2 February 1938 and After: in The New Army
On 2 February 1938, General Francisco Franco declared himself Sole Head of the New State and also of the parafascist civilian organization Falange Española de las JONS. He named Ramón Serrano Súñer, a Zaragoza University trained lawyer and also his brother-in-law, as Minister of the Interior and Propaganda. This ended Queipo de Llano's near daily radio broadcasts from Seville, reducing the general's influence.
In July, 1938, Queipo's forces launched major attacks against remaining republican positions in western Spain, eliminating remaining republican control over any territories west of Madrid.
As the war ground to an end, Queipo, with his power base in Seville, remained Franco's greatest rival for supreme power. With military victory complete, there was less need of a single supreme military commander for the nationalist cause. In July of 1939, Franco learned that Queipo de Llano was conspiring to install a military junta to replace Franco as head of state and government. Franco moved quickly. Asking Queipo to visit him for consultations at the nationalist capital in Burgos, Franco sent one of his loyalists, General Saliquet, to take charge in Seville as soon as Queipo arrived in Burgos. He then sent Queipo to Rome on a military mission to deal with Spain's Italian allies. By the time of his return to Spain, Queipo de Llano's Andalucian base of power had been pulled out from underneath him.
Read more about this topic: Gonzalo Queipo De Llano
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