Original sentence: Pius XI gave unequivocal support to Franco and the Nationalist forces in the Spanish Civil War of 1936–39.The Republicans responded by murdering priests and nuns.The republican government which had come to power in Spain in 1931 was also strongly anti-clerical, secularising education and expelling the Jesuits from the country
Edited sentence: It was therefore unsurprising that Pius XI gave fairly unequivocal support to Franco and the Nationalist forces in the Spanish Civil War of 1936–39.The Republicans responded by murdering many thousands of priests and nuns, and as time passed the Republican government became dominated more and more by Communists.The republican government which had come to power in Spain in 1931 was also strongly anti-clerical, secularising education, expelling the Jesuits from the country, and allowing mobs to burn down churches without any attempt to stop them