The general who turned the rising into victory and ruled Spain for thirty-six years as Caudillo
The last war communiqué of 1 April 1939, signed in his own hand: “Today, with the Red Army captive and disarmed, the national troops have reached their final military objectives. The war is over.” Thirty-six years of dictatorship began.
A career officer who made his name in the colonial war in Morocco and became the youngest general in Europe at thirty-three. His use of the Army of Africa to crush the Asturian miners in 1934 fixed him in the eyes of the right as the restorer of order, and in July 1936 he joined the rising, flew from the Canaries to Morocco and, with German and Italian transports, ferried the Army of Africa to the mainland. In October he was made commander-in-chief and head of state of the rebel zone, and the Unification Decree of 1937 fused the Falange and the Carlists into a single National Movement under his personal rule. Victory in 1939 was followed by mass execution and imprisonment under the Law of Political Responsibilities, costing tens of thousands of lives. He declared non-belligerence in the Second World War while sending the Blue Division to the Eastern Front, and broke out of postwar isolation with the Pact of Madrid and the Concordat of 1953. The growth that followed the Stabilization Plan of 1959 became another pillar of the regime; he named Juan Carlos his successor in 1969, and with his death in 1975 the regime itself began to come apart.
Career timeline
- 1892Born into a naval family in Ferrol, Galicia
- 1907–1910Trained at the Toledo Infantry Academy
- 1912–1926Fought in the colonial war in Morocco, second-in-command of the Spanish Legion, brigadier general at thirty-three
- 1928–1931Director of the Zaragoza military academy until the Republic removed him
- 1934.10Used the Army of Africa to crush the Asturian miners' rising
- 1935–1936Rose to chief of the general staff, then was posted to the Canary Islands by the Popular Front government
- 1936.07.18–19Joined the rising, flew to Morocco in the chartered Dragon Rapide and organized the airlift of the Army of Africa
- 1936.10.01Proclaimed Generalísimo and head of state of the rebel zone at Burgos
- 1937.04.19Fused the Falange and the Carlists into a single National Movement by decree
- 1939.04.01Declared the war over and began mass execution and imprisonment under the Law of Political Responsibilities
- 1940–1943Met Hitler at Hendaye, declared non-belligerence and sent the Blue Division to the Eastern Front
- 1953–1955Signed the Pact of Madrid with the United States and a Concordat with the Vatican; UN membership in 1955 ended his isolation
- 1959Abandoned autarky with the Stabilization Plan and entered the years of high growth
- 1969–1973Named Juan Carlos his successor; in 1973 his prime minister Carrero Blanco was assassinated by ETA
- 1975.11.20Died in Madrid; buried at the Valley of the Fallen until his exhumation in 2019
The Republican general who overthrew Negrín to negotiate peace with Franco, and got only unconditional surrender
On the night of 5 March 1939, Casado went before a radio microphone, declared the Negrín government was preparing a Communist dictatorship and that only his National Defence Council could deliver an honourable peace. In Madrid, street fighting began at once.
A cavalry officer of the Spanish Republican Army who stayed loyal after the rising of July 1936, rose through operations and training posts to command of the Army of the Centre, and became convinced the war was already lost. On 5 March 1939 he staged a coup in Madrid, overthrew the Negrín government and set up a National Defence Council under General Miaja, claiming to forestall a Communist takeover while seeking a negotiated peace with Franco. Franco demanded unconditional surrender, the talks collapsed, and Casado escaped aboard a British warship, living in exile in Britain and Venezuela before returning to Spain in 1961.
Career timeline
- 1893Born in Nava de la Asunción, Segovia
- 1907–1911Graduated from the Cavalry Academy in Valladolid, commissioned as segundo teniente
- 1920–1935Served as a cavalry officer, completed staff training, fought in Morocco, commanded the presidential guard
- 1936–1937Head of operations, director of the staff school, organized mixed brigades, inspector general of cavalry
- 1938.05Appointed commander of the Army of the Centre, promoted to colonel
- 1939.03.05–12Led the coup against the Negrín government, served as defence councillor in the National Defence Council
- 1939–1961Lived in exile in Britain and Venezuela, worked as a BBC commentator and for Nestlé
- 1961–1968Returned to Spain, tried and acquitted of military rebellion, died of a heart attack in Madrid
The Catholic general who defended the Republic
In January 1939, Rojo told Negrín that the front had ceased to exist.
Vicente Rojo was a professional officer who remained loyal to the Spanish Republic, joining military expertise to a deeply held Catholic faith. He organized the defense of Madrid and planned operations at Jarama, Guadalajara, Brunete and the Ebro, becoming the Republican People's Army's central staff officer. After retreating to France in 1939, he refused Negrín's order to return and chose to care for refugee soldiers, then lived in exile in Argentina and Bolivia. He returned to Spain in 1957, was prosecuted for military rebellion by Franco's regime, and was soon pardoned without serving his suspended sentence.
Career timeline
- 1914Graduated from the Infantry Academy at Toledo, second lieutenant
- 1922–1932Instructor and education administrator at the Toledo Infantry Academy
- 1936Served on the Republican General Staff, promoted lieutenant colonel
- 1936–1937Chief of staff of the Madrid Defense Forces
- 1937–1939Chief of the Republican central staff, directing the People's Army's expansion and major operations
- 1939Exiled to France, promoted lieutenant general, refused the order to return
- 1943–1956Professor at a Bolivian military school
- 1957Returned to Spain, prosecuted for military rebellion and pardoned
The anarchist IV Army Corps commander who saved Casado's Madrid coup from Communist counter-attack
'I was aghast at donning a military uniform, but I could see no other option. From here on my conduct will bear witness to my integrity.'
A Madrid bricklayer who led the CNT construction union and was jailed on the eve of the war, he was freed when the rising began and organized a column that crushed the revolt in Guadalajara and Cuenca. Rising to command the 14th Division and then the IV Army Corps, he routed the Italian CTV at the Battle of Guadalajara and became one of the Republic's most prominent anarchist commanders. In March 1939 he backed Casado's coup against the Negrín government's Communist dependence, and when Communist forces were closing in on Madrid, Mera's IV Corps reserves entered the city and crushed the resistance in three days, sealing the path by which the war would end.
Career timeline
- 1931Secretary of the Madrid CNT construction union
- 1936.07Organized a militia column, retook Guadalajara and Cuenca
- 1936.11–1937Commander of the 14th Division
- 1937–1939Commander of the IV Army Corps
- 1939.03Backed Casado's coup, crushed Communist resistance in Madrid
- 1939–1942Exile in Oran and Casablanca, extradited to Spain by Vichy regime
- 1946–1975Freed, re-exiled to France, worked as a bricklayer in Paris
A field commander of the defeated Republic
Of the militia commanders, one contemporary report noted: 'The only one who knows how to read a map is the one they call Modesto.'
Juan Modesto rose from organizing Communist militias to become one of the Republic’s principal commanders. Leading the Fifth Regiment and later the Fifth Army Corps, he embodied the wartime effort to turn fragmented militias into a regular army. As commander of the Army of the Ebro in 1938, he directed the Republic’s last major offensive, but a prolonged battle could not overcome its material and manpower disadvantage. After defeat, he lived in exile in the Soviet Union and Czechoslovakia and recorded his wartime experience.
Career timeline
- 1930Joined the Communist Party of Spain
- 1933–1936Organized the Antifascist Worker and Peasant Militias in Madrid
- 1936Organizer and early commander of the Fifth Regiment
- 1936–1937Commander of the 4th Division; promoted lieutenant colonel
- 1937–1938Commander of the Fifth Army Corps in Brunete, Belchite and Teruel
- 1938.04–11Commander of the Army of the Ebro during the Ebro Offensive
- 1939General and commander of the Central Army; went into exile in March
- 1944–1969Lived as an exile, serving in the Soviet Union and Bulgaria before settling in Prague
