The Invasion of Spain, April 1936
"We can no longer stand by!" Mussolini bellowed, slamming his fist on the balcony as he exhorted the cheering crowd, "We can no longer stand by while an ancient and honourable European nation descends into anarchy and disorder! The people of Spain cry out for the relief and protection of fascism, and we will give it to them! We will not rest until honest and accountable government has been restored to our Spanish brothers!"
Even as Mussolini thundered through his oration, the people of Valencia experienced thunder of a quite different kind. The ships of a large Italian fleet belched flame and smoke as they hammered the Spanish coastline with their powerful guns. Under cover of the bombardment, four Italian infantry divisions splashed ashore from their landing craft to overrun the shell-shocked defenders in a quick but bloody battle.
As the main Italian fleet patrolled the waters around Valencia, a smaller flotilla made several rapid transits between the Spanish port and the Italian city of Genoa, where some eighteen more divisions were ready to embark. Before the stunned Spanish forces could regroup, three more divisions were convoyed to Valencia, with more on the way.
The fall of Barcelona, May-June 1936
By the end of April, more than half the total Italian forces had been landed, and the northward advance began. 6 divisions remained in Valencia to ensure there was no risk to the beachhead, while another 9 headed north into Castellon.
Castellon fell quickly, and – after leaving three divisions to hold it – most of the spearhead continued northwards. The remaining six divisions were split into two equal forces: one of mountain troops, one of cavalry. The plan was for the cavalry to advance all the way to the French border, while the mountain troops came up behind them to secure Saragossa.
Things progressed smoothly to begin with, with no initial resistance to the advancing Italians. However, when the cavalry began their final advance on Bilbao they came under spirited Spanish counter-attack. Outnumbered and outflanked, these lead Italian units were forced back. Only the arrival of the Mountain troops prevented the Italian forces from being thrown back all the way to Castellon.
The setback sent Mussolini into a paroxysm of rage over the "humiliation of Italian arms", but il Duce's anguish was short-lived. More Italian troops had entered Valencia by this time, and now Field Marshall Balbo – the most senior officer in Spain – moved his headquarters up the front line, along with five divisions of infantry.
A renewed assault toward Bilbao was successful, and Spanish resistance melted away against the artillery-supported Italian advance. Italian bombers also made their first significant contributions to the fray, as they shattered the retreating Spanish units.
As the Italians dug into their new positions and re-organised after their advance, the air force and navy began to bombard the Spanish force caught in the 'Barcelona pocket'. A few Spanish planes attempted to contest control of the air, but made little progress in their efforts.
By this time the Italians had 24 divisions evenly spread from Valencia to Bilbao. Organised Spanish forces in the north were now too few in number to seriously threaten the Italian positions, and Field Marshall Balbo felt confident in ordering Six divisions out of the line to make the advance on Barcelona. Early in April, church bells rang out across Italy to announce the fall of Spain's second city.
The fall of Madrid, June-August 1936
Now the only limit on the Italian advance in northern Spain was the time it took to advance across the rugged terrain. As frustrating as these delays were for Mussolini, the mountains and poor infrastructure also prevented the Spanish from bringing up significant reinforcements, and three more Spanish divisions ended up being surrounded and captured in La Coruna.
However, as the advance in the north had been slower than hoped, Mussolini forced Badoglio to step up the speed of operations in the centre of Spain. Tarragona was attacked in late May, and captured on June 1st, while Guadalajara fell by the middle of the month. It was then simply a case of waiting for the northern offensive to end.
The Italian High Command briefly considered investing the capital on all fronts, cutting communications from the government to the Spanish troops in other regions, but ultimately decided that the forces in Madrid itself were too strong to easily keep contained. After a pause for the reorganisation of the Italian armies, a major offensive went ahead on August 1st, accompanied by heavy aerial bombardment.
Well-entrenched and strongly motivated, Madrid's defenders put up a valiant struggle. Ultimately air power proved their undoing: well-guarded by interceptors, the Italian bombers rained down their deadly cargo without respite. Shortly after dawn on August 2nd, the Spanish lines broke, and church bells once more rang out across Italy.
End of the Spanish Campaign, June 1936
With the Spanish capital fallen and much of the nation's industrial strength in ruins or under their control, the Italians advanced at will, capturing Seville, Almeria, and the other major cities of the south.
A few Spanish units still remained, and would occasionally attempt to hold back the Italian columns, but this was by now a vain hope. The defenders were routed within a few hours on each occasion, then bombed to oblivion by the Italian air force as they straggled away from the battle.
By late in June, only two Spanish divisions remained in all of Spain, and these were trapped in the area around Jaen, with no hope of relief. The only other Spanish forces were a pair of divisions in the Balearic Islands, but even had they been ten times that number, Italian domination of the seas was total, preventing any hope of an invasion to help the defenders break out.
Then, as Field Marshall Balbo made plans for the final 'offensive': a process he knew would be little more than collecting the surrender of the enemy commanders, word came from the Spanish camp: they were at last willing to negotiate.