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That's the Explorers Podcast. Hello everyone and welcome to history of the Second World War.

Episode 44, the Spanish Civil War Part 9, struggles for power.

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After the initial military campaigns of the war, on both sides of the conflict, there would be

a series of political maneuverings. On the nationalist side after their attempts to take

Madrid, and with it being clear that they had several campaigns ahead of them, Franco would

move to ensure that he remained firmly in control of

the nationalist military and political institutions. The primary threat to this control was from

monarchists and fascists, either within the growing nationalist government or among the paramilitary

groups that had joined the nationalist side in the war, but were at least technically outside of military control.

On the Republican side, the disagreements were the same political disagreements that we've been discussing since the very beginning of these episodes.

However, in May 1937, they would result in violence centered on Barcelona.

The core disagreement was around central control. The anarchist groups and other

...