Battle of the Ebro

Battle of the Ebro
Part of the Spanish Civil War
Republican antiaircraft artillery in the Battle of the Ebro
Date 25 July – 16 November 1938 Location Terres de l'Ebre and Lower Matarranya, Spain 41°09′50″N 0°28′30″E / 41.16389°N 0.47500°E / 41.16389; 0.47500 Result Nationalist victory Initial Republican victory, crossing of the Ebro
Belligerents
Spanish Republic International Brigades	Nationalist Spain Aviazione Legionaria Condor Legion
Commanders and leaders
Vicente Rojo Lluch Juan Modesto Enrique Líster Etelvino Vega Manuel Tagüeña	Fidel Dávila Francisco Franco Juan Yagüe Rafael García Valiño Fernando Barron
Strength
80,000[1][2] Thomas: 70–80 field batteries[1] 27 anti-aircraft guns[1] Beevor: 22 tanks (T-26)[3] 150 guns[2]	90,000 July: 100 fighters 140 bombers[4] 31 August: 100 tanks[4] 300 guns[4] 500 aircraft[4]
Casualties and losses
Thomas: 10,000–15,000 killed[5] Jackson: 10,000[6] Preston: 7,150 killed[7] 20,000 wounded 19,563 captured 80 aircraft destroyed	Thomas: 6,500 killed[5] Preston: 6,100 killed[7] Jackson: 5,000 killed[6] 30,000 wounded 5,000 captured

The Battle of the Ebro (Spanish: Batalla del Ebro, Catalan: Batalla de l'Ebre) was the longest and largest battle of the Spanish Civil War and the greatest, in terms of manpower, logistics and material ever fought on Spanish soil. It took place between July and November 1938, with fighting mainly concentrated in two areas on the lower course of the Ebro River, the Terra Alta comarca of Catalonia, and the Auts area close to Fayón (Faió) in the lower Matarranya, Eastern Lower Aragon. These sparsely populated areas saw the largest array of armies in the war. The battle was disastrous for the Second Spanish Republic, with tens of thousands left dead or wounded and little effect on the advance of the Nationalists.