Right from the start of the Spanish Civil War, and continuously throughout it, foreign volunteers took part in the conflict on the side of the Republic. On the very day war started, 18 July 1936, a lot of the athletes who had been going to participate in Barcelona’s Popular Olympics that summer, formed a brigade and some, such as the Austrian Mechter, would die just a few days later. In August, a battalion made up of French and Belgian volunteers entered into combat in Irún.
The creation of the International Brigades
The original idea to create the International Brigades was presented in Moscow in September 1936. The aim was to attract communist and non-communist volunteers to take part in the war on the side of Spanish Republicans. At first, the government of the Republic couldn’t decide whether to accept this proposal but it soon changed its mind in October, when the first battles showed how difficult it would be to beat the Nationalist forces.
The first steps
At that time the International Brigade’s headquarters was based at the Los Llanos aerodrome in Albacete, where the Republican Air Force staff was also located. The first volunteers began to arrive on 12 October but soon the initial organising committee was overwhelmed by the large number of people and it became a military committee. The Frenchman, André Marty, was put in charge of the base and of the International Brigades.
The creation of the International Brigades
The original idea to create the International Brigades was presented in Moscow in September 1936. The aim was to attract communist and non-communist volunteers to take part in the war on the side of Spanish Republicans. At first, the government of the Republic couldn’t decide whether to accept this proposal but it soon changed its mind in October, when the first battles showed how difficult it would be to beat the Nationalist forces.
The first steps
At that time the International Brigade’s headquarters was based at the Los Llanos aerodrome in Albacete, where the Republican Air Force staff was also located. The first volunteers began to arrive on 12 October but soon the initial organising committee was overwhelmed by the large number of people and it became a military committee. The Frenchman, André Marty, was put in charge of the base and of the International Brigades.
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