Portrait of Diego Martínez Barrio

Following the start of the uprising, the Republican government focused on two objectives: to control and defeat the rebels and to maintain the support of those who were not in favor of the rebellion, even if they did not identify with Casares Quiroga’s cabinet. Thus, while they bombarded the rebel-held plazas in Morocco or reorganized the navy to block passage through the Strait of Gibraltar, Casares and Azaña prepared the ground for a new government that would convey order and authority and rally behind it all those who had not rebelled.

There was a constant trickle of Republican leaders throughout the day on the 18th. Some, like Largo Caballero or Martínez Barrio, even attended that afternoon’s cabinet meeting, the last meeting of the Casares government. While the new administration was being formed, Casares remained in charge of the situation from the Ministry of War.

Azaña’s goal with the change of government was to keep the Republic safe from both the rebel military and from revolution. Guided by the conviction that the only thing that mattered was saving the law, saving the Republic, Azaña tasked Diego Martínez Barrio with forming a national unity government, made up of all the parties that accepted the Constitution—from the most conservative republicans to the socialists.

Martínez Barrio seemed like the ideal candidate. A moderate, he could connect with the more right-leaning groups. Moreover, he was a long-standing Republican, one of the driving forces behind the Popular Front, and had left the Radical Party due to its gradual shift to the right and dependence on the CEDA. Even his symbolic position as president of the Cortes reinforced his candidacy to lead a government that could encompass the full parliamentary spectrum.

After a long conversation with Azaña, the new prime minister met, among others, with Indalecio Prieto and Marcelino Domingo to discuss the composition of his cabinet. With the conservative flank secured, the Socialists were the unknown factor. But as in May 1936, Prieto refused to take part in the government due to the lack of authorization from his party’s executive committee.

Prieto’s refusal ended the idea of a broad-based cabinet and undermined its chances of success. A strictly Republican government with conservative presence that continued to oppose the distribution of weapons could trigger strong protests among the working-class sector, jeopardizing its viability even before it was formed. Despite this, Azaña upheld Martínez Barrio’s appointment.

The new prime minister began a round of phone calls to military and civil governors to assess the extent and depth of the uprising. In one of those calls, General Mola informed him that the uprising was already underway and that this approach was too late.

With a clearer view of the situation and already deep into the night, Martínez Barrio wrote out the list of his ministers and shared it with the press. He had called a cabinet meeting for 7 a.m., but in the early hours of the morning, the first angry and hostile reactions to the government began to emerge in the streets. Faced with this situation, and convinced that his government would lack authority, Martínez Barrio resigned.

PMC