The Catalonia Offensive ( ca, Ofensiva de Catalunya, es, Ofensiva de Cataluña) was part of 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 Carlism, Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebeli ...
. The
Nationalist Army
The National Revolutionary Army (NRA; ), sometimes shortened to Revolutionary Army () before 1928, and as National Army () after 1928, was the military arm of the Kuomintang (KMT, or the Chinese Nationalist Party) from 1925 until 1947 in China ...
started the
offensive on 23 December 1938 and rapidly conquered
Republican
Republican can refer to:
Political ideology
* An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law.
** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
-held
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 ...
with Barcelona (the Republic's
capital city
A capital city or capital is the municipality holding primary status in a country, state, province, Department (country subdivision), department, or other subnational entity, usually as its seat of the government. A capital is typically a city ...
from October 1937). Barcelona was captured on 26 January 1939. The Republican government headed for the French border. Thousands of people fleeing the
Nationalists
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 ...
also crossed the frontier in the following month, to be placed in
internment 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 simpl ...
s.
Franco
Franco may refer to:
Name
* Franco (name)
* Francisco Franco (1892–1975), Spanish general and dictator of Spain from 1939 to 1975
* Franco Luambo (1938–1989), Congolese musician, the "Grand Maître"
Prefix
* Franco, a prefix used when ref ...
closed the border with France by 10 February 1939.
Background
After its defeat at 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 ...
the
Republican Army was broken and would never recover. The Republicans had lost most of their armament and experienced units. Furthermore, in October 1938 the Republican government agreed to withdraw the volunteers 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 ...
. On the other hand, the Nationalists received new supplies of ammunition, weapons and aircraft from Germany. Furthermore, after the
Munich Agreement
The Munich Agreement ( cs, Mnichovská dohoda; sk, Mníchovská dohoda; german: Münchner Abkommen) was an agreement concluded at Munich on 30 September 1938, by Nazi Germany, Germany, the United Kingdom, French Third Republic, France, and Fa ...
, the hope of an intervention of the Western democracies in order to aid the Republic against
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
and
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
vanished.
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
had closed the frontier again in mid-June 1938 and frozen Republican financial assets in French banks.
Opposing forces
Nationalists
At the beginning of December, the
nationalist faction concentrated an
Army Group
An army group is a military organization consisting of several field armies, which is self-sufficient for indefinite periods. It is usually responsible for a particular geographic area. An army group is the largest field organization handled by ...
, the Army of the North, of 300,000–340,000 men led by the general
Fidel Dávila
Fidel most commonly refers to:
* Fidel Castro (1926–2016), Cuban communist revolutionary and politician
* Fidel Ramos (1928–2022), Filipino politician and former president
Fidel may also refer to:
Other persons
* Fidel (given name)
Film
* ...
in order to conquer
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 ...
. The Nationalists assembled their best divisions all along the front from the
Pyrenees
The Pyrenees (; es, Pirineos ; french: Pyrénées ; ca, Pirineu ; eu, Pirinioak ; oc, Pirenèus ; an, Pirineus) is a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. It extends nearly from its union with the Cantabrian Mountains to C ...
to the
Mediterranean
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...
. Along the
Segre the Nationalists deployed Muñoz Grandes's
Army
An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...
of Urgel, Garcia Valiño's Army of Maestrazgo and Moscardo's Aragon Army; in the confluence of the Segre with 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 ...
Gambara's Italian
''Cuerpo Legionario Italiano'' of four divisions (55,000 men) and Solchaga's Army Corps of Navarra; and in the Ebro the Yagüe's Moroccan Corps. The Nationalists also had, according to Beevor, 300 tanks, more than 500 aircraft (among them the
Bf 109E and
Heinkel 112 fighters) and 1,400 cannon.
Republicans
Opposing the Nationalists, the Republicans had Colonel Perea's East Army and Colonel
Juan Modesto
Juan Guilloto León, usually referred to as Modesto or Juan Modesto (24 September 1906 – 16 April 1969), was a Second Spanish Republic, Republican army officer during the Spanish Civil War.
Biography Early life
Born at El Puerto de Santa ...
's Ebro Army under the command of General
Juan Hernandez Saravia, commander of the Oriental Region's
Army Group
An army group is a military organization consisting of several field armies, which is self-sufficient for indefinite periods. It is usually responsible for a particular geographic area. An army group is the largest field organization handled by ...
, with 220,000–300,000 men, many unarmed (Hernandez Saravia said that the Republican army had only 17,000 rifles for all Catalonia), 106 airplanes (most of them
''Chatos''), 250 cannons and 40
tanks
A tank is an armoured fighting vehicle intended as a primary offensive weapon in front-line ground combat. Tank designs are a balance of heavy firepower, strong armour, and good battlefield mobility provided by tracks and a powerful engine ...
(many of them unserviceable due to shortage of spare parts). The
Soviet
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
government agreed to send to Catalonia a shipment of 250 aircraft, 250 tanks and 650 cannons, but the shipment did not reach
Bordeaux
Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefectur ...
until 15 January and only a small part of it crossed the border. Furthermore, because of the international isolation of the Republic and the lack of food (according to Beevor, in Barcelona the ration per day was down to 100 grams of lentils) the morale of the government troops and civil population in the Republican zone was very low. The people only wished the end of the war: "...just let it be over, it doesn’t matter how it ends, but let it end now."
Battle
Nationalist offensive
The Nationalist offensive was planned for 10 December but was postponed to 23 December. On 23 December the Italians and the Navarreses crossed the Segre at
Mequinenza
Mequinenza (Aragonese and ) or Mequinensa () is a town and municipality of the province of Zaragoza, in the autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It is located beside the river Segre, close to its confluence with the river Ebro between the Mequi ...
, broke the Republican lines, and advanced sixteen kilometres, but they were stopped by the V and XV Republican corps led by
Lister on 25 December. On the left flank, Muñoz Grandes and Garcia Valiño advanced towards
Cervera
Cervera () is the capital of the ''comarca'' of Segarra, in the province of Lleida, Autonomous Community of Catalonia, Spain. The title Comte de Cervera is a courtesy title, formerly part of the Crown of Aragon, that has been revived for Leonor ...
and
Artesa, but they were blocked by the
26th Republican Division. On the south, Yagüe's troops were held back by the Ebro's floodwater. The Republicans had stopped the first Nationalist attack; nevertheless, they had lost 40 aircraft in the first ten days of the battle.
On 3 January Solchaga attacked
Les Borges Blanques
Les Borges Blanques () is the capital of the comarca of Les Garrigues, in the province of Lleida, Catalonia, Spain. According to the 2014 census, the municipality has a population of 6,088 inhabitants.
Geography
It lies in the southern sector of ...
, Muñoz Grandes and Garcia Valiño occupied Artesa, and Yagüe crossed the Ebro. Moscardo attacked from Lleida and the Italians occupied Les Borges Blanques on 5 January. The same day, the Republican army started a
surprise attack
Military deception (MILDEC) is an attempt by a military unit to gain an advantage during warfare by misleading adversary decision makers into taking action or inaction that creates favorable conditions for the deceiving force. This is usually ac ...
in
Extremadura
Extremadura (; ext, Estremaúra; pt, Estremadura; Fala: ''Extremaúra'') is an autonomous community of Spain. Its capital city is Mérida, and its largest city is Badajoz. Located in the central-western part of the Iberian Peninsula, it ...
towards
Peñarroya in order to divert Nationalist forces, but the offensive was halted after a few days and the Nationalist offensive in Catalonia continued. On 9 January the Moscardo's Aragon Army Corps joined Gambara at
Mollerusa and broke the northern part of the front. The V and XV Republican Corps collapsed and retreated in disorder. On 15 January the Aragon and Maestrazgo Corps conquered Cervera and the Moroccan Corps after a one-day march of 50 km occupied
Tarragona
Tarragona (, ; Phoenician: ''Tarqon''; la, Tarraco) is a port city located in northeast Spain on the Costa Daurada by the Mediterranean Sea. Founded before the fifth century BC, it is the capital of the Province of Tarragona, and part of Tar ...
. By this day, the Nationalists had conquered a third of Catalonia, had taken 23,000 prisoners, and had killed 5,000 Republican soldiers.
Fall of Barcelona
The Republican government then attempted to organize a defense of Barcelona, ordering the general mobilization of all men to forty-five and militarized all the industry. Nevertheless, the successive defensive lines (L1, L2, L3) fell, the Republican forces were outnumbered six to one and the Nationalist air force bombed Barcelona every day (40 times between 21 and 25 January). It became clear that the defense of the city was impossible. On 22 January Solchaga and Yagüe reached the
Llobregat
The Llobregat () is the second longest river in Catalonia, Spain, after the Ter. It flows into the Mediterranean south of the city of Barcelona. Its name could have originated in an ancient Latin word meaning 'dark', 'sorrowful' or 'muddy', or ...
only a few miles west of Barcelona, Muñoz Grandes and Garcia Valiño attacked
Sabadell
Sabadell () is a city in Catalonia, Spain. It is in the south of the ''comarca'' of Vallès Occidental and its joint capital (co-capital), on the River Ripoll, north of Barcelona. Sabadell is located above sea level.
Sabadell pioneered the Ind ...
and
Terrassa
Terrassa (, es, Tarrasa) is a city in the east central region of Catalonia, Spain, in the province of Barcelona, ''comarca'' of Vallès Occidental, of which it is the co-capital along with Sabadell.
The name ''Terrassa'' derives from Latin ' ...
, and Gambara advanced to
Badalona
Badalona (, , , ) is a Municipalities of Spain, municipality to the immediate north east of Barcelona in Catalonia, Spain. It is located on the left bank of the Besòs River and on the Mediterranean Sea, in the Barcelona metropolitan area. By popu ...
. The chief of staff of the Republican Army,
Rojo
Rojo means "red" in Spanish. Rojo may also refer to:
*Rojo (surname)
Music
* Rojo (band), a Mexican Christian rock band
** ''Rojo'' (Rojo album), 2001
* ''Rojo'' (Red Garland album), 1961
* "Rojo", a song by J Balvin from ''Colores'', 2020
* "R ...
told the Republican prime minister
Negrín that the front had ceased to exist so the government abandoned Barcelona after releasing most of its prisoners. A large part of the Barcelona population fled from the city as well. On 24 January Garcia Valiño occupied
Manresa
Manresa () is the capital of the Comarca of Bages, located in the geographical centre of Catalonia, Spain, and crossed by the river Cardener. It is an industrial area with textile, metallurgical, and glass industries. The houses of Manresa are ...
, and on 25 January the Nationalist vanguard occupied the
Tibidabo
Tibidabo () is a hill overlooking Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. At , it is the tallest hill in the Serra de Collserola. Rising sharply to the north-west, it has views over the city and the surrounding coastline.
The summit of the hill is occupie ...
in the outskirts of Barcelona. The Nationalists finally occupied Barcelona on 26 January and there were five days of looting by the Yagüe's ''
Regulares
The Fuerzas Regulares Indígenas ("Indigenous Regular Forces"), known simply as the Regulares (Regulars), are volunteer infantry units of the Spanish Army, largely recruited in the cities of Ceuta and Melilla. Consisting of indigenous infantry ...
'' and extrajudicial killings (''paseos'').
Retreat
After the occupation of Barcelona, the Nationalist troops, tired from the long marches, slowed their advance but soon resumed their offensive, pursuing the retreating columns of Republican soldiers and civilians. On 1 February Negrín proposed, in the last meeting of the
Cortes
Cortes, Cortés, Cortês, Corts, or Cortès may refer to:
People
* Cortes (surname), including a list of people with the name
** Hernán Cortés (1485–1547), a Spanish conquistador
Places
* Cortes, Navarre, a village in the South border of ...
in the
Figueres Castle,
capitulation with the sole condition of respecting the lives of the vanquished and the holding of a plebiscite so the Spanish people could decide the form of government, but Franco did not accept. On 2 February the Nationalists entered
Girona
Girona (officially and in Catalan language, Catalan , Spanish: ''Gerona'' ) is a city in northern Catalonia, Spain, at the confluence of the Ter River, Ter, Onyar, Galligants, and Güell rivers. The city had an official population of 103,369 in ...
, arrived within 50 kilometers of the frontier on 3 February, occupied
Figueres
Figueres (, ; , es, Figueras, ) is the capital of the ''comarca'' of Alt Empordà, in the province of Girona, Catalonia, Spain.
The town is the birthplace of artist Salvador Dalí, and houses the Teatre-Museu Gala Salvador Dalí, a large museu ...
on 8 February and Rojo ordered the Republican troops to withdraw to the French frontier. Hundreds of thousands of Republican soldiers, women, children and old men marched to the French frontier on foot and on carts, buses and trucks through bitterly cold sleet and snow. Their retreat was covered by units of the Republican Army, which carried out
hit and run
In traffic laws, a hit and run or a hit-and-run is the act of causing a traffic collision and not stopping afterwards. It is considered a supplemental crime in most jurisdictions.
Additional obligation
In many jurisdictions, there may be a ...
attacks and ambushes. The Nationalist air force and the
Condor Legion
The Condor Legion (german: Legion Condor) was a unit composed of military personnel from the air force and army of Nazi Germany, which served with the Nationalist faction during the Spanish Civil War of July 1936 to March 1939. The Condor Legio ...
bombed and strafed the roads leading to France. On 28 January the French government announced that civilians could cross the frontier and, on 5 February, the Republican soldiers as well. Between 400,000 and 500,000, Republican refugees crossed the frontier, among them the president of the Republic (
Manuel Azaña
Manuel Azaña Díaz (; 10 January 1880 – 3 November 1940) was a Spanish politician who served as Prime Minister of the Second Spanish Republic (1931–1933 and 1936), organizer of the Popular Front in 1935 and the last President of the Repu ...
), the prime minister (Juan Negrín) and the chief of staff of the Republican Army (Vicente Rojo), as well the president of Catalonia (
Lluís Companys) and the members of the
Catalan government
The Generalitat de Catalunya (; oc, label= Aranese, Generalitat de Catalonha; es, Generalidad de Cataluña), or the Government of Catalonia, is the institutional system by which Catalonia politically organizes its self-government. It is formed ...
. Negrín returned to Spain on 9 February but Azaña and Rojo refused to return. By 9 February the Nationalists reached the frontier, and on the following day the last units of Modesto's Army of the Ebro crossed into France and the Nationalists sealed the frontier.
Aftermath
Military and political consequences
![Spanish Map 1939](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/58/Spanish_Map_1939.PNG)
With the fall of Catalonia, the Republic lost the second largest city of the country, the Catalan war industry and a large part of its army (more than 200,000 soldiers). On 2 February Azaña resigned and the same day
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
and the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
recognized the
Francoist government. Further military resistance became impossible and the war was lost for the Republic, despite the fact that 30% of Spain was still under Republican control after the offensive and Prime Minister
Juan Negrín
Juan Negrín López (; 3 February 1892 – 12 November 1956) was a Spanish politician and physician. He was a leader of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party ( es, Partido Socialista Obrero Español, PSOE) and served as finance minister and ...
insisted that the Republic could continue to resist.
The Catalonia autonomy was abolished. The
Catalan
Catalan may refer to:
Catalonia
From, or related to Catalonia:
* Catalan language, a Romance language
* Catalans, an ethnic group formed by the people from, or with origins in, Northern or southern Catalonia
Places
* 13178 Catalan, asteroid #1 ...
language, the ''
Sardana
The ''sardana'' (; plural ''sardanes'' in Catalan) is a Catalan musical genre typical of Catalan culture and danced in circle following a set of steps. The dance was originally from the Empordà region, but started gaining popularity throughou ...
'' and Catalan Christian names were forbidden. All Catalan newspapers were requisitioned and the forbidden books retired and burned. Even the inscriptions on tombs in the
Montjuïc Cemetery
Montjuïc Cemetery, known in Catalan as Cementiri del Sud-oest or Cementiri de Montjuïc, is located on one of the rocky slopes of Montjuïc hill in Barcelona.
History
It was opened on 17 March 1883 by the city of Barcelona as its main cemetery ...
commemorating
Durruti
José Buenaventura Durruti Dumange (14 July 1896 – 20 November 1936) was a Spanish insurrectionary, anarcho-syndicalist militant involved with the CNT and FAI in the periods before and during the Spanish Civil War. Durruti played an in ...
,
Ascaso and
Ferrer i Guardia were removed.
Fate of the Republican refugees
The Republican exiles were interned in fifteen
improvised camps (mostly barbed-wire enclosures on the sand, without basic shelter, sanitary or cooking facilities) by the French government in places such as
Argelès,
Gurs
Gurs is a commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in south-western France.
History
Gurs was the site of the Gurs internment camp. Nothing remains of the camp; after World War II, a forest was planted on the site where it stood.
Geog ...
,
Rivesaltes
Rivesaltes (; ca, Ribesaltes, which means the ''high shores'') is a commune in the Pyrénées-Orientales department in southern France.
Geography
Rivesaltes is in the canton of La Vallée de l'Agly and in the arrondissement of Perpignan.
...
and
Vernet Vernet is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:
Painters
* Antoine Vernet (1689-1753), French painter, father of Claude Joseph Vernet
* Claude Joseph Vernet
Claude-Joseph Vernet (14 August 17143 December 1789) was a French painter. ...
. The living conditions in the camps were very harsh: in the first six months, 14,672 refugees died from malnutrition or dysentery. The French government encouraged the refugees to return and, by the end of 1939, between 70,000 and 180,000 refugees returned to Spain. However, 300,000 never returned. Many sought asylum in other countries: the Soviet Union (between 3,000 and 5,000), USA and Canada (about 1,000), Great Britain, Belgium and other European countries (between 3,000
and 5,000) and Latin America (30,000 to Mexico, 10,000 to Argentina, 5,000 to Venezuela, 5,000 to Dominican Republic, 3,500 to Chile, etc.).
Nevertheless, at least 140,000 refugees remained in France while 19,000 went to the
French colonies
From the 16th to the 17th centuries, the First French colonial empire stretched from a total area at its peak in 1680 to over , the second largest empire in the world at the time behind only the Spanish Empire. During the 19th and 20th centuri ...
of North Africa.
After the
fall of France 10,000–15,000 refugees were detained by the Nazis and deported to
concentration camps
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 ...
. Another 10,000 joined the
French Resistance
The French Resistance (french: La Résistance) was a collection of organisations that fought the German occupation of France during World War II, Nazi occupation of France and the Collaborationism, collaborationist Vichy France, Vichy régim ...
and more than 2,000 joined the
Free French Forces
__NOTOC__
The French Liberation Army (french: Armée française de la Libération or AFL) was the reunified French Army that arose from the merging of the Armée d'Afrique with the prior Free French Forces (french: Forces françaises libres, l ...
.
See also
*
Eastern Region Army Group ''(GERO)''
*
Camp de concentration d'Argelès-sur-Mer
The Camp de concentration d'Argelès-sur-Mer was an internment camp established in early February 1939 on the territory of the French commune of Argelès-sur-Mer for Spanish Republican refugees. Some of the refugees were retreating members of the ...
*
*
List of weapons of the Corpo Truppe Volontarie
This is a list of weapons of the Corpo Truppe Volontarie which was an Italian ground force that supported the Nationalists during the Spanish Civil War. It was composed of regular Royal Italian Army soldiers and members of the Blackshirt Param ...
*
Condor Legion
The Condor Legion (german: Legion Condor) was a unit composed of military personnel from the air force and army of Nazi Germany, which served with the Nationalist faction during the Spanish Civil War of July 1936 to March 1939. The Condor Legio ...
*
Camí de la Retirada
Notes
Sources
*
*
*
*
*
*
{{Authority control
Conflicts in 1938
Conflicts in 1939
1938 in Spain
1939 in Spain
Battles of the Spanish Civil War
20th century in Catalonia
December 1938 events
January 1939 events
February 1939 events