1938–1939 in the Spanish Civil War

On 14 April 1938, the Nationalists broke through to the Mediterranean Sea during the Aragon Offensive, cutting the government-held portion of Spain in two.

The Nationalist army pressed southward from Teruel and along the coast toward the capital of the Republic at Valencia but were halted in heavy fighting along the fortified XYZ Line.

The government now launched an all-out campaign to distract the Nationalists from their attack on Valencia and to reconnect their territory in the Battle of the Ebro, beginning on 24 July and lasting until 26 November.

The concession of Czechoslovakia destroyed the last vestiges of Republican morale by ending all hope of an anti-Francoist alliance with the great powers.

On 28 March, with the help of pro-Nationalist forces inside the city (the "fifth column" General Emilio Mola had mentioned in propaganda broadcasts in 1936), Madrid fell to the Nationalists.