Antifascist Worker and Peasant Militias Milicias Antifascistas Obreras y Campesinas | |
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Active | 1934 | –1937
Disbanded | 1937 |
Country | Spain |
Allegiance | Second Spanish Republic |
Type | Citizen militia |
Role | Guarding Socialist and Communist offices and protecting leftist leaders. |
Size | 5,000 (est.) |
Engagements | Defence of Madrid (Spanish Civil War) |
Commanders | |
Notable commanders | Enrique Líster Juan Guilloto León |
Insignia | |
Commissar badge | |
Colours | Blue and red |
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Anti-fascism |
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The Antifascist Worker and Peasant Militias (Spanish: Milicias Antifascistas Obreras y Campesinas, MAOC) were a militia group founded in the Second Spanish Republic in 1934. Their purpose was to protect leaders of the Communist Party of Spain (PCE) and Unified Socialist Youth (JSU) from the attacks of Fascist militia groups such as the Falange Blueshirts.
The MAOC were especially active in the few months preceding the 1936 coup and the first months of the Spanish Civil War. Many of the members of the Popular Army's Fifth Regiment during the war belonged to the Antifascist Worker and Peasant Militias.[1]