The international brigades in the Spanish Civil War

Although the Spanish Civil War has always been known as a war between brothers, we must know that both sides had military and economic aid from abroad. The aid destined for Franco from the Axis powers, such as Germany and Italy, is very famous. They came to send battalions and even planes and other material to help end the Republic Spanish. In this lesson from a TEACHER we will stop to explain the international brigades in the Spanish Civil War, the help they received from various countries towards the government of the Spanish Republic to, in this way, stop the advance of totalitarianism in Europe.

Before the coup of July 18, a small group of residents were in Spain foreigners who had come to the peninsula fleeing from totalitarianism that were beginning to spread throughout Europe. In this way, when Francisco Franco gave the coup, these foreign residents they did not hesitate to fight in favor of Government of the RepublicSince, if the uprising succeeded in Spain, they would again be forced to go to another country.

On September 18, 1936, they were created in Moscow the international brigades, which were popularly called as "Volunteers of freedom". These were made up of people from all over the world, being mostly left-wing thoughts, anarchists, communists, progressives... At first there were about 10,000 men and their recruitment headquarters was in Paris.

From the very beginning, this idea of ​​"freedom volunteers" was created to fight throughout Europe against the constant attacks carried out before the liberations of men. And although we will find great efforts to fight in countries like Germany or Italy, the first interventions were made in Spain. In that way the October 14, 1936, the first troops arrived in Albacete from the international brigades, being made up mostly of Belgians, French, Italians and Germans.

In this other lesson from a TEACHER we will discover the countries involved in the Spanish Civil War.

Continuing with our lesson on the international brigades in the Spanish Civil War, we must talk about the different warlike confrontations that took place in Spain and in which the action of the brigadistas had a significant importance. The first performances were during the Battle of Madrid from November 4, 1936, to February 1937.

In this confrontation there were 1,550 troops between women and men belonging to the brigades interacting in said confrontations, being its main headquarters the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters of the capital. One of the places where they most let their performances be seen was in the surroundings of the Casa de Campo, where had to face General Varela, even fighting near Getafe, a place taken by the revolted.

Within that conflict, on February 6, 1937, the battle of Jarama, in which the XV brigade, a unit made up of Americans, English and Russians had to face the rebels who wanted to take the capital.

Another conflict where these troops took sides was in the battle of Guadalajara, in which they were Italians, especially those who composed them. On this occasion, the international brigades suffered heavy casualties, due to the fact that, on March 9, 1937, in Madrid found the rebel army with an army made up of 200 pieces of artillery, 30,000 men and 80 tanks of combat.

After this, the September 10, 1937 there was the Battle of Belchite in which the XI and XV brigades were the ones that faced each other with few results. It was at that moment when the Government of Spain had the first confrontation with the Comintern, since Spanish politicians thought that the Brigades had to be under the orders of Spanish soldiers, who knew much better the geographical areas in which they were fighting. But after a series of discussions, the brigades continued to be led by soldiers from other countries, an element that made their effectiveness less and less.

The Battle of Teruel, the last in which they intervened

Finally, to end this part of the international brigades in the Spanish Civil War, we must mention the battle of Teruel, which took place in December 1937, shortly before the signing of the Non-intervention. The purpose of this warlike confrontation was to divert the attention of the rebels to the north of the peninsula, thus breaking the communications between their fronts.

In the same way, we must know that, at that time, there was already great instability in Europe, mainly due to the imminent war that was going to take place (the Second World War), for this reason the call Non-Intervention Pact, for which the countries promised not to send troops to other countries to fight.

Therefore, the Government of Spain, seeing that it could not possibly have the international troops much longer, decided to send them into combat before they were withdrawn from the country. We have to know that by the end of that month the troops were too depleted, for which they could do little against Franco's army. That way in February 1938, the taking of Teruel by the rebellious side took place again, further reducing the foreign troops fighting in our country.

One of the most important characteristics in which the international brigades served while they were within Spain was the use of these as a group of guerrillas, that is, they infiltrated the enemy lines to sabotage everything from within. possible.

The year 1938 It was the moment chosen by the different countries that had been contributing men to the Spanish Republic to bring them from return to their countries of origin, because the Spanish Government had more than demonstrated the impossibility of war.

In this way we must know that, after April 15 (date by which the Spanish republican government's areas of control were divided into two parts by the actions of the rebel army) made both the USSR, England and France order the return of their men.

Thus, the last time the international brigades were seen in Spain, it was in a parade produced in Barcelona on October 28, 1938, date by which 10,000 Italians also withdrew by Mussolini as a gesture of goodwill towards the committee of non-intervention (although we know that 30,000 Italians remained fighting until the end of the war).