Geo answer

A battle that took place almost 70 years ago in Spain sets the stage for today’s Geo Quiz. This battle was one of the last during Spain’s Civil War in the 1930’s.

It was a final attempt by Republican forces to defeat the Nationalist Army led by General Francisco Franco. The Republican side was fighting to keep an elected leftist government in charge of Spain. It had help from various international volunteer brigades.

FrancoFranco

That included Americans. They lost — paving the way for Generalissimo Franco’s long reign. Now, this pivotal battle took place along the banks of a river. This is — in fact — Spain’s longest river.

Its source is in Cantabria — not too far from Basque country. 565 miles later, the river empties through a delta into the Mediterranean.

So what’s the name of Spain’s longest river?

We’ll give away the answer — and tell you more about the battle hereWe were looking for Spain’s longest river. The answer is the Ebro River. The battle of the Ebro was one of the last during Spain’s Civil War.

Erbo RiverErbo River

Americans took part. They were part of the international volunteer brigades that supported the Republicans in the fight. The Republicans were battling General Francisco Franco’s Nationalists for control of Spain.

The American volunteers were led into battle by Milton Wolff. Mister Wolff died in California earlier this week. He was 92.

Peter Carroll is chairman of the Lincoln Brigade Archives — a group that chronicles the lives of American veterans of the Spanish civil war.

He’s in Palo Alto, California.