The 13th International Brigade – often known as the XIII Dąbrowski Brigade – fought for the

Spanish Second Republic The Spanish Republic (), commonly known as the Second Spanish Republic (), was the form of democratic government in Spain from 1931 to 1939. The Republic was proclaimed on 14 April 1931 after the deposition of King Alfonso XIII. It was dissol ...

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 ...

, in the

International Brigades The International Brigades () were soldiers recruited and organized by the Communist International to assist the Popular Front (Spain), Popular Front government of the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War. The International Bri ...

. The brigade was dissolved and then reformed on four occasions.

1st Formation

The brigade was first mustered at the International Brigade headquarters in

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 ...

in December 1936. The custom was to name Brigades on formation after inspirational "heroes of the Left". The 13th Brigade was named after

Jarosław Dąbrowski Jarosław Żądło-Dąbrowski (; 13 November 1836 – 23 May 1871), also known as Jaroslav Dombrowski, was a Polish nobleman (szlachta member) and military officer in the Imperial Russian Army, a Polish nationalist and radical republican for ...

, a Polish general who died on foreign soil, fighting in the defence of the

Paris Commune The Paris Commune (, ) was a French revolutionary government that seized power in Paris on 18 March 1871 and controlled parts of the city until 28 May 1871. During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71, the French National Guard (France), Nation ...

in 1871. It consisted of three battalions, and three artillery batteries. * Louise Michel (1) Battalion * Chapaev Battalion / Czapajew Battalion * Vuillemin Battalion * 1st Battery " Ernst Thaelmann" * 2nd Battery "

Karl Liebknecht Karl Paul August Friedrich Liebknecht (; ; 13 August 1871 – 15 January 1919) was a German politician and revolutionary socialist. A leader of the far-left wing of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), Liebknecht was a co-founder of both ...

" * 3rd Battery " Antoni Gramsci"

2nd Formation

The brigade was reformed on 4 August 1937, from Central European battalions. It again used

as its exemplar. * Dąbrowski Battalion – Polish and Spanish * Palafox Battalion – Polish Jews, Belarusians, Lithuanians, Ukrainians, Spanish, Balkan. * Rakosi Battalion – Hungarian, Spanish. * Djuro Djakovic Battalion – Yugoslav. It was dissolved on 23 September 1938, along with the other International Brigades, when the Negrin Government decided to send foreign volunteers home. This decision was taken after pressure from the

Non-Intervention Committee During the Spanish Civil War, most European countries followed a policy of non-intervention to avoid potential escalation or expansion of the war to other states. This policy led to the signing of the Non-Intervention Agreement in August 1936 an ...

to remove ''all'' foreign volunteers from both sides of the conflict in an endeavour to de-internationalise it. Negrin acquiesced because he believed the Nationalists would send their foreigners home too.

3rd formation

The brigade was again reformed (in Monredón) on 1 October 1938 from exclusively Spanish conscript battalions.

4th formation

In mid-January 1939, in Palafrugell,

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 ...

, a group of Polish and Balkan volunteers requested permission of André Marty to return to fight the Nationalists'

Catalonia Offensive The Catalonia Offensive (, ) was part of the Spanish Civil War. The Nationalist Army started the offensive on 23 December 1938 and rapidly conquered Republican-held Catalonia with Barcelona (the Republic's capital city from October 1937). Ba ...

. On 23 January, they were formed into the XIII International Brigade. It was placed in charge of a young second lieutenant. The unit soon fell apart.Eby, Comrades and Commissars, p 415

Brigade Staff

References