Misplaced Pages

You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in Spanish. (July 2011) Click for important translation instructions. View a machine-translated version of the Spanish article. Machine translation, like DeepL or Google Translate, is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Misplaced Pages. Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article. You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary is Content in this edit is translated from the existing Spanish Misplaced Pages article at ]; see its history for attribution. You may also add the template {{Translated|es|Ofensiva de Huesca}} to the talk page. For more guidance, see Misplaced Pages:Translation.

Huesca Offensive
Part of the Spanish Civil War
Republican forces on the outskirts of Huesca, September 1936
Date 12 June – 19 June 1937 Location Near Huesca, Huesca province, Spain Result Nationalist victory
Belligerents
Spanish Republic International Brigades	Nationalist Spain
Commanders and leaders
Sebastián Pozas Máté Zalka †
Units involved
Army of the East Rakosi Battalion
Strength
Casualties and losses
9,000 casualties

The Huesca Offensive was an operation carried out during the Spanish Civil War by the Republican Army in June 1937 in order to take the Aragonese city of Huesca, which since the start of the war in July 1936 had been under the control of the Nationalist forces.

Background

In April 1937, the Nationalists started an offensive against the Republican-held Biscay Province, and by the end of May, the Navarrese troops had reached the eastern side of Bilbao's defenses. The Republican government then decided to launch two diversionary offensives on the Aragon and Madrid fronts in order to divert Nationalist troops.

The Offensive

The Republican government decided to launch an attack against the Nationalist held city of Huesca. After the May Days, the Republican forces in the Aragon front had been reorganized and the Republican government established a new Army of the East. This force, under the command of General Pozas, was reinforced with the XII International Brigade, led by General Pavol Lukacs (an alias for Máté Zalka, the Brigade's Commander), and four brigades from the central front. The Republican forces outnumbered the Nationalist forces besieged in Huesca, but the Nationalist troops were well entrenched and the Republican troops had little artillery and armoured support.

The attack against Huesca started on 12 June, led by Lukács who also commanded the 45th Division of the Spanish Republican Army. The troops attacking across open ground were decimated by the machine-gun and artillery fire of the Nationalists. Furthermore, the same day, Lukács/Zalka was hit by a Nationalist shell and died. The offensive saw the Rakosi Battalion's first action (with 288 men). The battalion became trapped by machine-gun fire and lost a quarter of its men. Their commander, Ákos Hevesi, and political commissar, Imre Tarr, were both killed as they led from the front. On 16 June the Republican troops attacked the villages of Alerre and Chimillas but the assault was repelled by the Nationalist troops. On 19 June, the Nationalists entered Bilbao and the offensive was called off, after other two days of failed Republican assaults.

Aftermath

The Republican troops had heavy casualties (according to Beevor, 9,000), mainly anarchist and POUM members. The failed offensive after the recent May Days in Barcelona, increased the defeatism and the suspicions among the Republican troops in Aragon.

See also

• List of Spanish Republican military equipment of the Spanish Civil War
• List of Spanish Nationalist military equipment of the Spanish Civil War

References

1. Beevor, Antony. The Battle for Spain. The Spanish Civil War. Penguin Books. London. 2006. pages 347 and 429
2. Thomas, Hugh. The Spanish Civil War. (2001). Penguin Books. London. p.667
3. Thomas, Hugh. The Spanish Civil War. (2001). Penguin Books. London. p.668
4. Tremlett, Giles (2020). The International Brigades. London: Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 321. ISBN 978-1-4088-5398-6.
5. Beevor, Antony. (2006). The Battle for Spain. The Spanish Civil War, 1936-1939. Penguin Books. p.277
6. Thomas, Hugh. The Spanish Civil War. (2001). Penguin Books. London. p.668
7. Beevor, Antony. (2006). The Battle for Spain. The Spanish Civil War, 1936-1939. Penguin Books. p.277

Bibliography

• Beevor, Antony. The Battle for Spain. The Spanish Civil War 1936–1939. Penguin Books. London. 2006. ISBN 0-14-303765-X
• Thomas, Hugh. The Spanish Civil War. Penguin Books. London. 2001. ISBN 978-0-14-101161-5

• Battles of the Spanish Civil War
• 1937 in Spain
• Conflicts in 1937
• Military history of Aragon
• Province of Huesca
• June 1937 events in Europe