I was reading about the Second Spanish Republic and Spanish Civil war and I was kind of surprised. I was reading through Wikipedia with the conception that the "good guy" Republic was subverted by fascists and nazis and that was the downfall. What I read was more like the Republic was an incredibly oppressive regime especially towards Catholics that pushed Spain into total anarchy.
I feel like I am missing a lot of the story and I want to know more information.
How did the Second Republic come into existence?
Were they hardcore Marxists? Were they in fact super oppressive towards Catholics or is that Francoist revisionist propaganda?
Did Spain actually fall into anarchy prior to the civil war or is that also propaganda?
What was the ultimate trigger that caused the civil war and why was it such a bitter and bloody struggle?
Ahhhh don't ask these questions at bedtime. But in the meantime there's a fair amount of relevant reading in the FAQ, hopefully enough to indicate that while the Republic was far from perfect, it was also not a depraved den of fanatical Marxists hell bent on driving Catholics into anarchy.