Chronology of the War of Spain (1936-1939)
(emphasizing the Lincoln Battalion involvement)
1931
13 April: Fall of Spanish monarchy and declaration of Republic.
1933
30 January: Hitler becomes Chancellor in Germany.
1934
12 February: Dollfuss liquidates left-wing oposition in Austria.
October: Gen. Franco`s Moorish Troops put down miners`rising in Asturias with considerable brutality.
1935
August: Communist International launches Popular Front policy.
1936
16 February: Conservatives loose Spanish General Elections. Generals Mola and Franco begin conspiracy.
7 March: Nazi troops seize demilitarised Rhineland.
3 May: Popular Front wins French General Elections.
9 May: Fascist Italy annexes Abyssinia.
18 July: Army revolt against Spanish Popular Front government.
25 July: French government forbids arms sales to Republic Spain.
1 September: Franco declared Head (of the Government) of State.
4 September: Largo Caballero becomes Prime Minister of Republican Government; fall of Irún, Basque Country cut off from France.
9 September: Non-Intervention Committee meets in London.
12 October: Formation of International Brigades.
6 November: Republican government leaves Madrid for Valencia.
8 November: XIth International Brigade in action in Madrid.
25 December: The first Americans leave New York on the S.S. Normandie to fight for the Republic.
1937
31 January: Formation of XVth International Brigade, including Lincoln Battalion.
6 February: Battle of Jarama begins.
8 February: Fall of Màlaga.
16 February: Lincoln Battalion first moved to the front lines at Jarama; the first Lincoln casualty, Charles Edwards, on the 17th.
27 February: Lincolns attack Pingarrón Hill (“Suicide Hill”) in Jarama Valley; of the 500 who went over the top, more than 300 were killed or wounded.
8 March: Battle of Guadalajara begins. Mussolini`s CTV suffers heavy losses.
26 April: Bombing of Guernica.
4 May: Uprising in Barcelona by POUM and anarchists.
18 May: Negrín replaces Caballero as Prime Minister.
31 May: Nazi naval bombardment of Almería.
19 June: Fall of Bilbao.
6 July: Brunete offensive begins. Lincolns attack and take Villanueva de la Cañada; 30 Lincolns killed, among them Commander Oliver Law.
9 July: Lincolns charge the Romanillos Heights and Mosquito Crest (“Mosquito Hill”); over 135 casualties; they dig and are bombarded by the German Condor Legion.
19 August: Lincolns leave Albares for the Aragón front.
24 August: Republican offensive in Aragón; the Lincolns attack Quinto, a small town about 35 kilometers southeast of Zaragoza.
6 September: Belchite, about 50 kilometers south of Zaragoza, falls to the Lincolns after 4 days of house-to-house fighting. The Lincolns suffer over 250 casualties in the battles of Quinto and Belchite.
21 October: Fall of Gijón and Asturias, north of Spain entirely in Nationalist hands.
15 December: Teruel offensive begins.
1938
9 March: Major Nationalist offensive in Aragón. The Lincolns retreat south of Belchite, and are overrun by rebel offensive, with many taken prisoner; the beginning of the Great Retreats.
11 March: Nazi Germany invades Austria.
15 March: Lincolns retreat into Caspe, about 70 kilometers east of Belchite; of the 500 Lincolns who left Belchite, only 100 remain.
1 April: The Lincolns are overrun near Gandesa; the Battalion suffers heavy casualties, among them Commander Robert Merriman.
15 April: Nationalists reach Mediterranean – Republic cut in two.
25 July: Ebro offensive begins.
28 July: Lincolns in battle at Villalba de los Arcos, about 10 kilometers north of Gandesa.
15 August: Lincolns sent to Sierra Pandols; they are bombarded by artillery and aircraft for ten days, but hold Hill 666.
21 September: Negrín announces withdrawal of International brigadists.
22 September: Last battles in Sierra Pandols and Lavall.
23 September: Jim Lardner, last Lincoln killed in action.
24 September: The Lincolns are withdrawn from the Ebro region.
29 September: British Prime Minister Chamberlain meets Hitler and Mussolini and signs Munich Agreement.
29 October: International Brigades farewell parade in Barcelona.
1939
26 January: Fall of Barcelona.
15 March: Nazi Germany invades Czechoslovakia.
28 March: Fall of Madrid, defeat of Republic.
April 1: Franco declares war ended; more than 90 Americans still in Nationalist prisons, mostly in San Pedro de Cardeña (Burgos).
1 September: Nazi Germany invades Poland.