José Moscardó e Ituarte, 1st Count of the Alcázar of Toledo, Grandee of Spain (26 October 1878 – 12 April 1956) was the military Governor of
Toledo Province 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 ...
. He sided with the
Nationalist
Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation,Anthony D. Smith, Smith, A ...
army fighting the
Republican government and his most notable action was the defence and holding of the
Alcázar of Toledo against Republican forces.
When still a Colonel and military governor of the province, Moscardó was described by the English Major Geoffrey McNeill-Moss as "a tall, reserved, gentle-mannered man, a little awkward, rather punctillious: happy enough with a few people he knew well, but shy in company. He had a strict sense of duty. He was religious. In a nation where most were slack, he was exact."
For some time leading up to the Civil War Moscardó had lived in semi-retirement, a middle-aged soldier. When conflict commenced he assumed the role of Commandant of the
citadel
A citadel is the most fortified area of a town or city. It may be a castle, fortress, or fortified center. The term is a diminutive of ''city'', meaning "little city", because it is a smaller part of the city of which it is the defensive core.
...
in
Toledo, with a total garrison of 1,028, which included six hundred Civil Guard under their own commander, 150 army officers, 35
Falangists, 10
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, ...
s, 25 members of the Monarchist Association, and 40 peasants and workmen. In addition there were 670 non-combatants including 100 men too old to serve, 520 women and 50 children.
Spanish Civil War
The
Siege of the Alcázar commenced and Moscardó held out for General
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 Nationalist forces for 70 days from 22 July to 27 September 1936. Day after day, the Colonel sent out his daily radio report: ''Sin novedad en el Alcázar'' ("Nothing new at the Alcázar," or "All quiet at the Alcázar", an ironic understatement). His defiance heartened the Nationalists everywhere and maddened the Republicans, who committed vast forces in vain assaults on the
Alcázar
An ''alcázar'', from Arabic ''al-Qasr'', is a type of Islamic castle or palace in Spain built during Al-Andalus, Muslim rule between the 8th and 15th centuries. They functioned as homes and regional capitals for governmental figures throughout ...
.
On 23 July, Republican forces captured Moscardó's 24-year-old son, Luis. They called the Alcázar on the telephone and Moscardó himself picked up the receiver. The political officer of the Republican force informed him that unless he surrendered the Alcázar, Luis would be shot. Moscardó asked to speak to his son. He then told Luis, "Commend your soul to God and die like a patriot, shouting '
Long live Christ the King
Christ the King is a title of Jesus in Christianity referring to the idea of the Kingdom of God where Christ is described as being seated at the right hand of God.
Many Christian denominations consider the kingly office of Christ to be one o ...
' and 'Long live Spain.'" "That," answered his son, "I can do." Although it has been viewed that Luis was immediately shot, other accounts provided that he was in fact shot a month later "in reprisal for an air raid".
During the
siege
A siege () . is a military blockade of a city, or fortress, with the intent of conquering by attrition, or by well-prepared assault. Siege warfare (also called siegecrafts or poliorcetics) is a form of constant, low-intensity conflict charact ...
, a blindfolded Major Rojo approached the badly battered citadel with a white flag on September 9. His mission was to offer the garrison their lives if they would surrender. His proposal was rejected, but on leaving he asked Moscardó if he could convey any requests to the outside. Moscardó asked that a
priest
A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...
might be sent to the garrison to baptise children born during the siege. The Republicans agreed and sent in Canon Vásquez Camarassa. Of the priests in
Toledo, only seven who were in hiding escaped massacre by the Republicans, so the Canon was in that respect lucky to be alive, said to be because of his
left-wing
Left-wing politics describes the range of Ideology#Political ideologies, political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy either as a whole or of certain social ...
sympathies. He urged the civilians, the women and children in particular to leave under a white flag. The unanimous reply was a refusal.
When the Alcázar was finally relieved, Moscardó is said to have greeted the relief force's commanding Colonel. He had lost his son but saved his garrison. He stood stiffly to the salute and said, "No change to report."
The rebel forces executed some of the hostages Moscardó kept in the Alcázar; also 100 wounded interns at the Tavera Hospital had their throats slit, 20 pregnant women were taken out of the Maternity and were shot down because they were deemed "red", and a number of additional republican militiamen were killed in the ensuing repression, including those burned alive by the rebels in the College of Maristas, 80 in the
Archbishopric Palace and more than 100 militiamen in the seminary
Seminario.
A similar incident in Spanish history is that concerning
Guzmán el Bueno, who chose the death of his son to surrendering the
Tarifa fortress in 1296.
The defence of the Alcázar became a symbol of heroism in
Francoist Spain
Francoist Spain (), also known as the Francoist dictatorship (), or Nationalist Spain () was the period of Spanish history between 1936 and 1975, when Francisco Franco ruled Spain after the Spanish Civil War with the title . After his death i ...
. Moscardó was promoted to
Army General
Army general or General of the army is the highest ranked general officer in many countries that use the French Revolutionary System. Army general is normally the highest rank used in peacetime.
In countries that adopt the general officer fou ...
after the relief of the Alcázar, and put in command of the
Soria
Soria () is a municipality and a Spanish city, located on the Douro river in the east of the autonomous community of Castile and León and capital of the province of Soria. Its population is 38,881 ( INE, 2017), 43.7% of the provincial populatio ...
Division. In 1938 he was given command of the
Aragon
Aragon ( , ; Spanish and ; ) is an autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces of Spain, ...
Army Corps, but took part in no further heroic episodes.
Franco, however, knew the value of propaganda and authorized Moscardó to wear a special black cloak of mourning for his son over his army uniform. This he did for the rest of his life, so that every soldier who saw him would know who he was.
In Francoist Spain
In late 1944, Moscardó, in command at
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 ...
, led the successful defence against incursions by Spanish communists via the
Val d'Aran
Aran (; ; ) (often known as the Aran Valley, or Val d'Aran in Aranese Occitan; in other forms of Occitan: ''Vath d'Aran'' or ''Vau d'Aran'', in Catalan: ''Vall d'Aran'', in Spanish: ''Valle de Arán'') is an autonomous administrative entity (form ...
into
Lleida
Lleida (, ; ; '' see below'') is a city in the west of Catalonia, Spain. It is the capital and largest town in Segrià county, the Ponent region and the province of Lleida. Geographically, it is located in the Catalan Central Depression. It ...
. In March 1945 he was named head of Franco's ''Casa Militar'' (personal military staff).
In 1948, he was created Count of the Alcázar de Toledo and a
Grandee of Spain
Grandee (; , ) is an official royal and noble ranks, aristocratic title conferred on some Spanish nobility. Holders of this dignity enjoyed similar privileges to those of the peerage of France during the , though in neither country did they ha ...
.
His singular passion remained
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
, and, to his pleasure, he
coached the Spanish football team at the 1948
London Olympic Games and the 1952
Games
A game is a Structure, structured type of play (activity), play usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an Educational game, educational tool. Many games are also considered to be Work (human activity), work (such as p ...
in
Helsinki
Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...
.
In 1947, he was responsible for returning the
Spain National Football Team
The Spain national football team () has represented Spain in men's international Association football, football competitions since 1920. It is governed by the Royal Spanish Football Federation, the governing body for football in Spain.
Spain i ...
main colour to red, which had been changed in 1939 due to its association with the Republicans.
Death
He died on 12 April 1956 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 ...
at 77 years old, and was then promoted to
Capitán General del
Ejército. On 17 September 2018, after the planned exhumation 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 ...
, it was proposed by
Podemos to also exhume
Jaime Milans del Bosch and Moscardó, but it was rejected by
Vox.
References
Bibliography
*
Antony Beevor
Sir Antony James Beevor, (born 14 December 1946) is a British military historian. He has published several popular historical works, mainly on the Second World War, the Spanish Civil War, and most recently the Russian Revolution and Civil War. ...
, ''The Battle for Spain'', 2006.
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Moscardo Ituarte, Jose
1878 births
1956 deaths
Military personnel from Madrid
Spanish generals
Spanish military personnel of the Spanish Civil War (National faction)
Spanish military personnel of the Spanish–American War
Spanish military personnel of the Rif War
Spanish military personnel of World War II
Spanish Christians
People from Madrid
Captains General of Catalonia
Grandees of Spain
Grand Crosses 1st class of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany