Siege of Gijón
Spanish Civil War (1936-1939)
Gijón - Oviedo - Alcázar of Toledo - Mérida - Badajoz - Guipúzcoa - Mallorca - Sierra Guadalupe - Talavera de la Reina - Madrid - Road to Coruña - Málaga - Jarama - Guadalajara - War in the north ( Durango , Guernica , Santander ) - Brunete - Belchite - Teruel - Cabo de Palos - Aragon - Ebro - Catalonia
The siege of Gijón took place between July 19 and August 16, 1936 during the Spanish Civil War .
Anarchist militias on the side of the Second Spanish Republic besieged the Simancas barracks in the city of Gijón . This was defended by about 180 Spanish army soldiers and officers of the Guardia Civil , who had joined the revolt of General Franco .
prehistory
The revolt of the national forces under Franco in July 1936 found little echo in Asturias . The province was rather hostile to Franco and the militias of the CNT and UGT unions were 70,000 strong.
However, despite these circumstances, the military governor of Gijón, Colonel Pinilla , declared his solidarity with Franco.
The siege
At the end of July 1936, the city was completely enclosed by the militias. The besieged suffered from a lack of ammunition, weapons and water. Pinilla refused to surrender, however, as the Francoist propaganda led him to believe that reinforcements were on the way.
In mid-August, the besiegers managed to storm the barracks with the help of dynamite. Pinilla radioed the light cruiser Almirante Cervera and ordered them to bombard their own position. However, the order was not obeyed, as it was assumed that the republican side was a ruse.
The surviving defenders after the fighting executed .
literature
- Hugh Thomas : The Spanish Civil War. Revised and updated edition. Modern Library, New York NY 2001, ISBN 0-375-75515-2 .