14th Division (Spain)

The unit was partly created from the Mera Column, led by Cipriano Mera and elements from other Mixed Brigades.{{Sfn|Alexander|1999|p=216}} The new division was integrated – together with the 11th and 12th divisions – in the new 4th Army Corps, under the command of Enrique Jurado Barrio.{{Sfn|Thomas|1976|p=648}} The 12th International Brigade — within which the Garibaldi Battalion was integrated – was also assigned to the 14th Division.{{Sfn|Thomas|1976|p=648}}

Shortly after its creation, the 14th Division, under Vicente Rojo Lluch{{sfn|Thomas|2001|p=580}} faced the Battle of Guadalajara. With the support of the other republican divisions, the enemy attack was stopped and a counter-attack began. On 18 March the division, operating on the right flank of the republican front, and the 11th Division of Enrique Lister, with the support of 70 Soviet T-26 tanks, launched an attack and seized the town of Brihuega; the nationalist forces fled in disarray, leaving behind prisoners and war equipment.{{Sfn|Alexander|1999|p=219}}{{Sfn|Thomas|1976|p=632}} By the end of March the front stabilized after the Republicans managed to recover a large part of the territory.

In July 1937, facing the Battle of Brunete, the unit was initially placed in reserve. It intervened towards the end of the fighting, after the defeat of Lister's 11th Division. On 24 July it was scheduled to relieve Líster's forces from the front line, although the fighting prevented it.{{Sfn|Martínez Bande|1972|pp=197–198}} On the morning of 25 July units of the 14th Division launched a counterattack to the southwest of Brunete, counting on the support of Republican aviation.{{Sfn|Castells Peig|1974|p=245}}{{Sfn|Beevor|2005|p=421}} Despite the resistance offered by the 14th Division, it failed to maintain its positions. Once the fighting in Brunete ended, the division returned to the Guadalajara front, where it remained for the following months without intervening in relevant operations.

In the spring of 1938 it was sent to the Levante front as a reserve unit, acting as relief for other units broken by enemy offensives.

In March 1939 some of its units participated in the Casado coup. This was the case of the 70th Mixed Brigade of Bernabé López Calle, which on the morning of 6 March occupied various strategic points in Madrid, such as the Alameda de Osuna, the Ministry of Finance and the Telefónica building.{{Sfn|Bahamonde Magro|Cervera Gil|1999|p=378}} Members of the 35th and 50th mixed brigades also took part in support of the rebellious forces. The 14th Division dissolved itself shortly after, with the end of the war.

;Commanders

• Vicente Rojo Lluch;{{sfn|Thomas|2001|p=580}}
• Cipriano Mera;{{Sfn|Alpert|2013|p=343}}
• Francisco Jiménez Durán;
• Rafael Gutiérrez Caro;{{Sfn|Martínez Bande|1981|p=168}}{{Sfn|Llarch|1976|p=158}}
• Joaquín Martínez Sánchez{{Sfn|Llarch|1976|p=108}}

;Commissars

• Mariano Valle Soria, of the CNT;{{Sfn|Álvarez|1989|p=180}}{{Sfn|Llarch|1976|p=96}}

;Chiefs of Staff

• Antonio Verardini Díez de Ferreti{{Sfn|Ruiz|2014|p=288}}

• List of Spanish Republican divisions
• Mixed Brigades
• Mera Column

{{reflist}}

• {{cite book |last=Alexander |first= Robert J. |title= The Anarchists in the Spanish Civil War. Volumen I |year=1999 |publisher= Janus Publishing Company Lim |isbn=978-1-85756-412-9}}
• {{cite book| last=Alpert |first= Michael |title= El Ejército Republicano en la Guerra Civil |publisher= Cambridge University Press |year=2013 |isbn=978-84-3230-682-2|language=es}}
• {{cite book |first= Santiago |last=Álvarez |title= Los comisarios políticos en el Ejército Popular de la República |publisher= Ediciós do Castro |year= 1989|language=es}}
• {{cite book |last1=Bahamonde Magro|first1=Ángel|last2=Cervera Gil|first2=Javier|title=Así terminó la Guerra de España|year=1999|publisher=Marcial Pons|location=Madrid|isbn=84-95379-00-7|language=es}}
• {{cite book |last=Beevor |first= Antony |title= La Guerra civil española |publisher= Editorial Crítica |year= 2005|language=es}}
• {{cite book| first= Andreu |last=Castells Peig |title= Las brigadas internacionales de la guerra de España |publisher= Editorial Ariel |year= 1974|language=es}}
• {{cite book | last=Engel | first= Carlos | title= Historia de las Brigadas Mixtas del Ejército Popular de la República | year= 1999 | publisher= Almena |location= Madrid |isbn=84-922644-7-0|language=es}}
• {{cite book |first= Joan |last=Llarch |title= Cipriano Mera. Un anarquista en la guerra de España |publisher= Euros |year= 1976|language=es}}
• {{cite book |first=José Manuel |last=Martínez Bande |title=La Ofensiva sobre Segovia y la batalla de Brunete |publisher= San Martín |location= Madrid |year=1972}}
• {{cite book |last=Martínez Bande|first=José Manuel |title=La batalla de Pozoblanco y el cierre de la bolsa de Mérida |year=1981 |publisher=Editorial San Martín |location= Madrid|language=es}}
• {{cite book | last=Ruiz | first= Julius | title= The 'Red Terror' and the Spanish Civil War: Revolutionary Violence in Madrid | year= 2014 | publisher= Cambridge University Press }}
• {{cite book| last=Salas Larrazábal |first=Ramón |title=Historia del Ejército Popular de la República |year=2006 |publisher=La Esfera de los Libros |isbn=84-9734-465-0|language=es}}
• {{cite book |last=Thomas |first=Hugh |year=1976 |title=Historia de la Guerra Civil Española |publisher=Círculo de Lectores |location=Barcelona |isbn=9788497598323 |language=es}}
• {{cite book |last=Thomas |first=Hugh |author-link=Hugh Thomas (historian) |title=The Spanish Civil War |publisher=Penguin Books |location=London |year=2001 |isbn=978-0-14-101161-5 }}
• {{cite book| first= Cristóbal |last=Zaragoza |title= Ejército Popular y Militares de la República, 1936-1939 |publisher= Ed. Planeta |location= Barcelona |year= 1983|language=es}}

{{Divisions of the Spanish Republic|state=expanded}}

Category:Military units and formations established in 1937

Category:Military units and formations disestablished in 1939

Category:Divisions of Spain

Category:Military units and formations of the Spanish Civil War (Republican faction)

Category:Military history of Spain

Category:Armed Forces of the Second Spanish Republic

Category:1937 establishments in Spain

Category:1937 disestablishments in Spain

Category:Militarized anarchist formations