Siege of Madrid - Battles Around Madrid (1937)

Battles Around Madrid (1937)

After the Battle of Madrid, the Republican government tried to re-organise its armed forces from a collection of militias into a regular army, the "Ejército Popular" ('Popular Army'). This was achieved by integrating the militias into the structures of the elements of the pre-war army which had sided with the Republic. While in theory this reduced the power of political parties relative to the government, in practice it increased the influence of the Communist Party, who were the source of Soviet arms and foreign volunteers and advisors (both groups providing much of the practical military experience on the Republican side). The party, therefore, had a disproportionate influence in the appointment of military commanders and the setting of military policy.

The year 1937 saw two major battles in the immediate area around Madrid, the Battle of Jarama (January to February) and the Battle of Brunete in July. In addition, two other battles were fought further afield as part of the Nationalist's campaign to take the capital: in March, at Guadalajara and at the end of December at Teruel, both north east of Madrid.

In the first of these battles, in early 1937 Franco tried to cross the river Jarama to cut off the road between Madrid and Valencia, where the Republicans had moved their government. The battle's results were inconclusive. Franco's troops managed to get onto the east bank of the Jarama but failed to sever communications between Madrid and Valencia. Casualties on both sides were heavy, estimates of their losses ranging from 6,000 to 20,000 on each side.

In March, the Battle of Guadalajara was fought about 60 km to the north east of Madrid, when Republican troops routed an attempt by Italian troops to cross the Jarama, encircle Madrid's defences and launch an assault on the city. With around a third of the city of Madrid heavily damaged by that time, morale was still holding up strongly amongst the populace, and Madrilenes prided themselves of doing "business as usual" under fire.

In May, Republican forces under Polish communist officer Karol Świerczewski tried to break out of Madrid in an armoured assault, but were beaten back. A far more ambitious northern offensive was launched by the Republicans in July, with the intention of encircling the Nationalists. However, the ensuing Battle of Brunete again developed into a bloody stalemate. The initial Republican attack took Brunete and pushed back the Nationalist front some 12 kilometres, but determined Nationalist counterattacks re-took this territory by the end of the battle. In this case, Republican losses were significantly higher than those of the Nationalists.

In late 1937, the Nationalists took much of northern Spain - the country's industrial heartland - and with it many arms factories that had sustained the Republican war effort up to that point. At the very end of the year, the Republican commander of the IV Corps, Cipriano Mera intercepted Nationalist plans for a fresh assault on Madrid from the direction of Zaragoza. General Vicente Rojo launched a pre-emptive offensive of his own, with over 100,000 men on 15 December and took the town of Teruel. Rojo's offensive put paid to Franco's proposed assault on Madrid, but led to one of the bloodiest battles of the war, with over 100,000 casualties on both sides.