Antonio
Cordon
was
born in Spain in 1895. He joined the Spanish
Army and although a member of the Communist
Party (PCE) had reached the rank of colonel by 1936.
Soon after the
outbreak of the Spanish Civil War he became
chief of staff to the commander of the Republican
Army in the East.
In March 1937 Codon was
appointed to the position of undersecretary of war. In
1939 Juan
Negrin
promoted Cordon and other communists such as Juan
Modesto and
Enrique Lister to senior posts in the army.
Segismundo
Casado,
commander of the Republican Army
of the Centre,
now became convinced that Negrin was planning a communist coup. On
4th March, Casedo, 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.
Cordon was forced
to flee from Spain when General Francisco
Franco and
the Nationalist Army took control
of the country in March 1939.
Antonio
Cordon died
in 1965.
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