The Popular Army of Catalonia

The majority of the Spanish army backed the rebels, and the Republic responded by dissolving it. This left it to face the first weeks of the war with a small number of loyal military officers and political party and trade union militias composed of volunteers. Undoubtedly brave and committed, they were far from being professionals, either in their knowledge of warfare or the weapons and materiel they had available. These militia columns went from Catalonia to Aragon, where they helped stabilize the front, and to Mallorca and Ibiza, where their attempts to conquer the islands were a total failure.

These 40,000 volunteers became tired and demoralized, especially after November 1936.  This, together with the militias’ military inadequacy, led the government of the Republic to create a well-trained professional army that could fight the enemy effectively. The new Popular Army of the Republic was created in October 1936. The militias would be “militarized”, a draft established, and new officers trained. This approach was not well received by the CNT, FAI and POUM, which wanted to continue the militia model.

In this context, in December 1936, the government of the Generalitat decided to creatye its own Popular Army of Catalonia. It would consist of nine infantry and three artillery regiments, and their auxiliaries, to be manned by the 1934 and 1935 draft classes. However, a widespread boycott by the draftees meant that this attempt to create the new army was a failure. On the other hand, the Popular School for Military Instructors was a successfully launched and trained 1,885 non-commissioned officers, many of whom were later promoted to lieutenant and captain.  The photo  shows some of them in the main patio of Popular School for War on 7 January 1937. The success of the school made it a model for other parts of the Republic.

The tensions between supporters of the Popular Army and its opponents were resolved following the events of May 1937 with the assimilation of the militias into the Republican army. From this moment on, the army was made up overwhelmingly by recruits, with few volunteers. By the middle of 1937, the Catalan contribution was some 130,000 men, about a quarter of the total. A year later, the figures were 35 per cent and 230,000. Approximately 38,000 of these Catalan soldiers died.