Eastern Army (Spain)

The Eastern Army (Spanish: Ejército del Este), also translated as the Army of the East, was a unit of the Spanish Republican Army that operated in the eastern part of Spain during the Spanish Civil War.[1] Republican forces deployed on the Aragon front of the war initially came under the command structure of the unit. Later in the Civil War, the unit operated in Catalonia, defending the Republican defensive line along the Segre river.[2]

Eastern Army
Ejército del Este
ActiveMay 1937-February 1939
CountrySpain
Allegiance Spanish Republic
Branch Spanish Republican Army
SizeField army
EngagementsSpanish Civil War
Commanders
Notable
commanders		Sebastián Pozas
Juan Perea Capulino

History

After the breakout of the 1936 civil war in Spain, the Catalan government looked to create its own army, independent of the organic structures of the Republican army which operated in the rest of the Republican territory. On 6 December 1936, the Catalan Ministry of Defence declared the creation of the People's Army of Catalonia.[3] However, this army existed far more on paper than it did in reality, as the anarchist militias continued to have a great degree of autonomy, and in many cases did not become part of the new army. After the May Days battles in Barcelona, the Republican government recovered its competencies in the area of defence, and General Sebastián Pozas assumed command of military forces in Catalonia.[4] The army of Catalonia was dissolved, and its units were integrated into the main Republican army.[5] These units formed the newly-created Ejército del Este, which went on to man the Aragon front.[6] The previous militias were forcefully conscripted into the Republican army.[1]

The decree that created the Eastern Army also establishes three new army corps — the 10th, 11th and 12th — into which the militias were integrated.[7] The colonel Vicente Guarner Vivancos was named the Chief of Staff of the Eastern Army.[8]

Over the course of the summer of 1937, the new army launched various offensives on the Aragon Front, with the primary objective of distracting enemy troops who had been attacking the Republican forces in Madrid and the Northern Front. In June, the unit launched the offensive for Huesca,[9] which ended in failure. At the end of August it started an offensive of even greater calibre, this time directed against Zaragoza,[10] which also ended in failure, although the main focus of Republican operations at the time was in Belchite. Following these failures, two new offensives were launched in Autumn: one more attempt against Zaragoza, and the Biescas Offensive, in the Huescan comarca of Alto Gállego.[11]

In March 1938 Franco's army launched a strong offensive against the republican lines on the Aragon Front. In just a few weeks the Eastern Army was practically destroyed by the attacking "nacionales",[12] additionally losing a great amount of territory. As a consequence, General Pozas was removed from his post, and in his place the colonel Juan Perea Capulino was installed.[13]:346

During April 1938, the Segre River became the new defensive line for the Eastern Army. In May, the unit participated in the Balaguer Offensive, which among various objectives looked to test the capacity of the new forces that the unit had.[14] However, the offensive did not end in the success that was hoped for,[15] so the unit recentred itself around its defensive duties. Over the course of June, the army was integrated within the Eastern Region Army Group,[16] under the leadership of Juan Hernández Saravia. Towards the end of 1938, during the first few days of the Catalonia Offensive, the Eastern Army maintained a bitter resistance against the advancing enemy. However, after suffering great losses, the forces began moving towards the North. The Eastern Army was later dissolved when, at the start of February 1939, its units crossed the French border.[17]

Leadership and command
Commanders
Jefe de Estado Mayor
  • Lieutenant colonel Vicente Guarner Vivancos;[16]:59[13]:336
  • Lieutenant colonel Javier Linares Aranzabe;
  • Colonel Aniceto Carvajal Sobrino;[18]
Political coordinators
Commander General of Engineers
  • Colonel of engineers Ramón Martorell Otzet;[20]

See also

References
  1. Salinas, Francesc Closa (2008). "La instrucció militar republicana durante la Guerra Civil espanyola (1937-1939): El cas català". Ebre 38: Revista internacional de la Guerra Civil, 1936-1939 (in Catalan) (3). ISSN 1885-2580.
  2. Salas Larrazábal, Ramón (2006). Historia del ejército popular de la República (in Spanish) (1st ed.). Madrid: Esfera de los Libros. ISBN 84-9734-465-0. OCLC 69675818.
  3. Ucelay da Cal, Enric, 1948- Gonzàlez i Vilalta, Arnau. (2012). Contra Companys, 1936 : la frustración nacionalista ante la revolución (in Spanish). Universidad de Valencia. OCLC 1001427232.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  4. Thomas, Hugh (1976). La Guerra Civil española (in Spanish). Daurella, Neri. Barcelona. ISBN 978-84-663-4469-2. OCLC 1057791440.
  5. Pagès, Pelai (10 October 2013). War and revolution in Catalonia, 1936-1939. Leiden. ISBN 978-90-04-25427-5. OCLC 861199745.
  6. Gabriel, Pere (2011). Historia de la UGT. Castillo, Santiago (1st ed.). Madrid: Siglo XXI de España Editores. ISBN 978-84-323-1195-6. OCLC 233814612.
  7. Maldonado, José María (2007). El frente de Aragón : la Guerra Civil en Aragón (1936-1938) (in Spanish). Zaragoza: Mira Editores. p. 171. ISBN 978-84-8465-237-3. OCLC 232536997.
  8. Alpert, Michael, 1936- (1989). El ejército republicano en la guerra civil (in Spanish) (2nd ed.). Cerro del Agua, Mexico D.F.: Siglo Veintiuno Editores. ISBN 84-323-0682-7. OCLC 22427647.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  9. Thomas, Hugh (1995). La guerra civil española (in Spanish). Barcelona: Grijalbo Mondadori. pp. 742. ISBN 84-253-2767-9. OCLC 35285188.
  10. Thomas, Hugh (1995). La guerra civil española (in Spanish). Barcelona: Grijalbo Mondadori. pp. 780–781. ISBN 84-253-2767-9. OCLC 35285188.
  11. Flores Pintado, Miguel; Gascón Ricao, Antonio; Martínez De Baños Carrillo, Fernando (2005). Guerra Civil, Aragón (in Spanish) (3rd ed.). Cuarte de Huerva, Zaragoza: Delsan Libros. ISBN 84-95487-35-7. OCLC 57690522.
  12. Thomas, Hugh (1995). La guerra civil española (in Spanish). Barcelona: Grijalbo Mondadori. pp. 858. ISBN 84-253-2767-9. OCLC 35285188.
  13. Alpert, Michael (1989). El ejército republicano en la guerra civil (in Spanish) (2nd ed.). Cerro del Agua, Mexico D.F.: Siglo Veintiuno Editores. ISBN 84-323-0682-7. OCLC 22427647.
  14. Salas Larrazábal, Ramón (2006). Historia del ejército popular de la República (in Spanish). Madrid: Esfera de los Libros. p. 1851. ISBN 84-9734-465-0. OCLC 69675818.
  15. Salrach i Marés, Josep; Mestre i Campi, Jesús; Termes, Josep (1992). Diccionari d'història de Catalunya (in Catalan). Barcelona: Edicions 62. ISBN 84-297-3521-6. OCLC 27528441.
  16. Zaragoza, Cristóbal (1983). Ejército Popular y militares de la República : 1936-1939 (in Spanish). Planeta. ISBN 84-320-4288-9. OCLC 807278453.:263
  17. González, Antonio Santos (2016). "24ª Brigada mixta del Ejército Popular de la República II: milicianos de Sierra Mágina en las batallas del Ebro, Cataluña y su huida a Francia". Sumuntán: Anuario de Estudios Sobre Sierra Mágina (in Spanish) (34): 115–164. ISSN 1132-6956.
  18. Martínez Bande, José Manuel (1988). La batalla del Ebro (in Spanish). San Martín. p. 46. ISBN 84-7140-167-3. OCLC 1026075777.
  19. Álvarez, Santiago (1989). Los comisarios políticos en el ejército popular de la república : aportaciones a la historia de la Guerra Civil española (1936-1939) : testimonio y reflexión (in Spanish). Ed. do Castro. OCLC 165510505.
  20. Giral, Francisco (1994). Ciencia española en el exilio, 1939-1989 : el exilio de los científicos españoles (in Spanish). Barcelona: Anthropos Editorial del Hombre. p. 138. ISBN 84-7658-442-3. OCLC 31351092.
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