José Moscardó

José Moscardó Ituarte (Madrid, October 26, 1878-Madrid, April 12, 1956) was a Spanish soldier. As the most prominent soldier of the rebels in Toledo during the coup d'état in July 1936, he achieved fame for his defense of the Toledo fortress against the siege of government forces during the first months of the Spanish civil war. Subsequently, he held command of the Aragon Army Corps until the end of the war. During the Franco regime he held relevant positions, being head of the military household of the Head of State, Captain General of two important military regions, National Sports Delegate and president of the Spanish Olympic Committee.

He held the noble title of i count of the Alcázar of Toledo.

Biography

Training and military career

He was born in Madrid in 1878. José Moscardó began his studies at the Toledo Infantry Academy in 1896, from which he left the following year as a second lieutenant due to the need of the time to cover the casualties of the wars in Cuba and Philippines. But he did not arrive in time: the expeditionary battalion that was to take him to the Philippines was disbanded after the Spanish defeat.

Later he took part in the Moroccan campaigns, where in 1913 he achieved the position of commander for war merits, for his bravery in the campaign. In 1929, as a colonel, he was appointed director of the María Cristina de Toledo Infantry Orphans School. However, in May 1931, with the establishment of the Second Republic and as a consequence of the military reforms implemented by the new Minister of War, Manuel Azaña, his promotion was annulled and he returned to the position of lieutenant colonel, promoted definitively to colonel the following year. Between 1934 and 1935 he was a Member of the National Board of Physical Education of the Ministry of Public Instruction and, throughout the Republic, he directed the Central Gymnastics School of Toledo. The uprising against the Government of July 1936 surprised him as director of said School and Military Commander of Toledo. Furthermore, he was going to represent Spain at the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games in August.

Civil War

Moscardó led the coup d'état in Toledo and, after the arrival from Madrid of government forces superior in number, he became strong in the Alcázar of Toledo on July 22 along with the officers involved in the uprising, a small number of cadets from the Academy (they were on vacation), most of the province's civil guards and some militarized volunteer countrymen, along with their families (more than 500 civilians) and some nuns.

During the siege, the besiegers threatened to kill his son Luis if the Alcázar did not surrender (and in fact, he would be murdered on August 23, along with 60 other political and religious prisoners, in retaliation for a bombing by the side. revolted).

In the telephone conversation of July 23, 1936, in which his son intervened, informing him that they were going to shoot him if he did not surrender, Moscardó responded to the latter: «Then entrust your soul to God, give a cry of Long live Spain! and he dies as a patriot." The siege lasted until September 27, when the Army of Africa under the command of General Varela entered the city, with the Alcázar practically destroyed. The siege became one of the most famous events of the Civil War. Upon being liberated by the forces of General Varela, Moscardó pronounced the following phrase: "My general, without incident in the Alcázar, I hand it over to you destroyed, but with honor intact." For this fact, Moscardó would be granted the highest Spanish decoration for valor, the Laureate Cross of San Fernando.

After this episode, Moscardó was promoted to brigadier general, commanding the "Soria" Division since October, which was besieging Madrid from the north. Under his command, he took part in the Battle of the Coruña Highway, at the beginning of January 1937, and later in the Battle of Guadalajara (March 1937) supporting the Italian troops. He would later assume command of the 53rd Division. In September 1937 he was appointed head of the Aragon Army Corps, with which he broke the Republican lines in December 1938 and advanced through Catalonia until reaching the French border. Shortly before the end of the war, in February 1939, he was appointed major general.

Franco dictatorship

After the end of the war, he held various positions until his death: head of the Military House of the Head of State (1939-1943; 1945-1946), head of the FET and JONS Militias (1941) and captain general of the II (Andalusia) and IV (Catalonia) Military Regions. Once retired from the Army for having reached the statutory age, in the post-war context he was named National Sports Delegate, a position he held between March 1951 and April 1956. He also held the presidency of the Spanish Olympic Committee, since 1941. Prior to this, as the highest authority of Spanish sport after the War, he presided over the final of the Generalissimo's Cup of football that was played in Barcelona, on June 25, 1939, between Sevilla F. C. and Racing Club de Ferrol. In addition to these positions, he served as a solicitor in the Cortes.

He died at his private home at number 66 Ayala Street in Madrid on April 12, 1956, and is buried in the crypt of the Alcázar of Toledo.

Private life

In 1906 he married María Guzmán Palanca, daughter of a General of the Civil Guard, with whom he had five children, José, Miguel, María, Carmelo and Luis. Two of them, José and Luis, were shot without pretrial by the Popular Front militias in the summer of 1936.

Recognitions

In 1948, General Francisco Franco, as head of state, granted him the noble title of Count of the Alcázar of Toledo, with the greatness of Spain. The day after his death, in 1956, he was granted the job of Captain General of the Army in an honorary manner, and his name headed the ranks of all the military corps, with the symbolic position of "Chief of the Alcázar of Toledo".

In 1947 the Tarifa City Council awarded him the City's Gold Medal for the similarity of his feat with that of Guzmán the Good in the year 1294.

According to Inocencio Arias, Moscardó was praised by US President Ronald Reagan.

Decorations

• Cruz Laureada de San Fernando (1937)
• Grand Cross of the Order of San Hermenegildo (1940)
• Grand Cross of the Military Merit with White Distinctive (1944)