Edgar André Battalion

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Flag of the Interbrigades
Command post of the Etkar André battalion

The Edgar André Battalion was a largely German-Austrian battalion of the International Brigades in the Spanish Civil War . But there were also brigadists from language-related countries in this battalion. It was named after Edgar André named, a German communist who in 1933 after the seizure of power of the Nazis was arrested and executed the 1936th The Iruner Edgar-André group was also named after Etkar André .

German battalion

After the decision of the republican government in Madrid, the international Centuries were combined into battalions in Castile at the end of October 1936 . The German communist Hans Kahle became the commander of the German battalion, later the Edgar André battalion . For this reason it was also called the Hans Battalion . After the regrouping of the international Centuries to battalions, the German Battalion became part of IX on October 22, 1936 . Brigada Móvil de Choque , a motorized brigade , with the following structure.

I. German Battalion
II. Commune-de-Paris-Battalion
III. Garibaldi Battalion

On October 25th, the Centuria Dąbrowski , the Centuria Thälmann and an artillery battery in the IX. Brigada Móvil de Choque incorporated. After the incorporation, the mobile brigade had the following structure:

I. German Battalion
II. Commune-de-Paris-Battalion
III. Garibaldi Battalion
IV. Dąbrowski Battalion
V. Thälmann Battalion

As a result, on November 1, 1936, the IX. Brigada Móvil de Choque the XI. International brigade formed.

Edgar André Battalion

XI. International Brigade

The later Edgar André battalion was formed with a manpower of 650 brigadists in Albacete , the training camp of the international brigades. It was named N o 1 . The commandant of the Edgar André battalion was Hans Kahle . The former member of the Reichstag and Landtag, Max Roscher , also fought in the battalion . The battalion was one of the first battalions of the International Brigade set up in Albacete , along with the Commune de Paris battalion and the Dąbrowski battalion . The commander of the brigade was Manfred Stern , better known as General Emilio Kléber. The Brigade's inspector general was André Marty . The three battalions became part of the XI. International Brigade with the following composition:

I. Edgar-André-Battalion
II. Commune-de-Paris-Battalion
III. Dąbrowski Battalion

Battle for Madrid

Casa de Campo

On November 4, 1936, the battalions set up in Albacete with a British machine gun company were ordered to the Madrid front . On November 6, 1936, however, the Edgar-André battalion was only given its name. 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 Edgar André battalion and the Commune de Paris battalion took up positions in the Casa de Campo on Manzanares between the railway bridge Puente los Franceses and the racecourse. Foreign fighters from the front who had survived the fighting on the Tagus were also integrated into the International Brigade. The following day, November 9th, General Emilio Kléber ordered an attack in the evening hours. The attack dragged on into the morning of November 10th. As a result, the Edgar André battalion and two companies included the nationalists at Húmera , at the western end of the Casa de Campo park. 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.

University district of Madrid

On November 15, 1936, the nationalists broke the republican positions in the area of ​​the university district of Madrid. The nationalists managed to advance deep into the university district, despite fierce opposition from the XI. International Brigade, the Durruti Column and other militia units. The XI. International brigade with the Edgar André battalion occupied positions in the northern sector between the Manzanares river and the university district, with General Kléber setting up his command post in the Real Club Puerta de Hierro . In the area designated by the XI. International Brigade was defended, the nationalists in the area of ​​the Casa de Velázquez and the agricultural school were able to replace the XI. Capture International Brigade. In fighting until November 18, 1936, over 50% of the 1,700 brigadists fell. On November 20, the Edgar-André battalion was withdrawn from the front because of exhaustion, with the positions of the Edgar-André battalion from the newly formed Thälmann battalion from the XII. International Brigade were occupied. On November 25, 1936, the Edgar André battalion detached the Thälmann battalion from the XII. International Brigade at the Moncloa Palace . In the following days, the Edgar André battalion, in contrast to the Thälmann battalion, managed to take the main building of the Moncloa Palace.

Regrouping of the XI. International Brigade

On November 29, 1936 the command of the XI. International Brigade to Hans Kahle , the commander of the Edgar-André-Battalion and Ludwig Renn , the commander of the Thälmann-Battalion . Due to an attack by the nationalists, the main building of the Moncloa Palace, which the nationalists conquered again, and the death of Hans Beimler , the handover of command was delayed until December 1936. According to a list drawn up by the Comandancia (brigade command) from December 3, 1936 the strength of the Edgar-André battalion in the XI. International Brigade at 359. According to this list, the XI. International Brigade in addition to the Edgar-André-Battalion, also the Thälmann-Battalion, the Dąbrowski-Battalion , the Commune-de-Paris-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

In December 1936, Franco's troops tried to cut off the road to A Coruña in northwest Madrid in order to further encircle the city. The nationalist offensive began on December 3rd and intensified on December 13th. After the capture of Boadilla del Monte on December 14th, the two International Brigades were thrown into battle. After taking Boadilla del Monte and Villanueva de la Cañada , the nationalists ended the offensive.

Las Rozas

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. The Republicans sent the Commune de Paris battalion to Pozuelo de Alarcón and the Edgar André battalion and Thälmann battalion to Las Rozas to reinforce the situation. On January 5th the nationalists attacked again and reached the road from Madrid to A Coruña, but the international brigades managed to hold their positions. The Thälmann battalion was wiped out during these battles.

Integration of Spaniards into the Edgar André 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 Jarama

On February 17, 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.

Renewed regrouping of the XI. International Brigade

Before the Battle of Brunete in July 1937, the international brigades were regrouped. After the regrouping, the brigade had the following composition:

I. Edgar André Battalion
II. Hans Beimler Battalion
III. Thälmann Battalion
IV. February 12th Battalion

Battle of Brunete

At the beginning of the Battle of Brunete on July 6, 1937, the 35th Division with the XI. International Brigade , 32nd Brigade, and 108th Brigade reserve positions behind Enrique Líster's 11th Division . After the deployment order from the Edgar André battalion and the Thälmann battalion at around 11:00 a.m., the deployment order for the February 12th battalion was issued towards evening .

On July 9, 1938, the 35th Division received the order to attack in a southerly direction, with the XI. International Brigade took up reserve positions behind the 108th Brigade. On July 10, 1938 at 8:00 a.m., the Hans Beimler battalion and half of the February 12 battalion reached the front section, with the Edgar André battalion and the Thälmann battalion remaining in their positions in the southern section of the front.

On July 25, 1938, due to the nationalist offensive to straighten the front line, the order to withdraw the XI. International Brigade from the positions at Quijorna. With the Edgar André Battalion, the Thälmann Battalion and the Hans Beimler Battalion, the brigade moved into new positions south of the road from Quijorna to Villanueva de la Cañada , north of the Morales Brook, with the February 12th battalion in a starting position remained.

End of war

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 . In January 1939, the stateless brigadists of the Edgar-André battalion submitted to the command of the Spanish People's Army. The battalion was wiped out in the Catalonia offensive at La Granadella .

See also

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The International Brigadas in the Spanish War 1936-1939: Flags of Symbols: Section 2. International Brigades (PDF; 6.4 MB), accessed on August 27, 2012
  2. ↑ Sociedad de Benéfica Historiadores aficionados y Creadores: Section 22 de octubre de 1936 ( Memento of 17 March 2012 at the Internet Archive ), accessed on August 27, 2012
  3. ↑ Brigadas Internacionales, Milicias Populares Centuria Commune de Paris (Spanish) ( Memento of December 5, 2009 in the Internet Archive ), accessed on May 13, 2012
  4. ^ Journal Contemporary History (PDF; 1.4 MB) Vol 4, Number 2, 1969, page 81, accessed June 30, 2012
  5. ↑ a b c Abel Paz : Durruti. Life and death of the Spanish anarchist , ISBN 3-89401-2242 , Edition Nautilus, 1994, (a) page 562, (b) page 562, (c) page 563, (d) page 573
  6. ↑ a b c Antony Beevor : The Spanish Civil War , ISBN 978-3-442-15492-0 , 2nd edition, (a) page 216, (b) page 231, (c) page 245
  7. ↑ Composition of the international brigades ( Memento from January 26, 2014 in the web archive archive.today ), accessed on January 27, 2014
  8. ^ A b Hugh Thomas : The Spanish Civil War , Verlag Ullstein, Berlin West 1962, (a) page 254, (b) page 270
  9. ^ Ludwig Renn: In the Spanish War , Aufbau-Verlag, Berlin and Weimar, 5th edition 1983, order number 610 912 4, page 83
  10. ↑ Ludwig Renn : In the Spanish War , Aufbau-Verlag, Berlin and Weimar, 5th edition 1983, order number 610 912 4, page 114
  11. ↑ Ludwig Renn: Im Spanischen Krieg , Aufbau-Verlag, Berlin and Weimar, 5th edition 1983, order number 610 912 4, page 126
  12. ^ Ludwig Renn: In the Spanish War , Aufbau-Verlag, Berlin and Weimar, 5th edition 1983, order number 610 912 4, page 129
  13. ↑ a b Patrik von zur Mühlen : Spain was their 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
  14. ^ Ludwig Renn: In the Spanish War , Aufbau-Verlag, Berlin and Weimar, 5th edition 1983, order number 610 912 4, page 130
  15. ^ Hanns Maaßen : Brigada Internacional is our honorary name ... , Röderberg-Verlag GmbH, Frankfurt / Main 1976, ISBN 3-87682-515-6 , page 176
  16. ^ Battalions and Brigades , accessed January 20, 2014
  17. ^ Ludwig Renn: In the Spanish War , Aufbau-Verlag, Berlin and Weimar, 5th edition 1983, order number 610 912 4, pages 334 to 355
  18. ^ Hanns Maaßen: Brigada Internacional is our honorary name ... , Röderberg-Verlag GmbH, Frankfurt / Main 1976, ISBN 3-87682-515-6 , page 459