The 'Red Terror' and the Spanish Civil War : Revolutionary Violence in Madrid

This Book Deals With One Of Most Controversial Issues Of The Spanish Civil War (1936-1939): The Red Terror. Approximately 50,000 Spaniards Were Extrajudically Executed In Republican Spain Following The Failure Of The Military Rebellion In July 1936. This Mass Killing Of Fascists Seriously Undermined Attempts By The Legally Constituted Republican Government To Present Itself In Foreign Quarters As Fighting A War For Democracy. This Study, Based On A Wealth Of Scholarship And Archival Sources, Challenges The Common View That Executions Were The Work Of Criminal Or Anarchist Uncontrollables. Its Focus Is On Madrid, Which Witnessed At Least 8,000 Executions In 1936. It Shows That The Terror Was Organized And Was Carried Out With The Complicity Of The Police, And Argues That Terror Was Seen As Integral To The Antifascist War Effort. Indeed, The Elimination Of The Internal Enemy - The Fifth Column - Was Regarded As Important As The War On The Front Line-- Machine Generated Contents Note: Introduction; 1. On The Brink; 2. The Military Rebellion; 3. Antifascist Madrid; 4. Forging The New Police; 5. The Justice Of The People; 6. If It Is The Will Of The People...; 7. Popular Tribunals And The Rearguard Vigilance Militias (mvr); 8. A Fifth Column?; 9. The Prison Problem; 10. Paracuellos; 11. The Dirty War Against The Fifth Column; 12. Dealing With The Legacy Of The Terror: Forced Labor For Fascists, 1937-9; Epilogue; Appendices. Julius Ruiz. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Cover 1 Half-title page 3 Title page 5 Copyright page 6 Contents 7 Abbreviationsand Spanish Terms 11 Preface 13 Introduction 15 The Figures 17 Historiography 18 ‘Checas’ in Madrid? 20 Principal Theses 22 A Note about Sources 28 1 On the Brink 30 The Elections of February 1936 30 Antifascist Action, Fascist Reaction 37 Madrid Anarcho-syndicalism 46 The Military Conspiracy 50 The Killing of Calvo Sotelo 53 2 The Military Rebellion 56 Rumours and Mobilisation 56 The Botched Rebellion 62 The Battle Continues 65 3 Antifascist Madrid 75 Those Who Talk of Chaos Are Lying! 75 The Emergence of Revolutionary Tribunals 80 The Noble ‘People’ 86 4 Forging the New Police 95 Cleansing the Police 95 The Antifascist Criminal Investigation Police 101 The Creation of the Provincial Committee of Public Investigation (CPIP) 115 5 The Justice of the People 120 The Unspoken Fear 120 The CPIP and the Network of Terror 124 Gangsterismo 135 Women 152 Venturing Further Afield 154 6 If It Is the Will of the People ... 159 Responses to the Terror 159 Two Exceptions: Manuel de Irujo and Melchor Rodríguez García 163 Bourgeois Republicans and the Terror 165 The Jaén Trains 167 The Death of General Eduardo López Ochoa 170 The Cárcel Modelo Massacre 172 7 Popular Tribunals and the Rearguard Vigilance Militias (MVR) 184 The Collapse of Republican Justice? 185 The Failure of the Popular Tribunals 189 The Creation of the Rearguard Vigilance Militias (MVR) 194 8 A Fifth Column? 199 Origins of the Term ‘Fifth Column’ 199 Survival not Resistance 202 Protecting the Family 212 9 The Prison Problem 215 The Fifth Column Panic 215 Prison Life 219 Prison Conspiracies: CPIP Action, Government Inaction 225 The Flight of Agapito García Atadell from Madrid 231 The CPIP Takes Charge 235 10 Paracuellos 245 The Meeting 245 The Sacas of 7–9 November (I): A Well-oiled Machine? 252 The Sacas of 7–9 November (II): Victims and Perpetrators 260 Resistance and Foreign Intervention: Melchor Rodríguez Stops the Evacuations 271 The Dissolution of the CPIP 277 The Operation Resumes – the Sacas from Ventas, San Antón, and Porlier 285 The End of the Massacres 293 11 The Dirty War against the Fifth Column 298 The Special Brigades 298 Police Reform, 1937–1938 308 The Military Investigation Service (SIM) 312 12 Dealing with the Legacy of the Terror: Forced Labour for Fascists 1937–1939 318 The Selective Punishment of ‘Uncontrollables’ 319 The Creation of Labour Camps 327 The End of García Oliver’s Dream 334 Epilogue 338 The Hunters Become the Hunted 338 Red Terror, Blue Terror 346 Annex 1 Post-curfew Passwords Issued by Police Headquarters in Madrid 353 Annex 2 The Network of Terror 355 Annex 3 Prisons in Madrid Autumn 1936 357 Annex 4 Evacuations from Madrid’s Prisons 28 October to 4 December 1936 359 Archives 361 Newspapers and Official Bulletins 363 Cited Bibliography 365 Maps 377 Glossary of Key Figures 383 Index 391 "This book deals with one of most controversial issues of the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939): the "Red Terror." Approximately 50,000 Spaniards were extrajudically executed in Republican Spain following the failure of the military rebellion in July 1936. This mass killing of "fascists" seriously undermined attempts by the legally constituted Republican government to present itself in foreign quarters as fighting a war for democracy. This study, based on a wealth of scholarship and archival sources, challenges the common view that executions were the work of criminal or anarchist "uncontrollables." Its focus is on Madrid, which witnessed at least 8,000 executions in 1936. It shows that the terror was organized and was carried out with the complicity of the police, and argues that terror was seen as integral to the antifascist war effort. Indeed, the elimination of the internal enemy - the "Fifth Column" - was regarded as important as the war on the front line"-- Provided by publisher This book deals with one of most controversial issues of the Spanish Civil War (1936–9): the 'Red Terror'. Approximately 50,000 Spaniards were extrajudicially executed in Republican Spain following the failure of the military rebellion in July 1936. This mass killing of 'fascists' seriously undermined attempts by the legally constituted Republican government to present itself in foreign quarters as fighting a war for democracy. This study, based on a wealth of scholarship and archival sources, challenges the common view that executions were the work of criminal or anarchist 'uncontrollables'. Its focus is on Madrid, which witnessed at least 8,000 executions in 1936. It shows that the terror was organized and was carried out with the complicity of the police, and argues that terror was seen as integral to the antifascist war effort. Indeed, the elimination of the internal enemy - the 'Fifth Column' - was regarded as important as the war on the front line. ¿Cuál fue el papel de los tribunales populares? ¿Quiénes fueron los verdaderos responsables del terror? ¿Existió realmente una quinta columna? ¿Qué sucedió en Paracuellos. Julius Ruiz plantea en El terror rojo la superación de los términos habituales en un debate que, tradicionalmente, ha entendido la represión en el bando republicano tras el estallido de la Guerra Civil como el fruto de la reacción popular descontrolada de unos cuantos ante el golpe militar del 18 de Julio. Por el contrario, sostiene el autor, cabe hablar de continuidad entre esta actividad represiva arbitraria inicial y la persecución institucionalizada contra los enemigos de la República, a partir de 1937. Gran parte del material que ha servido para la redacción de El terror rojo, fruto de una exhaustiva labor de investigación por parte de su autor en fuentes y archivos españoles y del Reino Unido, es inédito. This study challenges the common view that extrajudicial executions in Republican Spain in July 1936 were the work of criminal or anarchist 'uncontrollables'.