Patriotic independence needs 100,000 volunteers and....

"Patriotic independence needs 100,000 volunteers for the People's Army and 50,000 for fortifications. So, they will not pass: we will pass!".

The recruitment of new soldiers for the army of the Republic was fundamental to the Government's defence policy. As was the importance of fortification, given that Madrid was a city under siege from the beginning of the conflict. The population was mobilised to build ditches, barbed wire fences, trenches and other protections that could be used by the defenders of the city. The famous phrase "No pasarán" (They shall not pass) appears here again, words that originated in the battle of Verdun in 1916 and became popular during the Spanish Civil War and especially in the defence of Madrid.