The Zaragoza Offensive took place 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 1937. This battle involved 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'' ...
. The main goal of the offensive was to occupy the city of Zaragoza. The main action of the offensive was the
battle
A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force co ...
of
Belchite.
Background
In August 1937, the commander in chief of the Republican Army,
Vicente Rojo, decided to launch an offensive in the
Aragon
Aragon ( , ; Spanish and ; ) is an autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces of Spain, ...
front in order to take the regional capital, Saragossa. The main goal of the offensive was to stop the
Nationalist offensive against
Santander. Furthermore, Saragossa was the communications centre of the whole Aragon front.
Opposing forces
In the Aragon front the Republican Army had deployed the
Army of the East, led by the general
Pozas and his chief of staff
Antonio Cordon. This army had six divisions (
Lister's
11th Division,
26th Division, 27th Division,
Walter
Walter may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Walter (name), including a list of people and fictional and mythical characters with the given name or surname
* Little Walter, American blues harmonica player Marion Walter Jacobs (1930–19 ...
's
35th Division, 43rd Division; and
Kleber's
45th Division). Furthermore, the Republicans had 200 aircraft and many
T-26
The T-26 tank was a Soviet light tank used during many conflicts of the Interwar period and in World War II. It was a development of the British Vickers 6-Ton tank and was one of the most successful tank designs of the 1930s until its light ...
and
BT-5 tanks.
Opposing them, the Nationalists had three low-quality divisions (51st, 52nd and 105th divisions), and 15 aircraft (obsolete Heinkel
He-46 light bombers and
He-51 fighters).
The offensive
The Republican plan was to break through at seven different points between
Zuera and
Belchite in order to divide any Nationalist counter-attack. The 27th Division would occupy Zuera, turn left and attack Zaragoza. Kléber's 45h Division would attack south-eastwards towards Saragossa and the 43rd Division would cross the
Ebro
The Ebro (Spanish and Basque ; , , ) is a river of the north and northeast of the Iberian Peninsula, in Spain. It rises in Cantabria and flows , almost entirely in an east-southeast direction. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea, forming a de ...
and cut the highway from
Quinto to Saragossa. But the main attack was concentrated up the south side of the Ebro Valley, with
Modesto
Modesto ( ; ) is the county seat and largest city of Stanislaus County, California, United States. With a population of 218,069 according to 2022 U.S. Census Bureau estimates, it is the 19th-most populous city in California.
Modesto is locate ...
's V Corps (11th Division and 35th Division).
The Republican attack began on 24 August with no artillery bombardment in order to maintain the advantage of surprise. The 27th Division occupied Zuera, the 45th Division reached
Villamajor de Gállego (six kilometres from Saragossa) and the 25th Division took
Codó, despite fierce Nationalist resistance. Nevertheless, Lister's 11th Division failed to occupy
Fuentes de Ebro and almost all its BT-5 tanks were destroyed.
Fuentes del Ebro
Lister had to take the fortified town of Fuentes del Ebro in order to open the road to Zaragoza. Forty-eight BT-5 tanks carrying Spanish troops would cross the Republican lines and attack the town from the front, supporting by the troops of the XV International Brigade. Nevertheless, the attack was ill-planned. The tanks were not suited to carrying troops, very little reconnaissance was carried out, there was virtually no artillery preparation
and the tanks became bogged down in the mud. The attack failed and the republican army lost 19 of its 48 tanks and more than 300 men
(according to
Hugh Thomas 12 tanks destroyed out of 40) An American member of the International Brigades said:
Courage and heroism are plentiful in Spain and the Spanish people have no lack of it. What they need is tactics. And as for tactics, on 13 October, Regiment BT was bankrupt.
Belchite
On 26 August, the 25th Division took Quinto, but the delays in the Republicans' advance had given the Nationalists time to bring up reinforcements (Barron's 13th Division and Saenz de Buruaga's 150th Division and 80 aircraft from the Madrid front) and the attack on Zaragoza failed.
Modesto then decided to capture the small (3,800 inhabitants) and well fortified town of
Belchite. The Republican army cut the water supply of the town and the heat was appalling, but the defence of the besieged forces was vigorous. The attack on Belchite started on 1 September and, after five days of heavy bombardment and bloody combat, the Republicans managed to occupy it. The offensive ended on 6 September.
Aftermath
The offensive was a complete failure. The Nationalists did not stop their offensive against the Northern Republican held zone. The Republicans only advanced ten kilometres and took a handful of small towns. Furthermore, the Republican Army suffered heavy losses of armament and tanks. Indalecio Prieto said: "So many troops to take four or five ''pueblos'' does not satisfy the ministry of defence". The offensive failed because the republican forces lacked coordination, supplies and military intelligence.
[Jackson, Gabriel. (1967). ''The Spanish Republic and the Spanish Civil War, 1931-1939.'' Princeton University Press. p. 397] Furthermore, the Republican commanders wasted troops in order to reduce small resistance points.
See also
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References
Bibliography
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{{coord missing, Spain
Battles of the Spanish Civil War
Military history of Aragon
1937 in Spain
Conflicts in 1937
a
August 1937 in Europe
September 1937 in Europe