Until the assassination of soft targets begins, fears of a civil war are overblown. Journalists are the softest of the soft targets. No one’s taking them out. Congressmen aren’t that well-protected, as Rand Paul and Steve Scalise will attest to. The Oklahoma City attack showed that these things don’t require much planning or resources.
When the Spanish Civil War broke out, generals on both sides were sharpening their swords and getting ready for the confrontation to come. It would not be surprising if high level people on both sides were involved in assassinations and bombings. Bail for operatives and money for operations had to be scrounged up. All of these things require significant planning and coordination. Why wouldn’t a bunch of independent groups do their own thing? Because people have wives and children to provide for and other kin who might get splashed in a tit for tat war. From a recruitment standpoint, it helps to have a widows and orphans fund, and infrastructure to treat people wounded in action or in need of a safe house after an operation.
No similarities here...
The Spanish started falling into the civil war state of mind around the start of the Spanish Republic in 1931.
There were several abortive starts during the republic, as both the left and the right attempted coups against the republic several times. The killing started in the process of these coups. The actual war started after yet another failure of a coup.
Its as if Spain had to kick-start the civil war several times before it “caught”. You may see that.
Or you may see the equivalent of the Irish “troubles” for some time before an actual war.