> Which war was fought between 1936 and 1939?And the answer: the Spanish Civil War. The Spanish Civil War divided the country between the Republican government andrebel forces known as the Nationalists. The Nationalists were assisted by Italyand Nazi Germany, while the Republicans received support from the Soviet Unionand Mexico. Upwards of one million Spaniards died, and the war came to an endjust as World War II was beginning.Photo credit: public domain.The 19th century was a turbulent time for theSpanish. Numerous coups and uprisings saw an exchange of power between themonarchy, a republic, and back again to a monarchy. These complicationscontinued into the 20th century, but with the addition of a militarydictatorship placed in the hopes of combatting communism in the 1920s. However, the Spaniards were still hungry for change. As support waned for PrimeMinister Miguel Primo de Rivera, many Spanish welcomed a second republic led byNiceto Alcalá-Zamora in 1931. As the world plunged into an economic depression,the Socialist party lost the election in 1933, consequently spurring massiveworker strikes throughout northern Spain. When Francisco Franco sent in troopsto calm the storm, the division only deepened. After a century of uprisings inthe country, rebellion finally took the form of warfare on July 18, 1936. Soon, with the help of forces like Hitler, Mussolini, and Salazar, the civil warquickly turned into a testing group for fascist troops, and became a widerinternational struggle. The fight between fascists, communists, and liberalsmeant that nations in Europe and overseas had grounds to chip in on theirrespective interests, thus aid and supplies flowed in from America, the SovietUnion, and Mexico. By the time the dust settled in 1939, Spain had fallen underthe brutal dictatorship of Franco, and the world braced for World War II.Learn more about the Spanish Civil War below.