Camilo Alonso Vega
Camilo Alonso Vega | |
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Birth name | Camilo Alonso Vega |
Nickname(s) | Don Camulo |
Born | (1899-05-29)29 May 1899 Ferrol, Spain |
Died | 1 July 1971(1971-07-01) (aged 72) Madrid, Spain |
Allegiance | ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Years of service | 1907–1959 |
Rank | Lieutenant general Captain general (ad honorem; 1969) |
Commands | Brigade (1937–8) Division (1938–9). |
Battles/wars | Spanish Civil War
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Camilo Alonso Vega (29 May 1889 – 1 July 1971) was a Spanish military officer and minister.
Early life
A childhood friend of Francisco Franco, as a Captain he entered in the Foreign Legion and fought in the Rif War.[1] He was initially assigned as commander of the 9th machinegun company of the 3rd Bandera of the Legion. Later he was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel of the Spanish Army in 1935 and full Colonel in December 1936 due to performance on the battlefield.[2]
Spanish Civil War
In July 1936, he supported the 17–18 July coup d’etat and helped conquer Vitoria, the capital city of the province of Alava for the rebels.[3] In December 1936, he led the defense of the town of Villareal against an offensive of the Basque forces.[4] In March 1937 he was appointed as commander of the 4th Brigade of the newly organized Mola’s Navarrese division and, he led this brigade in the Biscay Campaign,[5] in the Battle of Brunete in July 1937,[6] in the Battle of Santander in August, and in the Aragon Offensive,[7] and on April 15 he took the town of Vinaròs (in the province of Castellón) cut in a half the Republican held zone.[8] Later, he led a division in the Battle of the Ebro.[9]
Francoist Spain
After the war in January 1940, he became Sub-Secretary of the Ministry of the Army, which included supervising of the concentration camps and later the head of the Civil Guard (1943-1955).[10] He was the Minister of the Interior of the Francoist Spain from 1956[11] to 1969.[12] He retired from the military in 1959,[13] remaining as Minister of the Interior nonetheless. He led the opposition inside the francoist government against the Fraga's Press Law. In 1969 he crushed the university demonstrations, because of this, he was nicknamed Don Camulo by the students[11] (a portmanteau of his given name and mule).
Notes
- ^ Preston, Paul. (1994). Franco. Fontana Press. London. p.29
- ^ "Datos biográficos del Capitán General Alonso Vega - Archivo Linz de la Transición española | Fundación Juan March".
- ^ Thomas, Hugh. (2001). The Spanish Civil War. Penguin Books. London. p.226
- ^ Thomas, Hugh. (2001). The Spanish Civil War. Penguin Books. London. p..525
- ^ Beevor, Antony. (2006). The Battle for Spain. The Spanish Civil War, 1936-1939. Penguin Books. London. p.228
- ^ Thomas, Hugh. (2001). The Spanish Civil War. Penguin Books. London. p.691
- ^ Thomas, Hugh. (2001). The Spanish Civil War. Penguin Books. London. p.781
- ^ Beevor, Antony. (2006). The Battle for Spain. The Spanish Civil War, 1936-1939. Penguin Books. London. p.327
- ^ Thomas, Hugh. (2001). The Spanish Civil War. Penguin Books. London. p.817
- ^ Beevor, Antony. (2006). The Battle for Spain. The Spanish Civil War, 1936-1939. Penguin Books. London. p.405
- ^ a b Preston, Paul. (1994). Franco. Fontana Press. London. p.740
- ^ Preston, Paul. (1994). Franco. Fontana Press. London. p.746
- ^ Ministerio del Ejército: "Decreto 1021/1959, de 4 de junio, por el que se dispone que el Teniente General don Camilo Alonso Vega pase a la situación de reserva" (PDF). Boletín Oficial del Estado (142): 8560. 15 June 1959. ISSN 0212-033X.