The Garibaldi Battalion (Garibaldi Brigade after April 1937) was a largely-

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

volunteer unit of the

International Brigades The International Brigades ( es, Brigadas Internacionales) were military units set up by the Communist International to assist the Popular Front government of the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War. The organization existed f ...

that fought on the Republican side of 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 ...

from October 1936 to 1938. It was named after

Giuseppe Garibaldi Giuseppe Maria Garibaldi ( , ;In his native Ligurian language, he is known as ''Gioxeppe Gaibado''. In his particular Niçard dialect of Ligurian, he was known as ''Jousé'' or ''Josep''. 4 July 1807 – 2 June 1882) was an Italian general, patr ...

, an Italian military and political figure of the nineteenth century.

History

The Italian Legion was established on 27 October 1936, through an agreement signed in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

between Italian republicans, socialists and Communists.Randolfo Pacciardi, ''Il Battaglione Garibaldi. Volontari italiani nella Spagna Repubblicana'', La Lanterna, Roma, 1945, pp. 41-42 It was headed by the

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

commander

Randolfo Pacciardi Randolfo Pacciardi (1 January 1899 – 14 April 1991) was an Italian politician. He was a long-time member of the secular, centre-left Italian Republican Party. An ardent anti-fascist, he lived in exile for many years and was an officer of the ...

and

Communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

political commissars Antonio Roasio,

Luigi Longo Luigi Longo (15 March 1900 – 16 October 1980), also known as Gallo, was an Italian communist politician and secretary of the Italian Communist Party from 1964 to 1972. He was also the first foreigner to be awarded an Order of Lenin. Early l ...

and socialist Amedeo Azzi. It was part of the

XII International Brigade The XII International Brigade was mustered on 7 November 1936 at Albacete, Spain. It was formerly named the Garibaldi Brigade, after the most famous and inspiring leader in the Italian Independence Wars, General Giuseppe Garibaldi. Structure Its ...

along with

André Marty André Marty (6 November 1886 – 23 November 1956) was a leading figure in the French Communist Party (PCF) for nearly thirty years. He was also a member of the National Assembly, with some interruptions, from 1924 to 1955; Secretary of Comintern ...

Battalion and

Dimitrov Battalion The Dimitrov Battalion was part of the International Brigades during the Spanish Civil War. It was the 18th battalion formed, and was named after Georgi Dimitrov, a Bulgarian communist and General Secretary of the Comintern in that period. History ...

. It had a baptism of fire on the November 13, 1936 at

Cerro de los Ángeles The Cerro de los Ángeles (''Hill of the Angels'') is a hill located in Getafe, Spain, about south of Madrid. The site is famous for being the geographic centre of the Iberian Peninsula. On top of the hill there is a fourteenth-century monaste ...

during the

Siege of Madrid The siege of Madrid was a two-and-a-half-year siege of the Republican-controlled Spanish capital city of Madrid by the Nationalist armies, under General Francisco Franco, during the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939). The city, besieged from Octo ...

, then the battalion fought by the University of Madrid, at Pozuelo,

Boadilla del Monte Boadilla del Monte () is a Spanish town and municipality located in the west of the Community of Madrid, inside its metropolitan area. It has the second highest level of income per capita in all of the country of Spain. In 2017, it had a popula ...

, Mirabueno,

Majadahonda Majadahonda () is a municipality in Spain, situated northwest of Madrid, in the Community of Madrid. It lies alongside the motorway A6 Madrid-A Coruña. The Puerta de Hierro university (public) hospital was relocated to Majadahonda from the wes ...

and

Jarama Jarama () is a river in central Spain. It flows north to south, and passes east of Madrid where the El Atazar Dam is built on a tributary, the Lozoya River. It flows into the river Tagus in Aranjuez. The Manzanares is a tributary of the Jaram ...

. During the Battle of Jarama, Pacciardi was wounded, and so Ilio Barontini took command of the battalion during the

Battle of Guadalajara The Battle of Guadalajara (March 8–23, 1937) saw the victory of the People's Republican Army (''Ejército Popular Republicano'', or EPR) and of the International Brigades over the Italian and Nationalist forces attempting to encircle Madrid d ...

. Pacciardi was again the commander at

Huesca Huesca (; an, Uesca) is a city in north-eastern Spain, within the autonomous community of Aragon. It is also the capital of the Spanish province of the same name and of the comarca of Hoya de Huesca. In 2009 it had a population of 52,059, almo ...

and

Villanueva del Pardillo Villanueva del Pardillo is a municipality of the Community of Madrid The Community of Madrid (; es, Comunidad de Madrid ) is one of the seventeen autonomous communities of Spain. It is located in the centre of the Iberian Peninsula, and of ...

. In late of April 1937, it was dissolved to form the skeleton of the Garibaldi Brigade, formally established on May 1. Brigade was strengthened by the arrival of the soldiers of Dimitrov battalion and by the volunteers of the dissolved Italian column, and other Italian groups from other formations and many others new volunteers who continue to turn to Spain. The Garibaldi Brigade remained part of the XII International Brigade, under the direction of Randolfo Pacciardi until August 1937; it consisted of four battalions. Then there were five commanders until its dissolution on September 24, 1938. In addition to operations in the north of the current

Community of Madrid The Community of Madrid (; es, Comunidad de Madrid ) is one of the seventeen autonomous communities of Spain. It is located in the centre of the Iberian Peninsula, and of the Central Plateau (''Meseta Central''). Its capital and largest munici ...

and parts of

Aragon Aragon ( , ; Spanish and an, Aragón ; ca, Aragó ) is an autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces (from north to sou ...

, it played its most prominent role in the

Battle of the Ebro The Battle of the Ebro ( es, Batalla del Ebro, ca, Batalla de l'Ebre) was the longest and largest battle of the Spanish Civil War and the greatest, in terms of manpower, logistics and material ever fought on Spanish soil. It took place between Ju ...

Mehmet Shehu Mehmet Ismail Shehu (January 10, 1913 – December 18, 1981) was an Albanian communist politician who served as the 23rd Prime Minister of Albania from 1954 to 1981. As an acknowledged military tactician, without whose leadership the communist p ...

, future

Prime Minister of Albania The Prime Minister of Albania ( sq, Kryeministri i Shqipërisë), officially styled Prime Minister of the Republic of Albania ( sq, Kryeministri i Republikës së Shqipërisë), is the head of government of the Republic of Albania and the mos ...

, was among the volunteers. Other notable Albanian members include Veli Dedi,

Petro Marko Petro Marko (November 25, 1913 – December 27, 1991) was an Albanian writer. His best-known novel is titled '' Hasta La Vista'' and recounts his experiences as a volunteer of the Republican forces during the Spanish Civil War. Petro Marko is ...

, Shaban Basha, Thimjo Gogozoto and Asim Vokshi, one of the staff officers of the battalion.

Personnel

*Amedeo Azzi - political commissar *Shaban Basha *Ilio Barontini *Veli Dedi *Thimjo Gogozoto *

- commander *Antonio Roasio *

* Asim Vokshi

Bibliography

* Luigi Arbizzani, P. Mondini ''Garibaldini in Spagna e nella Resistenza bolognese'', Quaderni de "La Lotta", 1966 * Sandro Attanasio, ''Gli italiani e la guerra di Spagna'', Mursia * Giacomo Calandrone, ''La Spagna brucia: cronache garibaldine'', Roma,

Editori Riuniti Editori Riuniti is an Italian publishing house based in Rome that publishes books and magazines on the history of socialism, socialist thought, physics and mathematics theory, and the history of Central and Eastern Europe and the Balkans. Histor ...

* Giulia Canali, ''L'antifascismo italiano e la guerra civile spagnola'', Manni * Aldo Garosci, ''Gli intellettuali e la guerra di Spagna '', Milano, Einaudi, 1959 * Aldo Garosci, Umberto Marzocchi, Carlo Rosselli, ''Giustizia e libertà nella lotta antifascista e nella storia d'Italia'', La Nuova Italia, 1978 *

, ''Le brigate internazionali in Spagna'', Roma, Editori Riuniti, 1956 *

, ''Il battaglione Garibaldi'', Lugano 1938. *

Giovanni Pesce Giovanni Pesce (also known as 'Visone', 22 February 1918 – Milan, 27 July 2007) was an Italian anti-fascist partisan who fought in the Spanish Civil War and World War II. A former Communist councillor for Milan, he wrote extensively about his exp ...

, ''Senza tregua'', Milano, Feltrinelli, 1973 * Carlo Rosselli, ''Oggi in Spagna domani in Italia'', Milano, Einaudi, 1967

References

{{Authority control International Brigades Military units and formations established in 1937 Military units and formations disestablished in 1938 Anti-fascism in Italy Giuseppe Garibaldi