Gonzalo Queipo de Llano

Gonzalo Queipo de Llano y Sierra (February 5, 1875 – March 9, 1951) was a Spanish Army Officer who fought for the Nationalists during the Spanish Civil War.

He was born in Tordesillas, Spain. Educated at a seminary, he ran away and enlisted in the Spanish Army as a gunner. He later entered the Royal Cavalry Academy of Valladolid as a cadet, fought in Cuba (during the Spanish-American War) and then in the Rif War as a cavalry officer.

Queipo de Llano attained the rank of brigadier general in 1923. He was highly critical of the Spanish Army, and his opposition to the dictator Miguel Primo de Rivera led to him being relieved of his command and imprisoned. He was released from prison in 1926, but his continued criticism of the government led to his dismissal from the army in 1928. Two years later, Queipo de Llano became the head of the Republican Military Association and collaborated with the National Revolutionary Committee, a group plotting to overthrow King Alfonso XIII. The failure of the revolt forced Queipo de Llano to flee to Portugal.

When Alfonso XIII abdicated in April 1931, Queipo de Llano returned to Spain and was given the post of commander of the 1st Military District in Madrid. He was later appointed head of the military house of Second Spanish Republic President Niceto Alcalá-Zamora (they were in-laws, as the daughter of Queipo was married with a son of Alcalá-Zamora).

Queipo de Llano initially supported the Popular Front, and served as chief of a main directorate of the customs officers from 1934-1936. However, he was critical of some Popular Front policies, including agrarian reforms that penalized the landed aristocracy, the outlawing of the Falange Española, and the granting of political and administrative autonomy to Catalonia (see Spanish Revolution).

When Alcalá-Zamora was ousted as president on May 10 1936 and replaced by the left-wing Manuel Azaña, Queipo de Llano, along with Generals Emilio Mola, Francisco Franco, and José Sanjurjo, started plotting to overthrow the Popular Front government. He was a top member of the conspiracy group and used to say with pride that his sport convertible car has done 10.000 miles on plotting reasons. This led to a military revolt on July 17 1936 that resulted in the Spanish Civil War.

Queipo de Llano's role in capture of Seville in the early stages of the war has achieved almost mythical status. Initially, he claimed that he had seized control of the city with only 200 men (later claiming in a radio interview that he had done so with only 15 soldiers). This account of military brilliance became the accepted version of events. Recent research by the historian Paul Preston, however, has shown that the successful capture of Seville was the result of careful planning and the use of at least 4,000 nationalist troops.

Made commander of the Nationalist Army of the South, General Queipo de Llano's forces launched an attack on Málaga on January 17, 1937, which succumbed to the Nationalists on February 8. He also carried out propaganda broadcasts during the war. He was very eager in organising forced labour to the francist regions and restart the agricultural production in Andalusia with cheap exports to Europe becoming an important economic factor of the regime

After the fall of the Republic, he was promoted to lieutenant general. General Franco sent him as head of the Spanish Mission to Italy, and he later served as the commander of Seville's military district. His relations with Franco were poor on the whole. He did not like Franco and he hated the King but had never ever questioned the leadership of the junta. Queipo de Llano died at his country estate near Seville.