Domènec Batet
Domènec Batet i Mestres | |
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Events of October the 6th Spanish Civil War | |
Awards | Laureate Cross of Saint Ferdinand |
Domènec Batet i Mestres (Spanish: Domingo Batet Mestres; Tarragona, August 30, 1872 – Burgos, February 18, 1937) was a Spanish military man who became general of the Spanish Army.[1]
Starting as a lieutenant, Batet quickly escalated ranks during the
Biography
Early military career
Domènec Batet i Mestres started his career in the Spanish Army as a volunteer lieutenant in the Cuban War of Independence. During the war, he received decorations and was promoted multiple times. He also developed a pacifist ideology.
After that, during the Rif War, as a colonel he was one of the instruction judges who wrote the Picasso Files, a report directed by Juan Picasso González that pointed out the corruption of the African deployed Spanish officers, including Francisco Franco.[2][3]
The Catalan uprising
Shortly after the proclamation of the
In 1932, Batet led the repression of the general strike of the Alt Llobregat. Instead of using terror tactics, ordered by Manuel Azaña, he acted quickly and avoided unnecessary bloodshed.
Its most important action during the Republican years was the successfully suffocation of the
On 5 October 1934 a
Acting efficiently, Batet minimised the casualties and used the minimal force to fulfil the Spanish government orders. Some sources say that in order to avoid further fights against his own people Batet asked to be redeployed somewhere else while others claim that he was ordered to change of position as a punishment for his passivity during the confrontation.[7] In any case, Niceto Alcalá-Zamora transferred him to Burgos.
Spanish Civil War and execution
On June 13, 1936 Batet was transferred to the Organic Division of Burgos, where the general Emilio Mola, leader of the Nationalist faction, was also deployed. When the Spanish Civil War started, Batet was betrayed by his own men and they imprisoned him. While Mola, who respected Batet as a military man, was the leader of the Nationalists, Batet was kept in prison. When Franco became the Generalissimo of the Nationalist forces he ordered the execution of Batet, according to leftist sources, in retaliation for the Picasso Files, where Batet accused Franco of corruption during the Rif War.[2][3]
See also
References
- ^ "Domènec Batet i Mestres" (in Catalan). Barcelona: Enciclopèdia.cat. Retrieved September 5, 2015.
- ^ a b c d "Acte en reconeixement de la figura del general Domènec Batet" [Act in memory of the figure of the general Domènec Batet] (in Catalan). Museu d'Història de Catalunya. Retrieved September 5, 2015.
- ^ a b Pi, Jaume (February 18, 2017). "Batet, el general conciliador que la historia rehabilitó" [Batet, the conciliatory general restored by History]. La Vanguardia (in Spanish). Barcelona. Retrieved October 21, 2017.
- ^ Finestres & López 2014, p. 29.
- ^ Finestres & López 2014, p. 31-32.
- ^ Gonzàlez et al. 2014, p. 165-170.
- ^ Villatoro, Manuel (October 5, 2017). "El general de Tarragona que acabó con la falsa 'República catalana' proclamada ilegalmente en 1934" [The general of Tarragona who ended with the false "Catalan Republic" illegally declared in 1934]. ABC (in Spanish). Retrieved October 21, 2017.
Bibliography
- Gonzàlez, Arnau; López, Manel; Ucelay, Enric; (ED.) (2014). 6 d'octubre. La desfeta de la revolució catalanista de 1934 (in Catalan). Barcelona: Editorial Base. )
- Finestres, Jordi; López, Manel (2014). "Entre la revolució i l'estelada". Sàpiens (in Catalan). Barcelona. ISSN 1695-2014.
See also
- Francesc Macià
- Mossos d'Esquadra
- Juan Prim y Prats