The Battle of Talavera de la Reina was fought on 3 September 1936 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, lin ...

. The Republicans, attempting to bar the road to

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

Talavera de la Reina Talavera de la Reina () is a city and municipality of Spain, part of the autonomous community of Castile–La Mancha. Its population of 83,303 makes it the second most populated municipality of the province of Toledo and the fourth largest in th ...

, were defeated by the professional army of the

Nationalists Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: The ...

, with heavy casualties on both sides. In the first days of September, after a fitful retreat along the

Tagus The Tagus ( ; es, Tajo ; pt, Tejo ; see #Name, below) is the longest river in the Iberian Peninsula. The river rises in the Montes Universales near Teruel, in mid-eastern Spain, flows , generally west with two main south-westward sections ...

, the government militias established themselves in a strong position on the heights above Talavera. Rather than risk the Republic's army defending open country in earlier battles, General Riquelme had yielded ground constantly, allowing him to conserve his forces and muster over 10,000 men at Talavera. A strong complement of

artillery Artillery is a class of heavy military ranged weapons that launch munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during siege ...

and an

armoured train An armoured train is a railway train protected with armour. Armoured trains usually include railway wagons armed with artillery, machine guns and autocannons. Some also had slits used to fire small arms from the inside of the train, a facilit ...

were placed at his disposal. The weary and shot-torn Nationalists, meanwhile, had advanced several hundred miles with hardly a moment's pause. At dawn on 3 September General Yagüe raced Colonel Asensio and Major Castejón up the flanks of the defenders. The two columns soon seized the city's

train station A train station, railway station, railroad station or depot is a railway facility where trains stop to load or unload passengers, freight or both. It generally consists of at least one platform, one track and a station building providing suc ...

and

aerodrome An aerodrome (Commonwealth English) or airdrome (American English) is a location from which aircraft flight operations take place, regardless of whether they involve air cargo, passengers, or neither, and regardless of whether it is for publ ...

. Once again the Republican militias lost their nerve, knowing their fate should they be surrounded and captured. Many soldiers deserted their posts and fled the battlefield in

bus A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for cha ...

es. At midday Yagüe assaulted the city proper. Although the Republicans clung on for most of the afternoon, little resistance was offered in the streets and by evening Talavera had been lost. The assault cost the Nationalists 1,000 dead or wounded. The Republicans lost 500 dead, 1,000 captured, and 42 guns. More alarmingly, they lost their last line of defence before Madrid, which would soon be put under

siege A siege is a military blockade of a city, or fortress, with the intent of conquering by attrition warfare, attrition, or a well-prepared assault. This derives from la, sedere, lit=to sit. Siege warfare is a form of constant, low-intensity con ...

. The defeat had as consequence the fall of the government of

José Giral José Giral y Pereira (22 October 1879 – 23 December 1962) was a 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 degrees in Chemistry a ...

and a new designation to the new Government of

Francisco Largo Caballero Francisco Largo Caballero (15 October 1869 – 23 March 1946) was a Spanish politician and trade unionist. He was one of the historic leaders of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) and of the Workers' General Union (UGT). In 1936 and 19 ...

References

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External links

La Marcha: The Drive on Madrid
{{coord, 39.9583, N, 4.8328, W, source:wikidata, display=title 1936 in Spain

Talavera de la Reina 1936 History of the province of Toledo September 1936 events Talavera de la Reina

See also

References

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External links