Segismundo
Casado
was
born in Spain in 1893. He joined the Spanish
Army and by 1936 had reached the rank of major and was in charge of
the military household of President Manuel
Azaña.
After the outbreak of the
Spanish Civil War Casado helped to develop
the tactics of the Republican
Army in
central Spain. In 1938 he was promoted to colonel and given command
of the Republican troops in the central zone.
In August 1938 President
Manuel
Azaña
attempted to oust the prime minister, Juan
Negrin.
However, he no longer had the power he once had and with the support
of the communists in the government and armed forces, Negrin was able
to survive.
On 27th February,
1939, the British prime minister, Neville
Chamberlain
recognized the Nationalist government headed by General Francisco
Franco. Later that day Manuel
Azaña
resigned from office, declaring that the war was lost and that he
did not want Spaniards to make anymore useless sacrifices.
Juan
Negrin
now promoted communist leaders such as Antonio
Cordon, Juan
Modesto and
Enrique Lister to senior posts in the army.
Casado
now became convinced that Negrin was planning a communist coup. On
4th March, Casado, with the support of the socialist leader, Julián
Besteiro and disillusioned anarchist leaders, established an anti-Negrin
National Defence Junta.
On 6th March
José
Miaja in Madrid joined the rebellion by ordering the arrests of
Communists in the city. Negrin, about
to leave for France, ordered Luis Barceló,
commander of the First Corps of the Army of the Centre, to try and
regain control of the capital. His troops entered Madrid and there
was fierce fighting for several days in the city. Anarchists troops
led by Cipriano Mera, managed to defeat the
First Corps and Barceló was captured and executed. It is estimated
that 230 people were killed during this internal conflict.
Casado
now tried to negotiate
a peace settlement with General Francisco
Franco.
However, he refused demanding an unconditional surrender. Members
of the Republican Army still left alive,
were no longer willing to fight and the Nationalist
Army entered Madrid
virtually unopposed
on 27th March.
Casado went to
Valencia
where he boarded
an English ship at the end of March. He lived in Britain for many
years and did not return to Spain
until just before
his death in 1968.
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