Memorial Consortium of the spaces of the Battle of the Ebro
In 2001, the Battle of the Ebro Memorial Spaces Consortium was created. He has been in charge of building a network of interpretation centers and recovering emblematic spaces linked to the battle. The 115 days interpretation center (Corbera d’Ebre) is the gateway to the spaces of the Battle of the Ebro and the head of a network of smaller interpretation centers, located in Batea, La Fatarella. the Pinell de Brai and Vilalba dels Arcs.
Interpretation centers
115 days. Corbera d’Ebre
The Battle of the Ebro was an event in which the lives and ideals of many people were tragically put into play. The memory of those events has been collected in the different areas of this permanent exhibition. The night of Sant Jaume is the introductory field and transports us, through sensations, to the spaces of battle. The passage of the river explains the objectives of both armies, while The preparations for the offensive and 115 days of fighting narrate the battle, taking into account the military, political and territorial factors. The last day reflects on Republican defeat and exile, and finally, The Wounded Land and Making Memory, Making Future appeal to reflection and emotions to foster reconciliation with our past.
Soldiers in the trenches. Vilalba dels Arcs
The trenches were key for the republican army, and more so in the battle of the Ebro when it had to defend stable positions during many of the 115 days of fighting.
The two exhibition areas make us understand and feel to what extent this conditioned the life of the fighter:
Being a soldier attends to the fundamental activities of battle, such as defending, attacking, or guarding.
Being a person enlightens us about everyday life when there were no confrontations: what was personal hygiene like? How did soldiers eat, drink, or write?
Blood Hospitals. Batea
While the Francoists adapted the pre-existing health care system, the Republicans had to innovate it to make up for material shortcomings.
The space has four areas:
Wounded at the front, on the battlefield attention; War Medicine, showing Republican innovations; Health personnel, around the forms of mobilization of this contingent and, finally, Two confronted units, that compares the health care of the 35th republican division with the one of the 50th pro-Franco division.
The Voices of the Front. Pinell de Brai
How did the press influence the battle? What messages were used? The five areas of the space elaborate answers:
Inside the front, it shows the slogans of political commissars and chaplains; Among the enemy fronts, propaganda seeking desertions on the other side. Between the front and the rear it deals with communication between military and civilians; In the rear, the insistent search for news by the civilian population. Finally, Between the Foreigner and the Battle analyzes what the international opinion was about the conflict.
Internationals on the Ebro. La Fatarella
For the government of the Republic, the Ebro offensive was carried out with the clear aim, among other things, of resisting while waiting for the outbreak of a conflict on a European scale. In fact, international participation has always played an uneven role in the clashes between the two sides. The center is divided into three areas: rapid internationalization, the dimensions of international participation and, finally, the Munich Pact and the outcome of the conflict.
