The XII Army Corps was a military formation belonging to 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 ...

that fought during 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 ...

. Formed by veteran units, throughout the war it took part in prominent intervention in some of the main battles of the war, such as Aragon or the Ebro.

History

The formation was created in

June 1937 The following events occurred in June 1937: June 1, 1937 (Tuesday) *In Italy, the Ministry of Popular Culture ordered all foreign words and names to be Italianized. Louis Armstrong, for example, was to be known as Luigi Fortebraccio. *Oldsmobil ...

, within the Eastern Army. At the end of

August August is the eighth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars, and the fifth of seven months to have a length of 31 days. Its zodiac sign is Leo and was originally named ''Sextilis'' in Latin because it was the 6th month in ...

some of its units intervened in the

Zaragoza Offensive The Zaragoza Offensive took place during the Spanish Civil War in 1937. This battle involved the Spanish Republican Army. The main goal of the offensive was to occupy the city of Zaragoza. The main action of the offensive was the battle of Belchite ...

, distinguishing the 25th Division in the Battle of Belchite. In March 1938, at the beginning of 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 ...

, the XII Army Corps had established its headquarters in

Alcorisa Alcorisa is a municipality in the province of Teruel, Aragon, Spain. According to the 2018 censusInstituto Nacional de Estadística (Spain) the municipality has a population of 3,276 inhabitants. Alcorisa is located right by the N-211 road, 13&nb ...

and integrated the 24th, 30th and 44th divisions; it covered the front that ran from the Ebro river to

Vivel del Río Martín Vivel del Río Martín is a municipality located in Cuencas Mineras, Teruel Province, Aragon, Spain. According to the 2004 census (INE), the municipality had a population of 84 inhabitants. See also * List of municipalities in Teruel This is ...

. During the withdrawal from Aragon, the formation suffered significant losses and was undone. After the republican zone was cut in two, it was isolated 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 ...

. After being briefly dissolved, the XII Corps was rebuilt and assigned to

Ebro Army The Ebro Army (Spanish: ''Ejército del Ebro'') was a Spanish Republican army during the Spanish Civil War. History The army was formed in April 1938 as the Autonomous Group of the Ebro (Spanish : ''Agrupación Autónoma del Ebro''), but was rena ...

, grouping within the divisions

16th 16 (sixteen) is the natural number following 15 and preceding 17. 16 is a composite number, and a square number, being 42 = 4 × 4. It is the smallest number with exactly five divisors, its proper divisors being , , and . In English speech, ...

, 44th and 56th. The militia major

Etelvino Vega Etelvino Vega Martínez (1906–1939) was a Spanish politician and military officer. Life In 1931, he was a member of the central committee of the Communist Party of Spain (PCE). In 1932, after the failed ''coup'' of Sanjurjo, he supported the ...

was appointed as the new commander of the XII Army Corps. The 16th and 44th divisions came to participate in the fighting on the Ebro, supporting the forces of the V and XV army corps. The 56th Division remained on the

Segre front The Battle of Segre is the collective name of a series of battles that took place along the Segre River between 4 April 1938 and 3 January 1939 during the Spanish Civil War, after the Nationalist Faction had broken the lines of the Spanish Repub ...

, where it intervened in the attacks against

Vilanova de la Barca Vilanova de la Barca (Officially and in Catalan; es, Villanueva de la Barca) is a municipality in the ''comarca'' of Segrià in Catalonia, Spain. It is situated at the confluence of the Segre and Corb rivers. The Urgell canal provides irrigati ...

and

Seròs Seròs () is a municipality in the ''comarca'' of the Segrià in Catalonia, Spain. It is situated on the right bank of the Segre river in the south-west of the ''comarca''. The Aragon and Catalonia canal provides irrigation water for growing fr ...

. At the beginning of the

Catalonia Offensive The Catalonia Offensive ( ca, Ofensiva de Catalunya, es, Ofensiva de Cataluña) was part of the Spanish Civil War. The Nationalist Army started the offensive on 23 December 1938 and rapidly conquered Republican-held Catalonia with Barcelona ( ...

the XII Army Corps covered the line of the

Segre River The Segre ( or ; french: Sègre) is a river tributary to the Ebro (''Ebre'' in Catalan) with a basin comprising territories across three states: France, Andorra and Spain. The river Segre, known to Romans and Greeks as Sicoris, and to the Arabs ...

. Its units, however they had a bad performance against the

nationalist Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: The ...

offensive; the 56th Division was practically disbanded, while the 16th Division was powerless to offer an organized defense. As a consequence, Etelvino Vega was instantly dismissed at the beginning of January 1939, being replaced by

Francisco Galán Francisco Galán Rodríguez (1902–1971), was a Spanish military officer. Early life He was the brother of Captain Fermin Galán and the Republican Majors José Maria and Juan Galán. Before the Spanish Civil War he was a lieutenant of the S ...

. The XII Army Corps, however, was unable to resist the enemy pressure and undertook the retreat towards the French border.

Controls

; Commanders * Pedro Sánchez Plaza; * Claudio Martín Barco; *

; *

; ; Commissars * Juan Moles Martínez, of the ERC; * Virgilio Llanos Manteca, of the

PSUC The Unified Socialist Party of Catalonia ( ca, Partit Socialista Unificat de Catalunya, PSUC) was a communist political party active in Catalonia between 1936 and 1997. It was the Catalan branch of the Communist Party of Spain and the only party n ...

; * Saturnino Pérez Martínez, of the CNT; ; Chiefs of Staff * Luis Fernández Ortigosa; * Anastasio Santiago Rojo; * Pedro Ferrando Laura; * Ángel Calvo Herrera;

Order of battle

Notes

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * * * * * {{Corps of the Spanish Republic, state=expanded Military units and formations established in 1937 Military units and formations disestablished in 1938 Military units and formations established in 1938 Military units and formations disestablished in 1939 Corps of Spain Military units and formations of the Spanish Civil War Military history of Spain Armed Forces of the Second Spanish Republic 1937 establishments in Spain 1938 disestablishments in Spain 1938 establishments in Spain 1939 disestablishments in Spain