Until around 10 years ago, the conventional wisdom in educational historiography held that the start of the Civil War (1936-1939), marking as it did the placing of education at the service of the war effort, involved a rupture, in both the Republican government and the "rebel" or Franco camp, with the preceding years as to the educational politics and the pedagogical discourses. However, in the last few years a number of works have been published which, without denying the changes that undoubtedly occurred, emphasise the continuities in the discourses. This article sets out to elucidate and clarify just what there was of rupture and or continuity in educational politics and politico-pedagogical discourses during the years of the Civil War.