Word: franco
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1930-1939
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Early this week Loyalist resistance in northern Catalonia collapsed, and in a swift advance northward from Gerona the Rebel Armies of Generalissimo Francisco Franco occupied Figueras, for eleven days the fourth capital of Loyalist Spain. As last as their transport could keep up with them, they bore down on the frontier towns of Port-Bou, La Junquera and Puigcerda. It was only a matter of hours before the Generalissimo would wipe out the only remaining Loyalist territory in northern Spain and be master of the Spanish side of the French-Spanish frontier from the Bay of Biscay to the Mediterranean...
...wild churning wave of soldiers and civilians, rushing for the border, rolled before them. Veterans of Belchite, Teruel, the Ebro campaigns carried their rifles, hauled machine guns and field pieces, even drove tanks up to the frontier, where they were confiscated. They were determined not to let General Franco capture any war weapons. At one point alone 4,000 were crossing the French border every hour. At another point a Loyalist Army band played patriotic Spanish airs while the bedraggled and defeated army crossed into France. Of the 200,000 men left in the Loyalist Army. 150,000 were expected...
...only at the last moment that the French Government, after debating all week what to do and after failing to persuade Generalissimo Franco to agree either to setting up a neutral zone or to declaring a general amnesty, decided to open the French border not only to the fleeing army but to as many civilians as cared to enter. Probably what helped France make up her mind was the thought of what might have happened had the frontier been kept sealed. The Loyalist Army might well have decided to make a suicidal last stand on the border. Both a massacre...
Premier Negrin offered publicly to mediate the war on three conditions: 1) that Spain would be freed of foreign influence (meaning Italians and Germans); 2) that a Government be established through a plebiscite (meaning the probable displacement of Generalissimo Franco); 3) that the liquidation of the war be accompanied without persecution so that all Spaniards could join in reconstruction. On the other hand, Generalissimo Franco, answering inquiries from London and Paris, was reported to have demanded unconditional surrender. Despite the crescendo of peace reports, it seemed more than likely that Dr. Negrin and his loyal ministers would soon transfer...
...solemn assurance that the paintings remain forever the property of Spain, no matter what government is finally installed in Spain. Particularly did Minister Alvarez del Vayo want to make sure that the art would not fall into Italy's or Germany's hands. Finally, Generalissimo Francisco Franco was implored not to bomb the roads over which the-treasures were being moved. The General's aviators, who have never hesitated to blast women and children, complied. Directors of the Paris Louvre and the London National Gallery accompanied the paintings on their way to final safety...