 In 1932, the Cuerpo de Seguridad was renamed as the "Cuerpo de Seguridad y Asalto".Assault Guards played a critical role in preserving the republic during the early stages of the military insurgency that opened the Spanish Civil War, most notably by helping to crush the army uprising in Barcelona and through their heroic contributions to the defense of Madrid, where they did a disproportionate share of both the fighting and the dying.As noted by a Workers' Party of Marxist Unification (POUM) militant who also participated in the Siege of Madrid,
The "Carabineros" and the Assault Guards were the Spanish police corps where the 1936 coup found the least support.