John Hopkins

This reformist government does not last long.

In the elections of 1933, the first in which Spanish women are able to vote, a conservative government is voted in, and the nascent reforms are immediately quashed.

Widespread strikes follow, as well as armed rebellion in the northern region of Asturias.

The military is sent in, led at this time by a general named Francisco Franco.

Born in 1892 in the northwestern region of Galicia, Franco comes from a naval family.

His Catholic mother's austere piety shapes his character, as does his father's military background.

Franco swiftly deals with the armed rebellion in Asturias.

Over a thousand people are killed, as many as 30,000 are arrested, and many are tortured.

As news of the crackdown spreads, it destroys the political center and forces those on the left to realize that they must unite to survive.

And with the victims canonized as martyrs, it's not long before the ideological pendulum swings back the other way with the 1936 election of the progressive Popular Front government.

But after their taste of power, the right-wing politicians do not accept defeat gracefully.

An anti-democratic coalition of conservative elites, Catholic groups and right-wing politicians, including the fascist Falange Party, now forms.

And the plotting begins.

The left-wing Republican government is not completely unaware of the situation.

Several generals with suspected conservative or fascist allegiances are removed from their posts.

Franco himself is sent away from mainland Spain to serve as the military commander of the Canary Islands.

But behind closed doors, preparations for the coup continue apace.

By early July 1936, Franco is firmly on board, and the conspirators agree that he is the man they'll need to take command of the Army of Africa, the Spanish military's most effective fighting force.

But there is the problem of how to unite Franco with his troops.

A solution is provided by British intelligence agent and devout Roman Catholic, Major Hugh Pollard.