July 1936 military uprising in Barcelona

The July 1936 military uprising in Barcelona, also known as the Battle of Barcelona, was a mutiny that occurred in Barcelona, the capital of Catalonia, from 19 to 20 July 1936. The uprising was carried out by the Nationalist faction of the Spanish Army, which was defeated by a popular resistance led by anarchist militias and Republican loyalists.

The Spanish coup of July 1936 took place in reaction to the election of the left-wing Popular Front, which was opposed by far-right military officers and politicians. In Catalonia, forces loyal to the Spanish Republic were coordinated by the Catalan government, although its forces were outnumbered by the rebellious military. Most of the resistance to the coup came from the anarchist movement, organised by the trade unions of the Confederación Nacional del Trabajo (CNT) and the affinity groups of the Iberian Anarchist Federation (FAI). In the days leading up to the coup, the anarchists sought to arm themselves, but their requests for weapons were repeatedly rejected by the Catalan government.

On the morning of 19 July 1936, detachments of the Spanish Army in Barcelona left their barracks and marched into the city centre. There they were confronted by anarchist militias and Assault Guards, who had constructed barricades and aimed to isolate the military detachments from each other. Clashes took place throughout the city, with the tide turning against the military following their defeats at the Pla de Palau and Avinguda del Paral·lel. By the time the Nationalist commander Manuel Goded arrived in Barcelona, the rebels were already facing defeat. The intervention of the Civil Guard on the side of the Republic resulted in the defeat of most of the Nationalist detachments, with Goded surrendering later that afternoon. Fighting continued into the following day, when the Drassanes barracks were finally taken by the anarchist militias, bringing an end to the uprising.

The defeat of the uprising in Catalonia culminated in the Spanish Revolution of 1936, during which anarchists brought much of the region's agricultural land and industrial economy under collective ownership. The Catalan government effectively lost its monopoly on violence, with power being concentrated in the hands of the anarchist militias. Despite this change, the anarchists refused to seize power from the Catalan government, instead preferring to uphold a united front against the rise of fascism. They led the formation of the Central Committee of Antifascist Militias of Catalonia (CCMA), a coalition of anti-fascist forces which oversaw the establishment of militia columns to fight in the Spanish Civil War.