The Siege of Bilbao 1874

The siege of Bilbao in 1874 is located in the context of the Third Carlist War, which initially faced the troops of the suitor D. Carlos María de Borbón, Carlos VII, with those of the First Spanish Republic. The Carlists besieged the Biscayne square for more than two months, with the same objective as in the First War: to obtain an important commercial and financial position, which would allow them international recognition.
On December 29 the Carlists took the Olabeaga pass, leaving the estuary of Bilbao clogged. On December 30, the Carlist general Antonio Dorregaray besieged Portugalete while his companion Valdespina took the peaks surrounding the city. Finally Portugalete fell on January 21. The following month the Carlist completely closed the estuary, formally initiating the site with the bombings of February 21, 1874.
On the 25th the Republicans tried to break the siege by Somorrostro, without success. The fight continued in the line of Somorrostro with numerous victims who put the Republican army and the Bilbao square in danger of being taken.
The Carlist victories took place throughout the Basque Country, leaving only Republicans, Bilbao, San Sebastian and Irun, in Vizcaya and Guipúzcoa as republican nuclei. The republican government sent General Serrano to the front of 48 battalions to break the site. The death of the Carlist military leader, General Ollo, broke up the Carlist defense.
About to break the resistance of the people of Bilbao, on April 29 the Republicans attacked the Alto del Montaño, in Somorrostro, breaking the front. On the 30th, Sopuerta fell and the Carlist withdrawal by Dorregaray from the Somorrostro front was ordered. The road to Bilbao was open and on May 1 the last Carlist battalion left the siege. The site ended.
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