Hi Bill, thanks for the comments. Yes of course, i should have included some info. I plan to work up a statement for when i officially call it finished but for now:
The Spanish Civil War truly began on July 17th, when fascist generals in the Army of Africa, stationed in Morocco, launched a coup against the democratically-elected, left-wing Republican government. For most of Spain, the following days were full of confusion and disinformation. The government refused the offer of help from the mass anarchist union CNT, who in turn called a general strike and prepared to fight the army in the streets. Seditious military leaders launched rising attempts in much of the rest of Spain on July 19th.
In the early hours of July 19, 1936, factory sirens called workers out to the streets of Barcelona. The CNT had learned from anarchist soldiers in the army about the fascist military coup. While the Republic had recently shut down all of the CNT's public centers across the country, the workers decided to oppose the generals. With the officers' plans in hand, the anarchists cooked up their own plan: to wait until the soldiers left their barracks, and then ambush them in the streets. At strategic intersections across the city, workers feverishly built barricades, distributed what few weapons they had, and gathered to demand more from the authorities.
One of the most important targets of the military coup in Barcelona was the Telefonica company building, the communications nerve center for the city. In the early hours, the 13th Regiment of the 7th Infantry Brigade marched toward the Telefonica, standing on one end of the grand Plaça de Catalunya. The soldiers encountered Assault Guards (urban police), who were of mixed and questionable loyalty, and were soon fraternizing with the soldiers.
Inside the Telefonica, workers and assault guards loyal to the Republic prepared a defense. They refused Comandante Lopez Amor's order to surrender, so the soldiers fired on the Telefonica with 75mm cannons and then charged the building. The Assault Guards and workers inside resisted, and held on to the upper floors of the building all morning.
Meanwhile, soldiers set up machine guns in the corners of the Plaça, and loyal Assault Gaurds used the subway system to enter the area at strategic points. Crowds of workers barricaded the side streets. The Civil Guard, also of uncertain loyalty at that point, also arrived in the Plaça.
After defeating the army at other points along the Ramblas, a large group of CNT workers, led by Durruti himself, appeared, brave the mg kill zone the soldiers had established, and charged the front doors. This is the moment depicted in my diorama.
The anarchists succeed in taking the building, while across the Plaça POUMistas capture the famous Hotel Colon and the Assault Guards, whom until that point had accompanied and cooperated with Comandante Amor, decided it was a good time to express their loyalty to the Republic and arrested Amor.
I chose this event because the Telefonica was a symbol of the power of the organized working class in Barcelona until it was captured by the police the following May, and one of my heros, Durruti, personally led the charge.
Ill write a little more soon about scale and process, but my kid wants to play Stratego
