The Siege of Madrid was a 2 ¹⁄₂-year siege of the Spanish capital city of Madrid, during the Spanish Civil War of 1936 to 1939. The city, besieged from October 1936, eventually fell to the Francoist armies on 28 March 1939. Madrid was held by various forces loyal to the Spanish Republic and was besieged and subject to aerial bombardment by the rebel faction under General Francisco Franco. The Battle of Madrid in November 1936 saw the most intense fighting in and around the city when the Nationalists made their most determined attempt to take the Republican capital.
The highest military awards of the Spanish Republic, the Laureate Plate of Madrid and the Madrid Distinction, established by the Republican government in order to reward courage, were named after the capital of Spain owing to the city symbolizing valour and Antifascist resistance during the long siege throughout the Civil War.