Fidel Dávila Arrondo, 1st Marquess of Dávila (24 April 1878 – 22 March 1962) was a

Spanish Army The Spanish Army () is the terrestrial army of the Spanish Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is one of the oldest Standing army, active armies – dating back to the late 15th century. The Spanish Army has existed ...

officer during 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 ...

. Born in

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

, as an infantry officer, he fought in

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during the

Spanish–American War The Spanish–American War (April 21 – August 13, 1898) was fought between Restoration (Spain), Spain and the United States in 1898. It began with the sinking of the USS Maine (1889), USS ''Maine'' in Havana Harbor in Cuba, and resulted in the ...

and received the Cruz del Mérito Militar. He later entered the General Staff of the Army. He was then promoted to lieutenant colonel and assigned to Spanish Morocco. In 1929 he was promoted to brigadier general and was assigned to the VII Military district. During the military

reforms Reform refers to the improvement or amendment of what is wrong, corrupt, unsatisfactory, etc. The modern usage of the word emerged in the late 18th century and is believed to have originated from Christopher Wyvill's Association movement, which ...

of Prime Minister

Manuel Azaña Manuel Azaña Díaz (; 10 January 1880 – 3 November 1940) was a Spanish politician who served as Prime Minister of Spain, Prime Minister of the Second Spanish Republic (1931–1933 and 1936), organizer of the Popular Front in 1935 and the la ...

, he solicited permission to go into the reserves and settled down in

Burgos Burgos () is a city in Spain located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is the capital and most populous municipality of the province of Burgos. Burgos is situated in the north of the Iberian Peninsula, on the confluence of th ...

, from where he participated in the military conspiracy to overthrow the Popular Front government. On the night of the July 18–19, 1936 he seized the civil government of Burgos. He was a member of the '' Junta de Defensa Nacional'' and president of the ''

Junta Técnica del Estado The Junta Técnica del Estado (Spanish language, Spanish for: ''Technical State Junta'') was one of several political-administrative bodies created by General Francisco Franco in October 1936 after his appointment as head of government of Nationa ...

'', the core of the future national government, as well as chief of staff of the Army. He participated in the War in the North resulting in the conquest of

Biscay Biscay ( ; ; ), is a province of the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Autonomous Community, heir of the ancient Lordship of Biscay, lying on the south shore of the Bay of Biscay, eponymous bay. The capital and largest city is Bilb ...

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, and

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. He was named minister of National Defense in the first government of

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 ...

(February 1938), at the same time he was promoted to lieutenant general. He organized the Aragon Offensive campaign to isolate

Catalonia Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...

and participated in the campaign of the Maestrazgo, the

Battle of the Ebro The Battle of the Ebro (, ) was the longest and largest battle of the Spanish Civil War and the greatest, in terms of manpower, logistics and material ever fought on Spanish soil. It took place between July and November 1938, with fighting mainly ...

and the Catalonia Offensive resulting in the final conquest of that region.Beevor, p.378 In August 1939 he received the post of captain-general of the II Military district and the headquarters of the general staff. In July 1945 he was designated minister of the Army and in 1949 he was named head of the government. In 1951 he was part of the Council of the Kingdom and president of the Geographic Superior Council. He died in

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 1962.

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External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Davila Arrondo, Fidel 1878 births 1962 deaths Military personnel from Barcelona Spanish captain generals Spanish generals Spanish military personnel of the Rif War Spanish military personnel of the Spanish Civil War (National faction) Perpetrators of political repression in Francoist Spain Grandees of Spain Prime ministers of Spain Ministers of defence of Spain