Battle of Bilbao

The Battle of Bilbao, part of the War in the North in the Spanish Civil War, had the Nationalist Army captured Bilbao and the rest of the Basque Country that was still being held by the Republic.

Battle of Bilbao
Part of the Spanish Civil War
The Northern Front. Bilbao is on the right of the red area.
Date 12–19 June 1937 Location Biscay, Northern Spain Result Nationalist victory Territorial changes Nationalists capture Biscay from Republicans
Belligerents
Spanish Republic Basque Army	Nationalist Spain  Italy (CTV)
Commanders and leaders
Mariano Gámir Ulíbarri Juan Cueto Ibáñez Rendición Pablo Belderráin Joseph Putz Nino Nanetti †	Fidel Dávila Arrondo José Solchaga Zala Rafael García Valiño Juan Bautista Sánchez Wolfram Freiherr von Richthofen
Strength
50,000 troops and militia	60,000 Nationalist troops 15,000 Italian troops
Casualties and losses
Unknown	Nationalist Spain: Unknown Italy: 105 dead 427 wounded three missing

Background

Bilbao was the capital of the autonomous Basque area established by the Republic after the war began to reward Basque nationalist support of the Republic. The Basque people in Spain generally inhabit four provinces: Navarre, Álava, Gipuzkoa and Biscay. The Basque nationalists were dominant in the last two provinces. Navarre and Álava had rallied to the rising against the Republic.[1]

The Spanish Nationalist troops gained Gipuzkoa early in the war with the fall of Irún in August and San Sebastián on 13 September 1936,[2] isolating the Basque Country and the zone held by the Northern Republicans from the French border. On 31 March, the Nationalists, led by the General Emilio Mola, launched an offensive against Biscay Province. The Basque troops had to retire, and by June, the Nationalists had reached the outskirts of Bilbao.

Battle

By 11 June 1937 the Basque forces had fallen back to the city of Bilbao, which was defended by a series of rushed fortifications called the "Bilbao's Iron Ring". It was poorly designed for defence.[3] It was quite a antiquated concept, akin to First World War fortifications, and so was vulnerable to modern warfare and weapons, such as aircraft and artillery, and only 30,000 troops were defending it (it was conceived to be defended by 70,000). Therefore the Iron Ring was rather easily overcome by Nationalist forces.[4][5]

The ring was breached by an infantry assault supported by heavy air and artillery bombardment (150 guns and 70 bombers). On 12 June, the Spanish Republican Army launched a diversionary attack against Huesca to stop the Nationalist offensive, but the Nationalist troops continued their advance. On the night of 13 June, the defenders evacuated most of the civilian population from the city. On 18 June, General Ulibarri withdrew his remaining troops from Bilbao, and the Nationalists occupied the city on the following day. The city's bridges had been destroyed to hinder the attackers, but the city remained mostly intact.[6]

References

1. Jackson, Gabriel (1965). The Spanish Republic and the Civil War, 1931–1939. p. 384.
2. Thomas, Hugh (2001). The Spanish Civil War (Rev. ed.). New York: Modern Library. p. 397. ISBN 0375755152.
3. Gabriel Jackson, pp. 380-384.
4. (in Basque) Josu CHUECA: «Burdin Gerrikoa puskatuta», 36ko Gerra orain.
5. (in Spanish) Imanol VILLA: «El Cinturón de Hierro», El Correo, 2007-02-11.
6. Beevor, Antony (2006). The Battle for Spain. The Spanish Civil War, 1936–1939. London: Penguin Books. p. 236. ISBN 014303765X.