The End of the War and Spain as 'General Rehearsal' for World War II

In the summer of 1936, Francoist columns advanced from the south toward Madrid; the Alcázar of Toledo was relieved by the Army of Africa in September 1936, and the siege of Madrid began that November, with the International Brigades and popular militias playing a decisive role in defending the capital, which held out until the end of the war. The Battle of Jarama (February 1937) produced heavy casualties without a decisive result, while the Battle of Guadalajara (March 1937) saw Italian troops defeated by the People's Army. The Campaign of the North, running through 1937, brought the successive falls of Bilbao, Santander, and Asturias, and the bombing of Guernica took place within this campaign, while the Republic's diversionary offensives at Brunete (July 1937) and Belchite (August-September 1937) came at heavy human cost.