Spanish Civil War labourers, and parts of the middle class. The conservative, strongly Catholic Basque country, along with Catholic Galicia and the more left-leaning Catalonia, sought autonomy or independence from the central government of Madrid. The Republican government allowed for the possibility of self-government for the two regions, whose forces were gathered under the People's Republican Army ("Ejército Popular Republicano", or EPR), which was reorganized into mixed brigades after October 1936. A few well-known people fought on the Republican side, such as English novelist George Orwell (who wrote "Homage to Catalonia" (1938), an account of his experiences in the war) and Canadian thoracic
Background of the Spanish Civil War Socialist Youth. Sotelo continued to do his best to make conciliation impossible. Casares failed to heed Prieto's warnings of a military conspiracy involving several generals who disliked professional politicians and wanted to replace the government to prevent the dissolution of Spain. The military coup of July that started the Spanish Civil War was devised with Mola as director and Sanjurjo as a figurehead leader. Background of the Spanish Civil War The background of the Spanish Civil War dates back to the end of the 19th century, when the owners of large estates, called "latifundios", held most of the power in