Agustín Muñoz Grandes

Agustín Muñoz Grandes (Carabanchel Bajo, January 27, 1896-Madrid, July 11, 1970) was a Spanish soldier, known for having played a relevant role during the Spanish Civil War and the Franco dictatorship, as well as having commanded the Blue Division during World War II.

Military veteran of the Rif War, after the proclamation of the Second Republic he was the founder and first chief of the "Assault Guard". After the outbreak of the Civil War he joined the rebel forces, commanding several military units throughout the war; After the end of hostilities he achieved the rank of brigadier general. With the Franco dictatorship recently established, he was appointed Minister-Secretary General of the FET and the JONS, although internal disagreements with other leaders of the dictatorship led him to resign at the beginning of 1940.

In the summer of 1941, he received command of the 250th Infantry Division, officially called the Spanish Volunteer Division in Spain and the 250th Infanterie-Division in Germany—better known as the "Blue Division"—which was sent to the front. Russian integrated into the German army. Muñoz Grandes gained great popularity as head of this unit, being decorated by Adolf Hitler himself. Upon his return to Spain, he would occupy relevant positions within the Franco dictatorship, being captain general of the Madrid Military Region, Minister of the Army or head of the High General Staff. In 1962, Franco appointed him vice president of the Government, which made him one of the most important figures in the regime. Until his death in 1970, he was a public figure of some relevance.

Biography

Military career

He was born in Carabanchel Bajo, province of Madrid, into a humble family. While still a teenager, in 1913 he entered the Toledo Infantry Academy, of which Colonel José Villalba Riquelme was then head. Two years after his graduation, in 1915, he moved to the Moroccan front, where he would remain for a long time. Muñoz Grandes stood out during the retreat from Chefchaouen in 1924. The following year he was seriously wounded, receiving a hit to the chest in the battle of Al Hoceima. He refused to be an assistant to King Alfonso XIII and preferred to continue in the harka.

After the proclamation of the Second Republic, in 1931 he ascended the military ladder—to the rank of lieutenant colonel—and became assigned to the Security Corps. On September 23, 1933, he was appointed by the government of Manuel Azaña as the first head and founder of the Security and Assault Corps, more popularly known as the "Assault Guard." Muñoz Grandes organized the force in just three months.He remained at the head of the new republican police organization until the end of 1935. His appointment was influenced by the great fame acquired by organizing and directing the regular troops of Morocco.

He held the position of Delegate of Indigenous Affairs in Morocco, between 1935 and 1936.

Civil War

Although he tried to flee at the beginning of the Spanish Civil War, he was quickly located and imprisoned in the Modelo prison in Madrid. Sentenced to nine years in prison by the Republican justice system, his sentence was reduced to two and a half years and, later - through the mediation of Generals Miaja and Rojo - he was pardoned and considered joining the Popular Army. On March 21, 1937, he moved to Valencia to join said army and took advantage of the circumstance to escape to the rebellious area. On April 1, he was already there. He later went on to direct the II Navarra Brigade, leading which he participated in the Battle of Santander. On March 9, 1938, he was named commander of the 150th Division. At the head of this unit he participated in the Aragon Offensive, having a notable intervention during the Battle of Caspe against the International Brigades. Muñoz Grandes' advances led him to enter Catalonia and reach the Segre River.

Promoted up the military ladder, he later went on to command the newly formed Urgel Army Corps, with which he took part in the Catalonia Campaign. The offensive began at the end of December 1938 and his troops intervened in the breakdown of the Republican defensive lines on the Segre River. At the beginning of January they had managed to take Artesa de Segre, an important communications center, after which the front collapsed. Towards the end of the war he held the rank of colonel, although after the war he was promoted to brigadier general.

Postwar

On August 9, 1939, Franco formed his second government, in which Muñoz Grandes was appointed Secretary General of the FET and the JONS, with ministerial rank, replacing Raimundo Fernández-Cuesta. Although fiercely anti-monarchist, Muñoz Grandes was neither a traditionalist nor a former Falangist nor did he have any political experience, which is why his appointment was a real surprise. In the new National Council of FET and JONS, Muñoz Grandes occupied third place in importance, after Ramón Serrano Suñer and Pilar Primo de Rivera. However, it did not take long until he ended up having tense relations with both Serrano Suñer — head of the Political Board—as with Pedro Gamero del Castillo, vice secretary of the party. Serrano Suñer was the true strong man in the single party.

Shortly after being appointed, he appointed new positions within the Falange: Ricardo Giménez-Arnau was placed in charge of the Foreign Falange and Gerardo Salvador Merino was appointed national delegate of Unions. During the time he was in charge of the single party, Muñoz Grandes came to outline a plan that sought national reconciliation between Franco's supporters and former supporters of the Republic. The plan sought the reintegration of all the "reds" and/or members of the Republican Army who did not had committed blood crimes, with the assistance of the Falange. When he raised this idea in the Council of Ministers, he found that he was the only minister who supported the plan. Frustrated by this and other failed efforts, Muñoz Grandes would end up presenting his resignation in March 1940.

Later he was appointed commander of the 22nd Division and head of the military command of Campo de Gibraltar. For some time, Muñoz Grandes was known for being a soldier with Nazi sympathies. Taking advantage of the fact that he was in charge of the military command of Campo de Gibraltar, the Germans counted on his enthusiastic collaboration in case the so-called Operation "Félix" was developed, the German plan to occupy the British base in Gibraltar. The operation, without However, it did not take place and the assault on Gibraltar was abandoned due to Spanish neutrality in the world war.

Blue Division

In July 1941, after the German invasion of the USSR, the dictator Francisco Franco put him in charge of the Spanish volunteer unit that was going to fight alongside the Germans in the Soviet Union, the so-called Blue Division. This appointment gave Muñoz Grandes great popularity and he became the center of attention.

Months later, the commander of the brand new Blue Division came to have an interview with the German dictator Adolf Hitler at his headquarters in Rastenburg, also known as the "Wolf's Den." For his feats of arms he was decorated by Hitler with the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves, one of the highest German military decorations. The German dictator, after the disinterest shown by Franco and the impotence of Ramón Serrano Súñer, thought that Muñoz Grandes was an enthusiastic supporter of Spain entering the war, and that in fact he constituted a potential replacement for Franco himself in the direction of the country.. A young Spanish officer Víctor José Jiménez y Malo de Molina and Hans Hoffmann would have acted as translators between Hitler and Muñoz Grandes. Franco learned of the content of the conversations with Hitler and decided to dismiss Muñoz Grandes as head of the division. However, Hitler's pressure on Franco delayed his dismissal as head of the division for several months, due to Hitler's interest in increasing the military prestige of Muñoz Grandes. Finally, in December 1942 he was dismissed and replaced by General Emilio Esteban-Infantes, a conservative military man who did not share many of his predecessor's views.

When Muñoz Grandes returned to Spain in 1943, he was promoted to lieutenant general and named head of Franco's Military House. He was also decorated with the Grand Cross of the Imperial Order of the Red Arrows, as well as the Palm of Silver, the highest Falangist distinction. However, it is worth noting that, with the aforementioned promotion, Muñoz Grandes no longer had command over troops. Thus, in a single movement Franco had feted him and placed him at his side, at the same time that he had annulled him politically. Until the end of the world war he did not again command troops. In March 1945 he was appointed commander of the important Madrid military region.

Later career

After the Second World War he was in charge of the I Military Region for some years. On July 18, 1951, Franco formed his eighth Government, that of the new concordat with the Holy See and the agreements with the United States, the same one that on May 1, 1952 granted the third general pardon. In this government, Muñoz Grandes held the position of Minister of the Army, and later reached the rank of captain general, occupying number 52 since the institution of the position by monarch Carlos III.

The government needed American support, the great world power of its time and willing to strengthen ties. He was tasked with the most delicate military and diplomatic mission: negotiating agreements with the United States. Poor administrator of the Army Ministry, in 1957 he was replaced by General Antonio Barroso. He then became head of the High General Staff. In July 1962 he was named vice president of the government, the first since the institutionalization of the dictatorship. His appointment as vice president was significant, since Franco had recently suffered a hunting accident and his health had been affected. In 1967 he was succeeded by Carrero Blanco. He died in Madrid on July 11, 1970, after being admitted to hospital for a year due to serious illness, due to cardiorespiratory failure. His funeral was of great solemnity and included international representations, and he was buried in the Carabanchel Bajo cemetery.

Posthumous indictment

He was one of the thirty-five senior officials of the Franco regime charged by the National Court in the summary carried out by Baltasar Garzón, for the crimes of illegal detention and crimes against humanity committed during the Spanish Civil War and during the first Franco regime.; He was not prosecuted when his death was confirmed, which occurred a few decades before the accusation.

Decorations

• Second Class Iron Cross (8 September 1941)
• First Class Iron Cross (19 January 1942)
• Cross of Knight of the Iron Cross with Roble Sheets (1942)
• Great Circus of the Great Imperial Order of the Red Arrows (1943)
• Palma de Plata de la Falange (1943)
• Legion to Merit Legion
• Grand-Cruz of the Royal Order of Isabella the Catholic
• Grand-Cruz de la Real y Militar Orden de San Hermenegildo
• Gran-Cruz de la Real y Distinguida Orden Española de Carlos III
• Gran-Collar of the Imperial Order of the Yugo and the Arrows (1967)
• Grand-Collar of the Order of Cisneros (1970)