Corpo Truppe Volontarie
Meanwhile, in Spain, smaller formations of Nationalists and Guardia Civil forces were locked in combat with pro-government militias, Assault Guards and those army units which remained loyal to the leftist Popular Front government.Making the situation more difficult for the Nationalists was the fact that the Spanish Republican Air Force and Navy generally remained loyal to the government.The Italians also used Nationalist-held and Portuguese harbours as staging points for sending supplies to the Nationalist forces and for landing Spanish troops to support the rebellion.Italian submarines began to sink Spanish, Soviet and other nations' ships that were transporting materials through the Mediterranean to Republican harbours.Bastico immediately initiated a reorganization of the CTV: the blackshirt divisions Dio lo Vuole and Penne Nere, which had proven useless in combat, were sent back to Italy.In return, 1,500 new soldiers arrived from Italy in June, after which the CTV was divided into three larger units:[4] In addition, the mixed division Frecce Nere was added.Northern and central Italy contained about two-thirds of the total Italian population, but only a third of all of the CTV's fallen army soldiers came from these regions.12 December: After the failure of Franco's offensive on Madrid, Mussolini decided to send regular army forces to Spain.Mussolini made that decision after he had consulted Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs Galeazzo Ciano and General Mario Roatta, who were then two of the most influential men in Italy.The Blackshirt (Camicie Nere, CCNN) Divisions contained regular soldiers and volunteer militia from the National Fascist Party.[8] The Italian military left behind roughly 3,400 machine guns, 1,400 mortars, 1,800 artillery pieces, 6,800 vehicles, 160 tankettes and 760 aircraft.
Nationalist factionMotorized infantrySpanish Civil WarBattle of MálagaBattle of GuadalajaraWar in the NorthBattle of SantanderAragon OffensiveBattle of the EbroCatalonia OffensiveMario RoattaEttore BasticoMario BertiGastone GambaraItalianFascist Italianexpeditionary forcemilitary volunteersNationalist forcesFrancisco FrancoSpanish RepublicSpanish MoroccoCanary IslandsGuardia CivilAssault GuardsPopular FrontSpanish Republican Air ForceAdolf HitlerBenito MussoliniMoroccoLeague of NationsNyon AgreementFrench NavyRoyal NavyAnnibale BergonzoliLuigi FrusciSantanderpropagandaCataloniaAlberto BayoMajorcaMadridSovietChatosoffensive on MadridItalian Minister of Foreign AffairsGaleazzo Cianoregular Italian armyBlackshirtsvolunteer militiaNational Fascist PartyXXIII de Marzo GroupTank and Armoured Cars GroupMálagaL3/35 tankettesSoviet Union11th DivisionFlechas Azules (“Blue Arrows”) Mixed BrigadeFlechas Negras (“Black Arrows”) Mixed BrigadeDivision XXIII di MarzoPuerto del EscudoAragónBattle of El MazucoFlechas DivisionBarcelonaMediterraneanCatalanAragoneseGuadalajaraLevanteSecond World WarRoyal Air ForceRegia AeronauticaAviazione LegionariaRegia MarinaGiorgio PerlascaHungarian JewsSantoña AgreementBasque ArmyLuigi Longo