José
Miaja
was
born in Asturias, Spain, in 1878. He obtained
a degree in Oviedo before joining the Spanish Army. He served in Morocco
and by 1936 had reached
the rank of general.
After the Popular
Front victory, Miaja was appointed commander of the 1st Division
in Madrid. On the outbreak of the Spanish
Civil War he remained loyal to the Republic and accepted the post
of minister of war under Diego Martinez Barrio.
However, he resigned from the post when José
Giral was appointed prime minister.
Miaja now became commander
of the 3rd Division in Valencia but failed
to capture Cordoba from the Nationalist
Army in August
1936. Two months later he once again became commander of the 1st Division
in Madrid.
Francisco
Largo Caballero
and his government decided to leave the capital on 6th
November, 1936.
This decision was criticized by the four anarchists in his cabinet
who regarded leaving the capital as cowardice. At first they refused
to go but were eventually persuaded to move to Valencia
with the rest of
the government.
Before he left,
Largo Caballero appointed Miaja as commander of the Republican
Army in Madrid. He was given instructions to set up a Junta de
Defensa (Defence Council), made up of all the parties of the Popular
Front,
and to defend Madrid "at all costs". He was aided in this
task by his chief of staff, Vicente
Rojo.
Soon after taking
command of Madrid
Miaja surprisingly
joined the Communist
Party
(PCE). Over the coming months the PCE obtained more and more power
in the capital. This was especially a concern to other left-wing groups
such as the Worker's
Party (POUM) and
the National
Confederation of Trabajo (CNT).
Miaja's task of
defending the capital was helped by the arrival of the International
Brigades.
The first units reached Madrid on 8th November. Led by the Soviet
General, Emilo Kléber, the 11th
International Brigade was to play an important role in the defence
of the city. The Thaelmann
Battalion,
a volunteer unit that mainly consisted of members of the German
Communist Party and the British Communist
Party, was also deployed to defend the city.
On 14th November
Buenaventura
Durruti
arrived in Madrid from Aragón
with his Anarchist
Brigade.
Six days
later Durruti was killed while fighting on the outskirts of the city.
Durruti's supporters in the CNT claimed that
he had been murdered by members of the Communist
Party
(PCE).
Santiago
Carrillo, the Councillor for Public Order in the Defence Council,
argued that the main reason that the Nationalist forces was attempting
to capture Madrid was the desire to release the large number of Nationalist
Army officers in Madrid's prisons. Carrillo was given permission
to take them out of the city by bus.
An estimated 2,000
Nationalist soldiers were murdered at Paracuellos del Jarama and Torrejón
de Ardoz. Communists later claimed
that the buses were hijacked by Anarchists
and they were responsible
for the killings. However, no evidence has emerged to support this
claim. In fact, after the war Francisco
Franco claimed
that Carrillo and his Communists were guilty of killing 12,000 Nationalists
in Madrid.
On 13th December
1936, the Nationalists attempted to cut the Madrid-La Coruna road
to the north-east of Madrid. After suffering heavy losses the offensive
was brought to an end over Christmas. On 5th January 1937, the attack
was resumed. During the next four days the Nationalist gained ten
kilometres of road and lost around 15,000 men. The International
Brigades,
defending the road, also suffered heavy losses during this battle.
General Francisco
Franco came
under pressure from Adolf Hitler and
