Battle of Seseña
Part of theSpanish Civil War
T-26 mod. 1933 as used by theSpanish Republican Army, nearSalamanca, Spain.
Date October 29, 1936 Location Seseña,Toledo, Spain Result Nationalist victory
Belligerents
Spanish Republic Soviet Union	Nationalist Spain  Italy
Commanders and leaders
Enrique Líster Ildefonso Puigdendolas  Pols Armāns	Felix Monasterio
Units involved
1st Mixed Brigade	1st Tank Company[1] Moroccanregulares
Strength
Around 3,800 men[2] 15 T-26 tanks	One cavalry column At least 11 Italian L3/33 tankettes
Casualties and losses
8 dead[a] 6 wounded[3] 3 tanks destroyed 3 tanks damaged	Nationalist claim: 13 dead 60 wounded 1 tankette destroyed 1 tankette disabled 10 trucks destroyed Soviet claim: 600 dead[3] 11 tankettes destroyed
3 civilians killed 7 civilians injured

TheBattle of Seseña was aRepublican-Soviet assault on the Nationalist stronghold ofSeseña, nearToledo, 30 km south ofMadrid in October 1936 during theSpanish Civil War. After the fall ofTalavera de la Reina andToledo in September 1936, the Nationalist troops pushed towards Madrid and in October they were 30 km from the city. The Republican government which had received new Soviet weapons decided to launch a counteroffensive in order to stop the Nationalist offensive at Seseña. The attack failed and the Nationalists resumed their advance towards Madrid. The battle is notable for being the first time that massive tank warfare was seen in the Spanish War and for the use by Nationalist troops ofMolotov cocktails againstSovietT-26 tanks.^[4][5]

The professional troops of the Spanish Army of Africahad started their drive to Madrid in August 1936. Equipped with modern weapons they had received from Germany and Italy (Ju 52 andSavoia SM-81 planes, andItalian L3/35 tankettes), the Nationalist troops, had defeated the government militias in the battles ofMérida,Badajoz,Sierra de Guadalupe^[6] andTalavera de la Reina,^[7] and had occupiedToledo on September 27, 1936. In late October 1936 the Nationalists took several towns near Madrid (Torrejon de Velasco, Seseña,Torrejón de la Calzada andGriñon), breaking the first defensive line of Madrid.^[8]

Meanwhile, the Republican government had requested aid and weapons fromFrance in order to defeat the Nationalist forces and the president of the French Republic,Léon Blum, initially decided to send help because aNationalist victory could damage the international position of France. Nevertheless, on July 25, 1936 Blum decided not to send weapons to the Republic, because the opposition of the British government and the French right.,^[9] and on August 8, 1936 decided to close the frontier,^[10] Then, the Spanish government decided to buy weapons from the Soviet Union. The first Soviet ship with weapons reached Cartagena on October 15, 1936.^[11] On 28 October 1936, the Republican prime ministerLargo Caballero decided to launch a counter-offensive with the recently arrived Soviet weapons in order to detain the Nationalists advance towards Madrid.^[8]

On October 29, 1936, theSpanish Republican Army launched an attack against the Nationalist-held town of Seseña. The Republicans attacked with a force of 15 T-26 tanks, armed with a 45mm cannon, led by aLatvian tank specialist, CaptainPols Armāns, and driven by Soviets with Spanish gunners, and the1st Mixed Brigade, a newly establishedmixed brigade led by Enrique Líster. Opposing them, the Nationalists had a force of cavalry led by colonel Monasterio,Moroccanregulares and some ItalianL3/33 tankettes^[1] supported by a battery of65 mm cannons. They also deployed naval infantry and marines, and a battery of105 mm Schneider guns.^[12] The Soviet tanks were massed together for a shock attack and entered in Seseña. Armans claimed that the Soviet tanks destroyed two infantry battalions, two cavalry squadrons, ten 75 mm guns, two tankettes and 20-30 trucks.^[1] One tank lost a track and was disabled, either after ramming a vehicle blocking Seseña's main street, being struck by animprovised explosive device or being hit by a 105 mm artillery round from aSchneider howitzer. The immobilised T-26 was eventually set on fire and destroyed, with its entire crew killed, two of them after dismounting.^[13]

The tanks crossed Seseña and reachedEsquivias,^[1] nevertheless, the Mixed Brigade of Lister never entered into the town and the tank force had to retreat^[14] after coming under heavy artillery fire from the nearby Santa Bárbara hill and a counterattack by a Nationalist column equipped with a75 mm gun.^[12]Mikhail Koltsov, a Soviet journalist at Seseña said: "Lister...explained, a grimace upon his face, that his units, had been moving well at first, but after 1,500 metres, they had felt tired and sat down...".^[15] Furthermore, the Nationalists managed to destroy three T-26 tanks, most of the them with Molotov cocktails^[15] and another with 75 mm gunfire in Esquivias, where the Soviet tanks were temporarily encircled before withdrawing toBorox.^[12] Three more were damaged by the same means.^[8] The T-26s in Esquivias destroyed a L3/33 tankette carrying a flamethrower and disabled by ramming another one that was later recovered by the rebels. The same sources acknowledge the loss of 10 trucks.^[13] Four Soviet and four Republican Spanish tankers were killed in action, and other six wounded,^[1] while Nationalist sources report 13 killed and 60 wounded, plus three civilians killed and other seven injured.^[12] The same day, the Republican army, led by ColonelIldefonso Puigdendolas, launched another assault against the nearby town ofIllescas, but the attack was beaten off. Puigdendolas was killed by his own men when trying to prevent desertion.^[16]

The attack failed, because the Spanish Republican infantry had no training to operate with tanks,^[1] but the Soviet tanks were shown to be effective. According to Thomas, one Soviet tank destroyed 11 Italian tankettes.^[14] The same day a squadron of SovietTupolev SB bombers attackedSeville. Because the arrival of the Soviet weaponsNazi Germany decided to increase their aid to the Nationalists and to organize theLegion Condor.^[17]

The Nationalists resumed their offensive,Getafe (13 km south of Madrid) fell on November 4 and on November 8 the Nationalists started their frontal assault onMadrid. Nevertheless,Mola decided to retire a part of their troops from the assault on Madrid, in order to reinforce the flanks, because he feared another tank attack.^[18]

• List of Spanish Republican military equipment of the Spanish Civil War
• List of Spanish Nationalist military equipment of the Spanish Civil War

• Beevor, Antony. (2006).The Battle for Spain. The Spanish civil war, 1936–1939. Penguin Books. London.ISBN 978-0-14-303765-1.
• Jackson, Gabriel. (1967).The Spanish Republic and the Civil War, 1931–1939. Princeton University Press. Princeton.
• Preston, Paul. (2006).The Spanish Civil War. Reaction, revolution & revenge. Harper Perennial. London.ISBN 978-0-00-723207-9ISBN 0-00-723207-1
• Thomas, Hugh. (2001)The Spanish Civil War. Penguin Books. London.ISBN 978-0-14-101161-5

• Soviet tanks operations in the Spanish Civil War
• Stalin and the Spanish Civil War

40°6′13″N3°41′53″W / 40.10361°N 3.69806°W /40.10361; -3.69806

• Battles of the Spanish Civil War
• Military history of Castilla–La Mancha
• 1936 in Spain
• Conflicts in 1936
• History of the Province of Toledo
• October 1936 in Europe
• Tank battles involving Spain
• Tank battles involving the Soviet Union
• Tank battles involving Italy

• CS1 Spanish-language sources (es)
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• Short description is different from Wikidata
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