Wall Newspapers: On the Front Lines

This mural was put together during the Battle of the Ebro, which took place between July and November 1938. It was the last great battle of the civil war, when the Republican military effort could not prevail, and was defeated. The letters in this collection reveal how the battle unfolded.

The main operation in this battle was the crossing of the River Ebro from its right bank. It was made famous in the song El Paso del Ebro (The Crossing of the Ebro), which is also the title of the text that can be seen here.

The Maxim M1910 appears in this mural and was commonly used in machine gun battles. It was a Russian machine gun known for its small wheeled mount, which enabled it to be transported, and the front shield that protected its operator.

Production of wall newspapers surged during the Battle of the Ebro as a way of boosting soldiers' morale and getting them to join in by producing letters, articles, and drawings.

Anyone could contribute to these newspapers, whether they drew caricatures (of Hitler in this case) or wrote a song for freedom—this one was written by someone called Doroteo Martínez.

Commonly known as the Moorish troops, the Moroccan Army Corps was part of the rebel Spanish Army of Africa, commanded by General Yagüe. They were known for their brutality and the Republican troops often made jokes about them and mocked them.

The Rakosi Battalion was a unit formed almost entirely of Hungarian fighters who belonged to the International Brigades. They fought at the Battle of the Ebro until late September 1938, when they were disbanded and ordered to leave Spain.

This mural was made to mark the anniversary of the start of the Defense of Madrid on November 7, 1936. This letter reveals how the popular militias defending Madrid evolved into a professional army as the civil war went on.

The 1st Company of the 4th Battalion was also part of the 13th International Brigade. This wall newspaper is full of letters from young soldiers, who were known as the Quinta del Biberón (baby-bottle regiment) due to their young age.

The foreign fighters in the International Brigades had to leave Spain following a decision taken by President Juan Negrín on September 21, 1938. The brigades were given an official farewell in Barcelona on October 28, with a great procession through the city.

Curiously, even though this drawing of an airplane calls it a Polikarpov I-15 with the nickname Chato (Snub Nose), it is actually a Polikarpov I-16, nicknamed Mosca (Fly). The fact that there was limited access to planes and the Republican army had only recently acquired them meant these kinds of misunderstandings were common.

The celebration of two years since the start of the Defense of Madrid was constantly publicised in the wall newspapers, in this case by the Unified Socialist Youth (Juventudes Socialistas Unificadas). It was taken as an example of the persistent war effort.

General José Miaja, who was named commander of the Madrid Defense Council (Junta de Defensa de Madrid) in November 1936, was remembered as a national hero. In the Battle of the Ebro in 1938, he was commander of the Central Region Army Group (Grupo de Ejércitos de la Región Central), which did not take part in the battle.