The outcome of the Spanish Civil War was settled in London, Paris, Rome, Berlin, at any rate, not in Spain.

George Orwell, looking back on the Spanish War.

Welcome to the history of the 20th century.

Thank you. Episode 296, Request Instructions as to Bodies.

Last week I left you at a dramatic juncture in our narrative,

just as a group of disgruntled right-wing nationalist military commanders

were about to attempt a coup against Spain's five-year-old Republican government.

There had already been one coup attempt four years earlier when the Republic was new,

the existence of which was known to the government at the time.

This was called the San Hurada, named for its leader, General San Hurho.

The government found it expedient to allow it to proceed.

It did. It failed. General Sanjuro was sentenced to death, which was commuted to life in prison.

Then he was granted amnesty and left the country for Portugal.

That coup had never seriously threatened the New Republic, and it is likely that its ignominious

failure led to overconfidence among the civilians leading the government in Madrid.

In 1936, when rumors of coup talk among the generals reached the civilians in government again,

they went so far as to transfer a few generals deemed suspect into distant postings where

they would be less able to cause trouble. Among the generals transferred were three major

figures in the coming coup. General Manuel Godeded Yopis, once chief of staff of the Spanish

army in Africa and then of the Central Army, had been posted to the Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean.

General Francisco Franco, former head of the General Military Academy and the leader of the force

that crushed the 1934 leftist

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