Fifth Regiment

Last updated

Fifth Regiment
Quinto Regimiento
Active1936 (1936)–1937 (1937)
Disbanded20 January 1937
CountryFlag of Spain (1931-1939).svg  Spain
Allegiance Second Spanish Republic
Branch Red star.svg MAOC
Type Elite corps
RoleModel military unit
Size20,000 (est. November 1936)
Headquarters Madrid
March El quinto regimiento
Engagements Siege of Cuartel de la Montaña
Battle of Guadarrama
Battle of Talavera
Siege of the Alcázar
Defence of Madrid
Commanders
Notable
commanders
Enrique Castro Delgado
Vittorio Vidali
Enrique Líster
Juan Guilloto León
Insignia
Emblem Emblema 5o Regimiento.svg
Badge Red star.svg

The Fifth Regiment (Spanish : Quinto Regimiento, the full name Quinto Regimiento de Milicias Populares), was an elite corps loyal to the Spanish Republic at the onset of the Spanish Civil War. Made up of volunteers, the Fifth Regiment was active in the first critical phase of the war and became one of the most renowned units loyal to the Republic. [1]

Contents

The number of soldiers in the Fifth Regiment quickly rose from about 6,000 in August to over 20,000 in November 1936. This loyalist elite corps lasted only until the Spanish Republican Army was reorganized in the second year of the civil war, but in barely half a year it had managed to become one of the most famous units of the whole conflict. [1]

The Fifth Regiment used the desecrated building of the Church of San Francisco de Sales in Madrid as its headquarters. The mouthpiece of this military unit was the Milicia Popular newspaper [1] and its anthem the El quinto regimiento song. [2]

History

Shortly after the Spanish coup of the 17 July 1936, the Republican Government took the radical decision of dissolving the Spanish Republican Armed Forces by granting unlimited leave to all military personnel and arming the trade unions. The measure was taken in order to ward off further rebellions of officers by depriving them of troops at their command. In the face of the void thus created, the Communist Party of Spain led the implementation of a policy that sought to replace the spontaneous and disorganized bands fighting for the Spanish Republic with loyal, disciplined and militarized units. [3]

Finally, the Communist-led Antifascist Worker and Peasant Militias (MAOC) formed five battalions that took an active part in the Siege of Cuartel de la Montaña on 20 July 1936. One of these battalions became the "Fifth Regiment" (5º Regimiento de Milicias Populares), a military unit intended as a model for other military units to follow in the initial chaotic period of the civil war. Its first commander was Enrique Castro Delgado. Later the Fifth Regiment would take an active part in the battles of Somosierra and Guadarrama, as well as in the Battle of Talavera and the Siege of the Alcázar, ending up becoming one of the crucial military units engaged in the Defence of Madrid. [1]

Most of the initial Fifth Regiment members belonged to the MAOC. However, it soon attracted members from other ideologies owing to its efficiency and capacity for organization in a critical time for the Republic, as compared to the chaotic militia groups that operated at the onset of the war. In the Fifth Regiment soldiers were not allowed to discuss the orders given by their superiors, a common practice in most of the spontaneous militia units that sprung up when weapons were issued to the trade unions. [4] This fact alone made the Fifth Regiment much more effective against the first attacks of the rebel forces. [3]

On 22 January 1937 the Fifth Regiment was integrated into the Popular Army of the Republic, the reorganized Spanish Republican Army, for which it had provided a basic pattern. Most of its members ended up in the First Mixed Brigade and in the 11th Division led by Enrique Líster while others joined the different units of the Republican Army and this famous regiment became extinct. [1] Besides Enrique Líster, other important leaders of the Spanish Republican Army such as Juan Guilloto León "Modesto", Valentín González "El Campesino" and Etelvino Vega Martínez, were formed in the ranks of the Fifth Regiment. [5]

Model unit

The Fifth Regiment was more than a military unit, for its activities reached into the social and cultural fields. Its members contributed to the development of education, imparting basic skills and knowledge to the poor and the less favoured members of Spanish society, vowing to eradicate illiteracy and social ills. Quinto Regimiento propaganda posters and murals became ubiquitous and well known in Madrid at the time, as well as its mobile libraries and its "Theatre Guerrillas" ("guerrillas teatrales), both in the city streets and in the front lines. [6]

Quite a number of notable people were either members of the Fifth regiment or became associated with it. Among these the following deserve mention: Poets and writers such as Rafael Alberti, César Arconada, Pedro Garfias, Miguel Hernández, José Herrera Petere, María Teresa León and Juan Rejano, teachers such as Josep Renau, Wenceslao Roces and Alberto Sánchez, and artists such as Alberto Sánchez Pérez, as well as engineers and architects, such as Luis Lacasa Navarro and Manuel Sánchez Arcas, and physicians such as Juan Planelles Ripoll. [7]

In literature

The Fifth Regiment became an almost mythical unit that was the subject of poems and songs during the Spanish Civil War; one of these was ¡Soy del Quinto Regimiento! by Rafael Alberti:

Mañana dejo mi casa,
dejo los bueyes y el pueblo.
¡Salud! ¿Adónde vas, dime?
Voy al Quinto Regimiento.
Caminar sin agua, a pie.
Monte arriba, campo abierto.
Voces de gloria y de triunfo.
¡Soy del Quinto Regimiento!
Tomorrow I leave my home,
I leave the oxen and the village.
Salute! Tell me where do you go?
I'm going to the Fifth Regiment!
To walk without water, on foot.
Up the mountain, the open field.
Voices of glory and triumph.
I belong to the Fifth Regiment! [8]

Books

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Juan Modesto</span> Spanish military officer

Juan Guilloto León, usually referred to as Modesto or Juan Modesto, was a Republican army officer during the Spanish Civil War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Enrique Líster</span> Spanish military officer and communist

Enrique Líster Forján was a Spanish communist politician and military officer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Siege of Madrid</span> Part of the Spanish Civil War

The siege of Madrid was a two-and-a-half-year siege of the Republican-controlled Spanish capital city of Madrid by the Nationalist armies, under General Francisco Franco, during the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939). The city, besieged from October 1936, fell to the Nationalist armies on 28 March 1939. The Battle of Madrid in November 1936 saw the most intense fighting in and around the city when the Nationalists made their most determined attempt to take the Republican capital.

The Battle of Talavera de la Reina was fought on 3 September 1936 in the Spanish Civil War. The Republicans, attempting to bar the road to Madrid at Talavera de la Reina, were defeated by the professional army of the Nationalists, with heavy casualties on both sides.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Guadarrama</span>

The Battle of Guadarrama was the first battle in the Spanish Civil War involving troops loyal to the Second Spanish Republic in the Guadarrama Range. The battle took place in the last week of July and in early August 1936. The Nationalist side sent by General Mola was attempting to cross the mountain passes of the Sierra de Guadarrama and reach Madrid by the North, but the Republican side, made up of militiamen and troops disbanded by the government left Madrid to stop the Nationalists. The Republican side was successful and the Nationalist troops did not manage to cross the mountain passes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spanish Republican Army</span> Military unit

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

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spanish Republican Navy</span> Military unit

The Spanish Republican Navy was the naval arm of the Armed Forces of the Second Spanish Republic, the legally established government of Spain between 1931 and 1939.

The Antifascist Worker and Peasant Militias were a militia group founded in the Second Spanish Republic in 1934. Their purpose was to protect leaders of the Communist Party of Spain (PCE) and Unified Socialist Youth (JSU) from the attacks of Fascist militia groups such as the Falange Blueshirts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">223rd Mixed Brigade (Spain)</span> Military unit

The 223rd Mixed Brigade, was a mixed brigade of the Spanish Republican Army in the Spanish Civil War. It was formed in the summer of 1937 from Coastal Defence units and had four battalions, the 889, 890, 891 and 892. This unit lasted until the end of the war.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">8th Mixed Brigade</span> Military unit

The 8th Mixed Brigade was a mixed brigade of the Spanish Republican Army in the Spanish Civil War. It was formed at the beginning of the Defence of Madrid in early spring 1937 with battalions of the Carabineros corps and it remained in Madrid all along the war. Its first commander was Carabineros Lt. Colonel Enrique del Castillo Bravo who was succeeded by Carabineros Commanders Emeterio Jarillo Orgaz and José Casted Sena.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1st Division (Spain)</span> Military unit

The 1st Division was a division of the Spanish Republican Army in the Spanish Civil War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2nd Division (Spain)</span> Military unit

The 2nd Division was a division of the Spanish Republican Army in the Spanish Civil War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">66th Division (Spain)</span> Military unit

The 66th Mixed Brigade was a unit of the Popular Army of the Republic that participated in the Spanish Civil War. Born in the context of the Battle of Madrid, took part in the Battle of Jarama and the fronts of Guadalajara and Extremadura.(Spanish: 42.ª División) was a division of the Spanish Republican Army in the Spanish Civil War. This unit was involved in the Battle of Jarama —part of the Battle of Madrid, as well as in the Battle of Peñarroya, suffering grievous losses in both battles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">17th Mixed Brigade</span> Military unit

The 17th Mixed Brigade was a unit of the Popular Army of the Republic that participated in the Spanish Civil War. Born in the context of the Battle of Madrid, took part in the Battle of Jarama and the fronts of Guadalajara.(Spanish: 15.ª División) was a division of the Spanish Republican Army in the Spanish Civil War. This unit was involved in the Battle of Jarama —and great part of the Battle of Madrid, suffering grievous losses in both battles.

The People's Army of Catalonia was an army created by the Generalitat of Catalonia on December 6, 1936, during the Spanish Civil War. Its existence was more theoretical than real, because the original structure of the popular militias continued to exist despite the efforts of the Generalitat. After the May Days it was dissolved and its structure assumed by the Spanish Republican Army, which definitively militarized the militias of Catalonia and Aragon.

The Eastern Army, 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. 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.

The 5th Division was one of the divisions of the People's Army of the Republic that were organized during the Spanish Civil War on the basis of the Mixed Brigades. It was deployed on the Madrid and Levante fronts.

The 37th Division was a military formation belonging to the Spanish Republican Army that fought during the Spanish Civil War. It was deployed on the Extremadura front during the entire war.

The 43rd Mixed Brigade was a unit of the Spanish Republican Army that took part in the Spanish Civil War. During the war it came to operate on the Madrid, Levante and Extremadura fronts.

The Defense Council was a ministry created by the Generalitat de Catalunya on August 2, 1936, and that existed during the first years of the Spanish Civil War to take charge of military matters in Catalonia, despite the fact that defense powers were exclusive to the government of the Republic.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Comín Colomer, Eduardo (1973); El 5º Regimiento de Milicias Populares. Madrid.
  2. El quinto regimiento - Lila Downs
  3. 1 2 De Miguel, Jesús y Sánchez, Antonio: Batalla de Madrid, in his Historia Ilustrada de la Guerra Civil Española. Alcobendas, Editorial LIBSA, 2006, pp. 189-221.
  4. Carlos Rojas, Por qué perdimos la guerra. Barcelona, Ediciones Nauta, 1970
  5. Hugh Thomas (1976); Historia de la Guerra Civil Española p. 353
  6. "El madrileño distrito de Tetuán homenajea al Quinto Regimiento". Archived from the original on 10 December 2011. Retrieved 13 February 2015.
  7. "La Batalla por Madrid". Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 13 February 2015.
  8. Poemas de Rafael Alberti - Cátedra de poesía española