225th Mixed Brigade (Spain)

225th Mixed Brigade; 225.ª Brigada Mixta
	Military flag of the Popular Army
Active	1937–1939
Country	Spain
Branch	Spanish Republican Army
Type	Mixed Brigade
Role	Home Defence
Size	Four battalions: ; The 897, 898, 899 and 900
Part of	Coastal Defence (1937); 72nd Division (1937 - 1938); 64th Division (1938); 72nd Division (1938 - 1939)
Garrison/HQ	Valencia
Engagements	Spanish Civil War
Commanders
Notable; commanders	Alejandro Sáenz de San Pedro ; Juan Serrano Jiménez

Last updated March 05, 2019

The 225th Mixed Brigade (Spanish : 225.ª Brigada Mixta),^[1]^[2] was a mixed brigade of the Spanish Republican Army in the Spanish Civil War. It was formed in the summer of 1937 in Valencia with units belonging to the Eastern Coastal Defence and had four battalions, the 897, 898, 899 and 900.

Spanish or Castilian, is a Western Romance language that originated in the Castile region of Spain and today has hundreds of millions of native speakers in the Americas and Spain. It is a global language and the world's second-most spoken native language, after Mandarin Chinese.

A mixed brigade was a tactical military formation of the Spanish Republican Army following the coup of July 1936 and the onset of the Spanish Civil War. It was the basic military unit of the Republican People's Army after its war-dictated 1936 reorganization.

The Spanish Republican Army was the main branch of the Armed Forces of the Second Spanish Republic between 1931 and 1939.

In early March 1938 this mixed brigade was sent to the front in Aragon where it did not fare well. It suffered so many losses that it was disbanded. Later it was reorganized and was sent to Extremadura, to one of the last combats of the Civil War in 1939 before the Spanish Republic was defeated by the rebel faction.^[1]

Aragon is an autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. Located in northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces : Huesca, Zaragoza, and Teruel. Its capital is Zaragoza. The current Statute of Autonomy declares Aragon a historic nationality of Spain.

Extremadura is an autonomous community of the western Iberian Peninsula whose capital city is Mérida, recognised by the Statute of Autonomy of Extremadura. It is made up of the two largest provinces of Spain: Cáceres and Badajoz. It is bordered by the provinces of Salamanca and Ávila to the north; by provinces of Toledo and Ciudad Real to the east, and by the provinces of Huelva, Seville, and Córdoba (Andalusia) to the south; and by Portugal to the west. Its official language is Spanish.

The Nationalist faction or Rebel faction was a major faction in the Spanish Civil War of 1936 to 1939. It was composed of a variety of political groups that supported the Spanish coup of July 1936 against the Second Spanish Republic, including the Falange, the CEDA, and two rival monarchist claimants: the Alfonsists and the Carlists. In 1937, all the groups were merged into the Falange. One of the main leaders of the 1936 coup, General Francisco Franco, would lead this faction throughout the war and later would become the dictator of Spain from 1939 to 1975.

History

First phase and debacle in Aragon

The 225th Mixed Brigade was established in August 1937 in Eastern Coastal Spain. Its mission was the Coastal Defence (Defensa de Costas) of the Peninsular shore between Santa Pola and Vinaròs in the present-day Valencian Community. The command of the unit was assigned to Infantry Commander Alejandro Sáenz de San Pedro Albarellos, former Captain of the Infantry Regiment Guadalajara 10 (Regimiento Guadalajara n° 10) which was garrisoned in Valencia at the time of the July 1936 coup.^[1]

The Levante is a name used to refer to the eastern region of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Spanish Mediterranean coast. It roughly corresponds to the former Xarq Al-Andalus, but has no modern geopolitical definition. Rather, it broadly includes the autonomous communities of Valencia, Murcia, Catalonia, the eastern part of Castile-La Mancha, eastern Andalusia, southern Aragon (Teruel) and the Balearic Islands.

Coastal defenceand coastal fortification are measures taken to provide protection against military attack at or near a coastline, for example, fortification and coastal artillery. Because an invading enemy normally requires a port or harbour to sustain operations, such defences are usually concentrated around such facilities, or places where such facilities could be constructed. Boom defences were also used to physically close bodies of water. By the late 19th century, forts were usually accompanied by naval mines. Compared to land forts, coastal forts usually mounted heavier weapons, comparable to those on ships that might attack them.

Santa Pola is a coastal town located in the comarca of Baix Vinalopó in the Valencian Community, Spain, by the Mediterranean Sea. It has an area of 58.6 km² (23 sq mi) and has a population of 30,000 inhabitants of whom 10,000 are residents of the nearby town of Gran Alacant.

At the end of February 1938 the 225th Mixed Brigade was placed under the 72nd Division of the XVIII Army Corps of the Levantine Army (Ejército de Levante) which was being reorganized close to the Teruel front line.

The Battle of Teruel was fought in and around the city of Teruel during the Spanish Civil War. The combatants fought the battle between December 1937 and February 1938, during the worst Spanish winter in twenty years. The battle was one of the bloodier actions of the war with the city changing hands several times, first falling to the Republicans and eventually being re-taken by the Nationalists. In the course of the fighting, Teruel was subjected to heavy artillery and aerial bombardment. The two sides suffered over 140,000 casualties between them in the two-month battle. It was a decisive battle of the war, as Francisco Franco's use of his superiority in men and material in regaining Teruel made it the military turning point of the war.

On 11 March 1938, at the time of the during the rebel offensive in Aragon, the brigade was sent to cover the Escatrón and Caspe sector. During the Nationalist attacks in this arid area of Aragon the 225th Mixed Brigade was so badly shattered and had suffered such grievous losses, that it was no longer operational and had to be disbanded by the high command.^[1]^[2]

The Aragon Offensive it was an important military campaign during the Spanish Civil War, which began after the Battle of Teruel. The offensive, which ran from March 7, 1938, to April 19, 1938, smashed the Republican forces, overran Aragon, and conquered parts of Catalonia and the Levante.

Escatrón is a municipality located in the Ribera Baja del Ebro comarca, province of Zaragoza, Aragon, Spain. According to the 2009 census (INE), the municipality has a population of 1,163 inhabitants.

Caspe or Casp is a historic town and municipality in the province of Zaragoza, in the autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It is situated some 100 km to the east of the provincial capital, Zaragoza.

Reorganization and end in Extremadura

Shortly thereafter the 225th Mixed Brigade was reorganized in Libros, by the Turia River, within the 64th Division of the XIX Army Corps. The brigade's new commander was Militia Major Juan Serrano Jiménez, for its former commander Sáenz de San Pedro was promoted to the command of the 64th Division. The 225th Mixed Brigade was sent to defend the western end of the Eastern Front, where there was a lull in the battles against the rebels, until 25 July when the Spanish Republican strategic operations saw a shift with the onset of the Battle of the Ebro.^[1]

Libros is a municipality located in the province of Teruel, Aragon, Spain. According to the 2004 census (INE), the municipality has a population of 150 inhabitants.

The Battle of the Ebro was the longest and largest battle of the Spanish Civil War. It took place between July and November 1938, with fighting mainly concentrated in two areas on the lower course of the Ebro River, the Terra Alta comarca of Catalonia, and the Auts area close to Fayón (Faió) in the lower Matarranya, Eastern Lower Aragon. These sparsely populated areas saw the largest array of armies in the war. The results of the battle were disastrous for the Second Spanish Republic, with tens of thousands of dead and wounded and little effect on the advance of the Nationalists.

On 17 December the brigade was transferred westwards to Extremadura in preparation of the Battle of Peñarroya, one of the last battles of the war. It was in cantonment in Jamilena and Torredonjimeno and placed in the 72nd Division of the General Reserve of the GERC or Group of Central Region Armies (Grupo de Ejércitos de la Región Central). In the ensuing battle the 225th Mixed Brigade was active both within and outside of the pocket, reinforcing the thrust of the XXII Army Corps. Between 17 and 23 January 1939 it launched a series of bold attacks in the Sierra de Mesegara and Sierra del Torozo ranges of La Serena area that made the brigade suffer a very high number of casualties. The much battered 225th Mixed Brigade remained in the Extremaduran Front until the end of the war though.^[1]

Bibliography

Pedro Corral Corral, Si me quieres escribir: La batalla de Teruel (If You Want to Write Me: The Battle of TeruelThe Battle of Teruel), Cronica, 2005. ISBN 9788497936262

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References

1 2 3 4 5 6 SBHAC - Brigadas Mixtas del Ejército Popular, 225ª Brigada Mixta
1 2 Carlos Engel, Historia de las Brigadas Mixtas del E. P. de la República, 1999

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[SBHAC-1] 1 2 3 4 5 6 SBHAC - Brigadas Mixtas del Ejército Popular, 225ª Brigada Mixta

[CE-2] 1 2 Carlos Engel, Historia de las Brigadas Mixtas del E. P. de la República, 1999