Garibaldi Battalion
The Garibaldi Battalion was an anti-fascist Italian volunteer association, which was used from November 1936 in the Spanish Civil War on the Republican side as part of the International Brigades . The battalion was named after the Italian freedom fighter Giuseppe Garibaldi . In July 1937, the Garibaldi Brigade emerged from the association , in which around 3,400 Italian volunteers fought. Another Italian militia unit was the "unity Sacco and Vanzetti ", which was formed in September 1936, but the CNT -Milizeinheit Durruti joined.
history
The first Italian communist militiamen
The first Italian volunteers came unorganized across the Pyrenees to Barcelona 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 twelve Italians to line up arrived in Barcelona on August 3, 1936. These militiamen and other volunteers formed the communist Centuria Giustizia e Libertà with 50 militiamen in August 1936 . It was also known as Columna Roselli at the beginning of the Spanish Civil War. The Centuria marched on the Aragon front on the night of August 19-20 and fought there until the end of October.
Shortly before September 1936, another Italian Centuria, the Centuria Gastone Sozzi , was formed in Barcelona with international volunteers from Italy, Poland, France, Belgium and Denmark. The commander was Gottardo Rinaldi and the political commissioner was Francesco Leone . The Centuria Gastone Sozzi took part in the Battle of Mallorca between August 16 and September 4, 1936.
On September 9, the two Centuries were merged to form the Libertad or López-Tienda Corps . The corps was ordered from Barcelona to Madrid and took up position on September 10, 1936 with the Fifth Regiment on the road from Madrid to Talavera de la Reina . On October 6, 1936, the nationalist forces forced the Libertad Corps to withdraw to Madrid. The Libertad Corps were encircled during retreats.
Garibaldi Battalion
Following the decision of the Spanish government, the militia units were reorganized into battalions. With the influx of Italian volunteers , the Garibaldi battalion was formed on October 22, 1936 from the two former Centuria, the Centuria Giustizia e Libertà and the Centuria Gastone Sozzi . The Garibaldi Battalion was assigned to the IX. Brigada Móvil de Choque grouped. The first four companies of the battalion were named after Louis de Bosis, Mario Angeloni, Gastone Sozzi and Fernando De Rosa. Volunteers from San Marino and the Swiss Ticino also served in these companies . Gallean became the commander . In addition to the Garibaldi battalion with the designation N o 3 , the Commune de Paris battalion , Dąbrowski battalion , Thälmann battalion , the later Edgar André battalion and an artillery battery belonged to the IX. Brigada Móvil. On November 1, 1936, the regrouping of the IX. Brigada Móvil de Choque to the XI. International Brigade .
Battle of madrid
On November 9, 1936, the XII. International Brigade with the newly formed battalions Garibaldi , Thälmann and André Marty from Albacete , the headquarters of the International Brigades, ordered to the Madrid Front . The commander of the XII. International Brigade was Máté Zalka , better known as General Lukacz . Luigi Longo was appointed political commissioner . The commanding officer of the Garibaldi battalion was Randolfo Pacciardi . One of his company bosses was Pietro Nenni . The battalion was named N o 3.
The XII. International Brigade arrived in Madrid around the same time as the first anarchist CNT militia from Buenaventura Durruti . From November 12, 1937, the XII. International brigade with the André-Marty-Battalion and Thälmann-Battalion formation at the Angel Hill ( Cerro de los Ángeles / Cerro rojo ) in the southwest of Madrid and fought from November 13th in the battle of Cerro de los Angeles, in which the XII. International Brigade was involved in heavy and costly fighting. After the fighting in Cerro de los Angeles, the battalion fought in the Casa de Campo (Puerta de Hierro) and in the university district of Madrid.
In December 1936, Franco's troops tried to cut off the road to A Coruña in northeast 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. At the beginning of the fighting on December 13th, the battalion was reinforced by 500 more Italian volunteers. Due to the high losses in the fighting in Madrid and the linguistic homogenization of the International Brigades, the brigades were reorganized after a resolution from November 28th. The Thälmann battalion was the XI. International Brigade and the Dąbrowski Battalion of the XII. Assigned to the International Brigade.
In January 1937, the Garibaldi battalion was used to defend the intersection at Almadrones , where it captured Mirabueno , but was defeated on Monte San Cristóbal. Shortly afterwards, a successful counterattack against the nationalists succeeded near Majadahonda on the road to A Coruña . The battalion had defended Boadilla here the month before.
Battle of the Jarama
In February 1937 it took part with all other associations in the Battle of the Jarama , where it was used at Arganda del Rey . In the battle of the Jarama, the commander of the Garibaldi battalion, Randolfo Pacciardi, was injured. Ilio Barontinian temporarily took command.
Battle of Guadalajara
In the following month of March, the Garibaldi battalion excelled in the fight against Mussolini's Corpo troop Volontarie near Guadalajara , where it captured the key positions of Palacio de Ibarra and then with the rest of the brigade the city of Brihuega. From May 1, 1937, the XII. Brigade restructured with the Garibaldi battalion and initially received mainly Italian (from March 1938 mainly Spanish) volunteers. In July 1937, the XII. Brigade was named "Garibaldi Brigade".
Regrouping of the XII. 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. Garibaldi Battalion
II. Italian / Spanish Battalion
III. Italian / Spanish Battalion
The Garibaldi Brigade fought with its three battalions after the Battle of Guadalajara near Morata de Tajuña, Cerro Garabitas and Huesca (June 1937). When the Garibaldi battalion was to be used against POUM and CNT units, its commander Randolfo Pacciardi resigned command of the Garibaldi battalion and left Spain in the summer of 1937. The International Brigade also fought in Farlete, Boadilla del Monte, Majadahonda, Belchite, Fuentes de Ebro, Caspe and Brunete (July 1937), in Extremadura , near Campillo (February 1938), on the Ebro (Ginestar, Cota de la Muerte) and on the Sierra Caballls (September 1938). The brigade was officially disbanded in September 1938, but many of its former members continued to fight until February 1939. a. near Barcelona (Llagostera), and only then moved to France .
Shortly after the Garibaldi Brigade was disbanded, some former volunteers formed a small unit called the XII. Brigade. In addition, a new XII. Republican Brigade set up, which consisted entirely of Spanish personnel.
A total of 4,000 Italians fought in the International Brigades (No. XI.-XV., then “Thälmann”, “Garibaldi”, “Dombrowski”, “La Marseillaise”, “ Lincoln ”, plus 3 support brigades) in the Spanish Civil War .
Great personalities
- Luigi Longo (communist, publicist, co-organizer and inspector of the international brigades)
- Pietro Nenni (socialist, political commissioner of the international brigades)
- Carlo Roselli (anti-fascist, killed by fascists in France)
- Giuseppe Di Vittorio (communist journalist, co-organizer of the Int. Brig.)
- Randolfo Pacciardi (anti-fascist, 1937 troop commander)
- Palmiro Togliatti (top communist politician, Comintern representative in Spain)
- Emilio Lussu (anti-fascist, writer, at Brunete Kdr. 2nd Btl., Garibaldi Brigade)
- Asim Vokshi (anti-fascist, commander in the Int. Brig.)
- Mehmet Shehu (anti-fascist, Albanian Prime Minister until 1980)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Augustin Souchy : Night over Spain , however publishing house, Grafenau 1992, page 181
- ↑ Arno Lustiger : Shalom Libertad! , Aufbau-Taschenbuch-Verlag, Berlin, ISBN 3-7466-8059X , page 33.
- ↑ El Quinto Regimiento de Milicias Populares: Section Extranjeros en el Quinto Regimiento (Spanish), accessed on August 27, 2012
- ↑ The International Brigadas in the Spanish War 1936-1939: Flags of Symbols: Section 1.2. Italian Centurias (English; PDF; 6.1 MB), accessed on August 27, 2012
- ↑ Sociedad Benéfica de Historiadores Aficionados y Creadores: Section 22 de octubre de 1936 ( Memento of the original of March 17, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was 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
- ↑ Patrik von zur Mühlen : Spain was your hope. The German Left in the Spanish Civil War 1936 to 1939 , (PDF file; 9.66 MB), Verlag Neue Gesellschaft, Bonn 1983, ISBN 3-87831-375-6 , from page 183
- ↑ Sociedad Benéfica de Historiadores Aficionados y Creadores: Section Septiembre y octubre de 1936 ( Memento of the original of March 17, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was 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 June 27, 2012
- ↑ Battle of Cerro de los Ángeles: Guerra Civil en el Parque Lineal (III): el ataque de la XII Brigada Internacional al Cerro de los Ángeles , Spanish, accessed June 27, 2012
- ^ Hugh Thomas : The Spanish Civil War , Ullstein Verlag, Berlin West 1962, page 270
- ^ Battalions and Brigades , accessed January 20, 2014
