The origins of the Civil War Archive date back to the decree which, on September 13, 1936, established that "all properties and documents belonging to the political parties and organizations mentioned, as well as any other that opposed the
movimiento nacional were to become the property of the State." The original decree was supplemented by successive decrees, such as that of April 20, 1937, which set up a counter-propaganda unit, the
Oficina de Investigación y Propaganda Anticomunista (OIPA), and of May 29, 1937, which created the Delegación Nacional de Asuntos Especiales, charged with "recompiling documentation regarding sects operating in the country... in order to set up an Archive with which to establish, uncover and sanction the enemies of the Patria." The systematic recompilation of documents commenced with the fall of
Bilbao, and in 1938
Serrano Súñer as Minister of the Interior, set up the
Delegación del Estado para Recuperación de Documentos which started preparing documentation with which to prepare trials at military courts. On the other hand, the
Delegación de Servicios Especiales, which reported to General Franco's Private Office, was located at Salamanca, the city Franco had established as his headquarters. In 1944, given the overlapping functions of the two bodies, they were brought together under the
Delegación Nacional de Servicios Documentales, belonging to the
Presidencia del Gobierno. Their function was specifically, to draw up dossiers to be used at the numerous courts set up under the regime: courts martial in general; the
Tribunales de Responsabilidades Políticas; the
Tribunales de Depuración de Funcionarios and the
Tribunal Especial para la Represión de la Masonería y el Comunismo. With the death of Franco, the dictatorship's Document Services was suppressed by the Royal Decree 276/1977 and in 1979 the collection was transferred to the newly created
Ministry of Culture whose
National Historic Archive set up a dedicated department. The
Archivo General de la Guerra Civil Española, housed at Salamanca, was formally constituted in 1999. == Committee of experts ==