People's Army of Catalonia

The People's Army of Catalonia (Catalan: Exèrcit Popular de Catalunya) was an army created by the Generalitat of Catalonia on December 6, 1936, during the Spanish Civil War. Its existence was more theoretical than real, because the original structure of the popular militias continued to exist despite the efforts of the Generalitat.[2]

This article is about the Civil War-era military unit. For the paramilitary group supporting Catalan independence from Spain, active from 1976 to 1980, see Catalan People's Army.
People's Army of Catalonia
Exèrcit Popular de Catalunya
Flag of Catalonia
ActiveDecember 1936–May 1937
Country Catalonia (Spain)
TypeArmy
RoleGround defence
Size40.000 (theoretically)[1]
EngagementsSpanish Civil War (Aragon front)
Commanders
Notable commandersGuillem de la Peña i Cusí
José Eduardo Villalba Rubio
Eduardo Medrano Rivas
Insignia
Identification
symbol
(1936–1939)

On October 24, 1936, the Generalitat of Catalonia dissolved the Central Committee of Antifascist Militias with the aim of reorganizing the military forces in Catalonia and militarizing paramilitary militia units. On December 6, 1936, the creation of the "People's Army of Catalonia" was decreed, decree signed by the Defense Minister of Catalonia, Felipe Díaz Sandino.

The People's Army of Catalonia was made up of 9 infantry regiments, 3 artillery regiments, 3 cavalry groups, 3 engineers' groups, a group of officers and a health group, grouping the forces of the Aragon front.

The forces were distributed in three divisions, each of which under the orders of Colonel Guillem de la Peña i Cusí, José Eduardo Villalba Rubio and the commander Eduardo Medrano Rivas. In January 1937 a fourth division was added, and instead of numbering they retained the names of the columns from which they originated: Ascaso, Marx, Durruti and Macià-Companys.

The army was abolished and its units were integrated into the Eastern Army unit of the People's Republican Army following the events of May 1937,[3] and divisions were numbered from 26 to 30: Anarcho-syndicalists formed divisions 25, 26 and 28, Columna Carles Marx of the PSUC formed the 27th Division, the POUM 29, and the Macià-Companys Column of ERC and Estat Català, the 30th.[4]

References
  1. Thomas, p 594
  2. Núñez Seixas, Xosé Manoel. (2006). ¡Fuera el invasor! : nacionalismos y movilización bélica durante la guerra civil española (1936-1939). Madrid: Marcial Pons Ediciones de Historia. p. 396. ISBN 978-84-15817-90-1. OCLC 753321271.CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  3. Thomas, Hugh, 1931-2017,. La Guerra Civil española (Primera edición en Debolsillo ed.). Barcelona. ISBN 978-84-663-4469-2. OCLC 1057791440.CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link) CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  4. i Vallverdú, Pérez. "Catalunya i la guerra civil (1936-1939)" (1989) [Article]. Dipòsit Digital de Documents. Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. OCLC 812527596.

Bibliography
  • Alpert, Michael (1989). El ejército popular de la República, 1936-1939.
  • Castillo, Santiago (2011). Historia de la UGT. Un sindicalismo en guerra, 1936-1939. Siglo XXI de España.
  • Martínez Bande, José Manuel (1970). La Invasión de Aragón y el desembarco en Mallorca. San Martín.
  • Núñez Seixas, Xosé Manoel (2006). ¡Fuera el invasor! Nacionalismos y movilización bélica durante la Guerra civil española. Marcial Pons.
  • Thomas, Hugh (1976). Historia de la Guerra Civil Española. Grijalbo.
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