Battle of Guadarrama
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The Battle of Guadarrama ( es, Batalla de Guadarrama, also known as ''Batalla de Somosierra'') was the first battle in 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 Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, link ...
involving troops loyal to the
Second Spanish Republic The Spanish Republic (), commonly known as the Second Spanish Republic (), was the form of government in Spain from 1931 to 1939. The Republic was proclaimed on 14 April 1931, after the deposition of King Alfonso XIII, and was dissolved on 1 ...
in the Guadarrama Range. The battle took place in the last week of July and in early August 1936. The Nationalist side sent by General Mola was attempting to cross the mountain passes of the Sierra de Guadarrama and reach Madrid by the North, but the Republican side, made up of militiamen and troops disbanded by the government left Madrid to stop the Nationalists. The Republican side was successful and the Nationalist troops did not manage to cross the mountain passes.


Background

General Emilio Mola, the director of the military coup that sought to end the
Popular Front government The Popular Front ( es, Frente Popular) in Spain's Second Republic was an electoral alliance and pact signed in January 1936 by various left-wing political organizations, instigated by Manuel Azaña for the purpose of contesting that year's el ...
used a coordinated uprising of compromised garrisons to implement a state of war in the demarcations, starting with the army from Africa. Mola realised that it would be difficult for the coup to succeed by itself in Madrid under the command of General Fanjul, so it was planned that Mola would lead a column from the North to support the uprising in Madrid. Should this fail,
General Franco Francisco Franco Bahamonde (; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general who led the Nationalist forces in overthrowing the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War and thereafter ruled over Spain from 193 ...
would go from the Moroccan Protectorate across the Strait of Gibraltar and advance on Madrid from the South and West.


Operations

On 19 July, after Mola seized control of
Navarra Navarre (; es, Navarra ; eu, Nafarroa ), officially the Chartered Community of Navarre ( es, Comunidad Foral de Navarra, links=no ; eu, Nafarroako Foru Komunitatea, links=no ), is a foral autonomous community and province in northern Spain, ...
after proclaiming a state of war, he sent Colonel Colonel García Escámez to the south at the head of a column to support the coup in Guadalajara. When the column was around 30 kilometres from its objective it learned that the coup in Guadalajara had already failed and was in the hands of Government forces from Madrid. Colonel García Escámez decided instead to go to the pass of
Somosierra Somosierra is a municipality in the Community of Madrid, Spain, located at 83 km north of Madrid, in the mountain pass with the same name, at an elevation of 1433 metres above sea level, being the northernmost town of Community of Madri ...
, the easternmost pass from the North Plateau to Madrid that crosses the
Sierra de Guadarrama The Sierra de Guadarrama (Guadarrama Mountains) is a mountain range forming the main eastern section of the Sistema Central, the system of mountain ranges along the centre of the Iberian Peninsula. It is located between the systems Sierra de G ...
. He met a group of royalists from Madrid including
Joaquín Satrústegui Joaquín Satrústegui Fernández (San Sebastián, 17 October 1909 – 11 March 1992 ) was a Spanish lawyer and political monarchist. He fought on the Nationalist side during the Spanish Civil War, and evolved from the ultra-conservatism of his y ...
and Carlos Miralles who were defending the railway tunnel against the government forces that had taken Guadalajara. On Wednesday July 22, Escámez's column managed to secure control of the pass, vital for the advance towards Madrid. At midnight on Tuesday, July 21, another rebel column made up of two or three hundred men, commanded by Colonel Serrador left
Valladolid Valladolid () is a municipality in Spain and the primary seat of government and de facto capital of the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is also the capital of the province of the same name. It has a population around 300,000 peop ...
"amid scenes of indescribable enthusiasm." General Sanjurjo continued with the mission of occupying the other important pass in the Sierra de Madrid, Alto del León, located to the west of Somosierra. When they arrived at the pass they found that it had already been occupied by a group of militiamen from Madrid, but they managed to evict them from there and on July 25 it was already in their possession. Neither the columns of Escámez or Serrador advanced towards Madrid due to lack of ammunition and they took shelter preparing to resist the attack of the republican forces. Their situation became desperate in the following days, until finally the ammunition that
General Franco Francisco Franco Bahamonde (; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general who led the Nationalist forces in overthrowing the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War and thereafter ruled over Spain from 193 ...
had sent from
Andalusia Andalusia (, ; es, Andalucía ) is the southernmost autonomous community in Peninsular Spain. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomous community in the country. It is officially recognised as a "historical nationality". The t ...
arrived. A government column under the command of Colonel Mangada left Madrid in the direction of
Ávila Ávila (, , ) is a city of Spain located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is the capital and most populated municipality of the Province of Ávila. It lies on the right bank of the Adaja river. Located more than 1,130 m abov ...
to try to isolate the rebel forces occupying Alto del León from the rear. In his advance Mangada conquered several towns in which the civil guard had joined the coup but did not go beyond Navalperal de Pinares, fearful of losing communication with Madrid and being isolated. The propaganda of the rebels attributed that decision to the "intervention" of Santa Teresa de Ávila who had deceived Mangada by telling him that Ávila was "full of armed men". Commander of the civil guard Lisardo Doval, well known for having led the brutal repression that followed the defeat of the Revolution of Asturias, tried but failed to stop Mangada's advance. Doval's failure gave Mangada a great reputation that earned him a promotion to the rank of general despite the fact that he had not fulfilled his mission of taking Avila. The columns of militiamen and volunteer soldiers who tried to evict the rebel troops from the pass of Somosierra were commanded by the brothers
Francisco Galán Francisco Galán Rodríguez (1902–1971), was a Spanish military officer. Early life He was the brother of Captain Fermin Galán and the Republican Majors José Maria and Juan Galán. Before the Spanish Civil War he was a lieutenant of the ...
, lieutenant of the Civil Guard, and
José María Galán José María Galán Rodríguez (1904–1978) was a Spanish military officer. He served in the Spanish Civil War. He was the brother of Fermín Galán, leader of the Jaca Uprising, and Francisco Galán. Before the war, he was a lieutenant of the ...
, lieutenant of the Carabineros, joined by prominent leaders of the Madrid CNT such as
Cipriano Mera Cipriano Mera Sanz (November 4, 1897 – October 24, 1975) was a Spanish military and political figure during the Second Spanish Republic. Early life He had two sons (Floreal and Sergio) with his partner Teresa Gómez. A bricklayer, he joi ...
and Teodoro Mora. Captain González Gil organized the so-called "October" Battalion with workers from the aeronautical industry, among others. The idea of putting loyal professional officers in command of the militia columns, or at least advising their bosses, came from General José Riquelme, who was in command of the troops in Madrid and the 1st Organic Division. Of the militia units that fought in the Sierra de Guadarrama the most famous was the
Fifth Regiment The Fifth Regiment ( es, Quinto Regimiento, the full name ''Quinto Regimiento de Milicias Populares)'', was an elite corps loyal to the Spanish Republic at the onset of the Spanish Civil War. Made up of volunteers, the Fifth Regiment was active ...
, organized by the
Communist Party of Spain The Communist Party of Spain ( es, Partido Comunista de España; PCE) is a Marxist-Leninist party that, since 1986, has been part of the United Left coalition, which is part of Unidas Podemos. It currently has two of its politicians serving a ...
. Their starting point had been the communist militia (MAOC) and the "La Pasionaria" battalion formed in the first days of the coup in Madrid. This unit was organized following the model of the
Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army ( Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, afte ...
and had political commissars who had to explain to the soldiers the reasons for the fight and ratify the orders of the military leaders. The man to inspire the unit was the Italian communist and Comintern agent
Vittorio Vidali Vittorio Vidali (27 September 1900 – 9 November 1983), also known as Vittorio Vidale, Enea Sormenti, Jacobo Hurwitz Zender, Carlos Contreras, and "Comandante Carlos", was an Italian communist. After being expelled from Italy with the ris ...
(“Carlos Contreras”) and its first boss was the young communist Enrique Castro Delgado. Another communist who also stood out in the fighting in the mountains, although outside the Fifth Regiment, was Valentín González "El Campesino". The Republic had the advantage in the battle of Guadarrama with both artillery and air superiority, in addition to the easy logistics provided by the close proximity to Madrid. In August there were already some 40,000 militiamen framed in columns of about 300 men each in Madrid, who adopted distinctive revolutionary names such as the "Paris Commune" or "October 1st". The Republic could not count on regular military units with their commands and their equipment however, because the republican government of
José Giral José Giral y Pereira (22 October 1879 – 23 December 1962) was a Spanish people, Spanish politician, who served as the 75th Prime Minister of Spain during the Second Spanish Republic. Life Giral was born in Santiago de Cuba. He had degree ...
had decreed the dissolution of these units to stop the uprising. In addition, the conflicts between the militia chiefs and the professional military were constant, especially with the anarchist
confederal militias The confederal militias were a movement of people's militia organized during the Spanish civil war by the dominant organizations of anarchism in Spain: the National Confederation of Labor (CNT) and the Iberian Anarchist Federation (FAI). Thes ...
.


Consequences

The fighting was fierce and led to prisoners being shot on both sides. It is very difficult to estimate the number of victims because the number of fighters who left for the front was unknown, although less than 5,000 were killed. On the Republican side many officers were killed, including Captains Condés, Fontán Cadarso and González Gil — Condes was, along with the deceased Luis Cuenca, one of the men related to the murder of José Calvo Sotelo. Colonel Castillo, who was in command of the republican forces in Alto del León was apparently killed by his own men (or possibly committed suicide when he learned that his son had fallen in combat). On the rebel side, the death of the Falangist leader
Onésimo Redondo Onésimo Redondo Ortega (16 February 1905 – 24 July 1936) was a Spanish Falange, Falangist politician. He founded the Juntas Castellanas de Actuación Hispánica, a political group that merged with Ramiro Ledesma's Juntas de Ofensiva Nacional- ...
was notable, killed in a meeting in Labajos by some militiamen who had penetrated beyond the front lines. At the end of May 1937 the Republicans launched the Segovia offensive, however the attempt was unsuccessful and in less than a week the offensive had failed. Throughout the rest of the war the front remained static until the final offensive of the rebels at the end of March 1939, ending the war for the with a victory for the Rebels.


See also

*
List of Spanish Nationalist military equipment of the Spanish Civil War {{short description, None This is a list of all military equipment used by the nationalists during the Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists ...
*
List of Spanish Republican military equipment of the Spanish Civil War This is a list of military equipment of the Spanish Republicans. The Soviet Union was the main provider of Republican military equipment. Weapons * List of Spanish Civil War weapons of the Republicans Aircraft * List of aircraft of the Span ...
*
Fifth Regiment The Fifth Regiment ( es, Quinto Regimiento, the full name ''Quinto Regimiento de Milicias Populares)'', was an elite corps loyal to the Spanish Republic at the onset of the Spanish Civil War. Made up of volunteers, the Fifth Regiment was active ...


References


External links


Cerro Pelado y Paredes de Buitrago
{{Use dmy dates, date=June 2017
Guadarrama Guadarrama is a town and municipality in the Cuenca del Guadarrama comarca, in the Community of Madrid, Spain. Its population is 13,032 (winter, according to a 2006 census); the population swells to approximately 60,000 in summer. Its name co ...
1936 in Spain
Guadarrama Guadarrama is a town and municipality in the Cuenca del Guadarrama comarca, in the Community of Madrid, Spain. Its population is 13,032 (winter, according to a 2006 census); the population swells to approximately 60,000 in summer. Its name co ...
July 1936 events
Guadarrama Guadarrama is a town and municipality in the Cuenca del Guadarrama comarca, in the Community of Madrid, Spain. Its population is 13,032 (winter, according to a 2006 census); the population swells to approximately 60,000 in summer. Its name co ...
Guadarrama Guadarrama is a town and municipality in the Cuenca del Guadarrama comarca, in the Community of Madrid, Spain. Its population is 13,032 (winter, according to a 2006 census); the population swells to approximately 60,000 in summer. Its name co ...
History of the province of Segovia