The Spanish Civil War began in July 1936 and ended in April 1939. Spain in the early 1930s was a deeply divided nation. There were two main factions in Spain: those on the left and those on the right. In contrast to the political system of the United States, on the left were the Republicans (also called Loyalists) and on the right were the Nationalists. The Republicans were a conglomerate of many groups that came together for the main thing they had in common: opposition to fascism. This group consisted of communists, monarchists, socialists, anarchists and many ordinary people (such as peasants and workers). On the right, nationalists included the upper-middle classes, supporters of the Catholic Church and, of course, those who fully supported a fascist regime. In the years preceding the Spanish Civil War, the country was still grappling with many internal issues. Some of these issues included the type of government that should rule Spain. To complicate matters, government preference largely depended on which Spanish city you resided in. As early as 1923, a military coup seized power from the monarchic government and replaced it with a military dictatorship. Miguel Primo de Rivera was officially the Prime Minister and served under King Alfonso XIII, but in reality Rivera was more like a dictator with a puppet monarchy. In 1930 Rivera resigned because he no longer wanted to govern such a deeply divided nation. There were rumors that he perhaps foresaw an ongoing civil war and wanted to leave power before they pursued him. This would make sense, since the European world had just witnessed the dramatic and violent unfolding of the Russian Revolution. Rivera f...... half of the document......opic/558032/Spanish-Civil-War (accessed March 9, 2014). donQuijote. "Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) - History of Spain | don Quijote." 2014. http://www.donquijote.org/culture/spain/history/the-spanish-civil-war.asp (accessed 9 March 2014).English.illinois.edu. "The Spanish Civil War: An Overview: by Cary Nelson." 2014. http://www.english.illinois.edu/maps/scw/overview.htm (accessed March 9, 2014).Socialistworker.org. "The Spanish Civil War". 2014. http://socialistworker.org/20062/597/597_15_Spain.shtml (accessed 9 March 2014).Casahistoria.net. "Context | Events | Franco | Nationalists | Republicans | Foreign reaction | Visual and literary material | Analysis." 2014. http://www.casahistoria.net/civilwar.htm (accessed 9 March 2014). Spartacus Educational. "The Spanish Civil War". 2014. http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/Spanish-Civil-War.htm (accessed 12 March 2014).