Corpo Truppe Volontarie - Background

Background

In July 1936, at the beginning of Spanish Civil War, most of the elite Nationalist forces were isolated in Spanish Morocco or on the Canary Islands. Meanwhile, in Spain, smaller formations of Nationalists and Guardia Civil forces were locked in combat with pro-government militias, Assault Guards and those army units which remained loyal to the leftist Popular Front government. Making the situation more difficult for the Nationalists was the fact that the Spanish Air Force and Navy generally remained loyal to the government.

If the Nationalist forces fighting in Spain did not receive reinforcements, the rebellion could soon fail. General Franco and the other Nationalist leaders sent emissaries to Berlin and Rome to ask for help. Both German dictator Adolf Hitler and Italian dictator Benito Mussolini responded in a positive manner. They sent transport aircraft and crews to Morocco to airlift Nationalist forces from there to Spain. The colonial troops from Morocco allowed the Nationalist forces to take the initiative on mainland Spain.

The Italians also used Nationalist-held, and also Portuguese, harbours as staging points for sending supplies to the Nationalist forces, and also for landing Spanish troops to support the rebellion. Italian submarines began to sink Spanish, Soviet and other nations' ships transporting materials through the Mediterranean to Republican harbours. However action by the League of Nations resulted in the Nyon Agreement of September 1937, which classed these operations as acts of piracy, and was enforced by the French Navy and the Royal Navy.