Siege of Cuartel de la Montaña

Site of the Temple of Debod in Principe Pío, former location of the Montaña Barracks.

Date	July 18 – July 20, 1936
Location	Madrid, Spain
Result	Republican victory

Belligerents

Nationalist Spain

Second Spanish Republic

Commanders and leaders

Joaquín Fanjul

Colonel Sierra

Cipriano Mera

Ignacio Hidalgo de Cisneros

Juan Modesto

Strength

2,000 soldiers plus 500 falangists and monarchist volunteers

~3,000 loyal security forces plus 5,000 UGT's and CNT's armed milicianos
3 artillery pieces

Casualties and losses

~200 killed

Unknown, but light

The Siege of Cuartel de la Montaña was the two-day siege of the military barracks which marked the initial failure of the uprising against the Second Spanish Republic in Madrid, Spain on 18–20 July 1936, at the start of the Spanish Civil War. The bulk of the security forces in Madrid remained loyal to the government, and supported by workers' militias, crushed the uprising.

The Communist-led Antifascist Worker and Peasant Militias (MAOC) formed five battalions that took an active part in the Siege of Cuartel de la Montaña on 20 July. One of these battalions became the renowned "Fifth Regiment".

On July 17–18 a part of the Spanish army, led by a group of officers (among them Generals Jose Sanjurjo, Francisco Franco, Emilio Mola, Manuel Goded and Gonzalo Queipo de Llano), tried to overthrow the Popular Front Government of the Second Spanish Republic. The occupation of the capital, Madrid, was one of the prime goals of the Spanish coup of July 1936. However the coup in this particular location was ill-planned and clumsily executed. There was no coordination between the diverse elements who were hostile to the Republic (the falangists, some army officers, and the members of the UME). The coordinator of the plot in Madrid: Colonel Galarza had been detained and the elderly and indecisive General Villegas took his place. However Villegas decided at the last minute to avoid direct participation and General Joaquín Fanjul replaced him at short notice. There was a particularly strong concentration of pro-government forces in Madrid. These included para-military security forces and organized (though at this stage generally unarmed) union groups. Finally, a large portion of the officers and soldiers of the regular Madrid army garrison were uninvolved in the plot and pre-disposed to remain loyal to the elected government.

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