José Calvo Sotelo

José Calvo Sotelo
Calvo Sotelo over 1930's
Minister of Finance
In office 3 December 1925 – 21 January 1930
Leader	Miguel Primo de Rivera
Preceded by	José Corral Larre
Succeeded by	Francisco Moreno Zuleta
Member of the Congress of Deputies
In office 9 June 1919 – 2 October 1920
Constituency	Orense
In office 9 July 1931 – 7 December 1932
Constituency	Orense
In office 4 May 1934 – 22 May 1934
Constituency	La Coruña
In office 5 December 1933 – 7 January 1936
Constituency	Orense
In office 25 February 1936 – 13 July 1936
Constituency	Orense
Personal details
Born	José Calvo Sotelo 6 May 1893 Tui, Spain
Died	13 July 1936 (aged 43) Madrid, Spain
Resting place	Almudena cemetery
Nationality	Spanish
Political party	Renovación Española
Other political affiliations	Maurist
Spouse(s)	Enriqueta Grondona
Relations	Leopoldo Calvo Sotelo (brother) Leopoldo Calvo-Sotelo (nephew)
Occupation	Economist, jurist
Religion	Roman Catholicism

José Calvo Sotelo (6 May 1893 – 13 July 1936) was a Spanish politician prior to and during the Second Spanish Republic. His murder by a unit of the Guardia de Asalto police, just the day after a harsh confrontation in Parliament with the Popular Front government, aroused strong suspicions of government involvement in his murder and contributed greatly to precipitate the Spanish Civil War.

Biography

Calvo Sotelo was born on 6 May 1893 in Tui, Pontevedra,^[1] to Pedro Calvo y Camina and Elisa Sotelo Lafuente.

An economist and jurist, he was secretary of the Academy of Moral and Political Sciences of the Ateneo Mercantil de Madrid and a university professor of the Universidad Central. He was a member of Antonio Maura's Conservative Party. He first served as an administrative officer in the Ministry of Grace and Justice. In 1919, he was chosen as a deputy to the Cortes Generales for the district of O Carballiño, in Ourense, and in 1922 he was made civil governor of Valencia.

After Miguel Primo de Rivera became dictator of Spain in 1923, he appointed Calvo Sotelo as finance minister in 1925. He served from 3 December 1925 until 21 January 1930.^[2]

Calvo Sotelo was later forced into exile when the Republic was proclaimed (1931), but returned to Spain when he was amnestied in May 1934, becoming then a deputy for the Renovación Española alfonsist party. He soon became one of the most important right-wing political figures in the country. Calvo Sotelo unsuccessfully attempted to gain control of the Falange Española Tradicionalista y de las Juntas de Ofensiva Nacional Sindicalista from José Antonio Primo de Rivera in 1935. Calvo Sotelo was harshly critical of the Republican government after the electoral victory of the leftist Popular Front in February 1936. He was the Leader of the Opposition at the time of his assassination.

After Guardia de Asalto leader José Castillo was killed by falangists at 10pm on 12 July, in the first hours of 13 July a group of Guardia de Asalto and other leftist militiamen led by Civil Guard Fernando Condés went to Calvo Sotelo's house in a revenge mission, arrested him and later killed him with gunshots in a police truck.^[3] His body was later dropped at the entrance of one of the city's cemeteries. According to all later investigations, the perpetrator of the murder was a socialist gunman, Luis Cuenca, who was known as the bodyguard of PSOE leader Indalecio Prieto.

In the days following, the Spanish government undertook a routine investigation that never reached any conclusion. This only accelerated the preparations for a military revolt that was being developed since the electoral triumph of the Popular Front in the month of February. These preparations led to the uprising of the Army of Africa in Melilla on 17 July 1936 that, under the assumed command of Generals Emilio Mola, Francisco Franco, Gonzalo Queipo de Llano and José Sanjurjo, marked the beginning of the Spanish Civil War.

References

1. González Cuevas 1993, p. 397.
2. "Ministros y miembros de organismos de gobierno. Regencias, Juntas de Gobierno, etc (1808-2000)". Centro de Ciencias Humanas y Sociales (CCHS) del CSIC.
3. Payne 1999, p. 204.

Bibliography

• Bullón de Mendoza y Gómez de Valugera, Alfonso (2004). José Calvo Sotelo. Barcelona: Ariel. ISBN 84-344-6718-6.
• Gibson, Ian (1986). La noche en que mataron a Calvo Sotelo. Barcelona: Plaza & Janés. ISBN 84-01-45061-6.
• González Cuevas, Pedro Carlos (1993). "El pensamiento socio-político de la derecha maurista". Boletín de la Real Academia de la Historia (Real Academia de la Historia) 190 (3): 365–426. ISSN 0034-0626.
• Payne, Stanley G. (1999). Fascism in Spain, 1923–1977. University of Wisconsin Press. ISBN 0-299-16560-4.
• Preston, Paul (1994). Franco, Caudillo de España. Mondadori. ISBN 84-397-0241-8.
• Romero, Luis (1982). Por qué y cómo mataron a Calvo Sotelo. Barcelona: Planeta. ISBN 84-320-5678-2.