Battle of the Ebro

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Battle of the Ebro
Part of the Spanish Civil War

Map of Spain in November 1938, after the end of the Battle of the Ebro. Republican territory is in red, and Nationalist territory is blue. Please click on map to enlarge the image.
Date July 25 - November 16, 1938
Location Ebro, Spain
Result Decisive Republican defeat, Nationalist Victory
Belligerents
Flag of Spain Spanish Republic Flag of Spain Nationalist Spain
Commanders
Juan Modesto
Enrique Líster		 Fidel Davila
Francisco Franco
Strength
100,000 90,000
Casualties and losses
30,000 dead
20,000 wounded
19,563 captured
200 aircraft		 6,500 dead
30,000 wounded
5,000 captured
v • d • e
Spanish Civil War

The Battle of the Ebro (Spanish: Batalla del Ebro, Catalan: Batalla de l'Ebre) was the last great Republican offensive in the Spanish Civil War.

Contents

[edit] Background

By 1938, the Second Spanish Republic was in dire straits. The Basque Country had fallen, the Workers' Party of Marxist Unification (POUM) had been destroyed by intra-Republican fighting, and many foreign governments felt it was only a matter of time before the question of who would rule Spain would be settled in favour of the Nationalists.

In response to the situation, Spanish premier Juan Negrín approved a plan by Vicente Rojo Lluch to launch attacks against the main Nationalist forces advancing through Valencia. The purpose of the attacks was to relieve the pressure on Valencia and Catalonia. Another purpose of these actions was to show European governments that the Republican government was still a viable alternative.

Critics (such as Antony Beevor) have argued that Negrín's "active war policy" – attacking rather than adopting strong defences and hoping for a wider European conflict or harrying the nationalist forces – was primarily driven by the PCE's desire for propaganda victories, and, as at the Ebro, destroyed the Republican army for no great purpose.

[edit] Battle

The Battle of the Ebro opened on July 25, 1938. Republican forces under Colonel Juan Modesto launched attacks across the Ebro river. The Republican forces were initially successful, but the Nationalist forces, who had superior air cover, eventually beat them back. The battle lasted until November 16, 1938.

Map of the Battle of the Ebro.
Map of the Battle of the Ebro.

The Nationalist army had, by this point, greater numbers and near total air superiority. As the republicans were attacking over open ground the role of air support as mobile artillery was decisive. In addition the republicans had no great strategic objective and, according to Beevor, were unwilling to apply the theory of the deep operation to their attacks - meaning their forces spent a long time clearing nationalist secondary defensive positions, allowing the highly mechanised nationalist forces to quickly deploy in strong defensive positions.

The battle was fought by both sides as a World War I Western Front battle, with each side launching bloody frontal assaults on enemy positions. The attacks by both sides tended to fail, but not without inflicting severe losses on each of them.

But nationalist superiority in numbers and armaments meant they were better able to withstand the losses. Essentially the Ebro saw the republican forces destroyed as a capable force as republican commanders were unable or unwilling to withdraw even after it was obvious that the battle was lost, so leading to massive losses.

The Battle was also the last action of the International Brigades, who were withdrawn midway through it.

[edit] Aftermath

This defeat destroyed the Republican Army as a fighting force. After this battle, the Republicans would continue to lose ground until April 1, 1939 when Franco declared the war over.

A well-known Republican song, El Paso de Ebro, commemorates the battle.

[edit] Sources

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