End of the winter battle for Madrid

On 15 January 1937 General Francisco Franco fails in his second attempt to capture Madrid. At the same time his fascist troops are already in control of the entire north and west of the country.

Robert Capa. © Cornell Capa, www.icp.org Republican soldiers during a fire pause at the front near Madrid

After the September 1936 fall of Toledo, not far from the gates of Spain’s capital, the democratically elected Popular Front government withdrew to Valencia. Primarily due to support from „international brigades“ manned by volunteers from all over the world, Madrid will be able to withstand this siege until the end of the Spanish Civil War in 1939.