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 Giuseppe Maria Garibaldi ( , ;In his native Ligurian language, he is known as (). In his particular Niçard dialect of Ligurian, he was known as () or (). 4 July 1807 – 2 June 1882) was an Italian general, revolutionary and republican. H ...

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 Gustav Regler (25 May 1898 – 14 January 1963) was a German writer and journalist. Background Gustav Regler was born on 25 May 1898 in Merzig, in the Prussian Rhine Province (now Saarland). Career Regler served in the German Infantry during ...

. The brigade included, among others, the following battalions: * Garibaldi Battalion – Albanian, Italian and Spanish volunteers, led by Randolfo Pacciardi. * 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), 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 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 ...

, the Corunna Road,

Guadalajara Guadalajara ( ; ) is the capital and the most populous city in the western Mexican List of states of Mexico, state of Jalisco, as well as the most densely populated municipality in Jalisco. According to the 2020 census, the city has a population ...

, Guadarrama and Brunete.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 {{SpanishCivilWar-stub

Structure

See also

References

Bibliography