As you know, in the Spanish Civil War, two irreconcilable political and ideological forces clashed: on one side, Republicans - liberals, left-wing socialists, communists and anarchists, on the other - Spanish nationalists - monarchists, phalangists, carlists and traditionalists. The bloody struggle went on for three years. In the course of the war, the republicans were supported by the USSR, France and the international forces of the Third International, and the nationalist forces were supported by Italy, Germany and partly Portugal. Tens of thousands of volunteers fought there on both sides of the front against each other. The decisive, turning point in the course of the war was the battle of Aragonese in March-April 1938. On the Aragonese front, the Republicans had a lot of manpower - about 200,000 people with a moderate amount of equipment (300 guns, about 100 armored units and 60 aircraft). The nationalists had 20 divisions (up to 250 thousand people), 800 guns, 250 tanks and tankettes and 500 aircraft.
On March 9, 1938, the nationalists with the strongest artillery and air forces launched a general offensive in Aragon south of the Ebro and hacked the republican positions. Two Catalan divisions immediately fled at Alcaniz, without even waiting for a ground attack. A gap was created, into which the shock units of the nationalists - two whole corps - immediately moved. On March 12-13, between the Ebro River and Teruel, the republican defense no longer existed, an avalanche of nationalist divisions was moving towards the Mediterranean Sea. Nationalists and Italians advanced at a tremendous speed by Spanish standards - 15–20 kilometers a day. The onset of the nationalists was consistent. In the Eastern (Aragonese) operation, the nationalists used the form of combined frontal and flank strikes on a wide front, using mobile mountain-type corps (Moroccan, Navarre and Italian) and the operational air force. These actions led to decisive results, since they were associated with an exit to the flank and rear of the enemy. Having broken through the front and entering the operational space, the command of the nationalists immediately replaced the brigades and divisions that made the breakthrough with fresh units of Generals Garcia Valino and Escamez. The strike forces therefore constantly maintained a healthy offensive impulse, and therefore the offensive did not fizzle out.
And the population of the villages of Aragon, tired of the republican atheism and the arbitrariness of the "uncontrolled" anarchists, greeted the nationalists with bell ringing and phalangist salutes. For a week, the nationalists fought up to 65 kilometers, forming a deep ledge in Lower Aragon and bypassing the enemy grouping on the northern bank of the Ebro from the south.
On March 25, the troops of the nationalists occupied the whole of Aragon and started fighting on Catalan territory. In western Catalonia, the nationalists met with very strong opposition and were forced to stop in the valley of the Segre River, which flows from north to south. But they still occupied one of the Catalan energy bases - the city of Tremp. Reasonably fearing a military intervention by France, General Franco forbade the troops to approach the French border by more than 50 kilometers and ordered them to advance not to the north, but to the southeast, to the sea. Fulfilling the will of the caudillo, the nationalists quickly regrouped their forces, concentrated the infantry-motorized and tank fist south of the Ebro and once again broke through the enemy, just recreated, front. In addition, the attackers' aviation reigned supreme in the air.
The nationalists continued their march to the sea. On April 1, south of the Ebro, they captured Gandesa, and on April 4, north of the Ebro, after a week of fighting with the 43rd division of Campesino - Lleida. The troops of General Aranda had already seen the blue of the Mediterranean from the commanding heights. On April 15, 1938, the Navarre divisions of Colonel Alonso Vega fought to the Mediterranean Sea near the fishing town of Vinaros and occupied a 50-kilometer stretch of coast. The joyful soldiers entered the cold sea waves to the waist, many sprinkled themselves with water. The army priests served thanksgiving services. Bells were ringing throughout nationalist Spain. The battle was drawing to a close. "The victorious sword of the caudillo cut in two Spain, which is still in the hands of the Reds," wrote the nationalist newspaper ABC about this event. In the five-week "spring battle in the Levant," the nationalists won a major victory, which became the turning point of the entire war. They finally captured Aragon, occupied part of Catalonia, reached the approaches to Barcelona and Valencia, and cut the republican territory in two.
The military preponderance of the nationalists is now clearly outlined. The number of nationalist provinces had risen to 35 by May 1938, while the number of republicans had dropped to 15. The center of Spain, which remained in Republican hands, was now cut off from its Catalan military-industrial arsenal and from the French border.
During the five weeks of the battle, the Republicans left important territories to the enemy and lost at least 50,000 wounded and killed, more than 35,000 prisoners and over 60,000 deserters, that is, much more than half of the troops on the Aragon front by March 9th. They also lost most of the military equipment that took part in the battle. The interbrigades received a fatal blow and actually left the stage. The nationalists in the "spring battle" lost no more than 15,000-20,000 people. The damage to the equipment was noticeable, but the knocked-out guns and armored units remained on the nationalist territory and were repaired.
The nationalists defeated the enemy not only by the quantitative and qualitative superiority of the troops, on their part the military art progressed, their command did not tire of analyzing the defeat of the enemy troops. The seizure of territory was considered a secondary matter. As a result, the nationalists defeated, although inferior to them in strength and means, but still a large - 200 thousandth enemy grouping and occupied a significant territory.
However, the USSR and France did not leave the Republic, just as Germany and Italy did not leave the nationalists. Supplies of Soviet, French and Comintern food, fuel, medicines, clothing did not stop, and soon Soviet steamers delivered to France a new large batch of Soviet heavy weapons, including armored vehicles and aircraft of improved models. The war raged in Spain for another year.
