The repressive terror and the forced recruitment of the coup army. The case of Galicia, 1936-1939

Abstract

The coup d'état was accompanied by a cruel repression. This is an issue that has been widely studied by Spanish historiography. However, the recruits who had to go to combat with the insurgents have received little attention. This article aims to offer another point of view of the repression and analyze how it could affect the mobilizing process of a war contingent and examine the phenomenon of submission in Galicia, focusing on the preparation of the war. The first conclusions were drawn that the control was first carried out in the large cities, specifically, on the Atlantic façade, allowing a kind of fugitive society to be formed in the places where the coup power did not arrive in the first months. Likewise, it is observed how the bulk of the unappealable enlistment was carried out in the years 1936 and 1937 in Galicia, coinciding with the months of greatest recovery of coercion. When the regime approved in March 1936 the creation of the surveillance corps belonging to the army, the domination began to be more systematic and calculating.