Bombing of Durango
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Bombing of Durango | |
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Part of the | |
Result | The town of Durango was destroyed |
Condor Legion
The Bombing of Durango took place on 31 March 1937, during the
Background
On 31 March 1937, the
The bombing
Durango, a town of 10,000 inhabitants, was a road and railway junction between Bilbao and the front. By bombing the road and infrastructure in the town, the Republican forces would be prevented from sending reinforcements from Bilbao. It would also ensure that the Basque and Republican troops couldn't retreat in an orderly fashion in order to fight another day.
Despite the importance of Durango as a transportation junction, the town had no air defences, and there were only a few Republican
On 31 March, German and Italian transport planes modified to carry bombs (German
Aftermath
On 28 April, Durango fell to Nationalist side. While the local road junction meant that Durango was a legitimate target for an air attack and the bombing did not contravene the laws of war as they were at the time, foreign observers were shocked at the carnage.
The Nationalists denied responsibility for the bombing, claiming that the priest and the nuns who died in the bombing were killed and burned by the reds.
The bombing of Durango was to a certain extent overlooked historically. Instead, it was the bombing of Guernica, a similar air attack that took place four weeks later, that came to symbolize the horrors of modern aerial warfare in the public consciousness.
See also
References
- Beevor, Antony (2006). The Battle for Spain. The Spanish Civil War. London: Penguin Books. ISBN 978-0-14-303765-1.
- Graham, Helen (2005). The Spanish Civil War. A very short introduction. Oxford University Press.
- Preston, Paul (1995). Franco. London: Fontana Press.
- Thomas, Hugh (2001). The Spanish Civil War. London: Penguin Books. ISBN 978-0-14-101161-5.
Notes
- ^ a b c Thomas 2001, p. 598.
- ^ Graham 2005, p. 71.
- ^ a b c d e Beevor 2006, p. 228.
- ^ Preston 1995, p. 239.
43°10′N 2°38′W / 43.167°N 2.633°W