11th Division, Spanish Republican Army

11th Division 11ª División
Flag of the 11th Division of the People's Republican Army
Active	1937–1939
Country	Spain
Branch	Spanish Republican Army
Type	Infantry division
Role	Home Defence
Size	Three mixed brigades: 1st, 9th and 100st
Part of	V Army Corps (July 1937 - February 1939)
Nickname(s)	División Líster
Engagements	Spanish Civil War
Decorations	Laureate Plate of Madrid
Commanders
Notable commanders	Enrique Lister

The 11th Division (Spanish: 11ª División) was a division of the Spanish Republican Army in the Spanish Civil War. It was formed in January 1937 in Madrid beginning with the 1st Mixed Brigade which in turn had originated in the Fifth Regiment.

Nicknamed División Líster, it would become one of the elite divisions, as well as one of the most battle-hardened formations, of the Spanish Republican Armed Forces.

Although the 11th Division was officially established on 24 January 1937, its origin lies in the C Division of the Republican Army that was created owing to circumstances by joining a number of newly constituted mixed brigades in order to send them to the Jarama River area in order to respond to the rebel attacks towards the Valencia road. However, after much effort, Enrique Líster's men were successful in repelling the rebel offensive at the Battle of Jarama, where the combats in the El Pingarrón area caused a high number of casualties in loyalist ranks. Finally, towards the end of February the rebel advance in the Jarama banks was halted and fixed until the end of the Civil War. After the victory and, as a result of the reorganization of the Spanish Republican Armed forces, the 'C Division' firmly became the 11th Division.

Following the bloodbath at the Jarama the 11th Division was barely being reorganized when it was sent to Guadalajara where on 8 March the Fascist Italian Corpo Truppe Volontarie had launched an offensive. The purpose of the Italians was to encircle the loyalists in a pocket around Madrid and the ensuing battle would be known as Battle of Guadalajara. In this conflict the 11th Division was formed by the 1st Bis Mixed Brigade, the 1st Mobile Shock Brigade (1.ª Brigada Móvil de Choque) led by Valentín González "El Campesino" —which would later be known as the 10th Mixed Brigade— as well as the XI International Brigade ("Thälmann Brigade") and the XII International Brigade ("Garibaldi Brigade"). The 11th Division, together with the 12th and the 14th divisions —the latter under Cipriano Mera—, was put under the newly established IV Army Corps under the command of Enrique Jurado Barrio. After Guadalajara the 11th Division took part in the Battle of Brunete in the summer 1937. There Líster and his division resisted at the Brunete graveyard until 25 July, but ended up losing the disputed town in the face of the heavy Francoist assaults.