CHAPTER II. General Goded surrenders

Several officers went out to greet Goded when his hydroplane landed at the naval base. They shouted “Viva” when he emerged from the plane. That reception alerted the base’s mechanics to the fact that there was no “anarchist rebellion against the Republic,” but rather a military uprising against the government. They went into action against the seditious officer corps.

The officers welcomed Goded in such a way because they were expected to do so, not out of real enthusiasm. However, even if they had been genuinely excited, it is unlikely that they could have cheered him up after what he saw while flying over Barcelona.

Commander Lázaro, leader of his General Staff, stepped toward Goded and whispered: “My General, I think we’ve stuck ourselves in a mousetrap.”

“I know, but I’ve given my word and here I am.”

The clamor of the fighting outside—rifles firing and machine-guns rattling—was clearly audible in the room.

An officer approached to tell Goded that the route to the Captaincy was extremely dangerous. A canon thundered in the distance.

“Is the artillery on the street?” asked Goded.

“Yes, my General,” an officer said. “Some batteries went out this morning, but fell into the masses’ hands.”

They got into an armor-plated car, which took them to Captaincy around 1:00 pm. Goded could not suppress his rage when he saw Llano de la Encomienda.

“Traitor!”

“You’re the traitor!”

Goded put his hand on his pistol, but Burriel intervened.

“An honor tribunal will judge your treason.”

Llano de la Encomienda smiled sarcastically.[485]

Goded’s presence raised the spirits of the officers in Captaincy, who hoped that the prestigious General could somehow transform defeat into victory. But Goded was worried, and his alarm must have increased when he learned the details of the battle. Nevertheless, this General held the workers in utter disdain and it was inconceivable to him that they could conquer the army. He forced himself to be optimistic. If he could win over the Civil Guard, then things would turn in his favor. He telephoned General Aranguren in the Catalan Interior Ministry:

“General Aranguren,” Goded shouted, “put yourself at my orders!”

Aranguren replied: “I only take orders from the Republic.”

Goded let out an exclamation: “It is unbelievable that you, General, say such a thing in the face of the ruin of Spain.”

Aranguren asked calmly: “But, Goded, are you rebelling against the government or the regime?”

“Against the government. The regime is something else; we’ll take care of that later.”

“If that’s the case,” Aranguren declared, “then you should know that a new government has been in place since the morning.”

“It is not a new government,” said Goded, losing his patience, “but the same parties!” Then, trying to adopt a more affable tone, he continued: “You should know, General Aranguren, that the army is ready and our victory is inevitable.”

“Are you aware of what has actually transpired? The government controls the situation and the uprising is a complete failure.”

Goded interrupted furiously: “Is that your final word, Aranguren?”

“My final word.”

“Well, it will be very sad for us to fight against the Civil Guard, but there’s no alternative.”[486]

Aranguren’s calm drove Goded crazy. He stared scornfully at General Llano de la Encomienda, who was impassively following Goded’s comings and goings around the large room in Captaincy. He burst out: “Aranguren is a traitor like you!”

Llano suffered the insult in silence. Burriel, nervous, wanted to shrink to avoid Goded’s fury. This trio of Generals faced one another, as their entourage of Colonels and officers stood nearby, not knowing what to do.

Goded grabbed the telephone and asked to be put through to the Alcántara Regiment. Colonel Roldán took the call.

“Roldán, is that you? I’ve called to tell you that I’ve taken charge of the Division and I’m going to launch a re-conquest operation. What forces do you have there?”

“Almost the whole Regiment, but the masses have surrounded the barracks. They decimated the two companies that tried to deploy. The soldiers think we’re fighting to defend the Republic. This situation can’t last much longer. God knows what will happen when the troops find out that we’re rebelling against the Republic.”

“Wait for my orders,” the General told him.

Commander Lázaro continued telling Goded: “Just like I said, a mousetrap...”

That reminded him of the hydroplanes. “Lázaro, send a messenger to the naval base ordering the hydroplanes to stay there.”

Captain Lecuona brought the response to his order minutes later: “My General, the hydroplanes took off for Mahón as soon as we left the base.” It was 2:45 pm.

“Lázaro, you’re right, very right: we are abandoned,” Goded told the Commander. But he refused to accept defeat and contacted Roldán again:

“Send forces to the Artillery barracks in the Docks, which you’ll lead. And wait until I instruct you to leave escorting a battery that Commander Urzué will send.”

He called Commander Urzué and gave him the corresponding orders:

“Commander Urzué, it’s imperative that you send two batteries. The infantry forces will support them, which will arrive or have already arrived, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Roldán.”

Urzué replied: “If that’s my General’s command, then I will carry it out, but I must tell you what happened before you arrived. I went out with two batteries, with all their artillery pieces, and others with muskets to protect them. Groups of compatriots and Assault Guards attacked us with such viciousness that the advance pieces fell into enemy hands. So did the officers, including Captain Varela. It was only with great difficulty that I could withdraw the other one. Now it’s much harder to leave the barracks—the masses have built a barricade less than one hundred meters away and have the main exit covered. We’re presently under heavy fire, because the people on the barricade and in the area saw Roldán’s reinforcements enter. It’s truly miraculous that the reinforcements made it to us. That’s my situation, General.”

“Stay there, until we can organize something else,” Goded told him.

After hanging up, he repeated, “Abandoned, abandoned...”

Llano, sitting on the other side of the room and guarded by the officers, corrected him: “Defeated, Goded. It’s not the same thing.”

Goded looked at Llano like he wanted to eat him: “Not yet,” he growled.

“Lázaro,” Goded said, “send a telegram to Palma and get them to send us an Infantry battalion and a Mountain battery as soon as possible. Send another to Zaragoza asking them to dispatch forces at once. Tell Mataró and Gerona to march on Barcelona.”

Commander Lázaro left the room but promptly returned: “My General, the radio telegrams have been sent, but I can’t reach Mataró and Gerona: communications are cut.”

“Send an officer to Mataró to personally ensure that the orders are carried out.” The officer came back in five minutes:

“It’s impossible to leave Captaincy. We’re surrounded.”[487]

The atmosphere was suffocating. The “spirited” officers who wanted to kill General Llano earlier now looked at him with a certain deference, as if hoping to erase the tense scenes of the morning. They whispered among themselves, without caring about Goded’s presence, who stood by himself, isolated from the other men. The latter had divided into two groups: those who wanted to surrender immediately (with General Burriel among them) and those who wanted to fight to the end.

Goded paced around the room. At his side, the frightened Commander Lázaro continued muttering: “A mousetrap... a mousetrap... ”

By midday, the revolutionary contagion had spread. The crowds in the street grew as people learned of the soldier’s multiple defeats. Even the most timid joined in.

Was it that everyone simply wanted to show that they had played a role in the battle now that there was no longer an immediate danger? That was the motive for those who personally feared the consequence of proletarian victory. But the common worker felt integral to the triumph even if he hadn’t fired a shot and wanted to share in the momentous revolutionary delirium in any way possible.

Cafes and restaurants near the barricades opened and became cafeterias in which combatants refreshed themselves; their throats parched by the heat and gunpowder smoke.

Cars painted with the letters “CNT” drove through the city and their occupants informed those manning the barricades about the evolution of the battle. It was rumored that a FAI group and some soldiers had seized the Pedralbes barracks. This meant that they would soon have plentiful rifles and could finish off the remaining groups of rebels.

The rumor was true. An anarchist group from Torrassa had occupied the Pedralbes barracks in the early afternoon. That building later became the famous “Bakunin barracks.” The first War Committee was born there, which organized a workers’ militia, an idea that quickly spread to the other barracks as they fell into the workers’ hands.[488]

The revolutionary spirit had also infected the armed forces. Military discipline was shattered and guards and workers formed a single body that collectively shouted: “Viva the CNT! Viva the FAI!” Durruti, Ascaso, and García Oliver’s names eclipsed those of all others. They had been seen in the most difficult moments, confronting the greatest challenges, and encouraging the fighters in the battle zones. The CNT nearly begged for arms a few hours earlier. Now it had hundreds of rifles seized during the fighting—as well as machine-guns and cannons torn from rebel hands—and popular opinion recognized it as the leader of the struggle.

By two in the afternoon, everyone was wondering about the Civil Guard concentrated in the Palacio Plaza. Was it with the people or against them? The decisive moment arrived when Aranguren received orders to “pacify the Cataluña-Universidad area.”[489]

The job was entrusted to the Civil Guard’s Tercio 19, led by Colonel Escobar. When he and his forces set out to execute the mission, the Quartermaster troops led by Commander Neira, who had been faithful to the Republic since the beginning, tried to isolate the first and second command by placing themselves between both groups. Marching double file, and filling the entire street, the Civil Guard advanced on Vía Layetana up to Urquinaona Plaza on their way to capture the Plaza de Cataluña and the Plaza de la Universidad. Workers flanked the column, watching it with tremendous suspicion. The Plaza de Cataluña was teeming with people, as were the adjacent streets and Metro entrances. This was the final clash. The Civil Guard began a heavy shootout. A cannon manned by a port worker began to thunder. Fascist machine-gunners in the Hotel Colón cut down the waves of people following the Civil Guard, while others gave the assault in front of it. The most valiant and committed militants led these groups. After thirty minutes of fighting, in which both sides won and lost ground and the plaza filled with bodies, white flags of surrender appeared. At the other end of the plaza, between Fontanella and Puerta del Angel, anarchist groups lead by Durruti stormed the telephone exchange. Numerous activists died here, including Mexican anarchist Enrique Obregón.[490] It was not easy to get to the building’s door, although they penetrated en masse once they did so. There was heavy fighting inside, but the CNT won the building during that battle, which would remain in the hands of a Workers’ Committee from then on.[491]

The Hotel Colón and the telephone exchange were occupied almost simultaneously, in the midst of absolute confusion. The Civil Guard tried to prevent the workers from entering the Hotel Colón (probably because the Catalan Interior Ministry had ordered them to stop the people from taking justice into their own hands). A POUM group led by José Rovira that had been there since the morning forced its way past the Guards. It was really these POUM militants who took the Hotel Colón.[492]

Once the rebels in the Plaza de Cataluña stopped fighting, soldiers entrenched in the Universidad building realized that it would be futile to continue. They raised the white flag and surrendered to the Civil Guard. When the people took the building, they freed the men seized by the soldiers in the morning. Angel Pestaña was among them; his captors’ failure to identify him surely saved his life. By 3:00 pm, the remaining centers of resistance were limited to the Carmelitas Convent, Dependencias Militares, and the Atarazanas barracks. Captaincy would give up in a matter of minutes.

In Captaincy, General Goded made one last attempt, more for show than with real hopes of success. He phoned General Aranguren and again implored him to join the rebels. However, even if he had convinced General Aranguren, his call made little sense, because he was surrounded. And popular enthusiasm had infected many of his men, who had broken discipline, lost their customary hats and jackets, and were now wrapped up among the crowds of workers.

“General Aranguren, tell the Generalitat that the people have to surrender. Events have been favorable to me.”

“I’m very sorry,” Aranguren responded, “but my reports suggest the contrary. They tell me that the rebellion is under control. I urge you to call a cease fire where there’s still fighting in order to avoid needless spilling of blood. If you do not surrender within thirty minutes our artillery will start bombing Captaincy.”

Lacruz writes: “Goded’s response couldn’t have been very pleasant; but Aranguren, in his little old man’s voice, and without showing the slightest irritation, again ordered him to give up and guaranteed the safety of the prisoners.”[493]

The deadline passed at 4:30 and there was no sign that Captaincy was going to yield. The bombing began, which turned out to be much more persuasive than Aranguren’s commands.

The bombardment heightened the confusion among the rebels, but Goded’s arrogance knew no limits: the idea of surrendering to the “mob” outside was beyond the limits of his “military pride.” Burriel realized that it was pointless to keep resisting and, without consulting Goded, told Catalan authorities that Captaincy surrendered. They instructed him to put out the white flag and said that they would stop firing when he did. Colonel Sanfeliz told Goded what had transpired. He said nothing.

They sent Neira, the Commander of the Quartermaster Corps, to take the prisoners from Captaincy. He pressed through the people, followed by a squad of Assault and Civil Guards. When they reached the main door of the building, a machine-gunner fired down upon the crowd from a balcony, causing multiple casualties. This absurd act enraged those congregated below and they rushed toward the door to lynch those who didn’t even respect their own conditions of surrender. Several militants intervened and stopped the assault from occurring. Goded’s life was spared as well, because Companys had ordered the Commander of the Mozos de Escuadra to bring him to the Generalitat.

When Goded and Companys were face-to-face, Companys told him to broadcast an order over the radio telling those still fighting to lay down their arms. Goded refused at first but then, after Companys insisted and he thought for a moment, he made a historic declaration:

“Fortune has not favored me and I am a prisoner. Therefore, if you want to avoid bloodshed, the soldiers loyal to me are free of all obligation.”[494]