ABSTRACT
In Aragon, meanwhile, fresh troubles were building for the Republic. For whatever reason it was undertaken, the new battle began on 23 April. While Aranda's Army Corps of Galicia struck south along the axis of the coastal road that linked Valencia with Tarragona and Barcelona, Varela's troops pushed into the deep Republican salient that had been created in the mountainous region north-east of Teruel in the course of campaign of Aragon. On 2 July the great mass of troops was hurled at the Republican defences and immediately broke through, only to be blocked by a solid defensive line that had been constructed in the imposing Sierra de Espadan, a range of mountains that ran some way in the rear of the Republican front line. As was only to be expected, the collapse in Aragon sparked off a fresh political crisis in the Republican zone.
