Catalonia Offensive

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Not to be confused with Operation Catalonia.
Catalonia Offensive
Part of the Spanish Civil War

Map of Spain in November 1938, after the end of the Battle of the Ebro and immediately before the start of the Catalonia Offensive. Republican territory is in red, and Nationalist territory is blue.
Date23 December 1938 – 10 February 1939
Location
Northeastern Spain
Result Nationalist victory
Belligerents

Second Spanish Republic Republicans

  • Generalitat of Catalonia
Commanders and leaders
Strength
Thomas: 300,000[1]
Beevor: 220,000[2]
Jackson: 90,000[3]
Thomas: 360 artillery pieces[4]
Beevor: 250 artillery pieces[2]
Thomas: 200 tanks and armoured cars[4]
Beevor: 40 tanks and armoured cars[2]
Thomas: 80 aircraft[4]
Beevor: 106 aircraft[5]		 Jackson: 350,000[3]
Beevor: 340,000[6]
Thomas: 300,000[1]
Beevor: 1,400 artillery pieces[6]
Thomas: 565 artillery pieces[1]
300 tanks[6]
500 aircraft[7]
Casualties and losses
? dead
10,000 wounded
60,000 captured[8]
220,000 disarmed in France[9]		 ? dead
? wounded
? captured

The Catalonia Offensive (

internment camps. Franco
closed the border with France by 10 February 1939.

Background

After its defeat at the

France had closed the frontier again in mid-June 1938 and frozen Republican financial assets in French banks.[14]

Opposing forces

Nationalists

At the beginning of December, the

Mediterranean. Along the Segre the Nationalists deployed Muñoz Grandes's Army of Urgel, Garcia Valiño's Army of Maestrazgo and Moscardo's Aragon Army; in the confluence of the Segre with 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.[1] 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.[15]

Republicans

Main article: Eastern Region Army Group

Opposing the Nationalists, the Republicans had Colonel

tanks (many of them unserviceable due to shortage of spare parts).[2]

The Soviet government agreed to send to Catalonia a shipment of 250 aircraft, 250 tanks and 650 cannons,[1] but the shipment did not reach Bordeaux until 15 January and only a small part of it crossed the border.[17] 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)[5] 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."[18]

Battle

Nationalist offensive

The Nationalist offensive was planned for 10 December but was postponed to 23 December.[1] On 23 December the Italians and the Navarreses crossed the Segre at Mequinenza, 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 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.[19]

On 3 January Solchaga attacked

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. By this day, the Nationalists had conquered a third of Catalonia, had taken 23,000 prisoners, and had killed 5,000 Republican soldiers.[21]

Fall of Barcelona

Main article:
Fall of Barcelona (1939)

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,

finally occupied Barcelona on 26 January[26] and there were five days of looting by the Yagüe's Regulares[27] and extrajudicial killings (paseos).[28]

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.

Army of the Ebro crossed into France and the Nationalists sealed the frontier.[1]

Aftermath

Military and political consequences

Spain after the conclusion of the Catalonia Offensive. Nationalist Spain is in gray and Republican Spain is in white.

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).[32] On 2 February Azaña resigned and on 27 February France and the United Kingdom formally recognized the Francoist government.[34] 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 insisted that the Republic could continue to resist.[35]

The Catalonia autonomy was abolished. The

Ferrer i Guardia were removed.[37]

Fate of the Republican refugees

The Republican exiles were interned in fifteen

Free French Forces.[42]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Thomas 2001, p. 844.
  2. ^ a b c d e Beevor 2006, p. 373.
  3. ^ a b Jackson 1967, p. 463.
  4. ^ a b c d Thomas 2001, p. 845.
  5. ^ a b c Beevor 2006, p. 368.
  6. ^ a b c d Beevor 2006, p. 372.
  7. ^ Beevor 2006, p. 372; Thomas 2001, p. 844.
  8. ^ a b c Beevor 2006, p. 382.
  9. ^ Thomas 2001, p. 877.
  10. ^ Graham 2005, p. 102.
  11. ^ a b Preston 2006, p. 292.
  12. ^ Preston 2006, pp. 292–293.
  13. ^ Preston 2006, p. 294.
  14. ^ Graham 2005, p. 99.
  15. ^ Beevor 2006, pp. 372–373.
  16. ^ Thomas 2001, p. 847.
  17. ^ Beevor 2006, p. 488.
  18. ^ Graham 2005, p. 111.
  19. ^ Beevor 2006, p. 374.
  20. ^ Beevor 2006, pp. 375–376.
  21. ^ Beevor 2006, pp. 374–376.
  22. ^ Thomas 2001, p. 848.
  23. ^ Beevor 2006, pp. 376, 484.
  24. ^ Beevor 2006, p. 376.
  25. ^ a b Beevor 2006, p. 377.
  26. ^ a b Preston 2002, p. 374.
  27. ^ Beevor 2006, p. 378.
  28. ^ Thomas 2001, p. 850.
  29. ^ Beevor 2006, pp. 380–381.
  30. ^ Beevor 2006, p. 379.
  31. ^ a b Preston 2006, p. 295.
  32. ^ a b Thomas 2001, p. 854.
  33. ^ Thomas 2001, p. 860.
  34. ^ Graham 2005, p. 165.
  35. ^ Preston 2006, p. 296.
  36. ^ Beevor 2006, pp. 378–379.
  37. ^ Beevor 2006, pp. 850–851.
  38. ^ a b Preston 2002, p. 180.
  39. ^ Beevor 2006, pp. 411–412.
  40. ^ Graham 2005, p. 117.
  41. ^ a b c Beevor 2006, p. 412.
  42. ^ a b Graham 2005, p. 120.
  43. ^ a b c "Mapa del exilio republicano". Archived from the original on 8 May 2012. Retrieved 25 November 2011.
  44. ^ Graham 2005, p. 115.
  45. ^ Graham 2005, p. 126.
  46. ^ Preston 2006, p. 315.
  47. ^ Graham 2005, p. 125.

Sources

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