The 45th Division ( es, 45.ª División) was a

division Division or divider may refer to: Mathematics *Division (mathematics), the inverse of multiplication *Division algorithm, a method for computing the result of mathematical division Military *Division (military), a formation typically consisting ...

of the

Spanish Republican Army The Spanish Republican Army ( es, Ejército de la República Española) was the main branch of the Armed Forces of the Second Spanish Republic between 1931 and 1939. It became known as People's Army of the Republic (''Ejército Popular de la Repú ...

in the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, lin ...

. This unit was established in mid 1937 in order to gather some scattered units of the

International Brigades The International Brigades ( es, Brigadas Internacionales) were military units set up by the Communist International to assist the Popular Front government of the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War. The organization existed f ...

under one command, therefore it was also known as ''"45.ª División Internacional"'' (45th International Division). It took part in some of the major battles of the conflict such as

Brunete Brunete () is a town located on the outskirts of Madrid, Spain with a population of 10,730 people. History There was no military garrison in Brunete and there was no rebel attempt to seize the city during the coup of July 1936. Brunete remain ...

Zaragoza Zaragoza, also known in English as Saragossa,''Encyclopædia Britannica'"Zaragoza (conventional Saragossa)" is the capital city of the Zaragoza Province and of the autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It lies by the Ebro river and its tributari ...

and the

Battle of the Ebro The Battle of the Ebro ( es, Batalla del Ebro, ca, Batalla de l'Ebre) was the longest and largest battle of the Spanish Civil War and the greatest, in terms of manpower, logistics and material ever fought on Spanish soil. It took place between Ju ...

persistently being afflicted by numerous casualties.

History

The establishment of the 45th Division took place at the

Aragon Front The Aragon Offensive was an important military campaign during the Spanish Civil War, which began after the Battle of Teruel. The offensive, which ran from March 7, 1938, to April 19, 1938, smashed the Republican forces, overran Aragon, and conqu ...

June 1937 during the planning period of the

Huesca Offensive The Huesca Offensive was an ill-fated Republican army thrust toward Huesca between 12 and 19 June 1937, during the Spanish Civil War. Hungarian writer and communist commander Máté Zalka was killed in the course of the battle. Background In A ...

. It was initially foreseen as a provisional unit and even before it became operational General Lukács, the head of the unit grouping, died after being hit by an artillery shell and was replaced by " Emilio Kléber", the first ''de facto'' commander of the division. After the crashing failure of the new unit at the combats of the

in June, the 45th Division was brought to the

Madrid Front The siege of Madrid was a two-and-a-half-year siege of the Republican-controlled Spanish capital city of Madrid by the Nationalist armies, under General Francisco Franco, during the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939). The city, besieged from Octo ...

in order to take part in the

Battle of Brunete The Battle of Brunete (6–25 July 1937), fought west of Madrid, was a Republican attempt to alleviate the pressure exerted by the Nationalists on the capital and on the north during the Spanish Civil War. Although initially successful, the Rep ...

under Kléber's leadership. Even though it began well at Brunete, the division did not succeed in meeting its assigned targets and ended up suffering numerous casualties. In August it went back to the Aragon Front in order to take part in the

Aragon Offensive The Aragon Offensive was an important military campaign during the Spanish Civil War, which began after the Battle of Teruel. The offensive, which ran from March 7, 1938, to April 19, 1938, smashed the Republican forces, overran Aragon, and conq ...

as part of the so-called ''Agrupación B'', together with an artillery group and an engineer battalion.''La guerra civil mes a mes,'' Vol 17. Maniobras de Distracción en Belchite (September 1937), p. 40. Various authors, Grupo Unidad Editorial S.A., 2005 Sent to a front of scant activity Kléber's troops advanced without difficulty until they had to halt as they arrived at a distance of 6 km from

. In the exposed flat terrain the troops were defenseless against the fierce attacks of the artillery and the planes of the rebels. Owing to the poor performance of the unit under his command, Kléber was replaced by

Hans Kahle Hans Kahle (22 April 1899 – 1 September 1947) was a German journalist, communist, and head of the Volkspolizei in Mecklenburg. Education and career Kahle was born in Berlin-Charlottenburg, the son of a senior official. He attended high school ...

and the human losses were covered by new reinforcements. Wladislaw Stopzyk, a new political

commissar Commissar (or sometimes ''Kommissar'') is an English transliteration of the Russian (''komissar''), which means 'commissary'. In English, the transliteration ''commissar'' often refers specifically to the political commissars of Soviet and Eas ...

, was assigned to the unit. In February 1938 the 45th Division fought briefly at the Extremaduran Front, where it had a measure of success in some combats. But very soon it was rushed again to the Aragon Front where it took part in the effort to halt the overwhelming

of the rebels. However, the attempt proved futile and the division joined the other Republican units in the massive withdrawal that ensued. By April the rebel troops led by General

Antonio Aranda Antonio Aranda Mata (13 November 1888 – 8 February 1979) was a military officer who fought on side of the Rebel faction in the Spanish Civil War. Biography Antonio Aranda Mata was born in Leganés on 13 November 1888. During the Morocco wars ...

reached the Mediterranean Sea dividing the Spanish Republic in two and the 45th Division would remain locked in

Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the north ...

, becoming detached from the 129th International Brigade, which had remained in the mountainous territory south of the

Ebro , name_etymology = , image = Zaragoza shel.JPG , image_size = , image_caption = The Ebro River in Zaragoza , map = SpainEbroBasin.png , map_size = , map_caption = The Ebro ...

. Isolated from the remaining Republican territory, the 45th Division was made part of the 5th Army Corps led by Lt. Colonel Enrique Líster. During the months that followed the division managed to rearm and was reinforced by the 139th Mixed Brigade in order to be able to participate in the upcoming

. During the offensive the division held its ground against the deadly attacks of the Francoists, ending up with a very high number of casualties, especially the

XIV International Brigade 300px, A memorial commemorating the International Brigades The XIV International Brigade was one of several international brigades that fought for the Spanish Second Republic during the Spanish Civil War. History and structure It was raised on ...

—part of the division— which suffered huge losses during the failed attempt to cross the Ebro River near

Amposta Amposta () is the capital of the ''comarca'' of Montsià, in the province of Tarragona, Catalonia, Spain, 190 km south of Barcelona on the Mediterranean Coast. It is located at 8 metres above sea level, on the Ebre river, not far from its mo ...

. Following the withdrawal of the

in October 1938, the division was reorganized with Spanish leaders and recruits. Its last commander was Francisco Romero Marín, a communist war veteran. It is known that the 45th Division took part in the first hopeless Republican efforts of trying to contain the rebel onrush of the Catalonia Campaign, but it soon had to withdraw northwards to the French border. After crossing the frontier line in early February 1939 the fleeing Republican troops were disarmed and interned in

concentration camp Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simply ...

s by the French authorities and the division was terminated.

Order of Battle

Leaders

;Commanders * General

Manfred Stern Manfred (Moses) Stern (also known as Emilio Kléber, Lazar Stern, Moishe Stern, Mark Zilbert) (1896–1954) was a member of the GRU, Soviet military intelligence. He served as a spy in the United States, as a military advisor in China, and gained ...

(since June 1937) * Militia Lt. Colonel

(since October 1937) * Militia Major

Luis Rivas Amat Luis is a given name. It is the Spanish form of the originally Germanic name or . Other Iberian Romance languages have comparable forms: (with an accent mark on the i) in Portuguese and Galician, in Aragonese and Catalan, while is archai ...

(since 23 September 1938) * Militia Major Ramón Soliva Vidal (since 7 November 1938) * Militia Lt. Colonel Francisco Romero Marín (since 17 January 1939) ;Chiefs of Staff * François Bernard. * Miguel Ángel San Cruz (since May 1938) ;Commissars *

Augusto Vidal Roget Augusto is an Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish given name or surname. Notable people with the name include: * Augusto Aníbal *Augusto dos Anjos * Augusto Arbizo *Augusto Barbera (born 1938), Italian law professor, politician and judge *Augusto ...

; * Wladislaw Stopzyk, member of the International Brigades (since 1 September 1937) * François Vittori, member of the International Brigades (since 7 March 1938) * José Sevil Sevil, member of the

Spanish Communist Party The Spanish Communist Party (in es, Partido Comunista Español), was the first communist party in Spain, formed out of the Federación de Juventudes Socialistas (Federation of Socialist Youth, youth wing of Spanish Socialist Workers' Party). Th ...

(PCE) (since September 1938)

References

Bibliography

* * * * *

External links