Battle of Santander
Part of the Spanish Civil War
Nationalist troops enter Santander on August 26, 1937.
Date August 14 - September 1, 1937 Location Santander, Cantabria, Spain Result Decisive Nationalist victory
Combatants
Second Spanish Republic	Nationalist Spain
Commanders
Mariano Gamir Ulibarri	Fidel Dávila Arrondo
Strength
80,000 infantry	90,000 infantry 126 guns 220 aircraft
Casualties
60,000 dead, wounded, or captured	Unknown

The Battle of Santander was fought over the summer of 1937 in the Spanish Civil War. Santander's fall on September 1 assured the Nationalist conquest of Cantabria and marked the last stand of the Republic's "Army of the North," which was destroyed and captured in the fighting. Combatants Spanish Republic CNT-FAI UGT POUM Soviet Union International Brigades Spanish State Falangists Carlists Fascist Italy Nazi Germany Salazars Portugal Commanders Manuel Azaña Francisco Largo Caballero Juan Negrín Francisco Franco Casualties Civilians killed/wounded = hundreds of thousands The Spanish Civil War, which lasted from July 17... August 26 is the 238th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (239th in leap years). ... 1937 (MCMXXXVII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... August 14 is the 226th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (227th in leap years), with 139 days remaining. ... September 1 is the 244th day of the year (245th in leap years). ... 1937 (MCMXXXVII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Capital Santander Area  â€“ Total  â€“ % of Spain Ranked 15th  5 321 km²  1. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_Second_Spanish_Republic. ... Flag of the Second Spanish Republic This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_Spain_Under_Franco. ... The Spanish State (Estado Español) was the formal name of Spain from 1936 to 1978, under the régime of Generalísimo Francisco Franco (d. ... Combatants Spanish Republic CNT-FAI UGT POUM Soviet Union International Brigades Spanish State Falangists Carlists Fascist Italy Nazi Germany Salazars Portugal Commanders Manuel Azaña Francisco Largo Caballero Juan Negrín Francisco Franco Casualties Civilians killed/wounded = hundreds of thousands The Spanish Civil War, which lasted from July 17... Combatants Second Spanish Republic Nationalist Spain Commanders Cándido Cabello José Moscardó Ituarte Strength 8,000 militia 1,028 regulars and militia Casualties Unknown 65 dead 438 wounded 22 missing The Siege of the Alcázar was a highly symbolic battle in the opening stages of the Spanish Civil War. ... Combatants Second Spanish Republic Nationalist Spain Commanders Manuel Otero Antonio Pinilla † Strength Unknown 180 regulars and militia Casualties Unknown 180 dead or wounded The Siege of Gijón took place in the Spanish Civil War between July 19 and August 16, 1936. ... Combatants Second Spanish Republic Nationalist Spain Commanders Unknown Carlos Asensio Heli Rolando de Tella Strength 2,600 militia 1,000 regulars Casualties Unknown Unknown The Battle of Mérida was contested early in the Spanish Civil War when Republican militia twice attempted to halt the Army of Africa near the... Combatants Second Spanish Republic Nationalist Spain Commanders Alberto Bayo Manuel Uribarri García Ruiz Strength 8,000 militia 10 guns 3,500 regulars and militia Casualties Unknown Unknown The Battle of Mallorca, known as the Mallorca Landings in Spanish (optimistically called the Reconquest of Mallorca by the Republicans) was a... Combatants Second Spanish Republic Nationalist Spain Commanders Ildefonso Puigdendolas Juan Yagüe Carlos Asensio Antonio Castejón Strength 5,000 militia 2,250 regulars 750 Moroccan regulares 30 guns Casualties 4,500 dead, wounded, or captured 2,000 dead or wounded The Battle of Badajoz was one of the first... Combatants Second Spanish Republic Nationalist Spain Commanders Manuel Riquelme André Malraux Juan Yagüe Carlos Asensio Antonio Castejón Heli Rolando de Tella Strength 9,000 regulars and militia 4,000 regulars Casualties Unknown Unknown The Battle of the Sierra Guadalupe (English: Guadalupe Mountains), also the Tagus Campaign, was a... Combatants Second Spanish Republic Nationalist Spain Commanders Mario Angeloni † Unknown Strength Unknown 500 regulars Casualties Unknown Unknown The Battle of Monte Pelato (Bald Mountain) was an engagement of the Spanish Civil War fought on 28 August 1936. ... Combatants Second Spanish Republic Nationalist Spain Commanders Manuel Riquelme Juan Yagüe Strength 10,000 regulars and militia 3,500 regulars Casualties 500 dead 1,000 captured 1,000 dead or wounded The Battle of Talavera de la Reina was fought on September 3, 1936 in the Spanish Civil War. ... Combatants Second Spanish Republic Nationalist Spain Commanders Unknown Francisco Moreno Strength 3 destroyers 2 heavy cruisers Casualties 1 ship sunk 1 ship damaged Unknown The Battle of Cape Espartel was a naval battle of the Spanish Civil War that broke the Republican blockade of the Strait of Gibraltar, securing the... Madrid during the Civil War The Siege of Madrid was a three year siege of the Spanish capital Madrid, during the Spanish Civil War of 1936-1939. ... The Battle of the Corunna Road was a battle of the Spanish Civil War from 13 December 1936 to 15 January 1937, north west of Madrid. ... Combatants Second Spanish Republic Nationalist Spain Commanders José Villalba Lacorte Queipo de Llano Mario Roatta Strength 40,000 militia 10,000 Moors 5,000 Requetés 5,000 Italians Casualties Unknown Unknown The Battle of Málaga was the culmination of an offensive in early 1937 by the combined Nationalist... The Battle of Jarama was a battle of the Spanish Civil War in Febrary 1937. ... The Guadalajara Offensive (8 March – 23 March 1937) was an engagement in the Spanish Civil War. ... People in destroyed Guernica. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... Combatants Second Spanish Republic Nationalist Spain Commanders Enrique Líster Alfonso Trallero † Strength 80,000 infantry 105 tanks 90 aircraft 7,000 infantry Casualties Unknown Unknown Battle of Belchite was a group of military operations that took place in the Spanish Civil War between august 24 and september 7, 1937... Battle of El Mazuco Conflict Spanish Civil War Date 1937 Place El Mazuco, near Llanes Result Nationalist victory; leading to the fall of Asturias The Battle of El Mazuco was fought in September 1937, between the Republican (government) and Nationalist (rebel) armies of the Spanish Civil War. ... Combatants Second Spanish Republic Nationalist Spain Commanders Unknown Unknown Strength 2 cruisers 4 destroyers 1 heavy cruiser Casualties Unknown 1 ship damaged The Battle of Cape Cherchell was a sea battle between the Nationalist heavy cruiser Baleares and the Republican light cruisers Libertad and Méndez Núñez in the... A Republican soldier seeks cover on the Plaza de Toros in Teruel, north-east of Madrid The battle of Teruel was fought in and around the city of Teruel in the Spanish Civil War in December 1937-February 1938. ... The Battle of Cape Palos, also known as the Second Battle of Cape Palos, was the biggest naval battle of the Spanish Civil War, fought on the night of March 5 - 6 1938, 70 miles east of Cape Palos near Cartagena, Spain. ... The Battle of the Ebro was the last great offensive of the Spanish Republicans in the Spanish civil war. ... This article covers the Spanish Civil War in 1936. ... This article covers the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) during 1937. ... This article covers the Spanish Civil War in the period from the start of 1938 to the end of 1939. ... Combatants Spanish Republic CNT-FAI UGT POUM Soviet Union International Brigades Spanish State Falangists Carlists Fascist Italy Nazi Germany Salazars Portugal Commanders Manuel Azaña Francisco Largo Caballero Juan Negrín Francisco Franco Casualties Civilians killed/wounded = hundreds of thousands The Spanish Civil War, which lasted from July 17... September 1 is the 244th day of the year (245th in leap years). ... The Spanish State (Estado Español) was the formal name of Spain from 1936 to 1978, under the régime of Generalísimo Francisco Franco (d. ... Capital Santander Area  â€“ Total  â€“ % of Spain Ranked 15th  5 321 km²  1. ... Flag of the Second Spanish Republic This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

Consequences

Santander's fall, coupled with the capture of heavily-fortified Bilbao, tore an irreparable gap in the Republic's northern front. The destruction of the Army of the North marked another crippling blow to the Republic's sagging strength and turned the war to Franco's favour. Factors accounting for the Republican defeat include: Bilbao (Basque: Bilbo) in the North of Spain, is the largest city in the Basque Country and the capital of the province of Biscay (Basque: Bizkaia). ...

• The Nationalists' overwhelming superiority in artillery and air power.
• A lack of unified command among Republican units.
• The precision, shock, and rapidity of the Nationalist advance, which had as its objective the destruction of enemy forces and not the consolidation of territory.
• The defenders' poor morale, in contrast to the exceptional confidence and enthusiasm of the Nationalists.
• Mutinies and sedition in the Republican camp.

The disaster proved total and the losses beyond repair. Of the twelve Basque brigades there remained at the end only eight battered battalions. The Republican Army of Santander of twelve brigades was reduced to six battalions. The Asturians committed 27 battalions and escaped with only fourteen. In no other theatre of the civil war did Franco's troops achieve results as decisive as those of the Santander campaign: sixty thousand Republican soldiers were wiped off the wap, with corresponding losses in materiel. The war in the north was all but won. Brigade is a term from military science which refers to military echelon under a division, above a regiment where that exists as such, nowadays often a group of several battalions (typically two to four), and directly attached supporting units (normally including at least an artillery battery and additional logistic support). ... Symbol of the Austrian 14th Armoured Battalion in NATO military graphic symbols A battalion is a military unit usually consisting of between two and six companies and typically commanded by a Lieutenant Colonel. ...

External links

• La Guerra Civil en Cantabria

References

• VV.AA.; Gran Enciclopedia de Cantabria. Editorial Cantabria SA. Santander. 1985 (8 volumes) and 2002 (volumes IX, X y XI)