Gonzalo Queipo de Llano - Actions in Sevilla, 1936

Actions in Sevilla, 1936

Queipo de Llano's role in the 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. But there is little doubt that Queipo de Llano acted with bluff and bravado on the morning of July 18. Early that morning, accompanied by four aides, he burst in on General Jose Fernandez de Villa-Abrille, military commander of the region, and immediately demanded to know if the General would support the rising. When Fernandez de Villa-Abrille "dithered," Queipo placed him and his staff under arrest and ordered an armed guard to shoot anyone who left the room. Queipo de Llano then went to the infantry barracks of the 6th regiment, where he congratulated the regiment's colonel on joining the uprising. When the colonel indicated his support for the government, Quiep de Llano suggested they discuss the matter privately. Once in private, he arrested the colonel, too. Returning to the Regiment, he went through the ranks of officers until he found a young Falangist captain prepared to lead the unit in support of the revolt, and placed him in command. The regiment's more senior officers, who had supported their colonel, were locked up. With the infantry secured, Queipo persuaded the artillery to join the revolt, and forced the surrender of the civil governor and the loyalist Assault Guard (urban police) with a salvo of cannon fire. He then had their leaders shot. Watching these developments, the local units of the paramilitary Civil Guard (Spain's rural police force) decided to cast their lot with the uprising.

Even as the revolt was unfolding across the country and Queipo de Llano was seizing Seville, republican Prime Minister Santiago Casares Quiroga remained confident that Queipo de Llano would remain loyal to the central government, largely because of the latter's participation in the failed 1930 revolt against the monarchy and the government of Primo de Rivera, but also because Queipo was known to be a freemason, and thus presumably at odds with Spain conservative church hierarchy, which supported the rising. Not until late in the day, after Quiepo de Llano had secured the city, did the government finally realize that Queipo de Llano had joined the nationalist revolt. Queipo was one of the first strongmen of the 20th century to recognize he importance of seizing radio stations, which he did early on July 18 in Seville, and from which he broadcast news of the success of the revolt.

As the rebel forces advanced out of Seville in August, Queipo, an eccentric with a macabre sense of humor, became known for his crude remarks while commenting on the rebel advance. In one example on 29 August 1936, he referred to the capture of Republican women between Navalmoral de la Mata and Talavera de la Reina. Gloating over the savagery of the repression, he fed widespread fears that women were given to Moroccan mercenaries for gang rape, remarking with relish, 'Great quantities of munitions, ten trucks and many prisoners, including women, have fallen into our hands. The Regulares will be delighted and Pasionaria will be really jealous'. Queipo was one of the most brutal of the nationalist commanders, and once threatened to execute "at least ten" republicans for every nationalist killed. He ordered large numbers of executions in Cordoba and elsewhere.