War in the north

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Military operations during the
Spanish Civil War (1936-1939)

The war in the north took place during the Spanish Civil War in northern Spain between March 31, 1937 and October 21, 1937. The nationalist forces under Franco defeated the republican troops in several battles .

prehistory

In September 1936, the Basque province of Gipuzkoa with the cities of San Sebastián and Irun fell into the hands of the nationalists as part of the Guipúzcoa campaign . As a result, the Republicans in the north only controlled the provinces of Bizkaia , Cantabria and Asturias . The republican area was completely enclosed by the nationalists.

The province of Bizkaia was heavily industrialized (chemistry, steel) and Asturias had important coal deposits. The conquest of these areas by Franco's troops would have made these resources available to the nationalists. Furthermore, a large number of nationalist troops were tied up in a two-front war . These would be available again if the republican exclave in the north no longer existed. After the Battle of Guadalajara in March, Franco realized he would not be able to take Madrid as soon as planned. The focus of nationalist warfare was therefore placed on the conquest of the northern provinces and all available units were sent north. General Emilio Mola was in command of the campaign .

On the Republican side, the situation in the north was dire. The political leadership was divided and the troops poorly equipped. It was not possible to reinforce the troops due to the isolated location of the territory; weapons could only reach the area by sea. Here, however, the blockade of the coast by the nationalist fleet and the extensive embargo by the European non- interfering powers proved to be a hindrance.

On January 4th, several Ju 52s of the Condor Legion bombed Bilbao . Two of the machines were shot down and one of the German pilots was lynched by an angry crowd. A riot led by the UGT militia broke out in the city, during which the city's prisons were stormed and over 200 nationalist political prisoners were murdered. The Basque Army managed to put down the uprising.

On March 22nd, 80 German and 70 Italian planes gathered in Vitoria and prepared for the attack.

The course of the war in the north in 1937

Start of the offensive March 31 - June 11, 1937

On the morning of March 31, 1937, the 61st Navarra Division under the command of General José Solchaga with 50,000 men and with the support of the Condor Legion attacked the positions of the Republicans on the mountains Albertia, Maroto and Jarindo. The Condor Legion massively attacked non-military targets in the hinterland of the front and destroyed entire villages. The small town of Durango was the first victim of this bombing during the air raid on Durango . During the air raids lasting several days, one of the bombs hit the church in the village during morning mass. The fighter pilots also attacked the fleeing population with their machine guns. The nationalists also attacked the nearby monastery, killing 15 nuns. About 300 people were killed and about 2,500 wounded during the air strikes. The great majority of them were civilians. A second wave of attacks hit the firefighters, police officers and ambulances rushing from Bilbao .

On April 6, the nationalists announced a blockade and the mining of the Cantabrian port cities, monitored by the battleship España , the cruiser Almirante Cervera and the destroyer Velasco . The British government took a dubious stance and ordered all British merchant ships sailing the area to French ports because of the alleged mine hazard.

On April 11th, the nationalists attacked the Republican positions near Santa Quitera . In the second half of April, the nationalist ground forces were reluctant - General Mola was considered one of the most cautious leaders of Franco's troops. This led to increasing frustrations on the part of the Germans under Wolfram von Richthofen , who was already considering bombing Bilbao.

On April 25, numerous republican troops withdrew through the town of Gernika , the holy city of the Basques. The following day there was an air raid on Gernika . Initially, only a single He-111 bomber of the Condor Legion's experimental squadron attacked the site, followed later by the entire squadron and the Ju 52s of Kampfgruppe 88 , which dropped a carpet of explosive, fragmentation and stick bombs. In addition, fighter planes attacked the fleeing residents at low altitude. According to recent estimates, 200 to 300 people died in Gernika that day - the Basque government had reported 1654 fatalities at the time.

In early May, the Republicans occupied the “Iron Ring” around Bilbao to defend the city to the last. Up to 15,000 workers had worked on these positions, but it was not yet finished when the nationalists attacked from the east in the second half of May.

On June 3, General Mola died in a plane crash near Burgos . General Fidel Dávila took over the command of the troops and carried out regrouping of his troops for the attack on Bilbao until the second week of June.

The Basque Army lost its last plane on June 6th. The Republican pilots were outnumbered and had no chance against the Condor Legion with their modern aircraft.

On June 11, the Republican General Máté Zalka ( General Lukacz ) was killed during an inspection near Huesca . The Republicans' Huesca offensive in northern Aragon , which began on June 12, was intended to withdraw nationalist troops from the northern front to relieve the defenders of Bilbao. However, she was late and unsuccessful, so she was hired again after a week.

Battle for Bilbao June 12th - June 19th 1937

The Basque troops loyal to the government were forced to withdraw to the province of Vizcaya with the capital Bilbao. Bilbao was the capital of the autonomous Basque Country , which was created by the Republicans when the war began. The autonomy status was the price for the participation of the Basques on the part of the republic. Nevertheless, many Basques did not support the ideas of the Second Republic. The Basque settlement area in Spain was mainly in the four provinces of Navarra , Alava , Guipuzcoa and Biscaya . However, the Basques on the Republic side were in the majority only in the provinces of Guipuzcoa and Biscaya. At the beginning of the war, the majority of the populations of the provinces of Navarre and Alava sided with Franco.

Bilbao was protected by a large number of fortifications called "the iron ring" (Spanish: el cinturón de hierro). It consisted of bunkers, tunnels and reinforced trenches, which were built in several rings around the city and protected by artillery. The Basque Army hoped to hold onto these fortifications, to successfully defend the capital and to be better protected against air attacks. However, the systems were poorly designed and only partially functional. In addition, the plant's engineer, Goicoechea, had revealed his plans to the nationalists. As a result, the Condor Legion knew the exact location of the facilities and reduced them to ashes.

The Basque President Aguirre visited the front and witnessed the events on Mount Urcullu: a dry forest behind the iron ring was fired at by the nationalist air force and artillery with incendiary bombs. Over a length of 3 km, the defenders were fogged by smoke from the burning forest. This enabled the attackers to break through the defensive ring on June 12 and occupy the heights about 10 km from the city. The defenders blew up the bridges that led into the city, but could not prevent the advance of the nationalists. Basque General Mariano Gamir and the Basque government decided to organize the orderly retreat to Santander .

On June 13, street fighting began in the city. Franco's supporters rose and attacked strategic buildings in the city. The anarchist militias (the army had already withdrawn) succeeded in suppressing the uprising with heavy losses. The Basque police then prevented the militias from storming the prisons in Bilbao and executing the captured Franquists.

On June 18, the Basque government refused to issue orders from the Republican government to destroy all of the city's industrial facilities.

On June 19, the nationalists entered the city without a fight and immediately began distributing food to thousands of women in the streets. About 200,000 people fled the city. Thousands tried to reach the French coast, but the nationalist fleet was already waiting for them in the Bay of Biscay . The bay was full of overloaded refugee ships, some of which sank. The ships of the non-intervention committee (mostly British ships) watched the scene. Franco handed over two thirds of the production of the coal and steel works to the Germans .

July 8th to August 24th

On July 8th, due to the course of the battle near Brunete, Franco was forced to withdraw troops and the entire Condor Legion from the north and send them to Brunete. This gave the Basque Army the opportunity to reorganize. On July 26th, the Battle of Brunete ended in the defeat of the Republicans.

On August 6, a heavy aerial battle took place over the town of Torrelavega . The Condor Legion shot down over a dozen Republic aircraft. The nationalists' air sovereignty was almost complete.

On August 13, the nationalists began their attack on Santander under the command of General Dávila. The Republican troops lacked air support and the dispute between Basque Prime Minister Aguirre and Commanding General Gamir Ulibarri made the situation even worse.

On August 14, the 1st Navarre Brigade attacked the republican front between the mountains of Valdecebollas ( Palencia ) and Cuesta Labra . With this attack, the Republican forces south of the Cantabrian Mountains were to be separated from the Republican army.

On August 15, the nationalists advanced in the area of Barruelo , Palencia , Peña Rubia , Salcedillo , Matalejos and Reinosilla . The Republicans launched a counterattack at Portillo de Suano . On August 16, the nationalist troops succeeded in defeating the Republicans here and they took the industrial facilities of Reinosa . In the evening they conquer the city themselves.

The 4th Navarre Brigade advanced along the valley of the Saja River towards Cabuérniga . The Italians advanced from Burgos towards Lanchares and San Miguel de Aguayo . On August 17, the Italians captured the Puerto del Escudo pass and joined the other nationalist forces in San Miguel de Aguayo. As a result, 22 republican battalions were encircled in the Comarca Campoo .

On August 18, the nationalists captured Santiurde and the Italians San Pedro del Romeral and San Miguel de Luena .

On August 19, the nationalists advanced near Cabuérniga and in the valley of the Pas River , capturing Bárcena de Pie de Concha and Entrambasmestas .

On August 20, the Italians advanced towards Villacarriedo and the Navarra army towards Torrelavega and Cabezón de la Sal .

On August 22nd, the nationalists captured Selaya , Villacarriedo , Ontaneda and Las Fraguas .

On August 23, the Navarra Army advanced into the Mazcuerra Valley and captured Mount Ibio . This cut the road between Santander and Asturias for the Republicans. At Puente Viesgo the republican troops were able to stop the Italians.

On August 24, the republican general Gámir-Ulibarri ordered the withdrawal of the remaining troops towards Asturias. The nationalists conquer Torrelavega and Barreda and interrupt the main road towards Asturias at another point.

Pact of Santoña August 25th

The Basques on the republican side begin to leave the front to the west, leading to massive desertions. After the fall of Bilbao, practically the entire Basque area was in the hands of the nationalists. Juan de Ajuriaguerra , the regional president of the Vizcaya and member of the Basque Nationalist Party (BNP), began to negotiate with the Italians of the Corpo Truppe Volontarie about the surrender in Santoña . During the secret negotiations, the government of the autonomous Basque Country agreed to surrender. This on condition that the Basque heavy industry remains intact, the Basque soldiers are treated like prisoners of war and remain under Italian control and that the members of the BNP are allowed to travel into exile in Britain.

After the signing of the Santona Agreement (Spanish: Pacto de Santoña) the Basque army, about 25,000 soldiers and 3,000, consisting of Basque nationalists , socialists and communists , who fought under the direct command of the Basque President José Antonio Aguirre , surrendered on August 24th at Santoña the Italians. The Italians allow Basque officers and officials to board two British ships and leave the country. Many Basque soldiers and officers now also joined Franco's army.

The agreement was signed without the knowledge of the Republican government and is therefore also known as the betrayal of Santona .

When Franco learned of the content of the agreement, he immediately canceled it and ordered the arrest of all fighters in Santona El Dueso prison . 22,000 Basque fighters were then captured. Three months later, about half were released and the others remained in detention. 510 Basques were sentenced to death.

On August 25, the Republican officials loyal to the government left Santander and fled to Gijón . On August 26, the Republican army collapsed under a concentrated attack from ground troops, artillery and some 250 aircraft. Tens of thousands of civilians and soldiers flee to the port of Santander. Only a few, including General Gamir Ulibarri and the leader of the Basque government, Aguirre, manage to escape across the stormy seas. Parts of the Basque Army try to flee across the sea with the help of British ships. The British are prevented from leaving the port by nationalistic ships entering the port and the soldiers have to leave the ships again. In Santander about 17,000 Republicans are captured and there will be many attacks and executions.

On September 1st, the nationalists conquer Unquera on the border with Asturias .

The Battle of Mazuco September 4th - September 22nd 1937

After the fall of Bilbao and Santander, Republican Asturias was isolated from the rest of Republican Spain. The nationalist General Dávila no longer expected much resistance from the demoralized remnants of the republican army and attacked Asturias from the south and east.

Between September 4th and 5th, Franco's troops crossed the Deva River and captured the city of Llanes . For their advance, however, the nationalists were forced to cross the mountains of the Sierra del Cuera in the north and the Deva Gorge in the south. The nationalists were forced to evict Republican troops in the mountains in order to continue their advance. In order to achieve this, they wanted to push forward in a pincer movement from the southwest of Llanes and from the west of Panes towards Cabrales .

The advance on both fronts was halted by the difficult terrain and stubborn resistance. It was now clear to both sides that the Sierra del Cuera mountains, and especially the El Mazuco pass, were key to the defense of Asturias.

The nationalists pulled together 33,000 men from the Navarre Brigade, under the command of General José Solchaga Zala, 15 artillery batteries and the Condor Legion in Llanes . The pass of El Mazuco is only 5 km from the coast and so the warship Almirante Cervera was able to shell the pass.

The Republican forces consisted of three weakened brigades, with fewer than 5,000 men, under the command of Colonel Juan Ibarrola Orueta and Francisco Galán Rodríguez in Meré . They had few guns and practically no air support.

On September 6th the attack by the Francoist troops began on both sectors of the front. However, the two attacks were repulsed on the same day and the pincer movement stopped. In response to this setback, the Condor Legion was called, which for the first time in war history attacked military targets with area bombing.

On September 7th, another nationalist attack was repulsed and the front stabilized. The well-known Republican commander Higinio Carrocera arrived at the front with three battalions of reinforcements and 24 heavy machine guns. The Condor Legion bombed the front all day long, including using incendiary bombs. On September 8th, thick fog came in and there was fierce man-to-man fighting, which led to heavy losses on both sides. On the southern front, the nationalists managed to advance about 2 km.

On September 9, the Republican positions at El Mazuco came under heavy fire and the Republicans were forced to withdraw. However, the nationalists failed to take advantage of this retreat. During the next few days there was constant heavy bombardment of the Republican positions, followed by an infantry attack. Each of these attacks collapsed under heavy fire from the Republican machine guns.

On September 10th the fog came up again and this time the nationalists managed to conquer the hill of Biforco (below the pass of El Mazuco). The hill, however, was dominated by the heights of Llabres and the Republicans could shoot it with their heavy machine guns and also roll down barrels of calcium carbide , which they then detonated. It was also the first day of the fighting that Republicans were given a hot meal. On September 11, it became clear to the nationalists that they could no longer advance on the southern front, along the river valley. With no other options left, they began to advance across the mountain flank of the Sierra towards Mount Pico Turbina. The mountain has a height of 1,315 m and slopes of up to 40 ° and a karstic terrain. There weren't even any trails for mules, and all material had to be moved by hand. In addition, the weather was bad and no air support was to be expected. However, the fog also provided the attackers with some protection from detection.

On September 13th, the Republican front to the northwest of On El Mazuco began to totter due to heavy artillery fire.

On September 14, the Republicans were forced to evacuate the heights of the Sierra Llabres, from which one could control the village of El Mazuco and the western entrance. Thus the village itself could no longer be defended. In the south, Mount Pico was almost captured, but the Republicans managed to repel the attack with hand grenades and chaotic fighting in the fog.

On September 15th, the nationalists occupied the village and the surrounding area of ​​El Mazuco. The republican troops withdrew to Meré . In the south, the Republicans still held the Pico Turbina and the mountains of Peñas Blancas.

On September 16, Pico Turbina fell and the Peña Blanca mountains were almost surrounded.

The three mountains of the Peñas Blancas were now the only fixed point for the entire republican front on the Bedón River. The first attacks by the nationalists failed because of the bad weather, which made air support impossible, and the snowfall.

On September 18, the weather improved and German and Italian planes began bombing the Republican positions non-stop. After each air strike, there was a Nationalist infantry attack, each time collapsing under fire from heavy machine guns and Republican hand grenades. This scheme went on for four days. On September 22nd, the Francoist forces finally managed to storm the Peñas Blancas.

The end of September 23rd - October 21st, 1937

Cheering nationalists in Salamanca after the fall of Gijón (with fascist Saluto romano )

On October 17th, the Soberano Consejo decided to evacuate Asturias. The nationalist troops are now continuing their advance and united with the troops coming from León in Infiesto . The city of Gijón, the last republican base in northern Spain, was then included. Officials and members of the Republican Army were evacuated. Many Asturian soldiers organize a guerrilla war in the mountains. The memory of the workers uprising, which was bloodily suppressed in 1934, was still fresh and many villages were abandoned out of fear by the advancing troops of Franco.

On October 21, Franco's troops entered Gijón. The city is ransacked for days and so many death sentences are passed that nationalists call it "machine gun jurisdiction". The numerous rapes and murders are tolerated for days by the Francoist leadership.

consequences

The fall of Santander and the fall of Bilbao left a void that could no longer be filled in the republican front in the north. The destruction of the Army of the North was a heavy loss.

The defeat was evidence of the overwhelming nationalist material superiority and the division of the Republican commanders.

The defeat was complete. Before and after these battles, Franco's troops failed to inflict such losses on the enemy in terms of people and material with so few losses of their own. In total, over 6,000 Republicans fell and huge amounts of war material were lost.

swell

  • De Blas, Juan Antonio: El Mazuco (La defensa imposible), in: La guerra civil en Asturias. Ediciones Júcar, Gijón 1986.
  • VV.AA .: Gran Enciclopedia de Cantabria. Editorial Cantabria SA. Santander. 1985 and 2002.
  • Cándano, Xuan: El pacto de Santoña. La rendición del nacionalismo vasco al fascismo. La Esfera de los Libros. 2006. ISBN 84-9734-456-1 .
  • Granja Sáinz, JL de la: Entre el pacto de San Sebastián y el de Santoña (1930–1937). Madrid: Historia 16. 1998.
  • Thomas, Hugh: The Spanish Civil War. 2001.
  • Gabriel Jackson: The Spanish Republic and the Civil War, 1931-1939. 1965.

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