Viriatos

Common card · No. 418984

Viriatos, named after the Lusitanian leader Viriathus, was the generic name given to Portuguese volunteers who fought with the Nationalists in the Spanish Civil War. In the first weeks of the war, the Portuguese Army tried to form a Viriatos Legion to aid the Nationalist insurgents in Spain. The Legion was disbanded before any recruitment drive could take place after pro-Republican incidents in Portugal had convinced the government that direct intervention on the side of the Nationalists could cause further unrest. As a result of widespread publicity for the Viriatos Legion, Portuguese volunteers who later enlisted directly in the Spanish Foreign Legion, Carlist militias, the Falange Militia, or regular army units were known as "Viriatos". According to the historian Antony Beevor, 12,000 Portuguese participated. The historian Christopher Othen claims the number to be closer to 8,000. A Portuguese Military Observation Mission with members drawn from all three branches of the Portuguese military...

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