El Alcázar . Daily under Siege

When Republican forces advanced on Toledo after the outbreak of the insurrection by Franco on July 18, 1936, Colonel Jose Moscardo took 1,100 combat forces and others into Alcázar-according to a press release issued after the siege-including 520 women and 50 children.3 Of these civilians, about 100 were hostages taken to protect the defenders of Alcázar as the Republicans neared. Rather than proceeding on an attack upon Madrid, Franco diverted his troops to relieve El Alcázar because resistance in the fortress had become a worldwide propaganda symbol; also, the Nationalists wanted the arms factory in Toledo.17 In the final issue of El Alcazar on September 27, 1936, the valedictory was simple and straightforward: The proximity of our brothers and orders by headquarters make this the last number of this little newspaper that will be published.