From March 8 to 23, 1937, the Battle of Guadalajara was fought northeast of Madrid, where the Republican Army and International Brigades defeated the Italian Corpo Truppe Volontarie and Nationalist forces attempting to encircle the capital. The Republican victory, which was the first major defeat of Italian troops in the war, boosted morale and demonstrated the effectiveness of the Republican army. The battle also highlighted the limits of Italian military capability and the importance of Soviet-supplied equipment to the Republican war effort.

The Battle of Guadalajara was celebrated in Republican poetry as a great victory against fascism, with poets praising the courage of the International Brigades. The Italian defeat also inspired anti-fascist poetry among Italian exiles, who saw the battle as a sign that Mussolini's regime could be defeated. The battle's poetry often contrasted the democratic idealism of the Republican volunteers with the mercenary nature of the Italian forces.