From December 15, 1937, to February 22, 1938, the Battle of Teruel was fought in and around the city of Teruel in Aragon, in one of the bloodiest engagements of the war. The battle, fought during the worst Spanish winter in twenty years, saw the city change hands multiple times, with the Republicans initially capturing it in a surprise attack before the Nationalists retook it after a brutal counteroffensive. The battle resulted in over 110,000 casualties and demonstrated the willingness of both sides to sacrifice enormous numbers of troops for strategic and symbolic objectives.

The Battle of Teruel was memorialized in numerous poems, with both Republican and Nationalist writers celebrating the heroism of their soldiers. The extreme cold and snow became recurring motifs in the poetry, symbolizing the harshness of the war. The battle's poetry often reflected the exhaustion of the troops, as the initial enthusiasm of the early war gave way to grim determination and despair.