Luis Barceló

Luis Barceló
Birth name	Luis Barceló Jover
Born	1896 Madrid
Died	15 March 1939 Madrid
Allegiance	Spanish Republic
Service/branch	Army
Rank	Colonel
Commands held	Commander of a Mixed Brigade (1936), Division (1937), I Army Corps of the Army of the Centre (1939)
Battles/wars	Spanish Civil War Siege of the Alcazar Second Battle of the Corunna Road Segovia Offensive Final offensive of the Spanish Civil War

Luis Barceló Jover (1896 in Madrid – 1939 in Madrid) was a Spanish military officer.

Spanish Civil War

A professional officer of the Spanish Army, he supported the Republican government during the Spanish Civil War. On 1936 he was a major of the Spanish army. On July 1936 he was one of the officers who set up summary courts to try the rebel officers captured after the failure of the coup in Madrid.^[1] On September 1936, he took part in the Siege of the Alcazar.^[2] Later he joined to the PCE, and led one mixed brigade of the Modesto's division in the Second Battle of the Corunna Road.^[3] Later, he was promoted to colonel and, on June 1937 he was one of the republican commanders in the Segovia Offensive.^[4] In 1939, he was the commander of the I Corps of the Republican Army of the Centre.

The Casado coup

On March 5, 1939, the Colonel Segismundo Casado, an officer of the Republican Army, supported a section of the PSOE (Julian Besteiro), a section of the UGT (Wenceslao Carrillo), the CNT (Cipriano Mera), the general Manuel Matallana and the secret service of the Republic (SIM), deposed the prime minister, Juan Negrin, and established the National Defence Council (Consejo Nacional de Defensa) in order to start peace negotiations with Francisco Franco. The Council dismissed the Communist commanders of the I, II, and III Corps of the Army of the Centre, among them Barceló, but he rejected the authority of the Council, and on March 7 he appointed himself as Commander of the Army of the Centre, setting up his headquarters in the Pardo Palace,^[5] and entered with his troops in Madrid,^[6] supported by the Bueno's II Corps and the Ortega's III Corps, starting a brief civil war inside the Republic. After some days of bloody combats he was defeated by Cipriano Mera's IV Corps^[7] and surrendered himself to the Council on March 12. On March 13, he and his commissar Jose Conesa, were sentenced to death by a military tribunal and executed.^[8][9][10]

Notes

1. Thomas, Hugh. (2001). The Spanish Civil War. Penguin Books. London. pp.236-237
2. Thomas, Hugh. (2001). The Spanish Civil War. Penguin Books. London. p.398
3. Thomas, Hugh. (2001). The Spanish Civil War. Penguin Books. London. pp.474-478
4. Thomas, Hugh. (2001). The Spanish Civil War. Penguin Books. London. p.668
5. Beevor, Antony. (2006). The Battle for Spain. The Spanish Civil War, 1936-1939. Penguin Books. London. p.394
6. Preston, Paul, (2006). The Spanish Civil War. Reaction, revolution&revenge. Harper Perennial. London. p.298
7. Preston, Paul. (1995). Franco. Fontana Press. London.p.321
8. Thomas, Hugh. (2001). The Spanish Civil War. Penguin Books. London. pp.882-884
9. Preston, Paul, (2006). The Spanish Civil War. Reaction, revolution&revenge. Harper Perennial. London. p.298
10. Beevor, Antony. (2006). The Battle for Spain. The Spanish Civil War, 1936-1939. Penguin Books. London. p.394

References

• Beevor, Antony. (2006). The battle for Spain. The Spanish Civil war, 1936–1939. Penguin Books. London. ISBN 978-0-14-303765-1.
• Preston, Paul. (1995). Franco. Fontana Press. London. ISBN 978-0-00-686210-9.
• Preston, Paul. (2006). The Spanish Civil War. Reaction, Revolution & Revenge. Harper Perennial. London. ISBN 978-0-00-723207-9. ISBN 0-00-723207-1.
• Thomas, Hugh. The Spanish Civil War. Penguin Books. 2001. London. ISBN 978-0-14-101161-5