| International Brigades | |
|---|---|
 Emblem of the International Brigades | |
| Active | 18 September 1936 – 23 September 1938 |
| Country | Albania, France, Italy, Germany, Poland, United States, Ireland, Yugoslavia, United Kingdom, Belgium, Canada, Cuba, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Mexico, Argentina, Netherlands, and others... |
| Allegiance | |
| Type | Infantry |
| Role | Paramilitary |
| Size | between 40,000 and 59,000 |
| Garrison/HQ | Albacete |
| Motto(s) |
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| Engagements | |
| Commanders | |
| Notable commanders | |
| Insignia | |
| Flag |  |
| Part of a series on |
| Anti-fascism |
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The International Brigades (Spanish: Brigadas Internacionales) were soldiers recruited and organized by the Communist International to assist the Popular Front government of the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War. The International Brigades existed for two years, from 1936 until 1938. It is estimated that during the entire war, there were between 40,000 and 59,000 Brigaders, including some 10,000 who died in combat. Beyond the Spanish Civil War, "International Brigades" is also sometimes used interchangeably with the term foreign legion in reference to military units comprising foreigners who volunteer to fight in the military of another state, often in times of war.[1]
The headquarters of the brigade was located at the Gran Hotel,[2] Albacete, Castilla-La Mancha. They participated in the battles of Madrid, Jarama, Guadalajara, Brunete, Belchite, Teruel, Aragon and the Ebro. Most of these ended in defeat. For the last year of its existence, the International Brigades were integrated into the Spanish Republican Army as part of the Spanish Foreign Legion. The organisation was dissolved on 23 September 1938 by Spanish Prime Minister Juan Negrín in a vain attempt to get more support from the liberal democracies on the Non-Intervention Committee.
The International Brigades were strongly supported by the Comintern and represented the Soviet Union's commitment to assisting the Spanish Republic (with arms, logistics, military advisers and the NKVD), just as Portugal, Fascist Italy, and Nazi Germany were assisting the opposing Nationalist insurgency.[3] The largest number of volunteers came from France (where the French Communist Party had many members) and communist exiles from Italy and Germany. Many Jews were part of the brigades, being particularly numerous within the volunteers coming from the United States, Poland, France, England and Argentina.[4]
Republican volunteers who were opposed to Stalinism did not join the Brigades but instead enlisted in the separate Popular Front, the POUM (formed from Trotskyist, Bukharinist, and other anti-Stalinist groups, which did not separate Spaniards and foreign volunteers),[5] or anarcho-syndicalist groups such as the Durruti Column, the IWA, and the CNT.
- ^ Grasmeder, Elizabeth M.F. (2021). "Leaning on Legionnaires: Why Modern States Recruit Foreign Soldiers". International Security. 46 (1): 147–195. doi:10.1162/isec_a_00411. S2CID 236094319. Archived from the original on 13 August 2021. Retrieved 30 July 2021.
- ^ "Reportaje | La última brigadista". EL PAÍS (in Spanish). 11 December 2011. Archived from the original on 11 April 2021. Retrieved 27 April 2017.
- ^ Thomas 2003, pp. 941–945
- ^ Rein, Raanan (2020). "De Moisés Ville a Madrid: Los argentinos judíos y la solidaridad con el bando republicano durante la Guerra Civil Española". Cuadernos de Historia de España (87). Buenos Aires: UBA: 13–36. doi:10.34096/che.n87.9046. Archived from the original on 24 June 2021. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
- ^ Orwell 1984