Madrid Defense Council
| Madrid Defense Council Spanish: Junta de Defensa de Madrid | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Former subdivision of Spanish Republic | |||||||||
| 1936–1937 | |||||||||
Location of the Province of Madrid within Spain | |||||||||
| Capital | Madrid | ||||||||
| Demonym | madrileño, -ña | ||||||||
| Area | |||||||||
| • Coordinates | 40°25′08″N 3°41′31″W / 40.4189°N 3.6919°W | ||||||||
| Government | Defense Council | ||||||||
| • Type | Council Republic | ||||||||
| • Motto | "Long live Madrid without government!" Spanish: Viva Madrid sin gobierno! | ||||||||
| President | |||||||||
• 1936–1937 | José Miaja | ||||||||
Coat of arms | |||||||||
| Historical era | Spanish Civil War | ||||||||
• Government flees to Valencia | 6 November 1936 | ||||||||
• Established | 7 November 1936 | ||||||||
• Siege of Madrid begins | 8 November 1936 | ||||||||
| 6–27 February 1937 | |||||||||
| 8–23 March 1937 | |||||||||
• Disestablished | 23 April 1937 | ||||||||
| 28 March 1939 | |||||||||
| |||||||||
The Madrid Defense Council (Spanish: Junta de Defensa de Madrid) was an ad-hoc governing body that ran Madrid, Spain, for about six months during the Spanish Civil War (1936–39). It was formed in November 1936 after the Spanish Republican government had fled to Valencia when General Francisco Franco's forces advanced on Madrid. It was expected that the city would fall within a few days, but the arrival of the International Brigades halted the rebel advance, and the situation settled into a stalemate. The council was dominated by communists, who had superior organization and propaganda to the other groups. Their policy was to organize the militias into regular troops and focus on defeating the enemy, rather than to undertake revolutionary activity. As time passed there was growing tension between the communists and more radical groups. The council was dissolved in April 1937 and replaced by a new city council.