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. .