The Bombardment of Almería was a naval action which took place on 31 May 1937, during 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 ''

Kriegsmarine The (, ) was the navy of Germany from 1935 to 1945. It superseded the Imperial German Navy of the German Empire (1871–1918) and the inter-war (1919–1935) of the Weimar Republic. The was one of three official branches, along with the a ...

'' bombed the city of

Almería Almería (, , ) is a city and municipality of Spain, located in Andalusia. It is the capital of the province of the same name. It lies on southeastern Iberia on the Mediterranean Sea. Caliph Abd al-Rahman III founded the city in 955. The city gr ...

in retaliation for a Republican air attack on the .

Background

In April 1937, the

Non-intervention Committee During the Spanish Civil War, several countries followed a principle of non-intervention to avoid any potential escalation or possible expansion of the war to other states. That would result in the signing of the Non-Intervention Agreement in Au ...

established naval patrols in order to patrol the Spanish coasts and harbors. The naval patrols were furnished by Great Britain, France, Germany and Italy. The

Spanish Republican Air Force The Spanish Republican Air Force was the air arm of the Armed Forces of the Second Spanish Republic, the legally established government of Spain between 1931 and 1939. Initially divided into two branches: Military Aeronautics ('' Aeronáutica M ...

carried out attacks against the harbor of

Mallorca Mallorca, or Majorca, is the largest island in the Balearic Islands, which are part of Spain and located in the Mediterranean. The capital of the island, Palma, is also the capital of the autonomous community of the Balearic Islands. The Bal ...

, a known-Nationalist naval base. On 24 May 1937, a Republican air raid hit the Italian cruiser , killing six Italian sailors and on the morning of 26 May another Republican air raid nearly missed the . The commander of the German naval patrol protested, nevertheless Mallorca was a patrol zone assigned to France and the foreign ships were inside Spanish territorial waters. The same day, two Republican bombers piloted by Russian pilots, attacked the German heavy cruizer at

Ibiza Ibiza (natively and officially in ca, Eivissa, ) is a Spanish island in the Mediterranean Sea off the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. It is from the city of Valencia. It is the third largest of the Balearic Islands, in Spain. Its l ...

, killing 20–23 German sailors and wounding 73. Hitler wanted to declare war on the Republic, but instead ordered the city of Almeria to be shelled.

Bombing of Almeria

At dawn on 31 May 1937, the German heavy cruiser and four German

destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed in ...

s attacked the city of Almeria. The German ships fired 200 shells at the town, killing 19-20 civilians, wounding 50 and destroying 35 buildings.

Indalecio Prieto Indalecio Prieto Tuero (30 April 1883 – 11 February 1962) was a Spanish politician, a minister and one of the leading figures of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) in the years before and during the Second Spanish Republic. Early life ...

, the Republican minister of Defense wanted to attack the German fleet, but the president

Manuel Azaña Manuel Azaña Díaz (; 10 January 1880 – 3 November 1940) was a Spanish politician who served as Prime Minister of the Second Spanish Republic (1931–1933 and 1936), organizer of the Popular Front in 1935 and the last President of the Repu ...

and the prime minister

Juan Negrin ''Juan'' is a given name, the Spanish and Manx versions of ''John''. It is very common in Spain and in other Spanish-speaking communities around the world and in the Philippines, and also (pronounced differently) in the Isle of Man. In Spanish, t ...

were opposed to Prieto's plan because an open war against Germany might have brought the annihilation of the Republic. Negrin and Azaña sent protest notes to the secretary-general of the

League of Nations The League of Nations (french: link=no, Société des Nations ) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference that ...

and to the French and the British governments. However, the British and the French governments said that the German attack had been justified.

Aftermath

On 15 June, Germany denounced a supposed

Spanish Republican Navy The Spanish Republican Navy was the Navy, naval arm of the Spanish Republican Armed Forces, Armed Forces of the Second Spanish Republic, the legally established government of Spain between 1931 and 1939. History In the same manner as the othe ...

attack against the German cruiser , and on 23 June Germany and Italy withdrew from the Non-Intervention Committee and Portugal withdrew the British observers on its frontier. At the end of July the Italians started a campaign of maritime attacks against Republican and neutral merchant ships. The loss of merchant ships and the beginning of the Sino-Japanese war led the Soviets to reduce their aid to the Republic. By mid 1937 the Republic was virtually isolated.

References

Bibliography

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Almeria Explosions in 1937 Mass murder in 1937 Naval battles of the Spanish Civil War Naval battles involving Germany 1937 in Spain Conflicts in 1937 Maritime incidents in 1937 Spanish Civil War massacres History of Andalusia Almería Mediterranean naval operations of the Spanish Civil War May 1937 events