![](http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/669/1989/400/cerroangeles.jpg)
Exactly 70 years ago, the tensions within the Spanish Republic reached unbearable levels and the alzamiento of July 18 began. The greatest persecution of Catholics since late Antiquity would begin in the territory retained by the Communist-inspired forces, and would be particularly brutal in the first six months of the conflict.
(In the picture, Republican militiamen shoot against the Monument to the Sacred Heart, in the Cerro de los Ángeles, province of Madrid -- the monument would be completely destroyed in the first months of the persecution).
(In the picture, Republican militiamen shoot against the Monument to the Sacred Heart, in the Cerro de los Ángeles, province of Madrid -- the monument would be completely destroyed in the first months of the persecution).