Milans del Bosch, former Lieutenant General of the “Double Coup” is buried in the Alcázar of Toledo in Democracy.

The exhumation of coup general Gonzalo Caipo de Liano left José Moscardo Juarte and Jaime Milans del Bosch and Usia on the starting line. The Ministry of Defense claims to have begun the process of exhuming the two soldiers, whose remains are at the Army Museum headquarters in Alcazar de Toledo. Their participation in the siege of this fortress during the Civil War earned them a niche in the crypt of this public building.

Moscardo died during the dictatorship, but Milan del Bosch died in 1997, more than two decades after the death of Francisco Franco. Be that as it may, and despite his punishment for his participation in 23F, he was buried in this public space. After his death, an obituary published in the ABC newspaper said that the remains of the coup soldier were found in the military fortification because it was “a right that corresponded to him” due to his participation in the “defense of the Alcázar” during the civil war. ”

After his death, under the government of José María Aznár (PP), the Ministry of Defense assured that the burial was authorized by the “previous norm” of this executive, “recognized in the charter of the board of trustees that manages the mortuary.” , and that it allowed “soldiers who defended the Alcázar during the Civil War and their relatives primarily by consanguinity” to end up in these niches, as recorded in the newspaper’s archives.

Coming from a military family, Milan del Bosch entered the Toledo Military Infantry Academy in 1934. I was 19 years old. “The outbreak of the civil war surprised him in this city and he managed to drive into the Alcazar with a companion. During this engagement he was wounded and received the First Ensign’s Star. A month later, he was promoted to lieutenant, and in 1941 to the rank of captain,” detailed the obituary published by ABC.

As historian Alberto Reig Tapia explained, the fortress became a symbol of Franco’s propaganda. “The siege and defense of the Alcázar de Toledo was an event of the first order, which inspired great confidence and redoubled the faith of the supporters of so-called national Spain. From the very first moment, the legend of the Alcázar was falsified, but in fact it quickly became a myth,” noted a researcher from Rovira i Virgil University in an academic publication in 1998.

Moscardo declared martial law and the rebels locked themselves in the Alcázar, where they surrounded the Republican troops for 70 days. After Francoism called the “liberation” of the Alcázar and Toledo was taken over by coup plotters, Moscardo was promoted to brigadier general and awarded the Cross of Laureate.

“The Alcázar was a military academy,” Reig Tapia explained to elDiario.es, and this operation “caught the cadets on vacation,” as Milan del Bosque then did. “Franco’s propaganda tried to suggest that these were bearded children resisting hundreds of militiamen. This is not true, because Moscardo was locked in the world all the time until the siege of the Alcázar was resolved,” says Professor Rovira y Virgil of the University.

Milan del Bosch’s military career has just begun. Before joining 23F, he would hold the rank of lieutenant general and serve in the Blue Division, a Francoist military unit that fought the Nazis in World War II. “There is a far-reaching commitment to the military,” says Jaume Claret, a professor of arts and humanities at the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, of the former lieutenant general’s career. This teacher also emphasizes the “relatively rapid military rise” experienced by the military coup. Grandson, son and military father. Military discipline was very much attached to his family.

His grandfather was the head of the military district of Alfonso XIII. His father participated in the rebellion of General Sanjurjo in 1932. And one of his three sons also received military training, according to an ABC obituary. The Royal Academy of History emphasizes that Jaime Milans del Bosch is “the fifth general of the family in direct line”.

Along with the military roots, the historian Roberto Muñoz Bolanos also emphasizes the aristocratic nature of his mother’s family: Consuelo Usia y Cuba, daughter of the Marquises of Aldama. “His mother owns a farm in La Moraleja,” says Camilo José Sella, a professor at the University. After being released from the prison, the coup soldiers lived there until their death.

Four years after Franco’s death and two years before the coup attempt led by Antonio Tejero, Milans del Bosch explained in an ABC interview that the armed forces at the time “were somewhat suspicious of any ideology or party that might entail some risk.” “Sovereignty or Territorial Integrity”. When asked what would change in our country at that time, he answered: “The irresponsibility shown by quite large groups and the comfort and even cowardice shown by other equally large groups.”

For Jose Ignacio Dominguez, a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel, it is “complete and utter nonsense” that the remains of coup leader Milan del Bosch have been found in a facility that depends on the Ministry of Defense. “In no democracy is a coup maker buried in an official building,” says this lawyer.

Dominguez was part of the defunct Democratic Military Union (UMD). This military group was established to democratize the armed forces and overthrow the Franco dictatorship, a few months after the Portuguese Carnation Revolution in August 1974. And it collapsed three years later, after the June 1977 elections.

A former member of UMD recalls that Milan del Bosch is a “double coup leader” because “not only [se sublevó] In the Democracy’, he also did it ‘during the Republic, because he fought on Franco’s side’. For his part, Reig Tapia advocates that the Alcázar be limited to “an army museum, a training place and a library, but not a cemetery for the country’s supposed heroes.”

Following the departure of coup general Caipo de Llano from the Macarena Basilica this Thursday and the upcoming exhumation of José Antonio Primo de Rivera in the Cuelgamuros Valley, the Ministry of Defense announced that – with the entry into force of the Law of Democratic Memory. – The exhumation process of the Alcázar de Toledo, where Moscardo, Milan del Bosch and Usia are buried, began. Beyond the announcement, Margarita Robles from the department assured that these procedures will take time. “You can’t leave so quickly,” official sources of the ministry say.

The government is relying on Article 38.3 of the Law of Democratic Memory to carry out the exhumation, as noted this week by the Secretary of State for Democratic Memory, Fernando Martinez. The quoted text states that “the remains of the leaders of the 1936 military coup cannot be or be buried in a place accessible to the public, except in a cemetery, which facilitates the performance of public acts of exaltation, exaltation. or commemorating human rights violations committed during war or dictatorship.”

Although more than 45 years have passed since the death of the dictator, Dominguez claims that there is a “very strong influence of Francoism” in the Ministry of Defense, because there are families that “had power” in the military discipline of the dictatorship and, even so. “They still have a lot of power in today’s democracy.”

Considering this situation, the former member of the UMD points out that the Robles ministry is an exception in the executive branch because of the peculiarities that he details. And, he believes, “any other body that was already less influenced by the Francoists” would have withdrawn the military associated with the rebel side.

As historians consulted by elDiario.es point out, Milan del Bosch’s name did not become famous for his participation in the Alcázar, it was for his participation in the attempted coup of February 23, 1981. “His uniqueness was. “Not only that he led the only military region that voted in favor of the coup, but also that he threw the troops into the streets,” says Claret.

During the attack on Congress, led by Antonio Tejero, a soldier buried in the fortifications of Toledo commanded the III Military Region based in Valencia. According to an obituary published by El País after his death, Milan del Bosch “declared a state of emergency in Valencia, at his own risk and expense, and deployed tanks, trucks, anti-aircraft guns and infantry at strategic points. A city that thus came under military control.

This mobilization of forces led to him being “one of the most punished in subsequent trials”, recalls Clarett. A prison sentence of 26 years and eight months for his part in the 23F coup also led to his dismissal from the armed forces. The court decision was “very traumatic” for Milan del Bosch, says Muñoz Bolanos, “especially when he was five months away from retirement”.

After nine years in prison, Milan del Bosch was released from Alcala de Henares Military Prison (Madrid) after serving more than a third of his sentence and because of his advanced age. He was 75 years old. Four years after 23F, he said in an interview in the magazine Interviú, echoing El País, that “under the same circumstances, I would have done the same” and that the situation in Spain was and is even more so. more serious than in 1936″.

Source: El Diario

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