After the fall of Catalonia in February 1939, the military situation of the Republic was hopeless. The Republic still had the capital city and 30 per cent of Spanish territory, but it had lost 220,000 soldiers, the second city of the country, and the industrial resources of Catalonia. Furthermore, on 27 February Manuel Azaña, the president of the Republic, resigned and the United Kingdom and France recognized the Nationalist government.