page_title: Sanjurjada
section_title: Rebel plan
hierarchical_section_title: Sanjurjada / Rebel plan
caption_attribution_description: Español: Alejandro Lerroux, político español.
context_page_description: Sanjurjada was a military coup staged in Spain on August 10, 1932. It was aimed at toppling the government but not necessarily at toppling the Republic. Following brief clashes it was easily suppressed in Madrid. Hardly any action was recorded elsewhere except Seville, where local rebel commander general José Sanjurjo took control for some 24 hours but acknowledged defeat when faced with resolute governmental response. Due to his brief success and attention given during following trials, the entire coup has been later named after him.
context_section_description: The rebel plan relied on decisive action of few determined officers in some key garrisons; Barrera would act as the supreme military authority. In Madrid, conspirators counted on two infantry regiments, two cavalry regiments, smaller auxiliary units and one tercio of Guardia Civil. Detached sub-units were supposed to take control of the Ministry of War building, declare state of war and move on to seize other key spots in the capital. At the same time, other military conspirators were tasked with taking control of a number of provincial garrisons, the key ones in Seville, Pamplona, Valladolid, Granada and Cádiz; in case of a stalemate in Madrid, they were supposed to send rebel reinforcements to the capital. The rebels did not expect major opposition; they assumed the government would give in, militant workers would be overwhelmed before they could take action and most of the army would remain passive. There was little if any bloodshed anticipated. Though some military thought the plan an outdated 19th-century-style pronunciamiento, others considered prestige of some participants, especially Sanjurjo and Barrera, sufficient to win the army.
  In April 1932 the conspirators sought support from the Fascist Italy, and their envoy Juan Ansaldo spoke with Italo Balbo. Little is known about outcome of these talks; some authors claim Ansaldo was promised 200 machine-guns and some suggest that a shipment from Italy might have been already sent; confirmed or not, no foreign impact on the future developments has been proven.
  Political vision of the conspirators is extremely unclear. Among many conflicts emerging during the planning phase, the key one was that between the monarchists and the republicans, the former headed by Barrera and the latter by Goded. The republicans seemed to prevail; most of the conspirators envisioned the coup as aiming to topple the government, not the Republic. A vague practical compromise was agreed; following the victorious coup Barrera would create a committee assuming supreme power, headed by himself with Cavalcanti and Fernandez Perez forming part; their task was to restore public order. What would happen next is not clear. According to some scholars, the conspirators planned to replace the Azaña cabinet with a government headed by a politician considered more moderate, most likely Lerroux. According to the others, provisional military authority was supposed to organize elections to Cortes Constituentes; this in turn might or might not lead to a monarchical restoration.
caption: Alejandro Lerroux
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