«The order was given not to take prisoners». The rebel Army and the Franco dictatorship against the republican guerrillas and the civilian population (1936-1952)

Abstract

TThe objective of this article will be to show how the rebels established the doctrine of not taking prisoners in anti-guerrilla areas since the summer of 1936. A strategy that became the basis for Franco’s counterinsurgency until 1952, when the Republican guerrilla was finally defeated. To analyze these questions I will use the specialized bibliography and a series of unpublished documents. The documentation generated by the guerrilla groups and the own experience of the partisans, their links and the civilian population has shown that the application of «la ley de fugas» between had the objective of not taking prisoners. However, the discovery of various orders and communications from the rebel Army and the dictatorship confirms that the rebels planned in detail the dirty war that was deployed against the guerrillas and the population living in the irregular theater of operations.