Louise Michel Battalion

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Flag of the Interbrigades

The Louise Michel Battalion , also known as the February 6th Battalion , was a battalion of the International Brigades in the Spanish Civil War between 1936 and 1937. It was formed from a French and a Belgian unit. It was named after Louise Michel , a heroine of the Paris Commune . In addition, the battalion is also referred to as the Nameless Battalion in the literature .

The first militiamen

The first militia unit with the name Louise Michel was probably formed by a small number of volunteers in Barcelona in autumn 1936, probably in the barracks "Carlos Marx" ( Monastery of Pedralbes ), the training barracks of the Catalan communist party PSUC ( Partit Socialista Unificat de Catalunya ). From autumn 1936 the militia unit was grouped into a centuria . The Centuries became part of the Republican People's Army after the resolution of September 28, 1936 to establish the Brigada Mixta . The regrouping of the PSUC Centuria probably took place on November 1, 1936 during the Battle of Madrid .

Louise Michel Battalion

In November 1936 the Louise Michel Battalion was first set up in Albacete , the central base and training camp of the International Brigades. It was designated as N o 7 . The members of the battalion were due to the losses of the International Brigades at the Battle of Madrid of the XI. Assigned to the International Brigade.

XIII. International Brigade

The renewed formation of the Louise Michel battalion with the number N o 11 took place in December 1936 in Albacete . The battalion became part of the XIII. International Brigade . During the formation, the XIII. International Brigade has the following structure:

1.º Louise-Michel-Bataillon (French)
2.º Tschapajew-Bataillon (mainly German and Polish)
3.º Henri-Vuillemin-Bataillon (French)
4.º Juan-Marco-Bataillon (Spanish)

The commanders of the XIII. International Brigade were Wilhelm Zaisser (pseudonym Gomez) with his German compatriot Albert Schindler as chief of staff and the Pole Suckanek as political commissioner. Immediately after the installation, the XIII. International brigade with the Chapayev Battalion , the Henri Vuillemin Battalion , the Spanish Juan Marco Battalion , an international artillery group and a tank company ordered to Valencia for coastal defense . The stationing took place on the railway line from Valencia to Castellón de la Plana at a train station near Valencia.

Teruel relief offensive

On December 2, 1936, the XIII. International Brigade ordered from Valencia to the front at Teruel , a front that had frozen for five months and was not yet militarized. The Madrid front should be relieved by the offensive at the city of Teruel and its capture . On the morning of December 27, 1936, the XIII. International Brigade together with the anarchist column Ledesma , which was commanded by Pancho Villahermosa and strengthened the right wing, advanced to Teruel (La Madrugada) . The next day succeeded the XIII. International Brigade to take the first houses of Teruel - an attack with no visible success and probably with high losses. Here the offensive collapsed. The XIII. International Brigade suffered losses of 50% in these fighting, so that the losses amounted to at least 250 to 300 men. After the baptism of fire, the brigade was withdrawn and reorganized from the front to Utiel-Requena on January 27, 1937 for reorganization. Due to the heavy losses, the two French battalions, the Louise Michel battalion and the Henri Vuillemin battalion were merged. When the XIII. International Brigade should take the positions of the XIII. International brigades are occupied by the Ledesma column, but they refused to take these positions. The column preferred to take positions that were easier to defend. Thus a gain of five kilometers of terrain was revealed.

Fight in the Sierra Nevada

Blue: advancing nationalist troops, green: Italian troops, red: Republican counterattacks

To avert the defeat of the Republicans at the Battle of Malaga , the XIII. International Brigade moved from Teruel to Sierra Nevada in early February . During the withdrawal, the Louise Michel battalion was probably merged with the Henri Vuillemin battalion in Requena . In addition, the XIII was increased in Requena. International Brigade. According to this, the brigade consisted for the majority of brigadists without combat experience. In addition, the Spanish Otumba Battalion was grouped into the XIII. International Brigade. After the regrouping, the XIII. International Brigade has the following structure:

During the fighting in the Sierra Nevada, the French battalion of the XIII. International brigades, among other things, in vain to take the place Motril . However, the battalion managed to stabilize the front in this section of the front. This prevented the Corpo Volontarie troops from advancing on Almería . After the front in the Sierra Nevada had stabilized, the battalion took up positions near Órgiva .

General view of Trevélez

In March 1937, the brigade leadership of the XIII. International Brigade launched a relief offensive in the Trevélez Valley. This relief offensive should give a dispersed unit of 800 militiamen from Málaga the opportunity to get through the enemy lines. The XIII. International Brigade began with the Lenin Battalion , after the arrival of the Chapayev Battalion , with the relief offensive. Towards the evening of the first day of the offensive, the French battalion received the order to advance with the Chapayev battalion to Capilerilla . The French battalion reached the valley of Pórtugos Capilerilla on high paths with the Tschapajew battalion and conquered the village. As part of the relief offensive, the Spanish and the XIII. International Brigade to take the towns of Pitres , Busquístar , Ferreirola and Mecina-Fondales on this day in addition to Capilerilla . After the stabilization of the front line in the Pórtugos area and the fortification of heights in the Sierra Nevada and Trevélez Valley, the trapped 800 militiamen from Málaga managed to escape the encirclement in the area of ​​the Lenin battalion during a snow storm at night. After the successful liberation of the militiamen from Málaga, the XIII. International Brigade issued the relocation order on March 27, 1937.

Cordoba Province

On April 1, 1937, the XIII. International Brigade, the region Los Pedroches and launched on 4 April 1937 offensive in the Sierra Noria . During the offensive, the XIII. International Brigade with the 86th Brigade and other Spanish units to take the three villages of Valsequillo and La Granjuela and Los Blázquez in the first twenty-four hours, after another three days the villages of Esparragossa , Prados , Cuenca and Granja . After conquering the heights of the Sierra Noria by April 6, 1937, the Cerro Mulva brigade , a key nationalist position, tried to occupy where the offensive failed. The republican troops managed to conquer an area of ​​almost one hundred square kilometers, so that the front line could be advanced to the mountains of Peñarroya and Fuente Ovejuna .

Reorganization of the Louise Michel battalion

After another operation against the Corpo troop Volontarie in Campillo de Llerena , parts of the French battalion of the XIII. International Brigade returned to its base in Albacete . The Louise Michel Battalion was probably re-formed in Albacete.

Battle of Brunete

Course of the Battle of Brunete

The battalion fought at the Battle of Brunete as part of the 15th Republican Division on the left flank of the battle. On the morning of July 5, 1937, the XIII. Brigade take over the cemetery of Villanueva de la Cañada . During the day the International Brigades were able to take Villanueva de la Cañada. In the days that followed, the International Brigades had to withstand strong counter-attacks. Most importantly, defending Romanillo's position was an enormous burden on the International Brigade. This led to a mutiny that turned into open rebellion.

Dissolution of the Louise Michel battalion

The political commissioners were able to disarm the mutinous brigadists with the support of an armored unit. The commanders were convicted and the Louise Michel battalion was disbanded on January 27, 1937, with the brigadists of the Louise Michel battalion primarily being integrated into the Henri Vuillemin battalion .

Addendum

The author Hanns Maaßen does not once mention the Louise Michel battalion in his book Die Söhne des Tschapajew from 1960. Either he only mentions the Henri Vuillemin battalion , the brigade staff or the XIII. International Brigade . The reasons for this are likely to be the insubordination of the Louise Michel battalion during the Battle of Brunete . In his book Brigada Internacional is our name of honor ... from 1974 he does not mention the battalion by his name either. He only mentions that the XIII. International Brigade consisted of the Chapayev Battalion , the Spanish Juan Marco Battalion and two French battalions, the Henri Vuillemin Battalion and an unnamed one. In his book The Sons of Chapayev , the author mentions General Gomez only once as the commander of the XIII. International Brigade. The reason for this will be that in January 1954 Wilhelm Zaisser (pseudonym Gomez) was expelled from the SED and lost his seat in the People's Chamber , which he had held since 1949.

literature

  • Hanns Maassen : The Sons of Tschapajew , Publishing House of the Ministry of National Defense, Berlin 1960.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Hanns Maaßen: Brigada Internacional is our honorary name ... , Röderberg-Verlag GmbH, Frankfurt / Main 1976, ISBN 3-87682-515-6 , page 223
  2. ^ Hanns Maaßen: Die Söhne des Tschapajew , Verlag des Ministry for National Defense, Berlin 1960, pages 69 and 74
  3. ^ Hanns Maaßen: Die Söhne des Tschapajew , Verlag des Ministry of National Defense, Berlin 1960, pages 88, 92 and 95
  4. ↑ Las Brigadas Internacionales en España (Spanish), accessed May 12, 2012
  5. ↑ Hanns Maaßen: Die Söhne des Tschapajew , Verlag des Ministry for National Defense, Berlin 1960, page 139
  6. ↑ Hanns Maaßen: Brigada Internacional is our honorary name ... , Röderberg-Verlag GmbH, Frankfurt / Main 1976, ISBN 3-87682-515-6 , page 223
  7. ^ Hanns Maaßen: Die Söhne des Tschapajew , Verlag des Ministry for National Defense, Berlin 1960, page 137
  8. ^ Hanns Maaßen: Die Söhne des Tschapajew , Verlag des Ministry for National Defense, Berlin 1960, page 137
  9. ^ Hanns Maaßen: Die Söhne des Tschapajew , Verlag des Ministry of National Defense, Berlin 1960, pages 137, 142, 214 and 353
  10. ↑ Hanns Maaßen: Die Söhne des Tschapajew , Verlag des Ministry for National Defense, Berlin 1960, pages 137, 142 and 214
  11. ^ Hanns Maaßen : Die Söhne des Tschapajew , Verlag des Ministry of National Defense, Berlin 1960, page 190
  12. ↑ Hanns Maaßen: Die Söhne des Tschapajew , Verlag des Ministry of National Defense, Berlin 1960, page 272
  13. ↑ Hanns Maaßen: Die Söhne des Tschapajew , Verlag des Ministry for National Defense, Berlin 1960, page 290
  14. ↑ Based on the sources, there is no indication of when the battalion was reactivated. It can be assumed that the re-formation took place after the fighting in the province of Cordoba (cryobob).
  15. ↑ see also: Campillo de Llerena military cemetery
  16. ^ Reminder reports : Memorias de la Guerra Civil Espanol - REPUBLICA -, Batallon Dombrowski (Spanish) , accessed on May 18, 2012
  17. ↑ a b Hanns Maaßen: Brigada Internacional is our name of honor ... , Röderberg-Verlag GmbH, Frankfurt / Main 1976, ISBN 3-87682-515-6 , page 94