The Bombing of Barcelona was a series of airstrikes led by Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany supporting the Franco-led Nationalist rebel army, which took place from 16 to 18 March 1938, during the Spanish Civil War. Up to 1,300 people were killed and at least 2,000 were wounded. Background In March 1938, the Nationalists started an offensive in Aragon, after the Battle of Teruel. On 15 March, the French government, led by Léon Blum, decided to reopen the Spanish frontier, and Soviet supplies began to pass to Barcelona. Fascist Italian dictator Benito Mussolini, without informing Francisco Franco beforehand, decided to carry out massive air bombing raids against Barcelona in the belief that it would "weaken the morale of the Reds". Mussolini, like the Italian general Giulio Douhet, believed that aircraft could win a war through strategic bombing (also called terror bombing), and personally ordered the Aviazione Legionaria to conduct a "continuous bombing of Barcelona diluted in time". The bombing Between 16 and 18 March 1938, Barcelona was bombed by bombers of the Italian Aviazione Legionaria, the branch of the Italian Air Force fighting in the Spanish Civil War These bombers flew from Mallorca with Spanish markings. The first raid came at 22:00 on 16 March by German Heinkel He 51 fighters. After that, there were seventeen air raids by Italian Savoia-Marchetti SM.79 and Savoia-Marchetti SM.81 bombers at three hour intervals until 15:00 on 18 March. On the night of 18 March, the working-class districts were badly hit. The Spanish Republican Air Force (FARE) did not send fighters to Barcelona until the morning of 17 March. Barcelona had little anti-aircraft artillery and no aerial cover, making it practically defenseless. The bombers silently glided over the city at high altitudes and only restarted their engines after releasing their bombs, meaning the alert could not be sounded and the bombers could not be detected until after the bombs had exploded on target. The Italians had used delayed-fuse bombs designed to pass through roofs and then explode inside the building, as well as a new type of bomb which exploded with a strong lateral force, so as to destroy things within a few inches of the ground. The repeated wave of attacks carried out by the Italians rendered the city's air raid alarms irrelevant, since it would no longer be clear if the sirens were announcing the beginning or the end of an attack.