The Balearic operation (August 7 - September 20, 1936) - an attempt by the Republicans to drive the nationalists out of the Balearic Islands during the Spanish Civil War .
| Balearic operation | |||
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| Main Conflict: Spanish Civil War | |||
 Mallorca and nearby islands. Gray shows maximum Republican success | |||
| date of | August 7 - September 20, 1936 | ||
| A place | Balearic Islands , Spain | ||
| Total | nationalist victory | ||
| Opponents | |||
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| Commanders | |||
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| Forces of the parties | |||
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Content
- 1 Background
- 2 Course of events
- 3 Summary and Consequences
- 4 Sources
Background
During the July coup of 1936, the nationalists managed to take control of all the Balearic Islands, except for Menorca . After the suppression of the uprising in Madrid and Barcelona, the Republicans went on the offensive against the nationalists in all directions. Already on July 23, republican aviation bombed Palma and Cabrera . In early August, the Catalans decided to recapture the Balears from the nationalists.
Event
On August 2, 1936, a convoy of Catalan police led by Alberto Bayo arrived on the island of Menorca and began to prepare for the operation. The next day, Republican aviation made another raid on Palma. On August 6, preparations for the operation were completed. The plan was supported by the Central Committee of the Anti-Fascist Police of Catalonia and the regional government of Catalonia; the central government preferred to observe without interfering.
On August 7, a police convoy formed in Valencia led by Manuel Uribarri captured the island of Formentera . On August 8, a column formed in Barcelona led by Alberto Bayo (also known as the "Balearic Column") landed on the island of Ibiza , and with the help of the column Uribarri captured it. However, after this, a split broke out between Bayo and Uribarri, and the Valencian column of Uribarri returned to the mainland. Meanwhile, on August 13, 400 anarchists , unconnected with Bayo Uribarri forces, landed on Cabrera Island . On August 15, Bayo flew to Cabrera and invited the anarchists to land on the island of Dragonera , but they refused to participate in a joint operation and decided to act independently, landing in Cala Mandia and Cala Angila.
On August 16, 8.000 people under the command of Alberto Bayo, with the support of the significant forces of the Republican fleet, landed on the island of Mallorca and captured 7 km of its east coast. After that, the Republicans moved across the island to the provincial capital - the city of Palma.
The situation changed dramatically when at the end of August the Italians began to come to the aid of the Spanish nationalists. On August 26, Arkonovaldo Bonaccorsi landed in Palma, taking command of disorganized nationalists. Several Italian military aircraft came to the rescue of nationalists semicircular in Palma. Their shelling and bombardment from a low-level flight panicked the ranks of the paratroopers, who demanded a return home. On September 2, the Republican weapons depot located in the old quarry was destroyed, and on the night of September 4-5, Bayot police began evacuating from Mallorca.
Summary and Consequences
A week after the Republicans defeated in Mallorca, the anarchists left Cabrera. Bonaccorsi declared himself commander of all the nationalist forces in Mallorca, and created the "Dragons of Death" squad. September 20, he led 500 people landed on the island of Ibiza. As a result, of all the Balearic Islands, only the island of Menorca remained in the hands of the Republicans, which they held until 1939.
Sources
- S. Yu. Danilov. “The Civil War in Spain” - Moscow: Veche, 2004. ISBN 5-9533-0225-8