The XII International Brigade was mustered on 7 November 1936 at

Albacete Albacete (, also , ; ar, ﭐَلبَسِيط, Al-Basīṭ) is a city and municipality in the Spanish autonomous community of Castilla–La Mancha, and capital of the province of Albacete. Lying in the south-east of the Iberian Peninsula, t ...

, Spain. It was formerly named the Garibaldi Brigade, after the most famous and inspiring leader in the Italian Independence Wars, General

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, pa ...

Structure

Its first commanding officer was a Soviet advisor of Hungarian origin, Gen. "Pavol Lukács" ( Máté Zalka), who went on to command the 45th Division of the Spanish Republican Army (he was killed during the Huesca Offensive), and its first political commisar was Gustav Regler. The brigade included, among others, the following battalions: * Garibaldi Battalion – Albanian, Italian and Spanish volunteers, led by

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 ...

. * André Marty Battalion – Franco-Belgian volunteers (named after André Marty). * Dabrowski Battalion also known as the Dombrowski Battalion – exiled Polish volunteers * Thaelmann Battalion – German and Austrian volunteers (named after

Ernst Thälmann Ernst Johannes Fritz Thälmann (; 16 April 1886 – 18 August 1944) was a German communist politician, and leader of the Communist Party of Germany (KPD) from 1925 to 1933. A committed Marxist-Leninist and Stalinist, Thälmann played a major r ...

), led by Ludwig Renn. *Figlio Battalion – Spanish volunteers *Madrid Battalion – Spanish volunteers *Prieto Battalion – Spanish volunteers The Brigade fought in the battles of

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 ...

, the Corunna Road,

Guadalajara Guadalajara ( , ) is a metropolis in western Mexico and the capital of the state of Jalisco. According to the 2020 census, the city has a population of 1,385,629 people, making it the 7th largest city by population in Mexico, while the Guadalaj ...

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 ...

and

Brunete Brunete () is a town located on the outskirts of Madrid, Spain with a population of 10,730 people. History There was no military garrison in Brunete and there was no rebel attempt to seize the city during the coup of July 1936. Brunete remain ...

.Beevor, Antony. (2006). ''The battle for Spain. The Spanish Civil War, 1936–1939.'' Penguin Books. London. p. 280

References

Bibliography

*Beevor, Antony. ''The Battle for Spain. The Spanish Civil War 1936–1939.'' Penguin Books. London. 2006. *Thomas, Hugh. ''The Spanish Civil War.'' Penguin Books. London. 2001. Military units and formations established in 1936 International Brigades Mixed Brigades (Spain) Military units and formations disestablished in 1939 {{spain-hist-stub

Structure

See also

References

Bibliography