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103-691: The Lincoln Battalion ( Spanish : Batallón Abraham Lincoln ), the major component of what came to be known as the Abraham Lincoln Brigade , was the 17th (later the 58th) battalion of the XV International Brigade which fought in the Spanish Civil War . Named after United States President Abraham Lincoln , the battalion was organized by the Communist International . The XVth Brigade
206-829: A Spanish-based creole language called Chavacano developed in the southern Philippines. However, it is not mutually intelligible with Spanish. The number of Chavacano-speakers was estimated at 1.2 million in 1996. The local languages of the Philippines also retain significant Spanish influence, with many words derived from Mexican Spanish , owing to the administration of the islands by Spain through New Spain until 1821, until direct governance from Madrid afterwards to 1898. Shock troops Shock troops or assault troops are special formations created to lead military attacks . They are often better trained and equipped than other military units and are expected to take heavier casualties even in successful operations. "Shock troop"
309-615: A confused series of holding actions and retreats in which it lost most of its personnel killed, captured, or missing. Robert Merriman and Dave Doran, two of the highest-ranking American officers in the XVth Brigade, were presumed captured and executed as Nationalist forces normally executed all international prisoners. The remnants of the Battalion gathered on the far side of the Ebro River , where they were slowly reconstituted with
412-603: A considerable number of words from Arabic , as well as a minor influence from the Germanic Gothic language through the period of Visigoth rule in Iberia. In addition, many more words were borrowed from Latin through the influence of written language and the liturgical language of the Church. The loanwords were taken from both Classical Latin and Renaissance Latin , the form of Latin in use at that time. According to
515-522: A dramatic change in the pronunciation of its sibilant consonants , known in Spanish as the reajuste de las sibilantes , which resulted in the distinctive velar [x] pronunciation of the letter ⟨j⟩ and—in a large part of Spain—the characteristic interdental [θ] ("th-sound") for the letter ⟨z⟩ (and for ⟨c⟩ before ⟨e⟩ or ⟨i⟩ ). See History of Spanish (Modern development of
618-482: A first language by Spaniards and educated Filipinos ( Ilustrados ). Despite a public education system set up by the colonial government, by the end of Spanish rule in 1898, only about 10% of the population had knowledge of Spanish, mostly those of Spanish descent or elite standing. Spanish continued to be official and used in Philippine literature and press during the early years of American administration after
721-468: A limited number of international volunteers from the hospitals and rear areas. Spanish troops, many young conscripts, were drafted into the XVth Brigade's battalions to bring them fully up to strength. Spaniards were integrated into the Lincoln Battalion as early as Jarama. Spanish companies were added to the international battalions as the flow of volunteers from North America decreased. After
824-478: A long history in the territory of the current-day United States dating back to the 16th century. In the wake of the 1848 Guadalupe Hidalgo Treaty , hundreds of thousands of Spanish speakers became a minoritized community in the United States. The 20th century saw further massive growth of Spanish speakers in areas where they had been hitherto scarce. According to the 2020 census, over 60 million people of
927-542: A multinational brigade of 5,000 men and a fund of one billion francs. At the same time, Communist parties worldwide launched a full-scale propaganda campaign supporting the Popular Front. The Communist International soon joined the activity, sending to Spain its leader Georgi Dimitrov , as well as Palmiro Togliatti , the chief of the Communist Party of Italy . The Soviet Union began supplying aid to
1030-508: A primarily Hassaniya Arabic -speaking territory, Spanish was officially spoken as the language of the colonial administration during the late 19th and 20th centuries. Today, Spanish is present in the partially-recognized Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic as its secondary official language, and in the Sahrawi refugee camps in Tindouf ( Algeria ), where the Spanish language is still taught as
1133-617: A second language features characteristics involving the variability of the vowel system. While far from its heyday during the Spanish protectorate in Morocco , the Spanish language has some presence in northern Morocco , stemming for example from the availability of certain Spanish-language media. According to a 2012 survey by Morocco's Royal Institute for Strategic Studies (IRES), penetration of Spanish in Morocco reaches 4.6% of
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#17327804841211236-531: A second language, largely by Cuban educators. The number of Spanish speakers is unknown. Spanish is also an official language of the African Union . Spanish was an official language of the Philippines from the beginning of Spanish administration in 1565 to a constitutional change in 1973. During Spanish colonization , it was the language of government, trade, and education, and was spoken as
1339-570: A vain hope that the Nationalists would withdraw their German and Italian troops, Franco kept his German and Italian forces until the war's end. On 1 November 1938, International Brigadists received a warm farewell from the people in Barcelona, where 250,000 people gathered to say goodbye to the international brigades for freedom. In a famous farewell speech, Dolores Ibárruri , "La Pasionaria", declared: "You are history. You are legend. You are
1442-415: A veteran of the battalion, recalled in 2006, "Some men were running away from bad marital or love situations, but what united all of us was that we hated fascism." Anti-fascism, more than any other single factor, is what motivated and united the volunteers of the Lincoln Battalion. An American company served in the 20th International Battalion that was attached to the 86th Mixed Brigade . This unit fought on
1545-416: Is cognate to the root word of satisfacer ("to satisfy"), and hecho ("made") is similarly cognate to the root word of satisfecho ("satisfied"). Compare the examples in the following table: Some consonant clusters of Latin also produced characteristically different results in these languages, as shown in the examples in the following table: In the 15th and 16th centuries, Spanish underwent
1648-671: Is a calque , a loose translation of the German word Stoßtrupp (literally "push squad"). Assault troopers are typically organized for mobility with the intention that they will penetrate enemy defenses and attack into the enemy's vulnerable rear areas . Any specialized, elite unit formed to fight an engagement via overwhelming assault (usually) would be considered shock troops, as opposed to " special forces " or commando -style units (intended mostly for covert operations ). However, both types of units could fight behind enemy lines, by surprise if required. The Companion cavalry of Alexander
1751-454: Is estimated that about 486 million people speak Spanish as a native language , making it the second most spoken language by number of native speakers . An additional 75 million speak Spanish as a second or foreign language , making it the fourth most spoken language in the world overall after English, Mandarin Chinese, and Hindi with a total number of 538 million speakers. Spanish is also
1854-761: Is heavily influenced by Venezuelan Spanish. In addition to sharing most of its borders with Spanish-speaking countries, the creation of Mercosur in the early 1990s induced a favorable situation for the promotion of Spanish language teaching in Brazil . In 2005, the National Congress of Brazil approved a bill, signed into law by the President , making it mandatory for schools to offer Spanish as an alternative foreign language course in both public and private secondary schools in Brazil. In September 2016 this law
1957-732: Is related to Castile ( Castilla or archaically Castiella ), the kingdom where the language was originally spoken. The name Castile , in turn, is usually assumed to be derived from castillo ('castle'). In the Middle Ages , the language spoken in Castile was generically referred to as Romance and later also as Lengua vulgar . Later in the period, it gained geographical specification as Romance castellano ( romanz castellano , romanz de Castiella ), lenguaje de Castiella , and ultimately simply as castellano (noun). Different etymologies have been suggested for
2060-844: Is spoken by very small communities in Angola due to Cuban influence from the Cold War and in South Sudan among South Sudanese natives that relocated to Cuba during the Sudanese wars and returned for their country's independence. Spanish is also spoken in the integral territories of Spain in Africa, namely the cities of Ceuta and Melilla and the Canary Islands , located in the Atlantic Ocean some 100 km (62 mi) off
2163-813: Is the de facto national language of the country, Spanish is often used in public services and notices at the federal and state levels. Spanish is also used in administration in the state of New Mexico . The language has a strong influence in major metropolitan areas such as those of Los Angeles , Miami , San Antonio , New York , San Francisco , Dallas , Tucson and Phoenix of the Arizona Sun Corridor , as well as more recently, Chicago , Las Vegas , Boston , Denver , Houston , Indianapolis , Philadelphia , Cleveland , Salt Lake City , Atlanta , Nashville , Orlando , Tampa , Raleigh and Baltimore-Washington, D.C. due to 20th- and 21st-century immigration. Although Spanish has no official recognition in
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#17327804841212266-759: The American Peace Mobilization in protesting American support for Britain and France against Nazi Germany. Others persisted with the anti-Fascist line which they had followed to Spain. After the German invasion of the Soviet Union, the VALB changed its stance and fully backed the war. Former Lincoln-Washington commander Milton Wolff volunteered in 1940 for the British Special Operations Executive and arranged
2369-797: The Communist Party USA with an in-person interview by a special committee. The committee tried to filter out "adventurers" and those who "lacked a political understanding of the anti-fascist struggle." In the Communist Party, joining the brigade was never mandatory. Secrecy was a high priority, and volunteers were given minimal information by Party leaders and only obtained information regarding their passports when they had passed their examination. The committee recommended that volunteers supply false information to customs and border officials about where they were travelling. Americans usually entered Spain by first emigrating to France because
2472-836: The First World War , many combatants faced the deadlock of trench warfare . On the Western Front in 1915, the Germans formed a specialized unit called the Rohr Battalion to develop assault tactics. During the Brusilov Offensive of 1916, the Russian general Aleksei Brusilov developed and implemented the idea of shock troops to attack weak points along the Austrian lines to effect a breakthrough, which
2575-607: The Iberian Peninsula of Europe . Today, it is a global language with about 500 million native speakers, mainly in the Americas and Spain , and about 600 million when including second language speakers. Spanish is the official language of 20 countries , as well as one of the six official languages of the United Nations . Spanish is the world's second-most spoken native language after Mandarin Chinese ;
2678-484: The Ku Klux Klan ." Though the Lincoln Battalion was predominantly white, it was integrated. Most of the original volunteers in the Lincoln Battalion were communists or Soviet sympathizers. It is difficult to list exactly how many members of the battalion were communists because political ideology was not a litmus test for serving in the war. Historians and veterans of the battalion estimate that between 50 and 80% of
2781-568: The Spanish as a First Foreign Language (SAFFL) initiative in March 2005. Spanish has historically had a significant presence on the Dutch Caribbean islands of Aruba , Bonaire and Curaçao ( ABC Islands ) throughout the centuries and in present times. The majority of the populations of each island (especially Aruba) speaking Spanish at varying although often high degrees of fluency. The local language Papiamentu (Papiamento on Aruba)
2884-508: The Spanish–American War but was eventually replaced by English as the primary language of administration and education by the 1920s. Nevertheless, despite a significant decrease in influence and speakers, Spanish remained an official language of the Philippines upon independence in 1946, alongside English and Filipino , a standardized version of Tagalog . Spanish was briefly removed from official status in 1973 but reimplemented under
2987-608: The collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century. The oldest Latin texts with traces of Spanish come from mid-northern Iberia in the 9th century, and the first systematic written use of the language happened in Toledo , a prominent city of the Kingdom of Castile , in the 13th century. Spanish colonialism in the early modern period spurred the introduction of the language to overseas locations, most notably to
3090-619: The 129th International Brigade. The battery commander was Nathan Budish, and his Commissar was Sid Kaufman. Organized by Dr. Edward K. Barsky , the American Medical Bureau (AMB) recruited doctors, dentists, nurses, administrators, and ambulance drivers to support the Spanish Republic. In its fundraising events, the names 'American Medical Bureau to Save Spanish Democracy' and 'Medical Bureau & North American Committee to Aid Spanish Democracy' were also used. In
3193-404: The 2021–2022 school year alone. The local business process outsourcing industry has also helped boost the language's economic prospects. Today, while the actual number of proficient Spanish speakers is around 400,000, or under 0.5% of the population, a new generation of Spanish speakers in the Philippines has likewise emerged, though speaker estimates vary widely. Aside from standard Spanish,
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3296-595: The 20th century, Spanish was introduced to Equatorial Guinea and the Western Sahara , and to areas of the United States that had not been part of the Spanish Empire, such as Spanish Harlem in New York City . For details on borrowed words and other external influences upon Spanish, see Influences on the Spanish language . Spanish is the primary language in 20 countries worldwide. As of 2023, it
3399-781: The American Medical Bureau as nurses, doctors, and ambulance drivers. Seeking help to defeat the armed rebellion, the Republicans asked for volunteer fighters worldwide. The American volunteers, many of them Communists, started arriving in Spain in late 1936. Utilizing the name of Abraham Lincoln, they formed the Lincoln Battalion in January 1937 as part of the XV International Brigade . The battalion initially fielded three companies: two infantry and one machine gun. Sections of Latin American and Irish volunteers were also included, organized as
3502-465: The Americas. As a Romance language, Spanish is a descendant of Latin. Around 75% of modern Spanish vocabulary is Latin in origin, including Latin borrowings from Ancient Greek. Alongside English and French , it is also one of the most taught foreign languages throughout the world. Spanish is well represented in the humanities and social sciences . Spanish is also the third most used language on
3605-530: The Bell Tolls ), was the chairwoman of the extensive San Francisco branch of the organization. She and Fredericka Martin were the only women to receive officer commissions from the Spanish Republic. Evelyn Hutchins, an active member of the AMB, agitated for years to be a hospital driver on the front-lines. Still, Spanish Republican policies prevented women from serving on the front-lines until 1938, when Hutchins won
3708-648: The Centuria Guttieras and the Connolly Column , respectively. After less than two months of training, the Lincolns took action in February 1937. Many of the volunteers recalled that training was rudimentary: "They give me a gun, and they give me 100 bullets, and they send me to fight." The International Brigades were usually deployed as shock troops , resulting in high casualties. As an example,
3811-619: The Cordoba Front. Most of the American volunteers were transferred from the unit to the XVth Brigade before the Brunete Offensive. The Washington Battalion was the second American battalion. The unit was merged with the Lincoln Battalion during the Brunete Campaign. It was commanded by Mirko Marković, and its commissar was Dave Mates. The Mac Paps, as they were known, formed as the number of Canadiens fighting in
3914-654: The Equatoguinean education system and is the primary language used in government and business. Whereas it is not the mother tongue of virtually any of its speakers, the vast majority of the population is proficient in Spanish. The Instituto Cervantes estimates that 87.7% of the population is fluent in Spanish. The proportion of proficient Spanish speakers in Equatorial Guinea exceeds the proportion of proficient speakers in other West and Central African nations of their respective colonial languages. Spanish
4017-731: The Great (356-326 BC) are described as being the first example of shock cavalry being used in Europe. During the Paraguayan War (1864–1870), in which Paraguay fought against Brazil , Argentina , and Uruguay , the Paraguayans deployed shock troops (composed of a mixture of dismounted cavalry and fit men who could row and swim) armed with sabres, cutlasses, knives, bayonets, pistols, and hand grenades. They attacked small fortified positions and boarded Brazilian river steamers. During
4120-705: The Iberian Peninsula. These languages included Proto-Basque , Iberian , Lusitanian , Celtiberian and Gallaecian . The first documents to show traces of what is today regarded as the precursor of modern Spanish are from the 9th century. Throughout the Middle Ages and into the modern era , the most important influences on the Spanish lexicon came from neighboring Romance languages — Mozarabic ( Andalusi Romance ), Navarro-Aragonese , Leonese , Catalan/Valencian , Portuguese , Galician , Occitan , and later, French and Italian . Spanish also borrowed
4223-453: The Lincoln Battalion lost 22.5% of its strength by war's end. The Lincolns were especially depleted by the Battle of Jarama . On 27 February 1937, the unit lost two-thirds of its forces, including commander Robert Hale Merriman (who was badly wounded) in a futile assault on Nationalist positions. Merriman had begged Lieutenant Colonel Vladimir Ćopić (described as "rather inept") not to launch
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4326-530: The Lincoln and Washington battalions grew. Established on July 1, 1937 (Canada Day) at first there were more American soldiers in the ranks than Canadiens, but that 3-1 ratio soon shifted and the Mac Paps ended with a roll call of over 1500 Canadiens. Its first commander was Robert Thompson, an American veteran of the Lincoln Battalion. Joseph Dallet , also American, was the first Commissar. The Regiment de Tren
4429-577: The Lincoln-Washington Battalion was alerted for service at Teruel . The XVth Brigade was deployed to hold the recently captured city of Teruel against the expected Nationalist counterattack. The winter of 1937/38 was among the coldest on record, and many troops suffered frostbite during the campaign. The Lincoln-Washington's initially held positions overlooking Teruel that they called the North Pole. Later, they moved down into
4532-468: The Lincoln-Washington Battalion. While several of these volunteers also held citizenship in other countries, they identified primarily as Americans. Approximately 1,681 also served in the Mackenzie-Papineau ("Mac-Pap") Battalion once massive losses in both battalions led to mergers and transfers of men. Many of the volunteers were either first or second-generation immigrants, and the battalion
4635-727: The Nationalist forces did not transfer any forces away from Teruel. March found the Lincoln-Washington in reserve positions in Aragon . Their rest proved short-lived as the XVth Brigade was swept up in the disaster known as "The Retreats". Nationalist forces punched through the Republican lines and drove to the sea, cutting the Republic in two. The Lincoln-Washington Battalion was dispersed, reformed, and dispersed again in
4738-426: The Nationalist troops holding that critical piece of terrain. The Lincoln Battalion's commander Oliver Law —the first black commander of an integrated American army unit—was killed during this action. The XVth Brigade again sustained severe losses. Due to the high rate of casualties, the Lincoln and Washington Battalions were merged. Thereafter, the unit was officially known as the Lincoln-Washington Battalion, though it
4841-424: The Old Spanish sibilants) for details. The Gramática de la lengua castellana , written in Salamanca in 1492 by Elio Antonio de Nebrija , was the first grammar written for a modern European language. According to a popular anecdote, when Nebrija presented it to Queen Isabella I , she asked him what was the use of such a work, and he answered that language is the instrument of empire. In his introduction to
4944-404: The Republicans in August 1936. Over one ship per day arrived at Spain's Mediterranean ports carrying munitions, rifles, machine guns, hand grenades, artillery, and trucks. With the cargo came Soviet agents, technicians, instructors, and propagandists. The Communist International quickly started to organize the International Brigades , taking care to conceal or minimize the Communist character of
5047-407: The Retreats, Spanish troops were integrated across all battalions and comprised most of the XVth Brigade's strength in its last action. In July 1938, the rebuilt Lincoln-Washington Battalion participated in the Ebro offensive . The XVth Brigade crossed the Ebro and rapidly advanced across the territory they had retreated through in March and April. However, the Nationalist forces quickly rallied, and
5150-424: The Spanish-speaking world, Spanish is called not only español but also castellano (Castilian), the language from the Kingdom of Castile , contrasting it with other languages spoken in Spain such as Galician , Basque , Asturian , Catalan/Valencian , Aragonese , Occitan and other minor languages. The Spanish Constitution of 1978 uses the term castellano to define the official language of
5253-549: The U.S. Government was not issuing visas to Spain as part of a non-intervention policy regarding the Spanish Civil War. Few American volunteers arrived after September 1937. Battalion members fought for many different reasons. For the 85 African-American members of the battalion, the Nationalist forces represented some of the same injustices they faced back in the U.S. The Nationalist army primarily consisted of colonial troops from Spain's African colonies or of conscripted blacks who were desperate to escape poverty. Furthermore, Franco
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#17327804841215356-502: The U.S. population were of Hispanic or Hispanic American by origin. In turn, 41.8 million people in the United States aged five or older speak Spanish at home, or about 13% of the population. Spanish predominates in the unincorporated territory of Puerto Rico , where it is also an official language along with English. Spanish is by far the most common second language in the country, with over 50 million total speakers if non-native or second-language speakers are included. While English
5459-539: The United States, the AMB staged events to shift public opinion away from supporting the aid boycott to the Spanish Republic imposed by the American government following the agreements of the Non-intervention Committee . In Spain, the AMB was assigned to hospitals and medical centers of the Spanish Military Medical Services ( Cuerpo de Sanidad ), such as the Gómez Ulla Military Hospital in Madrid, and also to front-line locations. AMB members, who also included women, treated both international as well as Spanish combatants. By
5562-399: The administration of Ferdinand Marcos two months later. It remained an official language until the ratification of the present constitution in 1987, in which it was re-designated as a voluntary and optional auxiliary language. Additionally, the constitution, in its Article XIV, stipulates that the Government shall provide the people of the Philippines with a Spanish-language translation of
5665-419: The age of 100. Members of the XV International Brigade adapted a song by Alex McDade to reflect the losses at the Battle of Jarama . Sung to the tune of the traditional country song Red River Valley , it became their anthem. In 2007, the exhibit Facing Fascism: New York and the Spanish Civil War at the Museum of the City of New York examined the role that New Yorkers played in the conflict, as well as
5768-448: The approximately 3,000 American volunteers who went to Spain, 681 were killed in action or died of wounds or sickness. The Spanish Civil War was fought from 17 July 1936 to 28 March 1939. The combatants were the Republicans—a political alliance referred to as the Popular Front , which was loyal to the Spanish Republic (hence, also referred to as the Loyalists)—and the Nationalists , a rebel movement led by General Francisco Franco, which
5871-527: The armed forces. After World War II ended, veterans of the Lincoln Battalion were denied military enlistment and government jobs. The House Un-American Activities Committee blacklisted the names of all veterans of the Lincoln Battalion. The Brigade was also included in the Attorney General's List of Subversive Organizations on April 29, 1953. Veterans were fired, spied upon, harassed, labeled communists to employers, denied housing, and refused passports for decades. The FBI has denied that it maintained any files on
5974-400: The attack, fearing slaughter. Ćopić insisted it proceed and promised air and armored support, which never came. Merriman was almost immediately wounded, and the Lincolns suffered 136 deaths. The battalion remained in combat and was slowly rebuilt while maintaining its front-line positions. The unit was finally pulled out of the lines for a brief rest before the offensive at Brunete . Joined by
6077-429: The attack. The remaining battalions were supposed to follow the tanks, but the attack fell apart because they did not coordinate their advance with the infantry. Casualties were especially heavy in the 24th and MacKenzie-Papineau Battalions. After Fuentes, the XVth Brigade was pulled back to a reserve position, receiving its first extended period of rest and relaxation since going into combat at Jarama . In late December,
6180-402: The battalion were actively communist. It is certain, though, that the vast majority of the commanding officers were communists. Unlike most of their European counterparts, the Americans in the International Brigade were more likely to be students who had never seen military service before the Spanish Civil War. Not all combatants were motivated by ideological or political concerns. As Mo Fishman,
6283-416: The city. During January, the Nationalists launched coordinated attacks against the Republican defenses. The XVth Brigade's British Battalion and MacKenzie-Papineau Battalion both lost an entire company attempting to hold the territory. Nationalist superiority in both numbers and materiel eventually pushed the XVth Brigade out of Teruel. The XV BDE, including the Lincoln-Washington Battalion, were pulled out of
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#17327804841216386-566: The classic hispanus or hispanicus took the suffix -one from Vulgar Latin , as happened with other words such as bretón (Breton) or sajón (Saxon). Like the other Romance languages , the Spanish language evolved from Vulgar Latin , which was brought to the Iberian Peninsula by the Romans during the Second Punic War , beginning in 210 BC. Several pre-Roman languages (also called Paleohispanic languages )—some distantly related to Latin as Indo-European languages , and some that are not related at all—were previously spoken in
6489-446: The consonant written b (a bilabial with plosive and fricative allophones). In modern Spanish, there is no difference between the pronunciation of orthographic b and v . Typical of Spanish (as also of neighboring Gascon extending as far north as the Gironde estuary , and found in a small area of Calabria ), attributed by some scholars to a Basque substratum was the mutation of Latin initial f into h- whenever it
6592-404: The country's constitution. In recent years changing attitudes among non-Spanish speaking Filipinos have helped spur a revival of the language, and starting in 2009 Spanish was reintroduced as part of the basic education curriculum in a number of public high schools, becoming the largest foreign language program offered by the public school system, with over 7,000 students studying the language in
6695-531: The end of the war, a majority of both the Spanish aid committees and the leadership councils of the AMB were women. Many women leaders in the aid movement were wives of prominent American leftists or soldiers in the Lincoln Battalion. Katherine Duncan, wife to Governor La Follette's secretary, and Peggy Dennis, a communist party leader, were leaders in the active Madison, Wisconsin chapter. Marion Merriman, wife to Abraham Lincoln Battalion commander Robert Merriman (the supposed inspiration of Hemingway's hero in For Whom
6798-434: The enemy front and rear, bypassing and avoiding what enemy strong points they could, and engaging to their best advantage when and where they were forced to, leaving decisive engagement against bypassed units to following heavier infantry. The primary goal of these detached units was to infiltrate the enemy's lines and break their cohesion as much as possible. These formations became known as Stoßtruppen , or shock troops, and
6901-454: The enterprise. In keeping with Popular Front culture, the Republican cause was portrayed as a struggle for progressive democracy, and the American soldiers in Spain named their units the Abraham Lincoln Battalion, the George Washington Battalion, and the John Brown Battery. Other countries used similar patriotic names, e.g., the Garibaldi Battalion from Italy. Besides the Americans who volunteered as soldiers, another 125 men and women served with
7004-422: The farewell activities, including a parade in Barcelona where the International Brigades were officially disbanded. Most American volunteers returned to the US between December 1938 and January 1939. American POWs were released after the fall of the Republican government, although the last POWs did not arrive in the United States until September 1939. 3,015 Americans manned the Lincoln Battalion and its successor,
7107-450: The following table: Spanish is marked by palatalization of the Latin double consonants ( geminates ) nn and ll (thus Latin annum > Spanish año , and Latin anellum > Spanish anillo ). The consonant written u or v in Latin and pronounced [w] in Classical Latin had probably " fortified " to a bilabial fricative /β/ in Vulgar Latin. In early Spanish (but not in Catalan or Portuguese) it merged with
7210-466: The former British colony of Belize (known until 1973 as British Honduras ) where English is the sole official language, according to the 2022 census, 54% of the total population are able to speak the language. Due to its proximity to Spanish-speaking countries and small existing native Spanish speaking minority, Trinidad and Tobago has implemented Spanish language teaching into its education system. The Trinidadian and Tobagonian government launched
7313-454: The grammar, dated 18 August 1492, Nebrija wrote that "... language was always the companion of empire." From the 16th century onwards, the language was taken to the Spanish-discovered America and the Spanish East Indies via Spanish colonization of America . Miguel de Cervantes , author of Don Quixote , is such a well-known reference in the world that Spanish is often called la lengua de Cervantes ("the language of Cervantes"). In
7416-583: The heroic example of democracy's solidarity and universality in the face of the vile and accommodating spirit of those who interpret democratic principles with their eyes on hoards of wealth or corporate shares which they want to safeguard from all risk." Surviving Americans from across Spain were sent to Ripoll, where the International Red Cross and the US government verified their nationality before repatriating them. Many were able to participate in
7519-450: The internet by number of users after English and Chinese and the second most used language by number of websites after English. Spanish is used as an official language by many international organizations , including the United Nations , European Union , Organization of American States , Union of South American Nations , Community of Latin American and Caribbean States , African Union , among others. In Spain and some other parts of
7622-549: The language's hegemony in an intensely centralising Spanish state were established from the 18th century onward. Other European territories in which it is also widely spoken include Gibraltar and Andorra . Spanish is also spoken by immigrant communities in other European countries, such as the United Kingdom , France , Italy , and Germany . Spanish is an official language of the European Union . Today,
7725-414: The line for rest after three weeks in the lines. But before the units could get to the rest areas, their trains and trucks were stopped, and they were redeployed to the front, where they participated in an offensive that was expected to relieve some of the pressure on Teruel. In a dawn attack, the XVth Brigade attacked a series of Nationalist fortifications at Segura de los Baños . While the attack succeeded,
7828-612: The main Russian Army could then exploit. The Russian Army had also formed hunter commando units in 1886 and used them in World War I to protect against ambushes, to perform reconnaissance and for low-intensity fights in no-man's-land. The von Hutier tactics ( infiltration tactics ) called for special infantry assault units to be detached from the main lines and sent to infiltrate enemy lines, supported by shorter and sharper (than usual for WWI) artillery fire missions targeting both
7931-694: The majority of the Spanish speakers live in Hispanic America . Nationally, Spanish is the official language—either de facto or de jure —of Argentina , Bolivia (co-official with 36 indigenous languages), Chile , Colombia , Costa Rica , Cuba , Dominican Republic , Ecuador , El Salvador , Guatemala , Honduras , Mexico (co-official with 63 indigenous languages), Nicaragua , Panama , Paraguay (co-official with Guaraní ), Peru (co-official with Quechua , Aymara , and "the other indigenous languages"), Puerto Rico (co-official with English), Uruguay , and Venezuela . Spanish language has
8034-483: The newly trained George Washington Battalion, the XVth Brigade took action at Villanueva de la Cañada on the second day of the Brunete Offensive and secured the town after hard fighting. The Washingtons attacked the north end of the village, while the British and Dimitrov battalions attacked from the south. The XVth Brigade then deployed against "Mosquito Ridge", but despite repeated assaults, they could not dislodge
8137-734: The northwest of the African mainland. The Spanish spoken in the Canary Islands traces its origins back to the Castilian conquest in the 15th century , and, in addition to a resemblance to Western Andalusian speech patterns, it also features strong influence from the Spanish varieties spoken in the Americas, which in turn have also been influenced historically by Canarian Spanish. The Spanish spoken in North Africa by native bilingual speakers of Arabic or Berber who also speak Spanish as
8240-593: The offensive stalled. The Republican troops returned to the defensive, contesting the area captured in the offensive. On 21 September 1938, Juan Negrín , the Spanish prime minister , announced to the League of Nations the unilateral withdrawal of the International Brigades from battle. Juan Negrín was trying to negotiate peace as his only hope. He had been informed that the International Brigades were no longer of military value, Although he maintained
8343-654: The other hand, currently uses the term español in its publications. However, from 1713 to 1923, it called the language castellano . The Diccionario panhispánico de dudas (a language guide published by the Royal Spanish Academy) states that, although the Royal Spanish Academy prefers to use the term español in its publications when referring to the Spanish language, both terms— español and castellano —are regarded as synonymous and equally valid. The term castellano
8446-527: The political and social ideologies that motivated them to participate in activities ranging from rallying support, fundraising, and relief aid, to fighting—and sometimes dying—on the front lines in Spain. Spanish language Spanish ( español ) or Castilian ( castellano ) is a Romance language of the Indo-European language family that evolved from the Vulgar Latin spoken on
8549-533: The population. Many northern Moroccans have rudimentary knowledge of Spanish, with Spanish being particularly significant in areas adjacent to Ceuta and Melilla. Spanish also has a presence in the education system of the country (through either selected education centers implementing Spain's education system, primarily located in the North, or the availability of Spanish as foreign language subject in secondary education). In Western Sahara , formerly Spanish Sahara ,
8652-617: The provision of arms for the European resistance organizations . During the Second World War , the U.S. government considered former members of the brigade to be security risks. FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover requested that President Roosevelt ensure that former ALB members fighting in U.S. Forces in World War II not be considered for commissioning as officers or to have any positive distinction conferred upon them. In 1947,
8755-804: The right to serve as a driver. During and after the Spanish Civil War, members of the brigade were generally viewed as supporters of the Soviet Union . After returning to the United States, many joined the Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade (VALB). However, the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact caused a division among the Lincoln Brigade veterans. Some of them, adopting the official Communist line, joined with
8858-537: The term español (Spanish). According to the Royal Spanish Academy, español derives from the Occitan word espaignol and that, in turn, derives from the Vulgar Latin * hispaniolus ('of Hispania'). Hispania was the Roman name for the entire Iberian Peninsula . There are other hypotheses apart from the one suggested by the Royal Spanish Academy. Spanish philologist Ramón Menéndez Pidal suggested that
8961-444: The theories of Ramón Menéndez Pidal , local sociolects of Vulgar Latin evolved into Spanish, in the north of Iberia, in an area centered in the city of Burgos , and this dialect was later brought to the city of Toledo , where the written standard of Spanish was first developed, in the 13th century. In this formative stage, Spanish developed a strongly differing variant from its close cousin, Leonese , and, according to some authors,
9064-640: The third most used language on the Internet , after English and Chinese. Spanish is the official language of Spain . Upon the emergence of the Castilian Crown as the dominant power in the Iberian Peninsula by the end of the Middle Ages, the Romance vernacular associated with this polity became increasingly used in instances of prestige and influence, and the distinction between "Castilian" and "Spanish" started to become blurred. Hard policies imposing
9167-571: The veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade were placed on the Attorney General's List of Subversive Organizations. The veterans would be one of only five groups that would stay intact to at least 1970 after receiving this designation. Once the United States entered World War II, the Federal Bureau of Investigation recommended that all veterans of the Lincoln Battalion be denied military promotion to prevent communists from rising in
9270-493: The veterans of the Lincoln Battalion, but veterans groups claim that the federal government is merely covering up its crimes. In 1985, in an interview with Scripps-Howard editors, President Ronald Reagan said that most Americans believed that their fellow Americans who fought with the Loyalist forces were on the wrong side. The last known surviving member of the Lincoln Battalion, Delmer Berg , died on February 28, 2016, at
9373-585: The whole of Spain, in contrast to las demás lenguas españolas (lit. "the other Spanish languages "). Article III reads as follows: El castellano es la lengua española oficial del Estado. ... Las demás lenguas españolas serán también oficiales en las respectivas Comunidades Autónomas... Castilian is the official Spanish language of the State. ... The other Spanish languages shall also be official in their respective Autonomous Communities... The Royal Spanish Academy ( Real Academia Española ), on
9476-506: The world's fourth-most spoken language overall after English , Mandarin Chinese, and Hindustani ( Hindi - Urdu ); and the world's most widely spoken Romance language. The country with the largest population of native speakers is Mexico . Spanish is part of the Ibero-Romance language group , in which the language is also known as Castilian ( castellano ). The group evolved from several dialects of Vulgar Latin in Iberia after
9579-461: Was a hard battle with house-to-house fighting that produced heavy casualties. After Belchite, the XVth Brigade was again reorganized. The newly formed Canadian MacKenzie-Papineau Battalion joined the brigade, and the veteran Dimitrov Battalion departed. A majority of the volunteers in the "Mac-Paps" were Americans. On 13 October 1937, the XVth Brigade fought at Fuentes de Ebro . Men from the brigade's 24th (Spanish) Battalion rode Russian tanks into
9682-457: Was a transportation unit supporting the Republican forces. The Second Squadron was predominately American. The commander was Durward Clark. This unit's official title was the 14th Battery, 2nd Group, 11th Regiment. It was a heavy artillery unit operating 155mm guns. The battery commander was Arthur Timpson, with Jack Waters as Commissar. Initially, this unit operated 155mm guns but was later equipped with 45mm anti-tank guns, which were included in
9785-457: Was backed by the fascist countries in Europe . The Spanish Civil War's triggering event was the coup of July 1936 in which the Nationalists attempted to overthrow the elected Republican government. On 26 July, less than ten days after the coup started, an international Communist conference was held in Prague to formulate plans to assist the Republicans. The conference attendees decided to raise
9888-689: Was developed in the cities of Toledo , in the 13th to 16th centuries, and Madrid , from the 1570s. The development of the Spanish sound system from that of Vulgar Latin exhibits most of the changes that are typical of Western Romance languages , including lenition of intervocalic consonants (thus Latin vīta > Spanish vida ). The diphthongization of Latin stressed short e and o —which occurred in open syllables in French and Italian, but not at all in Catalan or Portuguese—is found in both open and closed syllables in Spanish, as shown in
9991-622: Was distinguished by a heavy Basque influence (see Iberian Romance languages ). This distinctive dialect spread to southern Spain with the advance of the Reconquista , and meanwhile gathered a sizable lexical influence from the Arabic of Al-Andalus , much of it indirectly, through the Romance Mozarabic dialects (some 4,000 Arabic -derived words, make up around 8% of the language today). The written standard for this new language
10094-713: Was followed by a vowel that did not diphthongize. The h- , still preserved in spelling, is now silent in most varieties of the language, although in some Andalusian and Caribbean dialects, it is still aspirated in some words. Because of borrowings from Latin and neighboring Romance languages, there are many f -/ h - doublets in modern Spanish: Fernando and Hernando (both Spanish for "Ferdinand"), ferrero and herrero (both Spanish for "smith"), fierro and hierro (both Spanish for "iron"), and fondo and hondo (both words pertaining to depth in Spanish, though fondo means "bottom", while hondo means "deep"); additionally, hacer ("to make")
10197-478: Was more commonly referred to as the Lincoln Battalion. From August–October 1937, the Lincoln-Washington Battalion fought in a series of battles in the Aragon Offensive . It fought well at both Quinto and Belchite . The engagement at Quinto was a combined arms action as the Lincoln-Washington Battalion was led into their second assault on the town by Soviet tanks, T-26 tanks, and Soviet crews. Belchite
10300-661: Was one of many mixed brigades that comprised the International Brigades . The Lincoln Battalion was formed by American volunteers who served as soldiers, technicians, medical personnel, and aviators alongside the Spanish Republican forces against the Nazi -supported forces of General Francisco Franco and his Nationalist faction . Unlike the segregated U.S. Army in the 1930s, the Lincoln Battalion integrated white and black soldiers on an equal basis. Of
10403-543: Was overwhelmingly white. The average age of Americans who served in Spain was 27. Still, there were volunteers as young as age 16. The volunteers came from 46 out of 48 states in the U.S. New York City provided the single largest number of recruits, with 1/5th to 1/3rd being of or formerly from the city before going to Spain. Of the volunteers who could speak Spanish, most were from either New York City or Ybor City located in Tampa, Florida . Americans who applied were screened by
10506-462: Was revoked by Michel Temer after the impeachment of Dilma Rousseff . In many border towns and villages along Paraguay and Uruguay, a mixed language known as Portuñol is spoken. Equatorial Guinea is the only Spanish-speaking country located entirely in Africa, with the language introduced during the Spanish colonial period . Enshrined in the constitution as an official language (alongside French and Portuguese), Spanish features prominently in
10609-535: Was supported by the Italian army and air force, which had only recently conquered the African nation of Ethiopia. Several leaders characterized the war as a crusade against the "Africanization" of Spain, although it was the Nationalists who relied on African fighters. Langston Hughes , a journalist for the Baltimore Afro-American at the time, wrote, "Give Franco a hood, and he would be a member of
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