Spanish Civil War: Workers, to Victory!
The battle for Bilbao begins
The Bilbao Offensive was coming into its fourth month and final phase. Soviet volunteers, Republican forces and Internationalist Brigades (mostly led by Soviets) was just outside of Bilbao. Most of the treacherous mountains that held up the offensive force in the preceding months had been surpassed. The Republican forces pushed on relentlessly and it was only a matter of time before Bilbao would fall as Burgos had done.
Italian and German bombing of the Basque Country, including Guernica.
But the Nationalist was not prepared to lose the city they had lost so many lives to take. The response was a major Italian and German bombing offensive. At this time it was believed tht bomber planes could be sent out to simply bomb their enemies to submission. Several of newly conquered cities and towns in the Basque Country, an the north in general, was bombed into ruins. Most infamous of these bombings would be the bombing of Guernica. These actions shocked the international community, but even more the Soviet leadership in Spain. A gentleman's agreement had been struck between the major powers in Spain. They would interefere in eachother's wars so to not provoke a larger war. Now the fascists had taken the offensive to the Soviets.
Soviet and Republican airforces bombing the road to Bilbao open.
The Republicans and Soviets was quick to answer the Nationalist bombing campaign. When the Soviet forces reached the outskirts of Bilbao they were ordered to halt. A massive bombing campaign was commenced that lasted for several hours, followed up by an artillery barrage. It was believed the enemies would rout or get their forticifications destroyed. But it turned out it only made the defense of Bilbao easier, and the city that was supposed to be liberated didn't take it fondly to be the victims of massive bombing. A bloody combat in urban enviorment ensued.
Repulsing the halfhearted counterattack.
But the Soviet-Republican overmight was too great. The Soviets soon learned the differences between fighting in open fields and in urban enviorments. The tanks and trucks simply wasn't suited for that kind of combat, and the fog of war blinded all. In general the Soviets experienced for each opposing soldier in Bilbao they had to risk the lives of ten soviets. The urban battle would be a costly affair, but only a taste of what was to come. The 25th of January all of Bilbao and the surrounding areas had been taken. But the Nationalists was desperate to reclaim the Basque Country, and most importantly Burgos. An offensive from the Nationalists was initiated during midnight of the 26th, but it was seen as a diversionary attack. The Republicans and Spanish held their positions in the streets of Burgos and the trenches in the outskirts.
The best defense is offense.
After 21 hours the offensive of the Nationalists seemed to be coming to a definitive end, with their contignent of Japanese volunteers being the only ones holding up the attack. Rokossovsky took the iniative and launched what was to be known as the Valladolid offensive. The goal was to take the city of Valladolid, the port of Oviedo and reach the eastern borders of Portugal. It was hoped this would split the nationalist forces in half and secure a port for supplies.
The last stronghold in the north is about to fall.
In about a week the Soviet armored thrust raced to the east and was beginning to work themself inward to Valladolid. Yet another fight for an ubran center was to begin, and the casualties on both sides would be major.
German-Italian-Nationalist advances in the south, Soviet-Republicans closing in on the Portugese border.
Another five days of continuous had to take place before Valladolid was liberated. The casualties was high, but it seemed as if the Nationalist forces in the north was beaten. Despite the successes in the north the Nationalists was gaining ground near Madrid. They were getting desperate. If the fell to the Republicans it was only a matter of time before the south fell. The Nationalists gained much ground in the south mainly due to the superior arms and tactics of the Germans. But would it be enough?
Cutting off the Nationalists in the Portugal-Corridor.
The Valladolid Offensive would continue for the remainder of February. Province after province would be taken by the Soviet-Republican offensive. Oviedo fell on the 20th, and this secured the advancing forces a port that would supply them with Soviet and Mexican sent arms. The morale was an alltime high for the Republicans, and the Nationalists started to crumble from the string of defeats and lack of equipment. The 26th the forces reached Portugal, creating a tiny corridor which the Nationalists used to escape southward, and the north was left totally open to a Soviet armored division. The war in the north was over, and Franco was begging Portugal to intervene on their behalf.
The war intensifies.
The request was revealed by the NKVD and leaked to western press. This in turn led to UK and France to pressure the Portugese, who had mobilized, to stand down. The British was afraid the civil war would lead to a great war, and the French was afraid the Commuist there would coup their own left-wing Popular Front as they had done in Spain. But the war intensified, the volunteers on both sides was on an alltime high (both actual volunteers and those ordered by their governments) and the Germans would make an innovative air campaign to stall the Soviet advance. In bottlenecks figherplanes, mostly the top modern Bf-109, would disable the lead truck, turn around and disable the rear most truck. This way the column of soldiers or troops was caught and Stukas would follow in and take out the trucks, armor, self propelled guns one after one. The Soviets tried to make a similar move in the Portugese region, but their interwar bombers couldn't match the German and Italian dive bombers. Fearing Franco's Spain would fall Mussolini ordered his navy to the Spanish coast and prepared for a full scale invasion. This prompted the British Navy to detach from their bases in Gibraltar and Malta and lay mines outside of Spain. Tensions was at an alltime high, and the powder keg seemed to get the spark it needed to be lit up. Five German Heinkel 111s bombed Valencia, but one misbombed and hit British destroyers mistaking them for Spanish ones. This lead the British to declare the Italian navy would be met with force if they continued on their course. All held their breaths, if the Italians ran through the blockade Republican Spain would surely fall, but another war on a greater scale would start. The Italians turned around right before the British fired upon them. Direct intervention was now outside of the question, Franco was on his own.
Closing the Portugal-Corridor. Have the road to Madrid been secured?
By the end of March the Portugal Corridor was closed in after a month of bitter fighting. Thousands of men who tried to flee to the Nationalist stronghold in the south was captured or killed in action. The back of Franco was broken and the Republicans and Soviets could now focus on the south.
The Nationalist Madrid Offensive is repulsed.
Meanwhile the Nationalist offensive for Madrid had been halted. The Battle of Madrid was said to be over, and it truly seemed as if Madrid would be fascism's grave. The lands gained by the Nationalists was slowly retaken by the Republicans. And due to the work of the NKVD and the Spanish communists there would be major uprisings in the Nationalist controlled areas, sabotaging the rear areas of the Nationalists and creating many new worker's militias. The Communists would make it look like a revolution in the south. The Republicans could also relocate most of their forces from the north to south giving their defensive lines numerous new bodies and weapons. An offensive was conducted indepedently by the Republicans to the gold coast, creating a pocket in the middle of Republican controlled territory. Thousands of Nationalist forces would desert, either to join the fight on the winning side or return home to their valleys and farms.
José getting to work.
Rokossovsky knew the war was coming to an end. But even then he had to hurry up and keep up the offensive. Stalin had appereantly ordered the Spanish PCE (Stalinist) to purge the POUM (Trotskyists) or else all Soviet contributions would be removed, this was to be lead by Stalin loyal NKVD members in Catalonia, Basque Country and Aragon. But the NKVD members, who would later be proven to be loyal and even taken orders from Trotsky, would foil this plans - aided by armored troops from Rokossovsky. But the Stalinists and Trotskyists joined forces to completely purge the anarchists, only Marxists was be to be allowed. And even in Madrid the PCE, aided by POUM in a new alliance, undertook a coup removing centrists and liberals from power. José Díaz was now the President of the Republic. The popular Caballero was still to be the Prime-Minister, but it seemed as if the PSOE (Social Democrats) was absorbed by the PCE and POUM with the aid of the Soviet Volunteers, International Brigades and NKVD. An American commentator made the dry remark "Spain first had the noble cause of resisting totalitarian Fascism, but have now ended up as a Soviet Republic".
Drawing a nice circle during the Sevilla Offensive.
Keeping up the momentum, to both take on the Nationalists and not to be recalled by Stalin due to the POUM not being purged, Rokossovsky drove from Malaga and pierced through Nationalist lines. The areas around Sevilla was plains and much more suited than the mountains the volunteers had fought in for the last months. Sevilla and Cadiz was reached in a matter of days, and several Nationalist divisions was trapped in a pocket, without any means of reinforcement nor supplies. Judgement day fell upon them.
The Final Offensive of the war. Onward!
Following the fall of Sevilla the Nationalists sensed they would be encircled and ordered an offensive from Cordoba to retake Sevilla. The Nationalists maintained the upperhand here over the Republicans, but was mostly held back by the large river they had to cross. Rokossovsky and the Soviets ignored this offensive alltogether, but instead used it to their advantage. The Soviet forces positioned themself east of Cordoba and the Nationalist offensive toward Madrid. A relentless push from East to West was ordered and the Nationalist forces fell apart completely in the plains and forests near Cordoba and Madrid. Even the Germans faced losses in the thousands as they were cut off from all communication lines. On the International Worker's Day the Final Offensive had come to an end. All Nationalist forces had routed and in a matter of days the front completely broke together and Franco capitulated.
The bell tolls for us.
Republican Spain won, yet the Republicans lost. The PCE and POUM took power and would for the next months ban all other parties than the PCE, POUM and PSOE. Franco and the Nationalists would face showcase trials where the outcome was already given. A new era had now come for Spain and they were to begin on the difficult jounrey to rebuild from the war and to create a socialist state. Fascist and Democratic powers alike looked in despair as a Communist nation was now in the middle of western Europe. Still many liberals, democrats and social democrats felt a relief as the Fascists didn't spread further into Europe, but this led to a further polarizatoin in Europe. The war had been a costly one. In just nine months the war had claimed149.000 Nationalist casualties and 119.000 Republicans - and that was only the soldiers.
Welcome home comrade!
The Spanish Volunteers and the Soviets in the International Brigades returned home to Leningrad as heroes where major parades would be held in their honor. Rokossovsky was seen as a hero (along with many other officers) and even became more popular than Stalin when they returned. Their war in Spain had come to an end, but their trials had just begun..
It was a good chapter!
