The Gastone Sozzi Centuria () was a

Communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

unit raised in

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by Italian and Catalan volunteers who, at the beginning of 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 ...

, went to the defence of Madrid, besieged by the Rebel Army. The name of the unit was in honour of Italian communist Gastone Sozzi, assassinated in 1928 by Fascist

Blackshirts The Voluntary Militia for National Security (, MVSN), commonly called the Blackshirts (, CCNN, singular: ) or (singular: ), was originally the paramilitary wing of the National Fascist Party, known as the Squadrismo, and after 1923 an all-vo ...

History

After the

Spanish coup of July 1936 The Spanish coup of July 1936( or, among the rebels, ) was a military uprising that was intended to overthrow the Spanish Second Republic, but precipitated the Spanish Civil War, in which Nationalists fought against Republicans for control o ...

, which was seen by many anti-Fascist unions as a Fascist uprising against the democratically elected

Republic A republic, based on the Latin phrase ''res publica'' ('public affair' or 'people's affair'), is a State (polity), state in which Power (social and political), political power rests with the public (people), typically through their Representat ...

, a series of Italian anti-Fascists departed to

from

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and Saint-Etienne. On 2 September 1936, around eighty Italian volunteers arrived at the Carlos Marx Barracks in the city, including at least two elements of different nationalities and some athletes that had come to Barcelona to participate in the People's Olympiad. On 3 September, the column was officially established. Three groups of Italian volunteers had been created in

. The first, very small, left with the first columns of Catalan volunteers to the front. The other two gave rise to the Giustizia e Libertà

Centuria ''Centuria'' (; : ''centuriae'') is a Latin term (from the stem ''centum'' meaning one hundred) denoting military units originally consisting of 100 men. The size of the centuria changed over time, and from the first century BC through most of ...

, of

Anarchist Anarchism is a political philosophy and Political movement, movement that seeks to abolish all institutions that perpetuate authority, coercion, or Social hierarchy, hierarchy, primarily targeting the state (polity), state and capitalism. A ...

orientation, although directed by the

Socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

Carlo Rosselli, and the Gastone Sozzi Centuria, with Gotardo Rinaldi as commander and Captain Francesco Leone as political commissar. The Gastone Sozzi Centuria, formed on 3 September, comprised 86 Italians, 29 Poles, 10 French, some Belgians and one Dane. The Catalan authorities had planned the unit to go to the Aragon Front, but it was integrated into the PSUC Liberty Column as the 22nd Centuria of the unit. On 3 September the centuria was involved in trying to slow the Nationalist advance at Talavera. The centuria arrived in

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

on 8 September, and quickly collaborated with the Fifth Regiment in the defence of the city. On 13 September, it was already fighting at the 1300 Hill, in Cenicientos, on the Extremadura Road. The centuria was framed as the 3nd Company of the Garibaldi Battalion on 10 October 1936. Between 16 and 18 October, they fought at Chapinería, before being sent to the base at

Albacete Albacete ( , , ) 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, the area around the city is known as Los Llan ...

. It was then attached, with mainly Italian volunteers, to the XI International Brigade on 22 October, and later 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 ...

Personnel

*Francesco Leone - Captain, political commissar *Gotardo Rinaldi - Commander

References

{{Reflist , refs= {{cite book, last=Castells, first=Andreu, title=Las Brigadas Internacionales en la Guerra de España, year=1974, publisher=Ariel, location=

Esplugues de Llobregat Esplugues de Llobregat () is a municipality of the Barcelona metropolitan area. Formerly in the ''Barcelonès'', since 1990 it has been part of the Comarques of Catalonia, comarca of Baix Llobregat. During recent decades Esplugues has evolved fro ...

, isbn=8434424606 {{cite book, last=López, first=Álvaro, title=La Centuria Gastone Sozzi, year=1984, publisher= AICVAS, location=

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

, isbn= {{cite book, last=Mugnai, first=Bruno, title=Volontari Stranieri e le Brigate Internazionali in Spagna (1936-39), year=2010, publisher= Soldiershop, location=

Zanica Zanica (Bergamasque: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) of around 8,804 inhabitants in the Province of Bergamo in the Italy, Italian region of Lombardy, located about northeast of Milan and south of Bergamo. Zanica borders the following municipal ...

, isbn=9788896519394 Anti-fascism in Italy Defunct communist militant groups Early Republican international units Left-wing militant groups in Spain Military history of Italy Military units and formations established in 1936 International Brigades