people in 1808 famous as the dos de mayo, which produced a highly effective guerrilla resistance to the invaders. It was a defining moment in modern Spanish nationhood.

The heaviest fighting was to the north of Madrid and it inspired an orgy of claim and counter-claim. According to the rebels, the fall of the capital was imminent. In fact it was to remain in Republican hands until almost the end of the war. Most of the south of the country was in rebel hands.