The Corps of Volunteer Troops was a Fascist Italian expeditionary force of military volunteers, which was sent to Spain to support the Nationalist forces under General Francisco Franco against the Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War, 1936–39.
The Battle of Guadalajara saw the victory of the Spanish Republican Army and of the International Brigades over the Italian and Nationalist forces attempting to encircle Madrid during the Spanish Civil War. The Nationalist forces involved in the Battle of Guadalajara were primarily the Italian Corps of Volunteer Troops.
Before this period, the Nationalists had already become dominant, yet the outcome of the war was still not certain. This progressively changed as the Nationalist forces notched up several victories.
The Battle of Málaga was the culmination of an offensive in early 1937 by the combined Nationalist and Italian forces, with air and naval support from Nazi Germany, to eliminate Republican control of the province of Málaga during the Spanish Civil War. The participation of Moroccan regulars and Italian tanks from the recently arrived Corpo Truppe Volontarie resulted in a complete rout of the Spanish Republican Army and the capitulation of Málaga in less than a week.
The Battle of Santander was fought in the War in the North campaign of the Spanish Civil War during the summer of 1937. Santander's fall on 26 August assured the Nationalist conquest of the province of Santander, now Cantabria. The battle devastated the Republic's "Army of the North"; 60,000 soldiers were captured by the Nationalists.
The international response to the Spanish Civil War included many non-Spaniards participating in combat and advisory positions. The governments of Italy, Germany and, to a lesser extent, Portugal contributed money, munitions, manpower and support to the Nationalist forces, led by Francisco Franco. Some nations that declared neutrality favored the nationalists indirectly. The governments of the Soviet Union and, to a lesser extent, Mexico, aided the Republicans, also called Loyalists, of the Second Spanish Republic. The aid came even after all the European powers had signed a Non-Intervention Agreement in 1936. Although individual sympathy for the plight of the Spanish Republic was widespread in the liberal democracies, pacifism and the fear of a second world war prevented them from selling or giving arms. However, Nationalist pleas were answered within days by Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini. Tens of thousands of individual foreign volunteers travelled to Spain to fight, the majority for the Republican side.
The War in the North was a theatre of the Spanish Civil War that occurred in northern Spain from 31 March to 21 October 1937.
The Legionary Air Force was an expeditionary corps from the Italian Royal Air Force that was set up in 1936. It was sent to provide logistical and tactical support to the Nationalist faction after the Spanish coup of July 1936, which marked the onset of the Spanish Civil War.
The XYZ Line, also known as the Matallana Line, was a system of fortifications built in 1938 during the Spanish Civil War to defend Valencia, the capital of the Second Spanish Republic. The XYZ Line was a simple system of trenches and bunkers, built to withstand heavy artillery or 450-kilogram (992 lb) aerial bombs, and took advantage of some of the most difficult terrain in Spain in the Iberian System ranges to the north and northeast of Valencia. The XYZ Line was successful at halting the Nationalist advance on Valencia, being one of the last Republican victories of the war, and allowed the Republicans to start the Battle of the Ebro.
The Spanish Civil War was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republicans and the Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the left-leaning Popular Front government of the Second Spanish Republic, and consisted of various socialist, communist, separatist, anarchist, and republican parties, some of which had opposed the government in the pre-war period. The opposing Nationalists were an alliance of Falangists, monarchists, conservatives, and traditionalists led by a military junta among whom General Francisco Franco quickly achieved a preponderant role. Due to the international political climate at the time, the war had many facets and was variously viewed as class struggle, a religious struggle, a struggle between dictatorship and republican democracy, between revolution and counterrevolution, and between fascism and communism. The Nationalists won the war, which ended in early 1939, and ruled Spain until Franco's death in November 1975.
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 right-leaning political groups that supported the Spanish Coup of July 1936 against the Second Spanish Republic and Republican faction and sought to depose Manuel Azaña, including the Falange, the CEDA, and two rival monarchist claimants: the Alfonsist Renovación Española and the Carlist Traditionalist Communion. In 1937, all the groups were merged into the FET y de las JONS. After the death of the faction's early leaders, General Francisco Franco, one of the members of the 1936 coup, headed the Nationalists throughout most of the war, and emerged as the dictator of Spain until his death in 1975.
German involvement in the Spanish Civil War commenced with the outbreak of war in July 1936, with Adolf Hitler immediately sending in air and armored units to assist General Francisco Franco and his Nationalist forces. In opposition, the Soviet Union sent in smaller forces equipped with more advanced equipment to assist the Republican government, while Britain and France and two dozen other countries set up an embargo on any munitions or soldiers into Spain. Nazi Germany also signed the embargo, but simply ignored it.
The Asturias Offensive was an offensive in Asturias during the Spanish Civil War from 1 September to 21 October 1937.
The bombing of Durango took place on 31 March 1937, during the Spanish Civil War. On 31 March 1937 the Nationalists started their offensive against the Republican held province of Biscay. As part of the offensive the Aviazione Legionaria and the Legion Condor bombed Durango, a town of 10,000 inhabitants that was also a key road and railway junction behind the frontline. Around 250 people are believed to have died in the bombing.
The bombing of Barcelona was a series of airstrikes led by Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany supporting the Franco-led Nationalist rebel army, which took place from 16 to 18 March 1938, during the Spanish Civil War. Up to 1,300 people were killed and at least 2,000 were wounded.
The Battle of Gandesa took place in April 1938 during the Spanish Civil War.
The bombing of Granollers took place during the Spanish Civil War in 1938. On 31 May 1938, the Italian Aviazione Legionaria bombed the town of Granollers. There were between 100 and 224 civilian deaths.
The bombing of La Garriga was a series of Nationalist air raids which took place at La Garriga, Barcelona province in Catalonia between 28 and 29 January 1939 during the Spanish Civil War. At least 13 civilians were killed in the bombings.
The Levante Offensive, launched near the end of March 1938, was an attempt by Nationalist forces under Francisco Franco to capture the Republican held city of Valencia during the Spanish Civil War. The Nationalists occupied the province of Castellón, but the offensive failed due to bad weather and the dogged resistance of the Republican troops at the XYZ defensive line.
The bombing of Sant Vicenç de Calders was an aerial bombing of the railway station of Sant Vicenç de Calders, Catalonia, during the Spanish Civil War. It was carried out on 8 October 1938 at the behest of Francisco Franco's nationalist regime by the Aviazione Legionaria of its fascist Italian allies.
Italy 
