Question about Spanish Civil War

[quixo]

Two questions:

Was there any man who could have become the Republican Franco and united all Republican factions under a strong central command, preferably during the early stages of the war?

And:

Could the Spanish Navy have prevented the crossing of the straits by ships of the Nationalist troops (the ones carried by aircraft might not be enough to hold their ground in the Peninsula)?

 

[Dr. Strangelove]

Was there any man who could have become the Republican Franco and united all Republican factions under a strong central command, preferably during the early stages of the war?

Juan Negrin sort of became that after 1937, but it was too late then. Your other best bet is PSOE's general secretary Francisco Largo Caballero.

However, the left was too disunited and with a weak leadership -the sort of PoD necessary to create such a figure in the left by 1936 would probably butterfly the civil war altogether.

Could the Spanish Navy have prevented the crossing of the straits by ships of the Nationalist troops (the ones carried by aircraft might not be enough to hold their ground in the Peninsula)?

They tried and failed, mostly because most navy officers had been killed or imprisoned during the first days and when the nationalists crossed the straits the navy was in no mood for combat.