Commune de Paris battalion

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Flag of the Interbrigades

The Commune de Paris Battalion was a largely Franco-Belgian battalion of the International Brigades in the Spanish Civil War . Several English and North American companies also served in the Commune de Paris battalion. The name pays homage to the French revolutionary government of the Paris Commune of 1871.

history

The first French communist militiamen

The first French volunteers came to Barcelona unorganized over the Pyrenees in the first months of the Spanish Civil War . Mainly they fought on the Aragon front. Some of these volunteers joined the international Centuria of the Catalan PSUC party . The first fifteen French people to line up arrived in Barcelona after August 3, 1936. Together with other international volunteers, they formed the germ of the later communist international Centuria , such as the Centuria Thälmann and the Centuria Giustizia e Libertà .

Furthermore, an international militia unit was formed in Madrid within the Fifth Regiment with the name Commune de Paris . Well-known organizers of the communist Fifth Regiment were the Italians Vittorio Vidali and Luigi Longo and the French Colonel Vincent. Enrique Líster became the commander of a division with the international militia unit Commune de Paris .

Centuria Commune de Paris

On September 11, 1936, the international Centuria Commune de Paris fought about 60 kilometers north of Madrid in the Sierra de Gredos near La Granja de San Ildefonso with the Italian Centuria Gastone Sozzi and the Centuria Giustizia e Libertà . The commandant of the Centuria Commune de Paris was the former French officer Jules Dumont . On October 25, the Centuria Commune de Paris was merged with the Centuria Dąbrowski because of high losses .

Commune de Paris battalion

Following the decision of the Spanish People's Government, the militia units were reorganized into battalions. From October 25, the Commune-de-Paris battalion belonged to the 9th alongside the Garibaldi battalion , the Dąbrowski battalion , the Thälmann battalion , the later Edgar André battalion and an artillery battery . Brigada Móvil de Choque . On November 1, 1936, the regrouping of the IX took place. Brigada Móvil for the XI. International Brigade . On January 6th, the Commune de Paris battalion with the Thalmann battalion received orders to hold positions at Las Rozas de Madrid . Due to the attrition of the Thälmann battalion, José Miaja ordered the XIII. Enrique Lísters Brigade of the Madrid Southern Front and the XIV International Brigade of the Cordoba Front .

XI. International Brigade

In Albacete , the central base and training camp of the International Brigades, the Commune de Paris battalion was reorganized at the end of October. It was named N o 2 . On November 4, 1936, the battalions set up in Albacete, the Commune-de-Paris-Battalion, the Edgar-André-Battalion and the Dąbrowski-Battalion and with a British machine gun company were ordered to the Madrid Front . The commander of the brigade was Manfred Stern , better known as General Emilio Kléber . The General Inspector of the Thälmann Brigade was André Marty . The commander of the Commune de Paris battalion was Jules Dumont . Late in the evening of November 8th, the brigade with 1,900 men reached Madrid .

Battle for Madrid

Casa de Campo

On November 8th, 1936, at the height of the fighting for Madrid , the three battalions marched across Gran Vía to the front with shouts of "Long live Russia". In the evening, the Commune de Paris battalion and the Edgar André battalion took up positions in the Casa de Campo . Francophone fighters from the front who had survived the fighting on the Tagus were integrated into the battalion. On the following day, November 9th, General Emilio Kléber pulled the XI. International Brigade gathered at Casa de Campo and ordered an attack in the evening hours. The attack dragged on into the morning of November 10th. When the fighting subsided, the national troops had been pushed from their positions, the planned swift capture of Madrid had failed, and the XI. International Brigade had lost a third of its soldiers.

Regrouping of the XI. International Brigade

According to a list drawn up by the Comandancia (brigade command), the Commune de Paris Battalion was part of the XI until December 3, 1936. International Brigade. According to this list, the XI. International Brigade in addition to the Commune-de-Paris-Battalion also the Edgar-André-Battalion, the Dąbrowski-Battalion , the Thälmann-Battalion, a Franco-Belgian battery, a Spanish battery , a cavalry peloton and an anti-tank group. In the course of the regrouping of the international brigades for language homogenization, the XI. International Brigade regrouped. On December 4, 1936, the leadership of the XI. International Brigade from General Kleber to Hans Kahle and Ludwig Renn . After the regrouping, the brigade had the following composition:

I. Edgar-André-Battalion
II. Commune-de-Paris-Battalion
III. Thälmann Battalion
IV. Asturias Heredia Battalion

Boadilla del Monte / Las Rozas

In December 1936, Franco's troops tried to cut off the road to A Coruña in northeast Madrid in order to further encircle Madrid. The nationalist offensive began on December 3rd and intensified on December 13th. Shortly before the capture of Boadilla del Monte on December 14th, the XI. and the XII. International Brigade thrown into battle. General Kléber sent the Commune de Paris battalion to Pozuelo de Alarcón and the Edgar André battalion with the Thalmann battalion to Las Rozas . After taking Boadilla del Monte and Villanueva de la Cañada , the nationalists ended the offensive. On January 3rd, the nationalists made another attempt to block the road from Madrid to A Coruña. On January 4th, the nationalists reached the first houses in Las Rozas de Madrid on the railway line. On January 5th, the nationalists attacked again and reached the Madrid-Coruna road, but the international brigades managed to maintain their positions. The Thälmann battalion was wiped out during these battles.

Integration of Spaniards into the Commune de Paris battalion

After Ludwig Renn at the end of January 1937, due to the losses of the XI. International Brigade, the integration of 900 Spaniards into the brigade. The Spaniards are involved by integrating a Spanish platoon into each of the four companies of the three international battalions, the Edgar André battalion, the Commune de Paris battalion and the Thälmann battalion . After the integration of the Spaniards, the XI. International Brigade with the Spanish Asturias-Heredia Battalion, half of them Spaniards.

Battle of the Jarama

The battalion also fought in February 1937 in the Battle of Jarama . On February 17, General Miaja ordered the XI., XII. XIV. And XV. International Brigade launched a major counterattack. These four International Brigades held the front from Arganda del Rey to Morata de Tajuña . The only success was that the nationalist troops in the northern part of the combat area in front of Arganda del Rey had to retreat. The International Brigades suffered heavy losses in these attacks.

Battle of Guadalajara

From March 8, 1937, the Commune de Paris battalion fought in the Battle of Guadalajara .

XIV International Brigade

On March 9, 1937, international militiamen were integrated by Italian Gastone Sozzi brigadists. The Commune de Paris battalion thus had a nominal strength of around 1,000 brigadists. The XIV International Brigade was restructured by October 1937 . The brigade were the Spanish Domingo Germinal Battalion , the Henri Barbusse Battalion , the Henri Vuillemin Battalion from the XIII. International Brigade, the Six Février Battalion of the XV. International Brigade, the newly established Pierre Brachet Battalion , the former La Marseillaise Battalion (Ralph Fox Battalion) and the Commune de Paris Battalion. The Commune de Paris battalion had six companies, named: Compañía Ametralladoras, Primera Compañía, Segunda Compañía, Tercera Compañía, Columna Británica and Zapadores.

Because of Franco's northern offensive , the Republicans decided to carry out a relief offensive at Segovia (Segovia offensive). Between May 30 and June 4, 1937, republican units with the XIV International Brigade attempted to take Mount Cabeza Grande (1428 m) near the city of Segovia. General Walter , the commander of the XIV International Brigade, was in charge of the operational leadership of the Segovia offensive . The Republicans were able to take Cruz de la Gallega and pushed on to Mount Cabeza Grande in order to be able to take the road to Segovia from this mountain under direct artillery fire. General Walter ordered the XIV International Brigade to take the Cabeza Grande mountain by a frontal attack, but it collapsed. During the Segovia offensive, Captain Duchesne led the punishment company of the XIV International Brigade with extreme brutality. He grabbed five brigadists at random and shot them one by one in the back of the head with the pistol. General Walter also gave orders to shoot everyone who withdrew. In his report, which he sent to Moscow after the Segovia offensive, he wrote: “The XIV International Brigade was heroically but unopposed massacred over the course of five days.” After Walter's removal, Colonel Moriones ordered the retreat to the starting positions on. According to him, 3,000 soldiers were killed in the Segovia offensive, including 1,000 brigadists from the XIV International Brigade.

In October 1937 the battalion was involved in an attack on Cuesta de la Reina near the Jarama River . The attack ended in blatant failure and a large number of people injured. On the night of July 25, 1938, during the Battle of the Ebro , the Commune de Paris battalion was involved in a diversionary maneuver at Campredó , in which the battalion was almost completely wiped out. After the defeat at Campredó, the battalion was reconstituted with the XIV International Brigade after a period of rest. On September 8 or October 8, 1938, the group was assigned to the XII. International Brigade.

XII. International Brigade

The Commune de Paris battalion was reconstituted from the wounded of the battalion and the 180 brigadists who survived after the defeat at Campredó. Henri Rol-Tanguy became the commander . At the end of July the battalion was ordered back to the Ebro, where it took positions near the town of Mora d'Ebre . Furthermore, the battalion was grouped into the XII. International Brigade. At the Battle of the Ebro, the 45th Division also fought near the Mount of Cavalls, east of Gandesa , and on August 15, with the 35th Division, defended the mountains of Pàndols.

On September 24, 1938, the government of the Spanish Republic had to disband the international brigades , partly because of pressure from the League of Nations . The Commune-de-Paris-Battalion was part of the XII. International Brigade (Garibaldi) .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Arno Lustiger : Shalom Libertad! , Aufbau-Taschenbuch-Verlag, Berlin, ISBN 3-7466-8059-X , page 33
  2. ↑ a b Sociedad Benéfica de Historiadores Aficionados y Creadores: Section Julio de 1936 a febrero de 1937 ( Memento of the original of March 17, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed on August 27, 2012 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.sbhac.net
  3. ↑ a b c d Hugh Thomas : The Spanish Civil War , Verlag Ullstein, 1967, (a) page 193, (b) page 272, (c) page 254, (d) page 270 and 272
  4. ↑ Brigadas Internacionales, Milicias Populares Centuria Commune de Paris (Spanish) ( Memento of December 5, 2009 in the Internet Archive ), accessed on May 13, 2012
  5. ↑ Abel Paz: Durruti. Life and Death of the Spanish Anarchist , Edition Nautilus, 1994, ISBN 3-89401-224-2 , page 562
  6. ↑ Patrik von zur Mühlen : Spain was your hope. The German Left in the Spanish Civil War 1936 to 1939 , (PDF file; 9.66 MB), Research Institute of the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, Bonn, Verlag Neue Gesellschaft GmbH, 1983, ISBN 3-87831-375-6 , (a) from page 212, (b) page 213
  7. ^ Ludwig Renn : In the Spanish War , Aufbau-Verlag, Berlin and Weimar, 5th edition 1983, order number 610 912 4, page 130
  8. ↑ a b Antony Beevor : The Spanish Civil War , 2nd edition, ISBN 978-3-442-15492-0 , page 245.
  9. ^ Hanns Maaßen : Brigada Internacional is our honorary name ... , Röderberg-Verlag GmbH, Frankfurt / Main 1976, ISBN 3-87682-515-6 , page 176