Ascaso Column

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Ascaso Column
Columna Ascaso
Columna-Ascaso.jpg
The Ascaso Column on the day they left for the front in Aragon
Active25 July 1936 - 28 April 1937
CountryFlag of Spain 1931 1939.svg  Spanish Republic
Allegiance CNT FAI flag.svg CNT
Branch CNT FAI flag.svg Confederal militias
Type Militia
Role Home defense
Size2,000
Garrison/HQ Huesca
Engagements Spanish Civil War :
Aragon front
Commanders
Notable
commanders
Cristóbal Alvaldetrecu,
Gregorio Jover,
Domingo Ascaso

The Ascaso Column was the third column organized in Barcelona at the beginning of the Spanish Civil War. It fought on the Aragon front, in Huesca, where it was joined by a battalion of Italian anti-fascists. During the militarisation of the confederal militias, it was reorganised into the 28th Division.

Contents

History

The column was named after Francisco Ascaso, who died fighting the July 1936 military uprising in Barcelona, and was led by his surviving brother Domingo Ascaso, along with Cristóbal Alvaldetrecu. It left for the Aragon front in mid-August, with fewer than the expected number of fighters. [1] The column was stationed south of Huesca, positioned between the Lenin Column and the Harriers Column. [2] There it put out its own newspaper, Mas Alla (English: Beyond). [3]

Shortly after the outbreak of the war, on 17 August 1936, Italian anarchists (led by Camillo Berneri) and socialists (led by Carlo Rosselli) together established an Italian Column in Barcelona. [4] The Italian anti-fascists joined up with the Ascaso Column on the Aragon front, where they faced their first engagement on 28 August 1936, at the Battle of Monte Pelado. [5] By December 1936, the Italians of the Ascaso column had reorganized themselves into two battalions: the anarchists joined the International Battalion, while the socialists joined the Matteotti Battalion; both remaining affiliated with the Ascaso column. [6]

Command of the column was later taken by Gregorio Jover, [7] who also commanded its successor, the 28th Division of the Spanish Republican Army. [8] Domingo Ascaso himself abandoned the unit after its militarisation. He and fellow Ascaso column fighter Camilo Berneri were found dead following the May Days. [9]

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Camillo Berneri</span> Italian philosopher (1897–1937)

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joaquín Ascaso</span> Aragonese anarcho-syndicalist (1906–1977)

Joaquín Ascaso Budría was an Aragonese anarcho-syndicalist and President of the Regional Defence Council of Aragon between 1936 and 1937.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Regional Defence Council of Aragon</span> Governing body in Aragon, Spain, 1936–1937

The Regional Defence Council of Aragon, was an administrative entity created by the Confederación Nacional del Trabajo (CNT) in the context of the Spanish Revolution, during the Spanish Civil War. Until its dissolution, the CRDA controlled and administered the eastern half of Aragon. The price of goods was centrally controlled to mitigate inflation.

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The confederal militias were a movement of people's militia during the Spanish Civil War organized by the Spanish anarchist movement: the National Confederation of Labor (CNT) and the Iberian Anarchist Federation (FAI). The CNT militias replaced clandestine defense committees instituted earlier. As the war progressed, the militias were progressively dissolved and assimilated into the Spanish Republican Army, in spite of many militiamen refusing the militarization.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ricardo Sanz García</span> Valencian militant (1898–1986)

Ricardo Sanz García (1898–1986) was a Valencian anarchist militant. A member of Buenaventura Durruti's insurgent group Los Solidarios, Sanz participated in the anarchist armed struggle against the Spanish monarchy and the dictatorship of Primo de Rivera. Following the proclamation of the Second Spanish Republic, he became a leader of the Confederación Nacional del Trabajo (CNT) and Federación Anarquista Ibérica (FAI) in Catalonia. During the Spanish Civil War, Sanz oversaw the training of the confederal militias and went on to lead the Durruti Column following the death of its namesake. In command of the Aragon front, he attempted multiple unsuccessful offensives against Zaragoza, but was either hampered by severe weather or held back by the Ministry of Defence. After the militarisation of the Column, he continued to command it as the reorganised 26th Division, but came into conflict with Communist-aligned commanders of the Spanish Republican Army. After the Nationalist victory in the Aragon Offensive, Sanz fled to France, where he remained for the rest of his life.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gregorio Jover Cortés</span> Spanish anarcho-syndicalist (1891-1964)

Gregorio Jover Cortés was an Aragonese anarcho-syndicalist and a member of the CNT during the first third of the 20th century. During the Spanish Civil War he was commander of the Ascaso Column and later the militarized 28th Division, which fought on the Aragon front.

Domingo Ascaso Abadía was an Aragonese anarchist and trade union leader, brother of Francisco Ascaso Abadía and cousin of Joaquín Ascaso Budria.

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References

  1. Casanova 2004, p. 109.
  2. Alexander 1999, p. 163.
  3. Alexander 1999, p. 178.
  4. Alexander 1999, p. 1136.
  5. Alexander 1999, p. 1135.
  6. Alexander 1999, pp. 1135–1136.
  7. Alexander 1999, p. 163; Casanova 2004, p. 110.
  8. Casanova 2004, p. 110.
  9. Casanova 2004, p. 147.

Bibliography

Further reading