Black Shirts, Red Blood - The Battle of Guadalajara, March 8-23, 1937

Following the successful stand by the Republicans at Madrid, Francisco Franco issued an urgent call for reinforcements to his Fascist German and Italian supporters. Benito Mussolini responded by sending tens of thousands of “volunteers” made up into the “Corpo di Truppe Volentarie” (CVT).Many of the divisions of the CTV were composed of Camicie Neri (Black Shirts), fascist party thugs who saw their participation in the military as a fast track path to privilege and advancement back at home. Mussolini asked Fanco for his CTV to lead the “final” assault to take Madrid. The Italian commanders suggested the attack take place as soon as possible in March when the worst of the winter storms should be over, and before the Republican’s reinforcements could pouring into ports and across the French boarder. The focus of the attack was the key crossroads town of Guadalajara north and east of Madrid; capture would compel a Republican withdrawal that would severely weaken their hold on the capital. The largest battle of the Spanish Civil War to-date was about to be waged.