Emilio Mola
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Emilio Mola y Vidal (9 July 1887 – 3 June 1937) was a Spanish military officer who was one of the three leaders of the Nationalist coup of July 1936 that started the
Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...
. After the death of José Sanjurjo on 20 July 1936, Mola commanded the Nationalists in the north of Spain, while Franco operated in the south. Attempting to take
Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...
with his four columns, Mola praised local Nationalist sympathizers within the city as a " fifth column", possibly the first use of that phrase. He died in a plane crash in bad weather, leaving Franco as the pre-eminent Nationalist leader for the rest of the war. It was suspected that his death was a result of sabotage. However, this has never been proven.


Early life and career

Mola was born in Placetas,
Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...
, at that time an overseas Spanish province, where his father, an army officer, was stationed. The Cuban War of Independence split his family; while his father served in the Spanish forces, his maternal uncle Leoncio Vidal was a leading revolutionary fighter. In Spain, he enrolled in the Infantry Academy of Toledo in 1907. He served in Spain's colonial war in
Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...
where he received the
Military Medal The Military Medal (MM) was a military decoration awarded to personnel of the British Army and other arms of the British Armed Forces, armed forces, and to personnel of other Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth countries, below commissioned o ...
, and became an authority on military affairs. He was wounded in action during the Kert campaign in May 1912 in the thigh and thus he was promoted to Captain. By 1927 he was a Brigadier-general. Mola was made Director-General of Security in 1930, the last man to hold this post under
Alfonso XIII Alfonso XIII (Spanish language, Spanish: ''Alfonso León Fernando María Jaime Isidro Pascual Antonio de Borbón y Habsburgo-Lorena''; French language, French: ''Alphonse Léon Ferdinand Marie Jacques Isidore Pascal Antoine de Bourbon''; 17 May ...
. This was a political post and his conservative views made him unpopular with opposition liberal and
socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...
politicians. When the left-wing Popular Front government was elected in February 1936 Mola was made commander of the
Pamplona Pamplona (; ), historically also known as Pampeluna in English, is the capital city of the Navarre, Chartered Community of Navarre, in Spain. Lying at near above sea level, the city (and the wider Cuenca de Pamplona) is located on the flood pl ...
garrison, since the government regarded
Navarre Navarre ( ; ; ), officially the Chartered Community of Navarre, is a landlocked foral autonomous community and province in northern Spain, bordering the Basque Autonomous Community, La Rioja, and Aragon in Spain and New Aquitaine in France. ...
as a backwater region. In reality, the area was a center of
Carlist Carlism (; ; ; ) is a Traditionalism (Spain), Traditionalist and Legitimist political movement in Spain aimed at establishing an alternative branch of the Bourbon dynasty, one descended from Infante Carlos María Isidro of Spain, Don Carlos, ...
activity, and Mola himself secretly collaborated with the movement. He worked with elements of the right-wing Spanish Military Union and by the end of April 1936 was acknowledged as its leader in north-central Spain.


July Rebellion and Civil War

Mola emerged as the chief planner among the plotters. While General José Sanjurjo, in exile in Portugal, remained the recognized leader, Mola was delegated the authority within the organization to plan operations in Spain. Known as "the Director", Mola sent secret instructions to the various military units to be involved in the uprising and worked out a detailed plan for a post-coup government. In a memorandum dated 5 June 1936, Mola envisioned a "republican dictatorship" based on the Portuguese model. The initial government would consist of a "directory" that would oversee a semi-pluralist but authoritarian state. According to Mola: "The Directory will guarantee no change in the republican regime during its administration, with no change in any worker claims that have been legally obtained" but would "create a strong and disciplined state". The 1931 constitution would be suspended and new elections would be held. Certain liberal elements, such as separation of church and state and freedom of worship, were to be maintained. Agrarian issues were to be resolved by regional commissions with the aim of developing small holdings, but allowing for collective cultivation in some circumstances. Despite extensive planning, Mola apparently doubted the chances for the coup's success. His dim view of the capabilities of monarchist militias and the conservative Catholic party Spanish Confederation of the Autonomous Right (CEDA), as well as only limited support from the Falange, led him as late as 9 July to consider the possibility of having to flee to France if it failed. After several delays, 18 July 1936 was chosen as the date of the coup.
Francisco Franco Francisco Franco Bahamonde (born Francisco Paulino Hermenegildo Teódulo Franco Bahamonde; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general and dictator who led the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalist forces i ...
's participation was not confirmed until early July.Preston, Paul
"From Rebel to Caudillo: Franco's path to power"
''History Today,'' July 1986, pp. 24-29 36 (7)
Although events ran ahead of schedule in the Spanish Protectorate of Morocco, Mola waited until 19 July to proclaim the revolt.Jackson, Gabriel, ''The Spanish Republic and the Civil War 1931-39'', New Jersey , 1967. When Mola's brother was captured by the Republicans in Barcelona, the government threatened his life. Mola replied: "No, he knows how to die as an officer. I can neither take back my word to my followers and probably you cannot either from yours." The brother ended up committing suicide. Mola then ordered systematic executions in captured cities to instill fear. He famously declared: The Nationalist coup failed to gain control of Madrid or other urban areas, albeit most of the armed forces had supported it. As the situation devolved into civil war, Sanjurjo was killed in an air crash on 20 July. Mola then became Nationalist commander in the north, while Franco became commander in the south. With the death of Sanjurjo, Mola established a multi-member governing body for the so-called "Nationalist zone" (''zona nacional'') called the
National Defense Junta The Junta de Defensa Nacional () was a military junta which governed the territories held by the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalist faction of the Spanish Civil War from July to September 1936. The junta's president was Migue ...
. Based in Burgos, it was nominally headed by Miguel Cabanellas, the most senior participating general. On 5 September a Nationalist offensive sent by General Mola under Colonel Alfonso Beorlegui took
Irún Irun (, ) is a town of the Bidasoaldea region in the province of Gipuzkoa in the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Autonomous Community, Spain. History It lies on the foundations of the ancient Oiasso, cited as a Ancient Rome, Roma ...
and closed the French border. Mola's forces went on to secure the whole of the province of Guipúzcoa, isolating the remaining Republican provinces in the north. A junta in Burgos proved unable to set overall strategy; thus, Franco was chosen commander-in-chief at a meeting of ranking generals on 21 September. Mola continued to command the Army of the North and led an unsuccessful effort to take
Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...
in October. In a radio address, he described Nationalist sympathizers in the city as a " fifth column" that supplemented his four military columns. The Republican government then proceeded to carry out the mass execution of as many as 2,000 suspected civilian and military supporters of the Nationalists. What was later known as the Paracuellos massacres crushed any potential fifth column.


Death

Mola died on 3 June 1937, when the Airspeed Envoy twin-engined aircraft in which he was travelling flew into the side of a mountain in bad weather while returning to Vitoria. The death of Mola, and the prior deaths of Sanjurjo and Manuel Goded Llopis left Franco as the pre-eminent leader of the Nationalist cause. In the assessment of historian Stanley Payne, Mola had been "the only subordinate capable of talking back to Franco." Although there have always been accusations that Franco arranged the deaths of his two rivals, so far no evidence has been produced. In 1947, Franco, as
Caudillo A ''caudillo'' ( , ; , from Latin language, Latin , diminutive of ''caput'' "head") is a type of Personalist dictatorship, personalist leader wielding military and political power. There is no precise English translation for the term, though it ...
of the recently re-established Kingdom of Spain, posthumously granted Mola the title of Duke of Mola and Grandee of Spain. The title was immediately assumed by his son, Don Emilio Mola y Bascón. It was abolished in October 2022, under the purview of the Democratic Memory Law.:


See also

*'' Desaparecidos del franquismo'' * Fifth column * Mohamed Meziane *
White Terror (Spain) The White Terror (), also called the Francoist Repression (), was the political repression and mass violence against dissidents that were committed by the Nationalist faction during the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939), as well as during the fir ...


References


Sources

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mola, Emilio 1887 births 1937 deaths People from Placetas Spanish generals Spanish military personnel of the Rif War Spanish military personnel killed in the Spanish Civil War (National faction) Dukes of Mola Cuban nobility Grandees of Spain Spanish anti-communists Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1937 Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in Spain Spanish military personnel of the Kert campaign Perpetrators of political repression in Francoist Spain