The Spanish Civil War

Spanish Civil War

The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...

, fought between 1936–39, provided an opportunity for many European countries to evaluate new technologies and tactics, including armored warfare. At the beginning of the war, the Nationalist and Popular Fronts

Second Spanish Republic

The Second Spanish Republic was the government of Spain between April 14 1931, and its destruction by a military rebellion, led by General Francisco Franco....

 each possessed only five Renault FT-17

Renault FT-17

The Renault FT, frequently referred to in post-WWI literature as the "FT-17" or "FT17" , was a French light tank; it is among the most revolutionary and influential tank designs in history...

 light tanks, although these were soon reinforced with imported materiel

Materiel

Materiel is a term used in English to refer to the equipment and supplies in military and commercial supply chain management....

. Italy began supplying Nationalist Spain with L3/35

L3/35

The L3/35 or Carro Veloce CV-35 was an Italian tank used before and during World War II. Although designated a light tank by the Italian Army, its turretless configuration, weight and firepower make it closer to contemporary tankettes....

 light tanks in August 1936. The Soviet Union

Soviet Union

The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

 soon followed suit by supplying the Popular Front with T-26

T-26

The T-26 tank was a Soviet light infantry tank used during many conflicts of the 1930s as well as during World War II. It was a development of the British Vickers 6-Ton tank and is widely considered one of the most successful tank designs of the 1930s....

 tanks in October 1936. Germany sent its first shipments of Panzer I

Panzer I

The Panzer I was a light tank produced in Germany in the 1930s. The name is short for the German ' , abbreviated . The tank's official German ordnance inventory designation was SdKfz 101 .Design of the Panzer I began in 1932 and mass production in 1934...

 light tanks to the Nationalist Front in September 1936. During the war, France and Poland provided the Popular Front with a number of additional FT-17 light tanks. A considerable number of tanks delivered to the Popular Front were subsequently captured; many of these were put into service against their former owners.

The Nationalist and Popular armies also designed and manufactured a number of their own tanks. The Nationalists, for example, began the war with three Trubia A4 prototypes, manufactured before the beginning of the conflict. They also completed the first prototype of the Verdeja light tank. This was designed to overcome the shortcomings of tanks provided by the Germans and the Italians, as well as Soviet tanks captured from the Popular Front. Popular Front production of armored vehicles was segmented throughout different areas of Spain. In the north, between 15 to 20 Carro Trubia-Naval tanks were manufactured at the factory in Sestao, conversely the Trubia factory had built only a single model Landesa tank. In Cataluña

Catalonia

Catalonia is an autonomous community in northeastern Spain, with the official status of a "nationality" of Spain. Catalonia comprises four provinces: Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, and Tarragona. Its capital and largest city is Barcelona. Catalonia covers an area of 32,114 km² and has an...

, two tanks were produced by the Maquinaría Moderna factory in Sant Sadurní d'Anoia

Sant Sadurní d'Anoia

Sant Sadurní d'Anoia is a municipality in the comarca of the Alt Penedès in Spain, and the centre of production of a sparkling wine known as cava. It is situated in the north-east of the Penedès Depression at the confluence of the Avernó river and the Anoia river...

. Though the Popular Front designed and manufactured many more armored fighting vehicles than the Nationalists, this ultimately worked in the Nationalists favor as the factories and their production lines were captured intact during the war.

Produced and deployed by the Nationalist Front

Tank	Location of construction	Number produced	Year
Mercier	Zaragoza Zaragoza Zaragoza , also called Saragossa in English, is the capital city of the Zaragoza Province and of the autonomous community of Aragon, Spain...	1	1936
Trubia A4	Oviedo Oviedo Oviedo is the capital city of the Principality of Asturias in northern Spain. It is also the name of the municipality that contains the city....	3	1928, 1931, 1934
Carro de Combate de Infantería	Bilbao Bilbao Bilbao ) is a Spanish municipality, capital of the province of Biscay, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country. With a population of 353,187 , it is the largest city of its autonomous community and the tenth largest in Spain...	1	1937
Verdeja	Zaragoza	1	1938

Produced and deployed by the Popular Front

Tank	Location of construction	Number produced	Year
Carro de Combate	Sant Sadurní d'Anoia Sant Sadurní d'Anoia Sant Sadurní d'Anoia is a municipality in the comarca of the Alt Penedès in Spain, and the centre of production of a sparkling wine known as cava. It is situated in the north-east of the Penedès Depression at the confluence of the Avernó river and the Anoia river...	2	1937
Landesa	Trubia	1	1936
Trubia A4	Oviedo	1	1934
Trubia-Naval	Sestao Sestao Sestao is a town and municipality of 30,000 inhabitants located in the province of Biscay, in the autonomous community of Basque Country, northern Spain...	15–20	1936–37

Tanks supplied by foreign powers

Tank	Nation of origin	Number supplied	Side supplied to
BT-5	Soviet Union	50	Popular Front
Fiat 3000 Fiat 3000 The Fiat 3000, whose design was based on that of the French Renault FT-17, was the first tank to be produced in series in Italy. It was to be the standard tank of the emerging Italian armored units in World War I.-History:...	Italy	1	Popular Front
Renault FT-17 Renault FT-17 The Renault FT, frequently referred to in post-WWI literature as the "FT-17" or "FT17" , was a French light tank; it is among the most revolutionary and influential tank designs in history...	France & Poland	32–64	Nationalist and Popular Front
L3/33 / L3/35 L3/35 The L3/35 or Carro Veloce CV-35 was an Italian tank used before and during World War II. Although designated a light tank by the Italian Army, its turretless configuration, weight and firepower make it closer to contemporary tankettes....	Italy	155	Nationalist Front
Panzer I Panzer I The Panzer I was a light tank produced in Germany in the 1930s. The name is short for the German ' , abbreviated . The tank's official German ordnance inventory designation was SdKfz 101 .Design of the Panzer I began in 1932 and mass production in 1934...	Germany	122	Nationalist Front
T-26 T-26 The T-26 tank was a Soviet light infantry tank used during many conflicts of the 1930s as well as during World War II. It was a development of the British Vickers 6-Ton tank and is widely considered one of the most successful tank designs of the 1930s....	Soviet Union	281	Popular Front
Vickers Six-Ton Vickers 6-Ton The Vickers 6-Ton Tank or Vickers Mark E was a British light tank designed as a private project at Vickers. It was not purchased by the British Army, but was picked up by a large number of foreign armed forces and was copied almost exactly by the Soviets as the T-26. It was also the direct...	Bolivia	1	Popular Front

Tanks captured by the Nationalist Front

Tank	Nation of origin	Number captured	Number put back into service
BT-5	Soviet Union	unknown	at least 1
FT-17	France	unknown	24
T-26	Soviet Union	178	approx. 50