Italian military intervention in Spain
| Italian military intervention in Spain | |
|---|---|
| Part of the Spanish Civil War | |
Republican poster, reading "The claw of the Italian invader intends to enslave us." | |
| Location | |
| Objective | Assist Nationalist forces |
| Date | 1936–1939 |
| Executed by | Italy |
| Outcome | Italian victory
|
The Italian military intervention in Spain took place during the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939) in order to support the Nationalists against the Second Spanish Republic. Following the conquest of Ethiopia in the Second Italo-Ethiopian War, Italy's dictator Benito Mussolini decided to intervene in the Spanish war to expand the Fascist sphere of influence in the Mediterranean. Italians committed a total of 72,827 men, 763 aircraft, 3,227 pieces of artillery and mortars, 157 light tanks, 3,436 machine guns, 10,135 motor vehicles, 240,747 firearms, 91 warships and submarines, and their operations were crucial to the success of Nationalist forces. Nationalists were supported to a lesser extent also by Nazi Germany, while Republicans received aid from the Soviet Union.