page_title: Women in the Communist Party of Spain in the Spanish Civil War
section_title: On the front
hierarchical_section_title: Women in the Communist Party of Spain in the Spanish Civil War / Spanish Civil War (1936 - 1939) / Women in combat and on the front / On the front
caption_attribution_description: Locator map of Mallorca
context_page_description: Women in the Communist Party of Spain in the Spanish Civil War were highly active, the most visible figure in the movement being Dolores Ibárruri, who joined in its early years. The Dictatorship of Primo de Rivera pushed the group underground, where they had to meet clandestinely around their public face, the football club Oriente FC.
  The birth of the Second Republic in 1931 saw a new era in Spain, where women were welcomed en masse into the public sphere, receiving voting rights, the ability to divorce and increased access to education. The first elections in 1931 saw the PCE kept out of Congress, though communist sympathizer Margarita Nelken y Mansbergen did win a seat representing the PSOE. She went on to win re-election in 1933, and PCE won a single seat in Congress.
  In 1935 PCE embraced the Popular Front line, seeking to unite all anti-fascist forces under a single umbrella. Dolores Ibárruri's prominence grew in this period, as she increasingly became the face of the party, winning a seat in the 1936 elections. PCE's strategy towards women in the Second Republic was largely to address their needs primarily as a tool to grow membership.
context_section_description: On the front, the norm was for women to serve in mixed gender battalion units. They were transferred around Spain, depending on military needs for troop reinforcements. Rearguard miliciana groups were more likely to be organized into women only battalions, and were more likely to be based in the same location as part of defensive units. As a consequence, the roles played by each tended to be different.
  Women on the front often were faced with a duel burden of being expected to fight and to provide auxiliary support. Male leadership decisions to require this reinforced sexism inside the Republic, by allowing women to break free of gender norms by serving in combat but at the same time forcing them to engage in traditionally gendered tasks.
  Most of the women serving in front line roles had their positions defined by the communist, anarchist or POUM leadership.  Most of these gave women equal roles when it came to combat, and providing the same military contribution. Combat experience did not significantly differ based on the political affiliation of the battalion that women in combat were attached to.
  Among the women serving in the international brigades, most worked as nurses, pharmacists or doctors.  Some Jewish, Polish and American women did go to Spain, and did serve in combat.  They were actively discouraged from doing so by anarchists, and outright banned from doing so by communists. Argentina García was on the front in October 1937 in San Esteban de las Cruces.  The communist's bravery in battle was recognized with a promotion to Captain in her Astruias Battalion.
  Communist women were able to achieve front line leadership roles.  22-year-old Aurora Arnáiz commanded a JSU column during the Siege of Madrid. Julia Manzanal became the Political Commissar for the Batallón Municipal de Madrid when she was only 17. From there, she armed herself with a rifle and a pistol, fighting on the front lines, serving as a guard and engaging in espionage role despite having enlisted initially with the role of educating her comrades in Communist ideology.
  Union de Muchachas was a communist organized rearguard women's only battalion in Madrid that fought on the front line starting on 8 November 1936.  The battalion included two thousand women aged fourteen to twenty-five who had been training since July 1936, when the Civil War began.  Positioned at Segovia Bridge and  near Getafe on the Carabanchel front and representing the bulk of the Republican forces in those positions, Union de Muchachas fighters were among the last to retreat. Women in rearguard battalions often met daily to practice weapons training, marching and drilling.  Many also received specialized training in the use of machine guns.  
  Women in the Pasionaria Column of the Fifth Regiment of the Popular Militias often tried to transfer out.  This was in part because column leaders often tried to keep women out of combat, and instead have them work in support roles for the column that included cook, and cleaning clothes and dishes.  Captains in the Column often tried to force women assigned to the Column out.
caption: Location of Mallorca, where POUM had a column that included women fighters.
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