Word: barcelona
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Dates: during 1930-1939
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...southern Catalan front the Rebels thus came within 50 miles of Barcelona, while other columns to the west pressed beyond the stronghold of Cervera, to within 38 miles of the Loyalist capital. Barcelona Province, a month ago 40 miles from the front, became a theatre of War. The hitherto narrow Rebel corridor to the sea was widened to about 115 miles and contained the additional advantage of a good port at which Rebel supplies brought direct from Italy could be unloaded. And Loyalist Catalonia, jammed with 6,500,000 inhabitants and refugees, shrank to an area little bigger than that...
Hard fighting was still ahead for the Franco troops before Barcelona could be taken, although the Generalissimo claimed that victory for him was inevitable. Even from his headquarters came the admission that no immediate capture of Barcelona could be expected. For the Generalissimo there have been many moments before in the 30-month war when victory seemed to be in his grasp, only to be snatched away by a sudden Loyalist stiffening. Eleven o'clock has struck many times before for the Loyalists, but one thing was certain last week: the well-trained but poorly equipped Loyalist Army would...
Rightist long-range objectives appeared to be Barcelona, Loyalist capital, and Tarragona, to the south, from 60 to 80 miles away. Many ranges of hills lie between the front and the objectives. More important than anything else, however. Generalissimo Franco hopes to provide his ally. Dictator Benito Mussolini, with a first-class victory before January 11, when Dictator Mussolini meets British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain at Rome. Dictator Mussolini wants very much to persuade Mr. Chamberlain to grant Generalissimo Franco belligerent rights, most valuable of which would be the right to blockade. After that Loyalist Spain, already near famine, could...
Most likely spots for the Big Push are the Sagunto sector, where the Insurgent drive on Valencia was halted by the Loyalist counteroffensive on the Ebro four months ago, or the area around Lerida in the north, where an Insurgent break-through would place Franco within striking distance of Barcelona...
There were no casualties among the Americans, veterans of the International Brigade who served in the Loyalist ranks for 23 months according to the Barcelona announcement...