When Rejewski, Różycki and Zygalski were busy with their apprenticeship in codebreaking, events were taking place at the opposite end of Europe, which were supposed to make the importance of the Enigma even more evident to the countries still indifferent to its challenge. After military disasters at the end of the nineteenth century, Spain was on the verge of political stability. General Primo de Rivera’s coup d’état, the announcement of the Republic on 14 April 1931, attempted assassination of general Sanjurio in August 1932, finally suppressing of the leftist revolt in Asturias in 1934 marked the stages of the disruption. On 12 July 1936 the phalangists murdered Lieutenant José Castillio, a member of the republican military association. The colleagues of the murdered man set out in search of vengeance, and, unable to find Gil Robles as originally intended, murdered the leader of the monarchists, José Calvo Sotelo. Both murders have become a signal for action for the military conspirators: on 17 July military coup attempts were made in many regions of Spain. Successful in Burgos, Pamplona, Valladolid, Cadiz, Cordoba and Jerez, they failed in Madrid, Barcelona, Oviedo, Bilbao, Badajoz and Malaga. The next morning, Spain woke up divided.