Monday, November 2, 2020

Infantry weapons of the Spanish Civil War (HWB)

You know how I said that I'll be doing two filler posts for every two history posts? Well I've already changed my mind, this time, it's gonna be one filler post everytime I do two HWB posts. So, here we go.

Overview

The Spanish Civil War was a deadly conflict that was fought between 1936 and 1939 between the Republicans and the Nationalists, both led by Manuel Azana and Francisco Franco respectively. Notable for the political division among the Spanish, it became a dress rehearsal for World War 2 that would occur five months after the end of the war. Let's look at the firearms used by both the Nationalists and Republics during the Spanish Civil War.

It's important to note though that many of the firearms used by both sides were mostly imported weapons from other countries, such as the Mosin-Nagant, the Karabiner 98k, and many much more. However, there were weapons that were made by Spain itself, and that will be main topic of this post, so foreign weapons used by Spain during the Spanish Civil War won't be discussed.


Mauser Model 1893


The Mauser Model 1893, also known as the Spanish Mauser, was the standard-issued infantry rifle used by both sides during the Spanish Civil War. Many of these rifles saw widespread use in the Spanish Army and was first used during the Spanish-American War. Several variants of the M1893 were developed as well, such as the M1895 carbine and the Mauser Oviedo 1916, both of which were also used in the Spanish Civil War besides the M1893.

Otherwise, the M1893 was just an ordinary bolt-action rifle, and just like many other rifles developed during its time, it was fired from a five-round stripper clip and was chambered in the 7x57mm Mauser cartridge. The M1893 was a very common rifle during the Spanish Civil War and was used by both the Republicans and Nationalists, and was also used by the International Brigades too. 

Unfortunately though, these M1893 rifles proved to be quite unreliable because they were often in poor condition and would sometimes wear out after some time being used in combat. In George Orwell's Homage to Catalonia (side note, I have that book at home, go check it out, it's great), he frequently wrote a lot about the M1893's issues that he described it as "the worst Mausers in all of Spain".

Star Si35


The Star Si35 and its other variants, the RU35 and TN35, was a submachine gun used during the Spanish Civil War produced by Star Bonifacio Echeverria, and together with the Labora-Fontbernat M-1938 and the Naranjero, were the only submachine guns developed by Spain. The Star submachine gun and its variants had an open bolt and a delayed blowback action mechanism and was capable of firing in both semi-automatic and full-auto mode; however, only the Si35 was capable of switching fire modes. Magazines for the Star submachine gun were available in either 10, 30, or 40 box magazine rounds, and it was fired using the 9x23mm Largo cartridge (although other cartridges were used for the Star submachine gun as well). The Star submachine gun also had varying rates of fire depending on the variant. It was also capable of attaching a bayonet on itself as well.

The Star submachine gun was widely used by the Nationalists after the fall of the Basque Country, where many of these submachine guns were produced. They were meant to be exported to other countries but it was rejected because of the Star's complex mechanism. Very few of these submachine guns were manufactured and the Star was used all the way until the end of the Spanish Civil War.

Labora-Fontbernat M1938


Another locally-made submachine gun used in the Spanish Civil War was the Labora-Fontbernat M1938. They were designed in 1936 by a Catalonian workshop but wasn't put into service until late in the Spanish Civil War, in 1938. Very much like the Star submachine gun, the Labora had an open bolt and a blowback action mechanism and contained 36 rounds, chambered using the 9x23mm Largo cartridge.

While the Labora was meant to compensate for the poor delivery of arms by the Republicans, it was too expensive for mass production and it had no effect in the Republican war effort. Production of the Labora ended after the Nationalists took Catalonia in 1939 and only 2,000 of them were manufactured.

Naranjero


The Naranjero (it literally means "orange") was essentially just a shameless Spanish copy of the MP 28 (MP 18). These submachine guns were mostly produced in Valencia throughout the war. Unlike the MP 28 which fired the 9x19mm Parabellum round, the Naranjero was modified to fire the 9x23mm Largo round instead, the same cartridge used to chamber the Star Si35 and the Labora-Fontbernat M1938. Also, the magazine was extended for the Naranjero to fire 36 rounds as opposed to 30. Approximately 2,000 Naranjeros were manufactured during the Spanish Civil War.

Astra 400


Designed to replace the Campo-Giro pistol in 1921, the Astra 400 was the standard-issue pistol of the Spanish Army and was the most common sidearm in the Spanish Civil War. It was fed by an 8-round box magazine and was chambered in the 9x23mm Largo cartridge. The Astra 400 was originally produced in the Basque Country until the Nationalist occupation in 1937, forcing the Republicans to make their own pistols in Catalonia and Valencia. The Astra 400 would continue to see service in the Spanish Army up until the 1950s, and around 106,000 were manufactured during its service.

Conclusion

Again, I apologize if I get anything wrong or if I left out anything in this list. As I've said, I won't be talking about foreign weapons used in the Spanish Civil War because this list is only gonna feature Spanish-made weapons. 

Sources

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