Also, wild card of sort - what of Salazar and Portugal? he is somehow dragged into it?
Had Spain been in a conflict before this particular one for this generals to gain experience in? Specifically, one reflecting World War 1 style warfare?
Because really, the first phases of the Spanish Civil War were basically WW1 style with trenches and stuff, because of how bad the weapons technology on both sides was actually.
The Spanish Army of Africa fought in the Rif War against Abd El-Krim, as did the Spanish Legion.
You've got catalonia-blinders on. The war around Madrid and in the south was very different to the war on the Aragon front.Okay, see, that experience really probably didn't prepare them for what the Spanish Civil War ended up being like.
Their advantage came from much better foreign aid, and a world that was more scared of Communism than Fascism or the radical right at that point in time(not for entirely bad reasons I'll concede, but it causes issues.)
Well, the first question must be: how is the situation in Spain and how does the civil war starts in this TL. For starters, no Nazi ruled Germany means no Popular Front. This causes industrial size butterflies in a number of countries... Will the republicans even win the '36 election ? The electorial system (sorta like the current Greek system) heavily favored the largest coalition. If the communists are still playing deaf, dumb and blind, waiting for the revolution, that may just push the bonus to the other team... Now I have no doubt that something nasty is in store for Spain in this TL, both sides were far too apt to see politics as a Zero sum game, and generally very good at pissing the other side off just for the heck of it.
You've got catalonia-blinders on. The war around Madrid and in the south was very different to the war on the Aragon front.
I'll admit I was partly just trying to find a way for the anarchists to be dominant