War means fighting, and fighting means killing.
–Nathan Bedford Forrest

July 18, 1936, the Spanish Civil War began as a revolt by right-wing Spanish military officers in Spanish Morocco and spread to mainland Spanish. From the Canary Islands, General Francisco Franco broadcasted a message calling for all army officers to join the uprising and overthrow Span’s leftist Republican government. Within the three days that followed, the rebels captured Morocco, much of northern Spain and several cities in the south. The Republicans succeeded in putting down the uprising in other areas, including Madrid, Spain’s capital. The Republicans and the Nationalists, as the rebels were called, then proceeded to secure their respective territories by executing thousands of suspected political opponents. Meanwhile, Franco flew to Morocco and prepared to bring the Army of Africa over to the mainland.