Foreign Volunteers and International Brigades in the Spanish Civil War (1936-39)

The International Brigades (Spanish: Brigadas Internacionales) were military units made up of volunteers from different countries, who traveled to Spain to fight for the Second Spanish Republic in the Spanish Civil War between 1936 and 1939.The number of combatant volunteers has been estimated at between 32,000-35,000, though with no more than about 20,000 active at any one time. A further 10,000 people probably participated in non-combatant roles and about 3,000-5,000 foreigners were members of CNT or POUM. 1] They came from a claimed "53 nations" to fight against the Spanish Falangist forces led by General Francisco Franco who was assisted by German and Italian forces.