The Balaguer Offensive was an offensive carried out by the

Spanish Republican Army The Spanish Republican Army () was the main branch of the Spanish Republican Armed Forces, Armed Forces of the Second Spanish Republic between 1931 and 1939. It became known as People's Army of the Republic (''Ejército Popular de la República'' ...

around Balaguer,

Catalonia Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...

, during the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

. The offensive consisted in a series of counterattacks in the spring and summer of 1938 after the disastrous Aragon Offensive. The offensive was a failure for the Spanish Republic and many lives and military material were wasted.

History

The offensive was planned by General Vicente Rojo Lluch as a morale-lifting

counterattack A counterattack is a tactic employed in response to an attack, with the term originating in "Military exercise, war games". The general objective is to negate or thwart the advantage gained by the enemy during attack, while the specific objecti ...

by Republican military units after the defeats suffered at the Aragon fronts. Historically this battle was part of the longer Battle of the Segre.Jesús Mestre i Campi, ''Diccionari d'Història de Catalunya'', Edicions 62. 1998, p. 86 ("Balaguer, batalla de") Gran Enciclopèdia Catalana - Batalla de Balaguer
/ref> The town of Balaguer had fallen in the hands of the rebel faction in a series of vehement surprise attacks between 5 and 6 April 1938, following which the Francoist armies captured the strategic bridge over the Segre River on 10 April when the Republican Army withdrew to the other side of the river. In order to retake at least the

bridgehead In military strategy, a bridgehead (or bridge-head) is the strategically important area of ground around the end of a bridge or other place of possible crossing over a body of water which at time of conflict is sought to be defended or taken over ...

of the left bank the 27th, 60th and 72nd divisions of the XVIII Army Corps of the Spanish Republic counterattacked between the 12 and the 15 April. The Republican soldiers however, were mostly very young men – some only 17 years old, hastily recruited and ill-trained – who, despite their enthusiasm, were not successful. Again, another series of efforts to reconquer the Balaguer bridgehead took place between 22 and 29 May, but these were again fruitless and the Republican units had to withdraw in the face of the overwhelming superiority of the enemy, leaving many casualties behind.

Last effort

After almost three months, together with the wider Republican offensive of the

Battle of the Ebro The Battle of the Ebro (, ) 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 July and November 1938, with fighting mainly ...

, there was again a series of combats to retake the bridgehead at Balaguer. The attacks were made between 9 and 11 August but the Republican forces were defeated again, being smashed against the superior firepower of the rebel lines.

References

External links

Cabeza de Puente de Balaguer (I) Mayo 1938
Battles of the Spanish Civil War Military history of Catalonia 1938 in Spain Conflicts in 1938 Noguera (comarca) April 1938 in Europe May 1938 in Europe {{catalonia-hist-stub

History

Last effort

See also

References

External links