Sunday, October 25, 1936. Formation of the Axis. Martyrdom of Fr. Recaredo Centelles Abad, Ferragut Roig, María de Jesús, María Verónica, María Felicidad, Josefa de la Purificación.

Ferragut Roig was executed by a firing squad with four of daughters, the latter of whom were nuns, by Spanish Republicans for being Catholic.  The daughters were María de Jesús, María Verónica, María Felicidad, Josefa de la Purificación.  They were all beatified in 2001.

Fr. Recaredo Centelles Abad, his brother in law, another priest and two laymen were likewise executed.

A person should make no mistake about it. The Spanish Republicans were not democrats. They were communists.

The Rome Berlin Axis was formalized with an alliance between Germany and Italy being signed.

The Rexist March on Brussels failed.

Over 70% of Republican Spain's gold left Spain for the USSR.

Last edition:

Saturday, October 24, 1936. The Estado Novo severs relations with the Republic.

Labels: 1930s, 1936, 1936 Election, Colorado (Denver), Portugal, Railroads, Republican Party, Spain, Spanish Civil War

Saturday, October 24, 1936. The Estado Novo severs relations with the Republic.

Portugal severed diplomatic relations with the Spanish Republic.

Sensing that it was going down in defeat, the GOP was trying the same old, same old.

The Zephyr was getting some press.

Last edition:

Friday, October 23, 1936. No neutrality.

Labels: 1930s, 1936, Colorado (Denver), German Wehrmacht, Illinois (Chicago), Nazi Germany, Railroads, Spain, Spanish Civil War, USSR

Friday, October 23, 1936. No neutrality.

The Soviet Union informed the European committee of non-intervention in Spain that Russia would no longer be bound by the neutrality agreement which it wasn't honoring anyway.

The German Condor Legion was ordered to Spain.  Elements were already there.

The Denver Zephyr made a non-stop run from Chicago to Denver in 12 hours, 12 minutes, and 27 seconds.

The Denver Zephyr in 1936.  By SMU Central University Libraries - Chicago, Burlington & Quincy R.R., Original 'Denver Zephyr' Train, No restrictions, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=45183743

Last edition:

Thursday, October 22, 1936. Worsening conflicts

Labels: 1930s, 1936, Belgium, Cartoons, China, China (Beijing), Clerico-fascism, Education, Imperial Japanese Army, Japan, Nazi Germany, Photography, Spain, Spain (Madrid), Spanish Army, Spanish Civil War, Spanish Republicans, USSR

Thursday, October 22, 1936. Worsening conflicts

Spanish General José Miaja was put in charge of the Republican defence of Madrid, where things were getting overall worse in general.

Contrary to the common assumption, about 40% of Spanish Army officers remained loyal to the Spanish Republic.

And it wasn't just in Europe where things were getting worse.

The far political right wasn't just on the march in Spain. The Belgian far right wing Rexist Party announced its intention to march on Brussels in order to "sweep out the Paul van Zeeland government and its corruption" in a move inspired by Mussolini's march on Rome.  Van Zeeland declared martial law.

The News issued its awards it its photo contest.

And a cartoon shows how some common comments I'll hear from some people today were common ninety years ago.

University education was expanding, but was far from what it is now.  It's interesting to see the contempt of youth for professors expressed here.  

I don't think that's a common view, but I have heard it from the time I was in university, up to now, from time to time, probably most recently when Chuck Gray's current campaign manager just went off on how professors at the University of Wyoming were all left wing, coming from a person whose views are closer to those who were advancing on Madrid on this day in 1936.

Last edition:

Friday, October 16, 1936. Siege of Oviedo broken.

Labels: 1930s, 1936, 1970s, 1979, France (Paris), Monarchy, Nationalist, Personalities, Siege of Oviedo, Spanish Civil War, Spanish Nationalist, Spanish Republicans, War

Friday, October 16, 1936. Siege of Oviedo broken.

The Siege of Oviedo, which had started on July 19 with a Republican investiture, ended in a Nationalist victory.

Col. Antonio Aranda Mata, the commander of the besieged Nationalist at Oviedo.  He'd be sacked by Franco in the 1940s for being part of a secret monarchist movement, but was restored to rank and promoted by King Juan Carlos.  He died at age 90 in 1979.

Newspaper owner Lord Beaverbrook called on King Edward VIII and informed him that he would help enforce a voluntary media blackout on the king's relationship with Wallace Simpson.

Paris conducted a nocturnal practice air raid.

Last edition:

Thursday, October 15, 1936. Battle of Sigüenza ends.

Labels: 1930s, 1936, Battle of Sigüenza, British Empire, Edward VIII, Equine Transportation, Great Depression, Kentucky, Nazi Germany, Spain, Spanish Civil War, The Holocaust, The Press, The written word, United Kingdom

Thursday, October 15, 1936. Battle of Sigüenza ends.

Sigüenza fell to the Nationalist after a battle that had commenced on August 7.

Jewish teachers were banned from public schools in Germany.

The news of Wallace Simpson's divorce was not reported in the United Kingdom and the the British Empire, as well as in Germany, Italy, Russia and Greece, in an example of press self censorship.

“Booneville, Owsley County, Kentucky. Pack Horse Librarian returning of the mountain side for a new supply of books to be distributed to rural and isolated sections of the county.“  October 15, 1936.

Last edition:

Wednesday, October 14, 1936. Shifting alliances.

Labels: 1930s, 1936, Belgium, Edward VIII, France, Franklin Roosevelt, Illinois, Missouri, Missouri (St. Louis), Monarchy, Rhineland, the spoken word, United Kingdom

Wednesday, October 14, 1936. Shifting alliances.

Belgium withdrew from its mutual assistance treaty with France due to France's failure, which was a mistake, to react to German remilitarization of the Rhineland.

The abdicated former King Edward VIII declared he would not continue with the tradition of the Royal Christmas Message started by his father in light of his abdication.

Franklin Roosevelt continued his whistle stop tour, speaking in St. Louis and all over Illinois.

Last edition:

Tuesday, October 13, 1936. FDR's Whistle Stop Tour of Kansas.

Labels: 1930s, 1936, 1936 Election, Colorado, Franklin Roosevelt, Kansas, Missouri, Railroads, Transportation, William Howard Taft

Tuesday, October 13, 1936. FDR's Whistle Stop Tour of Kansas.

Franklin Roosevelt made numerous speeches in Kansas, having left Colorado the prior day, and traveling across the state.  His last one was in Missouri.

Whistle stop tours were once a common feature of American campaigning.  This particular set of days in October were subject to ones by Franklin Roosevelt and William Taft respectively.  This serves to demonstrate how technology is increasingly failing us. The whistle stops were popular with people, who felt they had a direct connection with the candidate.  They were somewhat unpredictable.  They prevented tiny locations from being omitted, as they are today.

Last edition:

Monday, October 12, 1936. Armor to the Spanish Republicans, FDR in Cheyenne.

Labels: 1930s, 1936, 1936 Election, Armor, boats and ships, Colorado, Colorado (Denver), England (Dover), France (Dunkirk), Franklin Roosevelt, Railroads, Spanish Civil War, Spanish Republicans, USSR, Wyoming, Wyoming (Cheyenne)

Monday, October 12, 1936. Armor to the Spanish Republicans, FDR in Cheyenne.

It was Columbus Day, which had been officially recognized as a permanent honorific day in 1934.

Republican T-26.

Fifty Soviet T-26 tanks and some BA-3 armored cars arrived in Cartagena, Spain.

The T-26 tank was a very good tank for the period and would serve in the Red Army throughout World War Two.

A cross channel locomotive ferry service commenced between Dover and Dunkirk.

The Rocky Mountain News reported that Franklin Roosevelt had been in Cheyenne the day prior, where he attended Episcopal Church services.

He was in Denver today.

Last edition:

Sunday, October 11, 1936. End of the Arab General Strike, Fascists attacks in London, War Concerns, Hermaphrodites.

Labels: 1930s, 1936, 1936 Election, Agriculture, Arab General Strike, Austria, British League of Nations Mandates, Franklin Roosevelt, Great Palestinian Revolt, Hermaphrodite, Men, Palestine, Science, Third Parties, Women

Sunday, October 11, 1936. End of the Arab General Strike, Fascists attacks in London, War Concerns, Hermaphrodites.

The Arab Higher Committee announced an end to the 175-day-old Arab general strike in Palestine.

British fascists attacked Jewish shops and Jews in London's East End.  10,000 leftist demonstrated against fascism in Victoria Park.

The Rocky Mountain News warned of looming possibilities of war.

And FDR said the Republicans would ruin farmers.

Right then, right now.

It was the 1936 election season, of course, and the News was focusing on that.

It's interesting that FDR was polling very well with religious voters, which I suppose isn't really surprising.  It's also interesting that Wyoming, which is the least religious state in the U.S., was already in the solid GOP camp.

The news took a look at the history of third parties.

And a story sort of foreshadowing a controversial topic of the current era.

The News was huge on Sundays, although it featured very few cartoons, oddly enough.  It had a lot of feature sections.  I've omitted the one on "Sex Appeal In Exploration".

Last edition:

Saturday, October 10, 1936. Things going on in Central Europe.

Labels: 1930s, 1936, Abortion, Austria, Clerico-fascism, Fascism, Heimwehr, homosexuality, Italy, Nazi Germany, The roles of men and women, United Kingdom, Vaterländische Front

Saturday, October 10, 1936. Things going on in Central Europe.

The Austrian clerico-fascist Heimwehr was dissolved and folded into the far right Vaterländische Front which was governing Austria.

The Italian government adopted Mussolini's recommendations for national defense, including increasing the work week from 40 to 60 hours.

The Reich Central Office for the Combating of Homosexuality and Abortion was created in Nazi Germany.

It's odd that these two topics were combined.

Women were allowed to be employed in munitions factories in the UK for the first time since World War One.

Last edition:

Friday, October 9, 1936. Boulder generates electricity, foreign communists in Spain.

Labels: 1930s, 1936, Communists, Electrical Power, Great Depression, Hydroelectric Power, International Brigades (Brigadas Internacionales), Spanish Civil War, Spanish Republicans

Friday, October 9, 1936. Boulder generates electricity, foreign communists in Spain.

Boulder Dam began generating electricity.

Flag of the International Brigades.

The European committee on neutrality in the Spanish Civil War met in London with representatives of 27 nations present. The meeting adjourned without agreement or action.

Meanwhile 650 volunteers for the Spanish International Brigades comprised of heavily very far left volunteers to fight for the Republicans arrived in Alicante.  Romantically remembered, particularly after World War Two, as small d democrats, in reality they were mostly dedicated communists.

Last edition:

Thursday, October 8, 1936. Picture Page.

Labels: 1930s, 1936, 1950s, 1952, British Broadcasting Corporation, Germany, Nazi Germany, Spanish Civil War, television, USSR

Thursday, October 8, 1936. Picture Page.

The British television, yes television, news and feature series Picture Page was first broadcast.  It ran continually until 1952 except for World War Two when television broadcasts were stopped by the BBC.

There were only between 100 to 300 television sets in the entire UK at the time.

Germany condemned the USSR's threats of intervention in the Spanish Civil War but denied that itw as providing military supplies to the Nationalists.

Last edition:

Wednesday, October 7, 1936. Soviet Ultimatum over Spain.

Labels: 1930s, 1936, Agrarianism, baseball, Basque, Finland, German Army, Germany, Italy, Personalities, Portugal, Spain, Spanish Civil War, USSR

Wednesday, October 7, 1936. Soviet Ultimatum over Spain.

The USSR issued an ultimatum to Portugal, Italy and Germany that unless they stopped aiding the Spanish Nationalist in the ongoing civil war, the USSR would take an active involvement.

On the same day, German armored troops arrived in Spain as trainers with their focus being on tanks and antitank guns.

José Antonio Aguirre became the 1st President of the Basque Country, an autonomous region in the Spanish Republic.  He'd muster local forces to fight on the Republican side, and accordingly went into exile for the rest of life when the Nationalist won the civil war.  He died in 1960 of a heart attack at age 56 and, as a Catholic, was given a funeral Mass.

Agrarian Party member, and Lutheran Pietist, Kyösti Kallio became Prime Minister of Finland.

The Dodgers fired Casey Stengel.

Last edition:

Tuesday, October 6, 1936. Yankees take the series.

Labels: 1930s, 1936, 1936 Spanish Elections, 1936 World Series, Anarchy, Communism, Communists, Spain