debor044

Condor Legion in Spain, Part I Further military intervention in the Spanish Civil War involving the  Condor Legion began in January of 1937 with the Imker-Drohne (Armor) and Imker-Ausbilder (Infantry) landing in Spain. Very soon they would they take a prominent role in training the fascist Spaniards cadres of officers and enlisted men. They would  participate actively in the ground campaign as well while preparing for the eventual drive into the heart of Spain led by Franco's rebels and the battle hungry Italians . This runs contrary to the belief that German involvement in Spain was solely for the testing and experimentation of tactics and equipment, especially armor and aviation technologies which though developed intensively before in the inter-war were untested in any large scale combat operations. Condor Legion banner/marching standard Tank commanders in the Wehrmacht simply learned the tactics as they went along by trial and error, with their collective experiences in...

The Spanish Civil War though complex in origin can be traced to the Spanish Empire’s collapse in 1931 and its monarch King Alfonso XIII abdication, which were peaceful affairs. The Spanish Civil War which would begin in 1936 however, would be a devastating and bloody preview of the type of modern warfare coming that was to be unleashed throughout Europe after the invasions of Poland September-August 1939. The intervention of military forces from Nazi Germany and Mussolini's Italy, particularly the aerial forces of the German Condor Legion, showcased the new deadly possibilities of aerial warfare on the civilian populace of, thinking regionally, a European nation. Long before the crisis of abdication, Spain had been ruled by a military dictator, the aristocratic general Miguel Primo de Rivera (d.1930) who came to power during the Rif War . Another critical event in the increased amount of anti-government resistance before the Civil War from the lef...