Fighting for Spain: The International Brigades in the Civil War, 1936-1939
In the English-speaking world, the Spanish Civil War is perhaps best remembered through the exploits of thousands of foreign volunteers from across the globe who joined the International Brigades – a force of communists, socialists and others who took their opposition to fascism to extraordinary lengths. Their passionate political commitment to Spain’s cause and determination in battle placed them among the crack troops of the Republic’s People’s Army.

Yet while much has been written about the political, social and cultural significance of the brigades and their experience in Spain, less has been said about their performance as front-line troops. It is this military history that Alexander Clifford focuses on in vivid detail in this highly illustrated new study.

His account tells the story of the brigades as combat units, tracing the course of each major battle in which they fought and showing the drastic changes they underwent as the war progressed – from an untrained militia in 1936, to the tried and tested shock troops of 1937, to a shadow of their former selves by 1938 after repeated maulings and the introduction of Spanish conscripts to fill their ranks.
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Fighting for Spain: The International Brigades in the Civil War, 1936-1939
In the English-speaking world, the Spanish Civil War is perhaps best remembered through the exploits of thousands of foreign volunteers from across the globe who joined the International Brigades – a force of communists, socialists and others who took their opposition to fascism to extraordinary lengths. Their passionate political commitment to Spain’s cause and determination in battle placed them among the crack troops of the Republic’s People’s Army.

Yet while much has been written about the political, social and cultural significance of the brigades and their experience in Spain, less has been said about their performance as front-line troops. It is this military history that Alexander Clifford focuses on in vivid detail in this highly illustrated new study.

His account tells the story of the brigades as combat units, tracing the course of each major battle in which they fought and showing the drastic changes they underwent as the war progressed – from an untrained militia in 1936, to the tried and tested shock troops of 1937, to a shadow of their former selves by 1938 after repeated maulings and the introduction of Spanish conscripts to fill their ranks.
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Fighting for Spain: The International Brigades in the Civil War, 1936-1939

Fighting for Spain: The International Brigades in the Civil War, 1936-1939

by Alexander Clifford
Fighting for Spain: The International Brigades in the Civil War, 1936-1939

Fighting for Spain: The International Brigades in the Civil War, 1936-1939

by Alexander Clifford

eBook

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Overview

In the English-speaking world, the Spanish Civil War is perhaps best remembered through the exploits of thousands of foreign volunteers from across the globe who joined the International Brigades – a force of communists, socialists and others who took their opposition to fascism to extraordinary lengths. Their passionate political commitment to Spain’s cause and determination in battle placed them among the crack troops of the Republic’s People’s Army.

Yet while much has been written about the political, social and cultural significance of the brigades and their experience in Spain, less has been said about their performance as front-line troops. It is this military history that Alexander Clifford focuses on in vivid detail in this highly illustrated new study.

His account tells the story of the brigades as combat units, tracing the course of each major battle in which they fought and showing the drastic changes they underwent as the war progressed – from an untrained militia in 1936, to the tried and tested shock troops of 1937, to a shadow of their former selves by 1938 after repeated maulings and the introduction of Spanish conscripts to fill their ranks.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781526774392
Publisher: Pen and Sword
Publication date: 08/30/2020
Sold by: Barnes & Noble
Format: eBook
Pages: 264
File size: 21 MB
Note: This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Alexander Clifford is a school teacher by profession, a history graduate who has studied at the universities in Leeds, Munich and Northumbria, and an expert on the Spanish Civil War. He previous work on the war, Divided We Fall, an interactive novel app, followed the lives of four Spaniards during the main events of the conflict both on and behind the lines.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements vii

Introduction 1

1 Antifascistas: The International Brigades 13

Formation and Recruitment 13

Command, Organisation and Equipment 22

Discipline and Training 43

2 Baptism of Fire (November 1936-February 1937) 59

To the Front 59

University City 66

Winter Battles 79

3 Shock Troops (March 1937-February 1938) 97

Guadalajara 97

New Army, New Offensives 106

The Aragon Front 124

4 Disintegration, Reformation, Last Stand (March-October 1938) 165

The Great Retreats 165

The Battle of the Ebro 176

Demobilisation 203

Conclusion 219

Appendix: Units of the International Brigades 237

Notes 241

Bibliography 243

Index 247

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