To fight on because there was no other choice , even if winning was not possible , then to salvage what we could – and at the very end our self respect ... Why go on resisting ? Quite simply because we knew what capitulation would mean . However , Colonel Segismundo Casado , joined by José Miaja , Julian Besteiro ( the leader of the PSOE right-wing faction ) and Cipriano Mera , tired of fighting , which they regarded then as hopeless . Seeking better surrender terms , they seized power in Madrid on 5 March 1939 , created the National Defence Council '' ( Consejo Nacional de Defensa ) '' , and deposed Negrín . On March 6 , Negrín fled to France . Although the troops led by the PCE rejected the '' coup '' on Madrid they were defeated by Cipriano Mera 's troops . The Junta tried to negotiate a peace deal with the nationalists , but Franco only accepted an unconditional surrender of the Republic . Finally all the members of the Junta ( except Besteiro ) fled , and by 31 of March 1939 the Nationalists seized all the Spanish territory
we knew what capitulation would mean
White Terror (Spain)
Juan Negrín