Juan Guilloto León, usually referred to as Modesto or Juan Modesto (24 September 1906 – 16 April 1969), was a

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

army officer during the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlism, Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebeli ...

Biography

Early life

Born at

El Puerto de Santa María EL, El or el may refer to: Religion * El (deity), a Semitic word for "God" People * EL (rapper) (born 1983), stage name of Elorm Adablah, a Ghanaian rapper and sound engineer * El DeBarge, music artist * El Franco Lee (1949–2016), American ...

Cádiz Cádiz (, , ) is a city and port in southwestern Spain. It is the capital of the Province of Cádiz, one of eight that make up the autonomous community of Andalusia. Cádiz, one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in Western Europe, ...

, Juan Guilloto worked at a sawmill before joining the Spanish Army. He served in

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to A ...

, becoming a corporal of the

Regulares The Fuerzas Regulares Indígenas (" Indigenous Regular Forces"), known simply as the Regulares (Regulars), are volunteer infantry units of the Spanish Army, largely recruited in the cities of Ceuta and Melilla. Consisting of indigenous infantr ...

colonial troops based in

Larache Larache ( ar, العرايش, al-'Araysh) is a city in northwestern Morocco. It is on the Moroccan coast, where the Loukkos River meets the Atlantic Ocean. Larache is one of the most important cities of the Tanger-Tetouan-Al Hoceima region. Man ...

. Juan Guilloto was affiliated with the

Communist Party of Spain The Communist Party of Spain ( es, Partido Comunista de España; PCE) is a Marxist-Leninist party that, since 1986, has been part of the United Left coalition, which is part of Unidas Podemos. It currently has two of its politicians serving a ...

(PCE) from 1930, and in 1933 he was placed in charge of the '' Milicias Antifascistas Obreras y Campesinas (MAOC)'' in

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

, which constituted a paramilitary force for the Party. He organized the ''Sindicato de Oficios Varios y el Socorro Rojo'', which coordinated relations with the

Socorro Rojo Internacional International Red Aid (also commonly known by its Russian acronym MOPR ( ru , МОПР, for: ''Междунаро́дная организа́ция по́мощи борца́м револю́ции'' - Mezhdunarodnaya organizatsiya pomoshchi bor ...

Spanish Civil War

When the Spanish Civil War broke out in July 1936, Juan Guilloto participated in the assault of Cuartel de la Montaña, and the

Battle of Guadarrama The Battle of Guadarrama ( es, Batalla de Guadarrama, also known as ''Batalla de Somosierra'') was the first battle in the Spanish Civil War involving troops loyal to the Second Spanish Republic in the Guadarrama Range. The battle took place in t ...

fought in the

Guadarrama Mountain Range The Sierra de Guadarrama (Guadarrama Mountains) is a mountain range forming the main eastern section of the Sistema Central, the system of mountain ranges along the centre of the Iberian Peninsula. It is located between the systems Sierra de Gr ...

. He was one of the leaders of

Fifth Regiment The Fifth Regiment ( es, Quinto Regimiento, the full name ''Quinto Regimiento de Milicias Populares)'', was an elite corps loyal to the Spanish Republic at the onset of the Spanish Civil War. Made up of volunteers, the Fifth Regiment was active ...

, becoming its commander from October 1936 onwards. He fought in

Talavera de la Reina Talavera de la Reina () is a city and municipality of Spain, part of the autonomous community of Castile–La Mancha. Its population of 83,303 makes it the second most populated municipality of the province of Toledo and the fourth largest in the ...

, Santa Olalla and Illescas (September 1936), the defense of Madrid and the Second battle of the Corunna Road, as well as in the

Battle of Jarama The Battle of Jarama (6–27 February 1937) was an attempt by General Francisco Franco's Nationalists to dislodge the Republican lines along the river Jarama, just east of Madrid, during the Spanish Civil War. Elite Spanish Legionnaires and ...

(February 1937). Juan Guilloto was promoted to lieutenant colonel of the

Popular Army The Iraqi Popular Army also known as the People's Army or People's Militia (Arabic: الجيش الشعبي ''Al Jaysh ash Shaabi'') was a paramilitary organization composed of civilian volunteers to protect the Ba'ath regime against internal ...

and commander of 5th Army Corps, participating in the battles of

Belchite Belchite is a municipality and town in the province of Zaragoza, Spain, about 40 km southeast of Zaragoza. It is the capital of Campo de Belchite ''comarca'' (administrative region) and is located in a plain surrounded by low hills, the high ...

Brunete Brunete () is a town located on the outskirts of Madrid, Spain with a population of 10,730 people. History There was no military garrison in Brunete and there was no rebel attempt to seize the city during the coup of July 1936. Brunete remain ...

(July) and

Teruel Teruel () is a city in Aragon, located in eastern Spain, and is also the capital of Teruel Province. It has a population of 35,675 in 2014 making it the least populated provincial capital in the country. It is noted for its harsh climate, with ...

(December 1937 and January 1938). On 26 August 1938, he was promoted to colonel and became head of the Army of the Ebro. After the fall of

Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a '' nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the no ...

to the rebel army, Negrín named Modesto general and head of the Central Army on March 2, 1939.

The Battles around Madrid

At the end of August, he moved to the

province of Toledo Toledo is a province of central Spain, in the western part of the autonomous community of Castile–La Mancha. It is bordered by the provinces of Madrid, Cuenca, Ciudad Real, Badajoz, Cáceres, and Ávila. Its capital is the city of Toledo. ...

, where he led a battalion, trying to contain the Franco advance towards

. It was distinguished especially in the fights with the troops of the Army of Africa along the

Tagus river The Tagus ( ; es, Tajo ; pt, Tejo ; see below) is the longest river in the Iberian Peninsula. The river rises in the Montes Universales near Teruel, in mid-eastern Spain, flows , generally west with two main south-westward sections, to ...

during their advance towards Madrid, highlighting his interventions in Talavera, Santa Olalla, Toledo or Illescas. During the fighting in the Talavera-Santa Olalla area, he revealed himself as an authentic military chief by coordinating the actions of the militias and regular units ( Guardias de asalto) under his command. In November he stood out again during the siege of Madrid.

Exile

After Casado's coup's, on 6 March Modesto left Spain in an airplane. Then he went to the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

, whose government recognized his military rank. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, he served with the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian language, Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist R ...

and the Bulgarian Communist forces. Defeated in the struggle with José Díaz for control of the PCE, he went to

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

. Modesto wrote a book about his experience during the war in the 5th Regiment, titled ''Soy del Quinto Regimento'' (English:''I am of the

''), published in Paris in 1969.TRACES OF MAGMA
by Rolf Knight, Page 129 He died in Prague in 1969.

Published works

References

Bibliography

*Beevor, Antony. ''The battle for Spain. The Spanish civil war, 1936-1939.'' Penguin Books. 2006. London. . *Jackson, Gabriel. ''The Spanish Republic and the Civil War, 1931-1939.'' Princeton University Press. 1967. Princeton. *Preston, Paul.'' The Spanish Civil War. Reaction, revolution & revenge.'' Harper Perennial. 2006. London. *Thomas, Hugh. ''The Spanish Civil War.'' Penguin Books. 2001. London. {{DEFAULTSORT:Modesto, Juan 1906 births 1969 deaths People from El Puerto de Santa María Communist Party of Spain politicians Spanish generals Spanish military personnel of the Spanish Civil War (Republican faction) Spanish people of World War II Exiles of the Spanish Civil War in the Soviet Union Soviet military personnel of World War II Immigrants to Czechoslovakia People granted political asylum in the Soviet Union