The bombing of Guernica was an aerial attack on April 26, 1937, during the Spanish Civil War by planes of the German Luftwaffe "Condor Legion" and subordinate Italian Fascists from the Corpo Truppe Volontarie expeditionary force organized as Aviazione Legionaria. The raid was called Operation Rügen and resulted in widespread destruction and civilian deaths in the Republican held town of Guernica, Basque Country. Not to be confused with the Spanish Civil War of 1820-1823. ... Combatants Spanish Republic Nationalist Spain Commanders Cándido Cabello José Moscardó Ituarte, Pedro Romero Basart 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... 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 Popular Front militia units CNT-FAI UGT Nationalist Spain Commanders UGT miner, Otero CNT Steelworker, Higinio Carrocera Colonel Antonio Aranda Mata Strength Unknown 3000 Casualties Over 5,000 2,500 // A memorable event in the Spanish Civil War, the siege lasted from July 19, 1936, until... Combatants 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 saw Republican militia twice fail to halt the Army of Africa near the historic town of Mérida early in the Spanish... 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 an... Combatants Second Spanish Republic Nationalist Spain Commanders Ildefonso Puigdendolas Juan Yagüe Carlos Asensio Antonio Castejón Strength 6,000 militia 3,000 regulars 30 guns Casualties 750 dead 3,500 wounded, captured or missing 285 dead or wounded The Battle of Badajoz was one of the first major Nationalist... 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 Modesto 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... Combatants Spanish Republic Nationalist Spain Commanders Unknown Francisco Moreno Strength 3 destroyers 2 heavy cruisers Casualties 1 destroyer sunk 1 destroyer 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 naval... 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... Combatants Second Spanish Republic Nationalist Spain Commanders José Miaja, Sebastián Pozas Perea, Enrique Líster, Valentín González, Robert Merriman Enrique Varela, García Escámez, Carlos Asensio, Fernándo Barrón Ortiz Strength ~30,000 infantry, (June 15)[1] 19,000–40,000 infantry, ~40 guns[2... Combatants Second Spanish Republic Italian CTV Nationalist Spain Commanders Enrique Jurado José Miaja Cipriano Mera Mario Roatta Strength 20,000 infantry 45 guns 70 light tanks 80 aircraft 45,000 infantry 270 guns 140 light tanks 62 aircraft Casualties 6,000 dead or wounded 2,500 dead 4,000 wounded... Combatants Spanish Republic Nationalist Spain Strength  ?  ? Casualties ~? ~? The Battle of Bilbao was part of the War in the North, in the Spanish Civil War where the Nationalist Army conquered Bilbao and the part of the Basque Country still held by the Republic. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... 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. ... 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... Combatants Asturian popular army (Second Spanish Republic) Army of the North (Nationalist Spain) Commanders Colonel Juan Ibarrola Orueta Colonel Francisco Galán Rodríguez General José Solchaga Zala Strength under 5,000 33,000, plus elements of the Legión Cóndor and Corpo Truppe Volontarie Casualties Unknown Unknown The... 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. ... Combatants Spanish Republic Nationalist Spain Commanders Juan Modesto Enrique Lister Queipo de Llano Francisco Franco Strength 100,000 90,000 Casualties 30,000 dead 20,000 wounded 19,563 captured 200 aircraft 6,500 dead 30,000 wounded 5,000 captured The Battle of the Ebro (Spanish: Batalla del Ebro... The outbreak of war can be seen to be the uprising in Morocco on July 17 triggered by events in Madrid. ... 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. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Terror bombing. ... is the 116th day of the year (117th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1937 (MCMXXXVII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Not to be confused with the Spanish Civil War of 1820-1823. ... The Deutsche Luftwaffe or   (German: air force, IPA: ) is the commonly used term for the German air force. ... Hermann Göring delivering an honour (likely to be the Spanienkreuz, Spanish Cross) to a member of the Legion Condor (April 1939) The Condor Legion was a unit of Nazi Germanys air force which was sent as volunteers to support the right wing Nationalists (i. ... Italian fascism (in Italian, fascismo) was the authoritarian political movement which ruled Italy from 1922 to 1943 under the leadership of Benito Mussolini. ... The Corpo Truppe Volontarie (Division of Volunteer Troops) was an Italian expeditionary force which was sent to Spain to support Francisco Franco during the Spanish Civil War. ... The Aviazione Legionaria (Aviation Legion) was an unit sent by the Italian Regia Aeronautica (Royal Air Force) in support of Francos Nationalists during the Spanish Civil War. ... Anthem El Himno de Riego Capital Madrid Language(s) Spanish Government Republic President  - 1931–1936 Niceto Alcalá-Zamora  - 1936–1939 Manuel Azaña Legislature Congress of Deputies Historical era Interwar period  - Monarchy abolished April 14, 1931  - Spanish Civil War 1936–1939  - Surrender to Franco April 1, 1939 Currency Spanish peseta... Flag of Gernika-Lumo. ... Location of the Basque Country The Basque Country divided in seven provinces Capital Pamplona Official languages Basque, French, Spanish Demonym Basque Currency Euro The Basque-speaking areas This article is about the overall Basque domain. ...

Guernica

Guernica, Basque Gernika, and officially Gernika-Lumo since 1983, was a centre of great significance to the Basque people before, during and after the air raid which made it notorious. Traditionally, the important administrative body, the Biscayne assembly, had met in the town under an oak tree, the Gernikako Arbola, and in more recent years the assembly has continued to meet in Guernica at the Casa de Juntas— house of the historical archive of the Basque Country. This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... For other uses, see Biscay (disambiguation). ... Species See List of Quercus species The term oak can be used as part of the common name of any of several hundred species of trees and shrubs in the genus Quercus (from Latin oak tree), and some related genera, notably Cyclobalanopsis and Lithocarpus. ... The tree with the temple in the back and the hermitage to the left. ... Location of the Basque Country The Basque Country divided in seven provinces Capital Pamplona Official languages Basque, French, Spanish Demonym Basque Currency Euro The Basque-speaking areas This article is about the overall Basque domain. ...

Autonomous Basque Country.

Image File history File links Localización_de_la_CA_de_Euskadi_(NUTS_ES1). ... Image File history File links Localización_de_la_CA_de_Euskadi_(NUTS_ES1). ... Location of the Basque Country The Basque Country divided in seven provinces Capital Pamplona Official languages Basque, French, Spanish Demonym Basque Currency Euro The Basque-speaking areas This article is about the overall Basque domain. ...

Military situation

Military situation Advances by Nationalist troops led by Generalísimo Francisco Franco had eaten into the territory controlled by the Republican Government. The Basque Government, an autonomous regional administrative body formed by Basque nationalists and leftists, sought to defend Biscay and parts of Guipuzcoa with its own light Basque army. At the time of the raid Guernica not represented a focal strategic point for the Republican forces. It stood between the Nationalists and capture of Bilbao. Bilbao was seen as key to bringing the war to a conclusion in the North. Guernica also was the path of retreat for the Republicans from the northeast of Biscay. Prior to the Condor Legion raid the town had not been directly involved in the fighting, although Republican Forces were in the area; a force of 23 battalions of Basque army troops located in the front east of Guernica. At the time of the attack the town housed two Basque army battalions although it had no static air defenses, and it is thought that no air cover could be expected due to recent losses of the Soviet supplied Republican Air Force.^[1] ... A generalissimo is a commissioned officer of the highest rank; the word is often translated as Supreme Commander or Commander in Chief. It is an Italian superlative substantive, which grammatically would actually be disallowed in Italian (superlatives can be made with adjectives only). ... “Franco” redirects here. ... Anthem El Himno de Riego Capital Madrid Language(s) Spanish Government Republic President  - 1931–1936 Niceto Alcalá-Zamora  - 1936–1939 Manuel Azaña Legislature Congress of Deputies Historical era Interwar period  - Monarchy abolished April 14, 1931  - Spanish Civil War 1936–1939  - Surrender to Franco April 1, 1939 Currency Spanish peseta... Capital Vitoria-Gasteiz Official languages Basque and Spanish Area  â€“ Total  â€“ % of Spain Ranked 14th  7 234 km²  1,4% Population  â€“ Total (2005)  â€“ % of Spain  â€“ Density Ranked 7th  2 124 846  4,9%  293,73/km² Demonym  â€“ English  â€“ Spanish  â€“ Basque  Basque  Vasco/a Euskal Herritar, Euskaldun GDP GDP/Cápita 30. ... Political Spain in 1854, after the first Carlist War The Arrano beltza (black eagle) flag is waved by radical Basque nationalists, mainly supporters of ETA and HB, along the Ikurriña and the Navarrese flag as a claim of unity of the Basque lands. ... For other uses, see Biscay (disambiguation). ... Guipúzcoa province Guipúzcoa (Basque Gipuzkoa, Spanish Guipúzcoa, in English sometimes as Guipuscoa) is a province of northern Spain, in the northeastern part of the autonomous community of the Basque Country. ... La Muy Noble y Muy Leal e Invicta (The most noble and most loyal and undefeated) Location Location of Bilbao in Spain and Biscay Coordinates : , Time zone : CET (GMT +1) - summer : CEST (GMT +2) General information Native name Bilbao (Basque) Spanish name Bilbao Nickname El Botxo (the hole) Founded 15...

Population at time of the raid

Guernica had a nominal population of around five thousand and the town is thought to have housed numerous refugees fleeing into Republican controlled territory. The raid also took place on a Monday, ordinarily a market day in Guernica. Generally speaking a market day would have attracted people from the surrounding areas to Guernica wishing to conduct business. There is still historical debate over whether a Market was being held that particular Monday however. A street market is an outdoor market such as traditionally held in a market square in a market town, and are often held only on particular days of the week. ...

On the one hand the Basque government had, prior to the bombing, ordered a general halt to markets to prevent blockage of roads and restrict large meetings. While the issuance of a directive forbidding markets is indisputable, it is commonly argued that the directive had not been received by all areas, including Guernica, at the time of the raid, and therefore a market was being held. Despite the arguments it is accepted by most historians that Monday "..would have been a market day".^[2]

The raid

The Condor Legion was under total command of the Nationalist forces. The order to perform the raid was transmitted to the commanding officer of the Condor Legion in 1937, Oberstleutnant Wolfram Freiherr von Richthofen from Spanish Command.^[3] Oberstleutnant is the German Army (Bundeswehr) equivalent to Lieutenant Colonel, above Major, and below Oberst. ... Generalfeldmarschall Wolfram Freiherr von Richthofen (10 October 1895 - 12 July 1945) was a German fighter ace during World War I and a general and field marshal of the Luftwaffe during World War II. Von Richthofen was a distant cousin of the German World War I flying ace Manfred von Richthofen...

Mission planning

While questions are often raised over the intent of the raid, the diaries of the planner and commander of the mission made public in the 1970s indicate that an attack on Guernica represented part of a wider Nationalist advance in the area and were also designed to support Fascist forces already in place.^[4]

Richthofen, understanding the strategic importance of the town in the advance on Bilbao and restricting Republican retreat, ordered an attack against the roads and bridge in the Renteria suburb. Destruction of the bridge was considered the primary objective since the raid was to operate in conjunction with Nationalist troop movements against Republicans around Marquina. Secondary objectives were restriction of Republican traffic/equipment movements and the prevention of bridge repair via the creation of rubble around the bridge.

To meet these objectives, two Heinkel He 111s, one Dornier Do 17, eighteen Ju 52 "Behelfsbombers", and three Italian SM.79s were assigned for the mission and underwent a load-out consisting of medium explosive bombs (250kg), light explosive bombs (50kg) and incendiaries (1kg).^[5] The ordnance load for the twenty four bombers was twenty-two tons total. A follow up to the bombing raid was also planned for the next day involving Messerschmitt Bf 109 raids in the area. The order was noted on April 26 by Richthofen as: The Heinkel He 111 was the primary Luftwaffe medium bomber during the early stages of World War II, and is perhaps the most famous symbol of the German side of the Battle of Britain. ... The Dornier Do 17, sometimes referred to as the Fliegender Bleistift (flying pencil), was a light bomber produced by Dornier. ... The Junkers Ju 52 (nicknamed Tante Ju - Auntie Ju - and Iron Annie) was a transport aircraft and bomber manufactured 1932 – 1945 by Junkers. ... The Savoia-Marchetti SM.79 Sparviero (Italian: Sparrowhawk) was an Italian bomber of World War II. The three-engined airplane served well as torpedo and medium bomber. ... Ammunition, often referred to as ammo, is a generic term meaning (the assembly of) a projectile and its propellant. ... German Airfield, France, 1941 propaganda photo of the Luftwaffe, Bf 109 fighters on the tarmac The Messerschmitt Bf 109 was a German World War II fighter aircraft designed by Willy Messerschmitt in the early 1930s. ...

Starting at once: A/88 and J/88 for free fighter bomber mission on the streets near Marquina-Guernica-Guerriciaz. K/88 (after Returning from Guerriciaz), VB/88 and Italians for the streets and the bridge (including suburb) east of Guernica. There we have to close the traffic, if we finally want a decision against personal and material of the enemy. Vigon agrees to move his troops for blocking all streets south of Guernica. If this succeeds, we will have trapped the enemy around Marquina.^[6]

First five waves of raid

Wave one arrived over Guernica around 1630 hrs. A Dornier Do 17, coming from the south, dropped approximately twelve 50-kilogram bombs.

The three Italian SM.79s had taken off from Soria at 1530 hrs with orders to "bomb the road and bridge to the east of Guernica, in order to block the enemy retreat" during Wave two. Their orders explicitly stated not to bomb the town itself.^{[citation needed]}. During a single sixty second pass over the town, from north to south, the SM.79's dropped thirty-six light explosive bombs (50kg). Vidal says that at this point, the damage to the town was "relatively limited... confined to a few buildings", including the church of San Juan and headquarters of the Izquierda Republicana ("Republican Left") political party. Soria is a city in north-central Spain, the capital of the province of Soria in the autonomous community of Castile-Leon. ... Izquierda Republicana is a Spanish political party. ...

Waves three through five of the first attack then occurred, ending around 1800 hrs. The third wave consisted of a Heinkel He 111 escorted by five Aviazione Legionaria Fiat fighters led by Capitano Corrado Ricci. Waves four and five were carried out by German twin-engined planes. Vidal notes: Insignia applied with a decal on the tail of the Règia Aeronautica aircraft (reconstruction). ... Captain is a rank or title with various meanings. ...

"If the aerial attacks had stopped at that moment, for a town that until then had maintained its distance from the convulsions of war, it would have been a totally disproportionate and insufferable punishment. However, the biggest operation was yet to come."^{[citation needed]}

Subsequent raids

Earlier, around noon that day, the Junkers Ju 52s of the Condor Legion had carried out a mission around Guerriciaz (Gerrikaraiz). Following this they landed to rearm and then took off to complete the raid on Guernica. The attack would run from north to south, coming from the Bay of Biscay and up the course of the Urdaibai estuary. Map of the Bay of Biscay. ... The estuary of Urdaibai. ...

The 1^st and 2^nd Squadrons of the Condor Legion took off at about 1630 hrs, with the 3^rd Squadron taking off from Burgos a few minutes later. They were escorted from Vitoria by a squadron of Fiat fighters and Messerschmitt Bf 109Bs of Lutzow squadron. A total of twenty-nine planes. The cathedral Our Lady of Burgos. ... Vitoria (population: 224,965 (2004 est), is the capital city of the province of Álava and of the Comunidad Vasca Spanish autonomous region, though it is the second city of the region by population. ...

From 1830 to 1845 hrs, each of the three bomber squadrons attacked in a formation of three Ju 52s abreast — an attack front of about 150 metres. At the same time, and continuing for around fifteen minutes after the bombing wave, the Bf 109Bs and Heinkel He 51 biplanes^{[citation needed]} strafed the roads leading out of town adding to civilian casualties. The Heinkel He 51 was a single-seat biplane which was produced in a number of different versions. ...

Outcome of the Raid

Luftwaffe 1kg incendiary bomb dated 1936.

The attacks destroyed the majority of Guernica. Three quarters of the city's buildings were reported completely destroyed, and most others sustained damage. Among infrastructure spared were the arms factories Unceta and Company and Talleres de Guernica along with the Assembly House Casa de Juntas and the Oak. Richthofen recorded that the bridge was not destroyed or even hit during the raid and the mission was considered a failure as a result, although the rubble and chaos that the raid created severely restricted the movement of Republican forces. Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 800 × 294 pixel Image in higher resolution (1845 × 677 pixel, file size: 432 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) A Luftwaffe 1kg incendiary bomb (Brandbombe) presumed to be of the B1 type. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 800 × 294 pixel Image in higher resolution (1845 × 677 pixel, file size: 432 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) A Luftwaffe 1kg incendiary bomb (Brandbombe) presumed to be of the B1 type. ... The tree with the temple in the back and the hermitage to the left. ... For other uses, see Chaos (disambiguation). ...

Casualties

Figures indicating the civilian casualties caused are debated. After Nationalist forces led by General Emilio Mola's forces took the town three days later, no effort to establish an accurate number seems to have been made. The Basque government figures released at the time put the toll at a minimum of 1,654 deadand 889 wounded. These were adopted by most commentators outside of the conflict as accurate.^[7] The most recent study on casualties resulting from the raid, which have been espoused by numerous intellectuals^{[citation needed]}, academics^{[citation needed]} and professionals^{[citation needed]}, range between 100 and 300 total dead.^[8]. Emilio Mola Vidal (June 9, 1887 – June 3, 1937) was a Nationalist commander during the Spanish Civil War (1936-39). ...

Views on the attack

It remains a matter of debate whether an objective of the raid was "terror bombing" — the deliberate bombing of civilians to sap the morale of the enemy and cause chaos. As such it would constitute a war crime. While the planner, Bob, was ignorant of Guernica's cultural significance and considered a ruthless commander, neither the planning nor his diaries reveal that large numbers of civilian casualties or the destruction of Guernica were the desired outcome. Additionally, a great part of the destruction can be attributed to the fact that a large amount of ammunition and explosives were being stored by the Republican of forces in the city, which were promptly destroyed once news were reported that General Franco's forces were approaching. Terror bombing is a strategy of deliberately bombing civilian targets and strafing civilians in order to break the morale of the enemy and make its civilian population panic. ... In the context of war, a war crime is a punishable offense under International Law, for violations of the laws of war by any person or persons, military or civilian. ...

The attack has, however, entered into the lexicon of war along with Rotterdam, and Dresden as a perceived example of terror bombing. It is also remembered by the surviving inhabitants and people of Basque as such. Due to the lingering divisions of the conflict, the event remains a source of emotion and public recrimination. Look up lexicon in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... The city heart of Rotterdam after the bombing, the ruin of the (now restored) Laurens Kerk is the only building that reminds people of the Rotterdams medieval architecture. ... The bombing of Dresden, led by Royal Air Force (RAF) and followed by the United States Army Air Force (USAAF) between February 13 and February 15, 1945, remains one of the more controversial Allied actions of World War II. The exact number of casualties is uncertain, but most historians agree...

Military intentions

A commonly held viewpoint is that the involvement of the Luftwaffe in the Civil War constituted a proving ground for troops employed later during World War II. This view is supported by the comments of then Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring at the Nuremberg Trials: Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... The original uniform of the Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring shown in the Luftwaffe-Museum in Berlin. ... Hermann Wilhelm Göring ( ) (also Goering in English) (January 12, 1893 – October 15, 1946) was a German politician and military leader, a leading member of the Nazi Party, second in command of the Third Reich, and commander of the Luftwaffe. ... For the 1947 Soviet film about the trials, see Nuremberg Trials (film). ...

"I urged him [Adolf Hitler] to give support [to Franco] under all circumstances, firstly, in order to prevent the further spread of communism in that theater and, secondly, to test my young Luftwaffe at this opportunity in this or that technical respect.^[9]

Carpet Bombing

Alongside the potential for gains in combat experience it is also thought that various strategic initiatives were first tried as part of Luftwaffe involvement in the conflict. Theories on strategic bombing were first developed by the Luftwaffe with the first exhibition of "carpet bombing" in the September 1937 Asturias campaign. Comparisons between the raid on Guernica and the fate of other cities during the conflict are also telling. As the fighting progressed into March 1938 Italian pilots flying as Aviazione Legionaria under Field Marshal Hugo Sperrle were involved in thirteen raids against Barcelona involving fire and gas bombs. These particular raids resulted in the deaths of thousands of civilians.^{[citation needed]} The city heart of Rotterdam after being terror bombed by Germany in 1940, the ruin of the (now restored) Laurens Kerk is the only building that reminds people of Rotterdams medieval architecture. ... The phrase carpet bombing refers to the use of large numbers of unguided gravity bombs, often with a high proportion of incendiary bombs, to attempt the complete destruction of a target region, either to destroy personnel and materiel, or as a means to demoralize the enemy (see terror bombing). ... Not to be confused with the Spanish Civil War of 1820-1823. ... Note: This article is about the military usage of the word marshal. For other usages, see the end of this article. ... Hugo Sperrle Hugo Sperrle (February 7, 1885 - April 2, 1953), was a German Field Marshal of the Luftwaffe during World War II. He joined the German Army in 1903 and transferred to the Luftstreitkräfte (German Army Air Service) at the start of World War I, serving as an observer... Location Coordinates : Time Zone : CET (GMT +1) - summer: CEST (GMT +2) General information Native name Barcelona (Catalan) Spanish name Barcelona Nickname Ciutat Comtal (City of Counts) Postal code 08001–08080 Area code 34 (Spain) + 93 (Barcelona) Website http://www. ...

The use of "carpet bombing" was becoming standard practice by Condor Legion personnel. To illustrate this point, military historian James S. Corum cites an excerpt from a 1938 Condor Legion report on this use of this tactic:

We have had notable results in hitting the targets near the front, especially in bombing villages which hold enemy reserves and headquarters. We have had great success because these targets are easy to find and can be thoroughly destroyed by carpet bombing."^[10]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:

Bombing of Guernica

On the Spanish side, threats made prior to the raid by General Emilio Mola to "end the war in the North of Spain quickly" and threats apparently made against Republicans in Bilbao afterwards implied a blunting of strategy and that air raids were effective and set to become an increasingly favorite instrument in the Nationalist war effort. Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Wikiquote is one of a family of wiki-based projects run by the Wikimedia Foundation, running on MediaWiki software. ...

Tonnage of Bombs to casualty ratio

It is worth noting that the description given of attacking enemy troop concentrations is within the acceptable guidelines for the conduct of ground attack warfare. Issues with the originally released figures were raised following appraisal of large scale bombing raids during the Second World War. A comparison of the Guernica figures with the figures of dead resulting from air attacks on major European cities during the Second World War exposed an anomaly. It came to be understood that the figures for Guernica were somewhat inflated. Corum uses the figure of forty tons of bombs dropped on Guernica, and calculates that if the figure of 1654 dead is accepted as accurate then the raid caused 41 fatalities per ton of bombs. By way of comparison the Dresden air raid during February 1945 which saw 3,431 tons of bombs dropped on the city caused fewer deaths; 7.2 — 10.2 fatalities per ton of bombs dropped. Corum ascribes the discrepancy between the high death toll reported at Guernica and in other cases such as Rotterdam to propaganda and goes on to say that for Guernica:

..a realistic estimate on the high side of bombing effectiveness (7-12 fatalities per ton of bombs) would yield a figure of perhaps 300-400 fatalities in Guernica. This is certainly a bloody enough event, but reporting that a small town was bombed with a few hundred killed would not have had the same effect as reporting that a city was bombed with almost 1,700 dead"^[11]

Other theories

Other explanations for the widespread destruction as deliberate could include that of a revenge attack. The bombing occurred shortly after the capture and lynching of a German pilot who had been shot down near Bilbao.^{[citation needed]} This summary execution is claimed to have angered his colleagues and led to a deliberate attack against civilians in Guernica as a collective punishment.^{[citation needed]} Manifestations Slavery Racial profiling Lynching Hate speech Hate crime Genocide (examples) Ethnocide Ethnic cleansing Pogrom Race war Religious persecution Gay bashing Blood libel Paternalism Police brutality Movements Policies Discriminatory Race / Religion / Sex segregation Apartheid Redlining Internment Anti-discriminatory Emancipation Civil rights Desegregation Integration Equal opportunity Counter-discriminatory Affirmative action Racial... La Muy Noble y Muy Leal e Invicta (The most noble and most loyal and undefeated) Location Location of Bilbao in Spain and Biscay Coordinates : , Time zone : CET (GMT +1) - summer : CEST (GMT +2) General information Native name Bilbao (Basque) Spanish name Bilbao Nickname El Botxo (the hole) Founded 15... Collective punishment is the punishment of a group of people as a result of the behavior of one or more other individuals or groups. ...

Vidal outlines some other commonly voiced theories on the raid:^[12]

• The lack of reconnaissance missions before the bombing suggests to him that the Legion intended the destruction of the town rather than a specific target. Reconnaissance missions had been ordered as a prerequisite before raids around built-up areas on January 6, 1937. The intent of the order was to minimize civilian deaths and it had been issued by Mola, then Supreme Commander of the Air Force Salamanca.
• Since the raid appears to have ignored Mola's earlier plans for reconnaissance prior to the raid, Vidal concludes that Richthofen must have received direct orders from Mola or Franco.
• In Vidal's view, such a mission would have typically used 10-kilogram bombs, and no incendiaries. Vidal also argues that the twenty-two ton load-out used in the raid represented a relatively large quantity for an attack on the stated primary objective. By way of comparison, Vidal indicates sources which give total tonnage of bombs dropped on the front during the first day of the offensive as sixty-six.^[13]
• Vidal argues that the Italians had been trying to obtain a separate peace agreement with the Basque nationalists and were not inclined to jeopardize those efforts by deliberately inflicting civilian casualties.^[14]

is the 6th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1937 (MCMXXXVII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Collateral damage is a U.S. Military term for unintended or incidental damage during a military operation. ... Salamanca (population 160,000) is a city in western Spain, the capital of the province of Salamanca, which belongs to the autonomous community (region) of Castile-Leon (Castilla y León). ...

Media reporting

The first reports in the English language media of the destruction in Guernica appeared two days later. George Steer, a reporter for The Times, was covering the Spanish Civil War from inside the country and authored the first full account of events. Steer's reporting set the tone for much of the subsequent reportage. Steer made efforts to point out the clear German complicity in the action.^[15] The evidence of three small bomb cases stamped with the German Imperial Eagle made clear that the official German position of neutrality in the Civil War and the signing of a Non-Intervention Pact was a sham. Steer's report was syndicated to the New York Times and then worldwide, generating widespread shock, outrage, and fear. There was coverage in other national and international editions also: George Lowther Steer (1909-1944) was a British journalist and war correspondent who reported on wars preceding World War II, especially the Spanish Civil War. ... The Times is a national newspaper published daily in the United Kingdom (and the Kingdom of Great Britain before the United Kingdom existed) since 1788 when it was known as The Daily Universal Register. ... Reportage can be a single journalists report of news (especially when witnessed first-hand), distributed through the media. ... The term Adler, the German word for the bird of prey eagle, is both the last name of many people and an emblematic bird (notably in heraldry, bannistics, numismatics etc. ... The modern Levant Sham (also ash-Sham or Bilad-a-Sham) (Arabic: بلاد الشام , also transliterated bilad-ush-sham etc. ...

• The Times ran the story every day for over a week after the attack.
• The New York Post ran a cartoon showing Hitler brandishing a bloody sword labelled "air raids" as he towered over heaps of civilian dead littering "the Holy City of Guernica" and
• The US Congressional Record even referred to poison gas having been dropped on Guernica.
• During debates in the British Parliament Guernica was also inaccurately described as an "open city" which contained no military targets.

Overall the impression generated was one which fed the widely held public fear of air attack which had been building throughout the 1930s. A fear which imagined that in the next war the aerial forces of each nation would be able to wipe whole cities off the map. The New York Post is the 13th-oldest newspaper published in the United States and the oldest to have been published continually as a daily. ...

Reaction in Spain

Nationalists claimed that Guernica had been deliberately burned and dynamited by fleeing Republican forces, which had been using the city to store ammunition and explosives; it was also claimed that reportes of the extent of the bombing had been exaggerated and were atrocity propaganda. Although not denying that the air raid had happened, foreign journalists such as the distinguished writer Brian Crozier (at that time a Republican sympathiser) who were the first to arrive on the scene, believed that the effects of the bombing had been exaggerated by judicious dynamiting on the part of the Republican garrison. While Republican forces had been previously involved in pursuing a scorched earth strategy in the past, (notably in Irun which was dynamited), Steer's reporting was supported by the reporting of other journalists who witnessed the same levels of destruction.^[16] As already noted, the view that civilian casualties had been kept to a minimum was not widely accepted. The delay in arrival of firemen from Bilbao and their supposed inaction in containing fires was also reported on.^[17] This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... For other uses, see Propaganda (disambiguation). ... Brian Crozier is a historian, strategist, and journalist. ... For the computer game, see Scorched Earth (computer game). ... Vigilantiae Custos Location Coordinates : Lat 43º 20 16. ... La Muy Noble y Muy Leal e Invicta (The most noble and most loyal and undefeated) Location Location of Bilbao in Spain and Biscay Coordinates : , Time zone : CET (GMT +1) - summer : CEST (GMT +2) General information Native name Bilbao (Basque) Spanish name Bilbao Nickname El Botxo (the hole) Founded 15...

Legacy

Steer's reports on the horrors of Guernica were greatly appreciated by the Basque people. Steer had made their plight known. The Basque authorities later honored his memory by naming a street in Guernica Calle George Steer, and commissioning a bronze bust with the dedication:

"George Steer, journalist, who told the world the story about Guernica."^[18]

Despite Francoist efforts to downplay the reports they proliferated and led to widespread international outrage at the time.

Picasso's painting

Main article: Guernica (painting)

Guernica rapidly became a world-renowned symbol of civilian suffering resulting from conflict and inspired Pablo Picasso to adapt one of his existing paintings into Guernica. The exiled Spanish Republican Government in Paris had commissioned a work from him for the Spanish pavilion at the Paris International Exposition. Though he accepted the invitation to display a piece, he remained uninspired until he heard of the bombing of Guernica. The display of Picasso's work at the Republican Spain Pavilion during the 1937 World's Fair reflected the impact on public consciousness. The painting went on to become a symbol indicative of Basque nationalism during the Spanish transition to democracy. Today a reproduction hangs in the United Nations Security Council lobby as a reminder to delegates of the day's events. Guernica is one of the most famous paintings by Pablo Picasso, depicting the consequences of the bombing of Guernica. ... Picasso redirects here. ... Guernica is one of the most famous paintings by Pablo Picasso, depicting the consequences of the bombing of Guernica. ... The Soviet pavilion was crowned with a gigantic statue of Labourer and Kolkhoz Woman, by Vera Mukhina. ... Political Spain in 1854, after the first Carlist War The Arrano beltza (black eagle) flag is waved by radical Basque nationalists, mainly supporters of ETA and HB, along the Ikurriña and the Navarrese flag as a claim of unity of the Basque lands. ... The Spanish transition to democracy or new Bourbon restoration was the era when Spain moved from the dictatorship of Francisco Franco to a liberal democratic state. ... “Security Council” redirects here. ...

German shame

Recrimination for the activities of the Condor Legion and shame at the involvement of German citizens in the bombing of Guernica surfaced following German reunification in the 1990s. In 1997, the 60th anniversary of Operation Rügen, then German President Roman Herzog wrote to survivors apologizing on behalf of the German people and state. Herzog said he wished to extend "a hand of friendship and reconciliation" on behalf of all German citizens.^[19] This sentiment was later ratified by members of the German Parliament who went on to legislate in 1998 for the removal of all former Legion members' names from associated German military bases. This process was then carried out but the issue surfaced again in 2005 following media revelations about the role of pilot Werner Mölders who had volunteered to serve in Spain. Although not involved in the bombing of Guernica, it was decided by then German Defense Minister Peter Struck that, in keeping with the law, Mölders' name should be removed from the barracks at Visselhoevede and from association with Luftwaffe squadron 74 based in Neuburg an der Donau.^[20] Roman Herzog (born April 5, 1934) is a German politician (CDU) and was the President of Germany from 1994 to 1999. ... Werner Mölders (March 18, 1913 - November 22, 1941) was a German Luftwaffe World War II fighter ace. ... Peter Struck Peter Struck (born January 24, 1943 in Göttingen) is a lawyer, member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany and has been German Minister of Defence under chancellor Gerhard Schröder since October 22, 2002. ... Visselhövede (IPA pronunciation ) is a town of 11,000 inhabitants in the federal state of Lower Saxony, Germany. ... Neuburg an der Donau, literally Neuburg on the Danube river, is a town which is the capital of the Neuburg-Schrobenhausen district in the state of Bavaria in Germany. ...

70th Anniversary

On the 70th anniversary of the bombing, the president of the Basque Parliament met with politicians, Nobel Peace Prize winner Adolfo Pérez Esquivel, and deputies from Hiroshima, Volgograd, Pforzheim, Dresden, Warsaw, and Oswiecim (Auschwitz), as well as several survivors from Guernica itself. During the meeting they showed images and film clips of the bombing, took time to remember the 250 dead, and read the Guernica Manifesto for Peace, pleading that Guernica become a "World Capital for Peace".^[21][22] The Basque Parliament (Castillian Spanish Parlamento Vasco, Basque Eusko Legebiltzarra) is the autonomous legislative body of the Basque Country and the elected assembly before which the Basque Government is responsible. ... Lester B. Pearson after accepting the 1957 Nobel Peace Prize The Nobel Peace Prize (Swedish and Norwegian: Nobels fredspris) is the name of one of five Nobel Prizes bequeathed by the Swedish industrialist and inventor Alfred Nobel. ... Adolfo Pérez Esquivel (born November 26, 1931 in Buenos Aires, Argentina) was the recipient of the 1980 Nobel Peace Prize. ... For other uses, see Hiroshima (disambiguation). ... Volgograd (Russian: ), formerly called Tsaritsyn (Russian: ) (1598–1925) and Stalingrad (Russian: ) (1925–1961) is a city and the administrative center of Volgograd Oblast, Russia. ... Pforzheim is a town of 119,000 inhabitants in the state of Baden-Württemberg, south-west Germany at the gate to the Black Forest. ... Dresden (etymologically from Old Sorbian Drežďany, meaning people of the riverside forest) is the capital city of the German Federal Free State of Saxony. ... For other uses, see Warsaw (disambiguation) and Warszawa (disambiguation). ... Coordinates: , Country Voivodeship Powiat OÅ›wiÄ™cim County Gmina OÅ›wiÄ™cim Established 12th century City Rights 1291 Government  - Mayor Janusz Andrzej MarszaÅ‚ek Area  - Town 30. ...

References

1. ^ Although on 27 April two Republican fighters were reported shot down by Condor Legion Messerschmitt Bf 109 conducting follow up raids against traffic around Guernica.
2. ^ See (Larrazabal 2005)
3. ^ Telegram for the CO of Legion Condor, sent by HQ at Salamanca, in: Maier: Guernica 26.4.1937. Die deutsche Intervention in Spanien und der "Fall Guernica", Freiburg 1977, Appendix 6.
4. ^ A nationalist force of twenty five battalions.
5. ^ Richtofen did not have Ju87 A1 (Stuka) at his disposal as these aircraft did not begin arriving in Spain until December 1937.
6. ^ Diary entries and outlining of the action as detailed by Richtofen's records here.
7. ^ Gérard Brey, La destrucción de Guernica, Tiempo de Historia nº 29, April 1977, accessed online 14 September 2006. Appears to be a review of Herbert R. Southworth, La destrucción de Guernica, (Ruedo Ibérico, Paris, 1975). These figures are represented in a majority of the literature dating to the period and up to the 1970s although they remain disputed.
8. ^ Jesus Larrazabal, "El Bombardeo de Guernica", El Mundo, volume 12, October 2005 and Jesus Larrazabal, Guernica, 1990.
9. ^ See Testimony of Göring, Trial of the Major War Criminals, International Military Tribunal, Nuremberg, 14 November – 1 October 1946, Volume IX. Available via Avalon Project. NOTE: Frequently misquoted along the lines of: "The Spanish Civil War gave me an opportunity to put my young air force to the test, and a means for my men to gain experience." or other permutations.It was a truly terrible time in a proud towns history
10. ^ Inflated by Air. Common perceptions of civilian casualties from bombing by Prof.James S. Corum, Air War College. April 1998.
11. ^ Inflated by Air. Common perceptions of civilian casualties from bombing by Prof.James S. Corum, Air War College. April 1998.
12. ^ See Bruber.net available here.
13. ^ Vidal goes on to claim that the official German account of this period in the war, "The War in the North", states that only 7.956 tons of bombs were dropped on Guernica.
14. ^ Vidal in his book La Destrucción de Guernica (The Destruction of Guernica). See also buber.net for details.
15. ^ George Steer was a special correspondent for The Times and his article first appeared in the The Times April 28. It was reprinted in the New York Times April 28. Part of his report read: "Guernica was not a military objective.... The object of the bombardment was seemingly the demoralisation of the civil population and the destruction of the cradle of the Basque race."
16. ^ In the 1970s the pro-Nationalist newspaper Arriba claimed that there had only been twelve deaths during the bombing raid. January 30, 1970 edition.
17. ^ This is disputed by César Vidal who claims evidence contradicting the earlier reports and offers a chronolgy of the fire-fighting efforts. See Bruber.net available here.
18. ^ The dedication took place on April 2006, the 69th Anniversary of the bombing. See The Tragedy of Guernica, The Times, April 28, 1937.
19. ^ See Exhibit recalls German destruction of Spanish town of Guernica CNN.com April 25, 2000.
20. ^ See Germany Army Drops Name of Nazi Pilot dewelle.de January 28, 2005.
21. ^ "Guernica recuerda el 70º aniversario de los bombardeos con un espíritu de paz" article in Spanish from El Mundo, April 27, 2007
22. ^ "The legacy of Guernica" article on BBC website, April 27, 2007

is the 117th day of the year (118th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... German Airfield, France, 1941 propaganda photo of the Luftwaffe, Bf 109 fighters on the tarmac The Messerschmitt Bf 109 was a German World War II fighter aircraft designed by Willy Messerschmitt in the early 1930s. ... Stuka redirects here. ... The Times is a national newspaper published daily in the United Kingdom (and the Kingdom of Great Britain before the United Kingdom existed) since 1788 when it was known as The Daily Universal Register. ... The Times is a national newspaper published daily in the United Kingdom (and the Kingdom of Great Britain before the United Kingdom existed) since 1788 when it was known as The Daily Universal Register. ... The New York Times is an internationally known daily newspaper published in New York City and distributed in the United States and many other nations worldwide. ... The Times is a national newspaper published daily in the United Kingdom (and the Kingdom of Great Britain before the United Kingdom existed) since 1788 when it was known as The Daily Universal Register. ... is the 117th day of the year (118th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... For other uses, see BBC (disambiguation). ... is the 117th day of the year (118th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ...

Further reading

• Coverdale, John F. - Italian Intervention in the Spanish Civil War. (Princeton University Press, 1975
• Maier, Klaus A. - Guernica 26.4.1937: Die Deutsche Intervention in Spanien und der "Fall Guernica." Freiburg im Breisgau: Rombach, 1975
• Patterson, Ian - Guernica and Total War (London: Profile; USA, Harvard University Press, 2007. ISBN-13: 978-1-86197-764-9)
• Moa, Pío - Los Mitos de la Guerra Civil, La Esfera de los Libros, 2003.
• Ramírez, Juan Antonio - Guernica: la historia y el mito,Electa, Madrid, 1999
• Arias Ramos, Raúl; El Apoyo Militar Alemán a Franco:La Legión Cóndor En La Guera Civil, La Esfera de los Libros, 2003
• Rankin, Nicholas - Telegram From Guernica: The Extraordinary Life of George Steer, War Correspondent (Faber & Faber, London, ISBN 0-571-20563-1)
• Southworth, Herbert Rutledge - Guernica! Guernica!, a study of journalism, diplomacy, propaganda, and history, Berkley, 1977
• César Vidal, Chapter 9 of La Destrucción de Guernica, translated into English by Peter Miller. A detailed account of the attack and an account of its likely motivations. The sections of the article on the timing of the attacks and the particular planes and armaments used draw heavily on this source.

See also

• Guernica (painting)