Evening star., 1937-06-27
NEW REBEL DRIVE
ON LOOMS
Offensive Opens as Duce's
Paper Predicts Break in
''Iron Ring"
BACKGROUND

6AI Il 1JhO ~ NJ
Spanish insurgents campaign
against Madrid, capital, met iron
MoH. Generalissimo Francisco
Franco thereupon turned chief
forces against other parts Of Spain,
subiuoating first San Sebastian
and Irun, then the southern coast
line. and is "n,opping up" in the
north Nth the capture OF Bilbao
and driDe against Santdnder, sole
large city in the Basque provinces
still held bu LoyalistS
Britain and France hape sought
for ne1D formula for participation
OF Italy and Germany in neutrality
patrol. from Which they WtthdretD
after alleged attempt to torpedo the
German cruiser Leipzig last iUeek.
r. the Associated Press.
A new drive to capture Madrid and
end the Spanish war appeared i'm
mlnent last night as insurgents
launched heavy attacks against the
capitals defenders.
The offensive. preceded by Shelling,
came almost simultaneously with a
prediction by Premier Benito Musso-
lini's newspaper, the Popolo dItalia
Of Milan, that insurgents shortly
would break Madrid'S Iron ring" de-
fenses and win the war.
It asserted a cleanup of the Basque
territory was all that remained be-
fore Generalissimo Francisco Franco
could throw the whole weight Of his
forces against Madrid.
Predicts Break in Madrid Band.
THE iron band around Madrid, like
that around Bilbao, which seemed i'm
penetrable Will be broken" it said.
Government commanders said in
surgent attacks on Madrid, apparently
in an effort to cut the highways to
Valencia, temporary capital on the
Mediterranean, were repulsed with
heavy insurgent losses.
Frances men in the north pushed
5 miles further along the coastal high
way linking conquered Bilbao with
Santander. AS miles to the west.
The inSurgent cruisers Baleares and
Canarias were reported to have Joined
In the attack, shelllng retreating
Basque soldiers from the sea.
Basque Army leaders entrenched
10 miles from Bilbao. in an effort to
halt the insurgent columns. Asturian
dynamiters were reported to have
embushed and killed $50 insurgents
near Valnaseda.
In London, British statesmen studied
their next move in an attempt to gain
full cooperation of Germany and
italy in the Non-Intervention Com
mittee and the international naval
patrol to prevent arms and men from
reaching either side in the Spanish
conflict
Informed sources said the British
leaders would try to convince Italy
and Germany that those two nations
would be aiding the Valencia govern
ment and prolonging the civil war If
they remained outside the naval patrol.
Barred Naval Demonstration.
Italy and Germany quit the patrol
after Britain and France refused to
Valencia as warning to the Span
ish government after alleged attempts
of its submarines to torpedo the Ger
man cruiser Leipzig June Is and Is.
Disappointment over the refusal of
Britain and France to join her in the
naval demonstration against Valencia
remained a powerful factor in Berlin'S
attitude toward the Spanish crisis.
The German foreign Office mouth
piece, Diplomatische Politische Kor-
respondent, said responsibility for fu-
ture development of the European
crisis rests with those powers which
cid not desire a logical and healthy
settlement of the Leipzig incident and
declined to join in an act of solidarity
Of a defensive, preventive nature"