Madrid Defense Council
| Junta de Defensa de Madrid | |
| Formation | 7 November 1936 |
|---|---|
| Founded at | Madrid |
| Extinction | April 23, 1937 |
| Type | Governing Council |
| Purpose | Defense of Madrid |
| Coordinates | 40°25′08″N 3°41′31″W / 40.418889°N 3.691944°WCoordinates: 40°25′08″N 3°41′31″W / 40.418889°N 3.691944°W |
|
President
|
General José Miaja |
The Madrid Defense Council (Spanish: Junta de Defensa de Madrid) was an ad-hoc governing body that ran Madrid, Spain, for about six months during the Spanish Civil War (1936–39). It was formed in November 1936 after the Spanish Republican government had fled to Valencia when General Francisco Franco's forces advanced on Madrid. It was expected that the city would fall within a few days, but the arrival of the International Brigades halted the rebel advance, and the situation settled into a stalemate. The council was dominated by communists, who had superior organization and propaganda to the other groups. Their policy was to organize the militias into regular troops and focus on defeating the enemy, rather than to undertake revolutionary activity. As time passed there was growing tension between the communists and more radical groups. The council was dissolved in April 1937 and replaced by a new city council.
At the start of November 1936 the rebel armies led by General Francisco Franco approached Madrid, brushing aside the untrained and ill-equipped militias they encountered. The government of the Second Spanish Republic under Francisco Largo Caballero had done nothing to prepare the capital's defenses for fear of alarming the population. The government fled from Madrid to Valencia on 6 November 1936, leaving General José Miaja to govern the city and mobilize civilians for defense. Miaja was told to defend the capital "at all costs", an apparently hopeless assignment. In sealed orders, which Miaja opened after the politicians had left, he was given authority to create a Defense Council.
The international press reported that Madrid would not be defended, and General Franco declared prematurely that the city had been liberated. Radio Lisbon even reported Franco's victorious entry into the city. On 7 November the first troops of Franco's Army of Africa reached the Casa del Campo on the edge of the city. Formation of the Madrid Defense Council was announced that day,
By mandate of the political and trade union organizations, and in accordance with the order of the Government of the Republic, there has been constituted in Madrid a Junta of Defense. It is made up of all the organizations which form part of the Government and which contribute their effort to the struggle taking place at the gates of Madrid.
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Wikipedia