The Spanish Civil War began on this day in 1936. Armed with only their cameras,

Robert Capa, David “Chim” Seymour, and Gerda Taro (who died when a tank crushed her vehicle during the Battle of Brunete in

1937) personalized the struggle of the Spanish Loyalists, illuminated the strength

and the courage of the soldiers who carried on despite insufferable odds, and

galvanized compassion for the innocent and injured.

SPAIN—A Republican militiawoman trains on the beach outside Barcelona, August 1936.

BARCELONA, Spain—Bidding farewell before getting on a military train directed to the Aragon front, August 1936

BARCELONA, Spain—Republican soldiers leaving for the Aragon front. The sentence written on the train means "UHP [Union of Proletariat Brothers] swears upon these fraternal letters that you will sooner die than live

under tyranny," August 1936

BARCELONA, Spain—Two boys on a barricade, August 1936.

EXTREMADURA, Spain—A peasant woman listens attentively to a political speech, 1936

MADRID, Spain—A Fascist officer is interrogated by a Republican officer, 1936

EXTREMADURA, Spain—A committee of peasants salutes, with their fists, militiamen leaving to join the forces in Madrid, 1936

SPAIN—Republican soldiers in combat, 1936.

SPAIN—A Republican soldier rests after two days of battle, August 1936

CERRO MURIANO, Spain—On the Cordoba front, a Republican militiaman (Federico Borrell Garcia) at the moment of death, Sept 5, 1936

MADRID, Spain—Members of the International Brigades engaged in a house-to-house fight around the slaughterhouse near the university campus, in the western outskirts of the capital.

Fascist rebels were mounting a major offense in order to capture Madrid, 1936

SPAIN—Airplanes sent by the USSR to the Popular Front Government during the siege of Madrid. Here, a Polikarpov, November 1936.

MADRID, Spain—A building destroyed by Italian-German air raids. The Nationalist offensive on Madrid, which lasted from November 1936 to February 1937, was one of the fiercest of the war. During this period, Italy and Germany started helping the Nationalist forces while the USSR aided the Popular Front government, winter of

1936-’37

BILBAO, Spain—Running for shelter during air raids, May 1937

SPAIN—The Battle of Teruel. When Republican soldiers first entered this strategically located hilltop town after a hard siege, they found many civilian casualties, Dec. 21,

1937

SPAIN—The Battle of Teruel. Republican soldiers inside the Governor's Palace, the last bastion of the Fascist resistance. Earlier that day, the Republicans had detonated mines powerful enough to

blow away an entire wall, Jan. 3, 1938.

SPAIN—The Battle of the Ebro River. The Republican army crosses the Ebro, July 24, 1938

SPAIN—Battle of the Ebro River, July 24, 1938

MONTBLANCH, Spain—Bidding farewell to the International Brigades, which were dismissed by the Republican government as a consequence of Stalin's friendship with

Germany, Oct. 25, 1938

SPAIN—Loyalist troops during an offensive along the Rio Segre, Nov. 7, 1938.

BARCELONA, Spain—Running for shelter during the air-raid alarm. The city was heavily bombed by Fascist planes as Gen. Franco's troops rapidly approached the city, January 1939

BARCELONA, Spain—At a refugee transit center during the evacuation of the city, which was heavily bombed by Fascist planes as Gen. Franco's troops rapidly approached, January 1939

ARGELES-SUR-MER, France—An exiled Republican soldier who had crossed the border after Franco's victory, in a refugee camp, March 1939