Manuel Goded Llopis

Manuel Goded Llopis (15 October 1882 – 12 August 1936) was a Spanish Army general who was one of the key figures in the July 1936 revolt against the democratically elected Second Spanish Republic. Having unsuccessfully led an attempted insurrection in Barcelona, he was captured and executed by the Republican government. Previously, Goded had distinguished himself in the Battle of Alhucemas of the Rif War.

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Goded and the second or maternal family name is Llopis.
Manuel Goded
Born(1882-10-15)15 October 1882
San Juan, Puerto Rico
Died12 August 1936(1936-08-12) (aged 53)
Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
Allegiance Kingdom of Spain (1900–1931)
 Spanish Republic (1931–1936)
Nationalist Spain (1936)
Service/branchSpanish Army
Years of service1900–1936
RankGeneral of the Army
Commands heldChief of Staff of the Spanish Army of Africa
Chief of Staff of the Central Army
Battles/warsRif War
  • Battle of Alhucemas
Spanish Civil War

Early years

Manuel Goded was born in the city of San Juan, the capital of the Captaincy General of Puerto Rico, a Spanish colony. There he received his primary and secondary education. His family moved to Spain when Puerto Rico became a possession of the United States as an outcome of the Treaty of Paris of 1898 which concluded the Spanish–American War. In Spain he enrolled and was accepted in the Academy of Infantry, a military institution.[1]

Military career

Rif War

Goded graduated from the academy and was assigned to various posts. In 1907, when 25 years old, he held the rank of Captain. In 1919, a rebellion against Spanish colonial rule took place in Spanish Morocco, a Spanish protectorate. The rebel leader in what is also known as the Rif War, was Abd-el-Krim.[2] The Riffians, as the rebels became known, annihilated the army of Spanish General Manuel Fernández Silvestre at the Battle of Annual in 1921 and were poised to attack the Spanish enclave of Melilla. Generals Jose Millan Astray and Francisco Franco, founders of the Spanish Foreign Legion, fought against the Riifians on land and in 1925, Goded lead an amphibious landing at Alhucemas Bay (now known as Al Hoceima Bay) in what is known as the Battle of Alhucemas. This was considered as the beginning of the end of the Rif Rebellion. By 1927, the rebellion had come to an end and Spain recaptured her lost territory.[3] Goded was promoted to Brigadier General and shortly after was named Chief of Staff of the Spanish Army of Africa.

Primo de Rivera Dictatorship and the Second Republic

Goded at first supported the generally rightist dictatorship of Miguel Primo de Rivera, established in 1923 with consent of King Alfonso XIII. However, Goded's eventual criticism of the government led to his removal from his post.[4]

In May 1936, Dr Manuel Azaña became the second and last President of the Second Spanish Republic. Goded was named Chief of Staff of the Central Army, but was again relieved of his position after a conflict with the government. When rightist officers suspected of conspiring against the government were reassigned, he was exiled to a remote post on the Balearic Islands.[5]

July 1936 Revolt and Civil War

When anti-leftist generals rebelled against the Popular Front government of the Second Republic in July 1936, Goded unsuccessfully led troops in the Catalan capital Barcelona after having taken control of Mallorca and Ibiza. Catalonia, being among the most industrialized regions of Spain was a stronghold of the organized left and Goded's local operations failed. He was captured by government forces on August 11 and held on the prison ship Uruguay.[6] Tried by a Republican military court and compelled to order his remaining troops, via radio, to surrender,[7] he was condemned to die by firing squad. He was executed the next day at Montjuïc Castle in Barcelona.[8]

Goded's death not only decapitated the Nationalist revolt in Barcelona, and thus greater Catalonia, but removed one of the key personal and political rivals to the movement's eventual leader, Francisco Franco.[9]

See also

Notes

    References
    1. Historia Archived 26 November 2010 at the Wayback Machine
    2. 1911 - 1927 Rif War / Second Moroccan War Archived 18 December 2008 at the Wayback Machine
    3. "BETROTHED OF DEATH. The Spanish Foreign During the Rif Rebellion". Archived from the original on 24 April 2019. Retrieved 11 November 2007.
    4. Robinson, Richard AH The Origins of Franco’s Spain – The Right, the Republic and Revolution, 1931–1936 Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1970 p.28
    5. "Manuel Azaña Díaz es". Archived from the original on 20 March 2012. Retrieved 28 May 2016.
    6. "Spanish rebel leader who awaits trial". The New York Times. 11 August 1936. p. 3. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
    7. "El Alzamiento del 18 de Julio en las capitales". Retrieved 28 May 2016.
    8. "BIOGRAFÍAS DEL BANDO NACIONAL". Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 28 May 2016.
    9. Payne, SG The Franco Regime, 1936–1975 Madison: University of Wisconsin, 1987 p.101, note 27.
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