What one must keep in mind is how unbelievably chaotic conditions were in Republican Spain in the summer of 1936. The Army had torn itself apart. Yet those officers remaining loyal had to keep it functioning — logistics as well as the strategy and tactics aspects.

There were eight military Divisions in Spain:

- I. Madrid

- II. Seville

 - III. Valencia

- IV. Barcelona

- V. Zaragoza

- VI. Burgos

- VII.Valladolid

- VIII.Corunna

Each of these had an arsenal and sub-districts with their own arsenals. (for example Gen. Emilio Mola, the Rising’s organizer, was commander at Pamplona, a sub-district of the Division VI, Burgos. When the dust began to settle after the Rising, Madrid, Valencia, and Barcelona remained Loyal; Seville was take for the Rebels by a coup (but not the entire District); and Corunna, Burgos, and Valladolid were in the Rebel camp. The rest were divided. So what happened at the arsenals were individual actions, not a matter of the Government giving an order and having it carried out. It was Civil War.