Joins Anti-republican Plotters
Queipo de Llano initially supported the Popular Front, and served as chief of a main directorate of the Customs officers ("Carabineros" in Spanish) from 1934-1936. 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 leading member of the conspiracy group and used to say with pride that his convertible sports car had covered 20,000 miles in plotting the July 17, 1936 military revolt that led to the Spanish Civil War. As commander of the well-armed carabineiros, with his headquarters in Seville, Queipo de Llano was expected to secure central Andalusia for the nationalists when the rising began.
Read more about this topic: Gonzalo Queipo De Llano
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