Editing International Brigades (section)

== Service ==

=== First engagements: Siege of Madrid ===
[[File:Flag of the International Brigades.svg|thumb|right|225px|The flag of the International Brigades was the [[Spanish Republican flag]] with the three-pointed star of the [[Popular Front (Spain)|Popular Front]] in the center]]
The [[Siege of Madrid|Battle of Madrid]] was a major success for the Republic, and staved off the prospect of a rapid defeat at the hands of [[Francisco Franco]]'s forces. The role of the International Brigades in this victory was generally recognized but was exaggerated by [[Comintern]] propaganda so that the outside world heard only of their victories and not those of Spanish units. So successful was such propaganda that the British Ambassador, Sir Henry Chilton, declared that there were no Spaniards in the army which had defended Madrid. The International Brigade forces that fought in Madrid arrived after another successful Republican fighting. Of the 40,000 Republican troops in the city, the foreign troops numbered less than 3,000.<ref>{{harvnb|Beevor|1999|pc=137}}; {{harvnb|Anderson|2003|p= 59}}.</ref>

Even though the International Brigades did not win the battle by themselves, nor significantly change the situation, they certainly did provide an example by their determined fighting and improved the morale of the population by demonstrating the concern of other nations in the fight. Many of the older members of the International Brigades provided valuable combat experience, having fought during the [[First World War]] (Spain remained neutral in 1914–1918) and the [[Irish War of Independence]] (some had fought in the [[British Army]] while others had fought in the [[Irish Republican Army]] (IRA)).

One of the strategic positions in Madrid was the [[Casa de Campo]]. There the Nationalist troops were [[Morocco|Moroccans]], commanded by General [[José Enrique Varela]]. They were stopped by III and IV Brigades of the [[Spanish Republican Army]].

On 9 November 1936, the [[XI International Brigade]] – comprising 1,900 men from the Edgar André Battalion, the Commune de Paris Battalion and the [[Dabrowski Battalion]], together with a British machine-gun company&nbsp;— took up position at the Casa de Campo. In the evening, its commander, [[Manfred Stern|General Kléber]], launched an assault on the Nationalist positions. This lasted for the whole night and part of the next morning. At the end of the fight, the Nationalist troops had been forced to retreat, abandoning all hopes of a direct assault on Madrid by Casa de Campo, while the XIth Brigade had lost a third of its personnel.<ref>{{cite book |title=Boadilla |first=Esmond |last=Romilly |publisher=[[The Clapton Press]] |location=London |year=2018 |isbn=978-1999654306}}</ref>

On 13 November, the 1,550-man strong [[XII International Brigade]], made up of the Thälmann Battalion, the [[Garibaldi Battalion]] and the André Marty Battalion, deployed. Commanded by [[Mate Zalka|General "Lukacs"]], they assaulted Nationalist positions on the high ground of Cerro de Los Angeles. As a result of language and communication problems, command issues, lack of rest, poor coordination with armored units, and insufficient artillery support, the attack failed.

On 19 November, the [[anarchist]] [[militia]]s were forced to retreat, and Nationalist troops&nbsp;— Moroccans and Spanish Foreign Legionnaires, covered by the Nazi [[Condor Legion]]&nbsp;— captured a foothold in the [[University City of Madrid|University City]]. The 11th Brigade was sent to drive the Nationalists out of the University City. The battle was extremely bloody, a mix of [[artillery]] and [[strategic bombing|aerial bombardment]], with [[bayonet]] and [[grenade]] fights, room by room. Anarchist leader [[Buenaventura Durruti]] was shot there on 19 November 1936 and died the next day. The battle in the university went on until three-quarters of the University City was under Nationalist control. Both sides then started setting up trenches and fortifications. It was then clear that any assault from either side would be far too costly; the Nationalist leaders had to renounce the idea of a direct assault on Madrid, and prepare for a [[siege]] of the capital.

On 13 December 1936, 18,000 nationalist troops attempted an attack to close the encirclement of Madrid at [[Guadarrama]]&nbsp;— an engagement known as the [[Second Battle of the Corunna Road|Battle of the Corunna Road]]. The Republicans sent in a Soviet armored unit, under General [[Dmitry Pavlov (general)|Dmitry Pavlov]], and both XI and XII International Brigades. Violent combat followed, and they stopped the Nationalist advance.

An attack was then launched by the Republic on the [[Córdoba, Spain|Córdoba]] front. The battle ended in a form of stalemate; a communique was issued, saying: "During the day the advance continued without the loss of any territory." Poets [[Ralph Winston Fox]] and [[John Cornford]] were killed at the [[Battle of Lopera]], as was Dubliner [[Tommy Wood (Irish communist)|Tommy Wood]], aged 17.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Stradling |first=R. A. |title=The Irish and the Spanish Civil War, 1936–39: Crusades in Conflict |date=1999 |publisher=Manchester University Press |isbn=978-1-901341-13-3 |page=151}}</ref> Eventually, the Nationalists advanced, taking the [[hydro electricity|hydroelectric]] station at El Campo. [[André Marty]] accused the commander of the [[Marseillaise Battalion]], Gaston Delasalle, of espionage and treason and had him executed. (It is doubtful that Delasalle would have been a spy for Francisco Franco; he was denounced by his second-in-command, André Heussler, who was subsequently executed for treason during World War II by the [[French Resistance]].)

Further Nationalist attempts after Christmas to encircle Madrid met with failure, but not without extremely violent combat. On 6 January 1937, the Thälmann Battalion arrived at [[Las Rozas de Madrid|Las Rozas]] and held its positions until it was destroyed as a fighting force. On 9 January, only 10&nbsp;km had been lost to the Nationalists, when the [[XIII International Brigade]] and [[XIV International Brigade]] and the 1st British Company, arrived in Madrid. Violent Republican assaults were launched in an attempt to retake the land, with little success. On 15 January, trenches and fortifications were built by both sides, resulting in a stalemate.

The Nationalists did not take Madrid until the very end of the war, in March 1939, when they marched in unopposed. There were some pockets of resistance during the subsequent months.

=== Battle of Jarama ===
On 6 February 1937, following the fall of [[Málaga]], the nationalists launched an attack on the [[Madrid]]–[[Andalusia]] road, south of Madrid. The Nationalists quickly advanced on the little town of [[Ciempozuelos]], held by the [[XV International Brigade]]. was composed of the [[British Battalion]] ([[Commonwealth of Nations|British Commonwealth]] and [[Irish people|Irish]]), the [[Dimitrov Battalion]] (miscellaneous [[Balkan]] nationalities), the [[Sixth February Battalion]] ([[Belgium|Belgians]] and French), the Canadian [[Mackenzie-Papineau Battalion]] and the [[Abraham Lincoln Brigade]]. An independent 80-men-strong (mainly) Irish unit, known afterward as the [[Connolly Column]], also fought. Battalions were rarely composed entirely of one nationality, rather they were, for the most part, a mix of many.

On 11 February 1937, a Nationalist brigade [[Battle of Jarama|launched a surprise attack]] on the André Marty Battalion ([[XIV International Brigade]]), killing its sentries silently and crossing the [[Jarama]]. The Garibaldi Battalion stopped the advance with heavy fire. At another point, the same tactic allowed the Nationalists to move their troops across the river. On 12 February, the British Battalion, [[XV International Brigade]] took the brunt of the attack, remaining under heavy fire for seven hours. The position became known as "Suicide Hill". At the end of the day, only 225 of the 600 members of the British battalion remained. One [[Company (military)|company]] was captured by ruse, when Nationalists advanced among their ranks singing ''[[The Internationale]]''.

On 17 February, the Republican Army counterattacked. On 23 and 27 February, the International Brigades were engaged, but with little success. The Lincoln Battalion was put under great pressure, with no artillery support. It suffered 120 killed and 175 wounded. Amongst the dead was the Irish poet [[Charles Donnelly (poet)|Charles Donnelly]] and Leo Greene.<ref>{{cite journal| title=The Enigma of Frank Ryan part 1| first=Michael| last=McInerney| journal=Old Limerick Journal| volume=1| date=December 1979| url=http://www.limerickcity.ie/media/Media,3920,en.pdf| access-date=25 June 2018| archive-date=29 September 2020| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200929191202/http://www.limerickcity.ie/media/Media,3920,en.pdf| url-status=dead}}</ref>

There were heavy casualties on both sides, and although "both claimed victory ... both suffered defeats".<ref>{{harvnb|Thomas|2003|p=579}}</ref> The battle resulted in a stalemate, with both sides digging in and creating elaborate trench systems. On 22 February 1937, the [[League of Nations]] [[Non-Intervention Committee]] ban on foreign volunteers went into effect.

=== Battle of Guadalajara ===
{{Main|Battle of Guadalajara}}
[[File:Garibaldi.svg|thumb|right|Flag of Garibaldi battalion of the XII International Brigade, formed by italian volunteers]]
After the failed assault on the Jarama, the Nationalists attempted another assault on Madrid, this time from the northeast. The objective was the town of [[Guadalajara, Spain|Guadalajara]], 50&nbsp;km from Madrid. The whole Italian expeditionary corps&nbsp;— 35,000 men, with 80 battle tanks and 200 field artillery&nbsp;— was deployed, as [[Benito Mussolini]] wanted the victory to be credited to Italy. On 9 March 1937, the Italians made a breach in the Republican lines but did not properly exploit the advance. However, the rest of the Nationalist army was advancing, and the situation appeared critical for the Republicans. A formation drawn from the best available units of the Republican army, including the [[XI International Brigade|XI]] and [[XII International Brigade]]s, was quickly assembled.

At dawn on 10 March, the Nationalists closed in, and by noon, the Garibaldi Battalion counterattacked. Some confusion arose from the fact that the sides were not aware of each other's movements, and that both sides spoke Italian; this resulted in scouts from both sides exchanging information without realizing they were enemies.<ref>{{harvnb|Beevor|1999|p=158}}</ref> The Republican lines advanced and made contact with XI International Brigade. Nationalist tanks were shot at and infantry patrols came into action.

On 11 March, the Nationalist army broke the front of the Republican army. The [[Thälmann Battalion]] suffered heavy losses but succeeded in holding the [[Trijueque]]–[[Torija]] road. The Garibaldi also held its positions. On 12 March, Republican planes and tanks attacked. The Thälmann Battalion attacked Trijuete in a bayonet charge and re-took the town, capturing numerous prisoners.

=== Other battles ===
The International Brigades also saw combat in the [[Battle of Teruel]] in January 1938. The [[35th International Division]] suffered heavily in this battle from aerial bombardment as well as shortages of food, winter clothing, and ammunition. The [[XIV International Brigade]] fought in the [[Battle of Ebro]] in July 1938, the last Republican offensive of the war.