Segismundo Casado

Segismundo Casado López (1893, Nava de la Asunción, Segovia – 1968, Madrid) was a Spanish Army officer in the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War, commanding the Republican Spanish Army in 1939.

Together with Juan Besteiros, a member of the Cortes Generales and a socialist, in 1939 Casado conducted a coup d'etat against the government of Prime Minister Juan Negrín, claiming Negrín wanted a Communist takeover. Republican forces regained control of Madrid, and Casado's efforts to negotiate a peace with General Franco failed. He insisted on unconditional surrender, which occurred in 1939. Casado went into exile in Venezuela, not returning to Spain until 1961.

Early life
The son of a military man, Casado entered the Royal Cavalry Academy at Valladolid at age 15. He progressed as an officer, reaching the rank of major by 1936. At the time, he served as head of the military household of President Manuel Azaña, established under the Second Republic of Spain.

Spanish Civil War
After the start of the Spanish Civil War, Casado helped to develop the tactics of the Spanish Republican Army in central Spain. He participated in the defense of Madrid and the battle of Jarama. He was promoted to colonel in 1938 and fought in the battle of Brunete. In 1938, he was the commander of one army corps (out of five) in the republican central zone. In 1939 he was given command of the Republican Central Army.

Casado's coup and the end of the war
On March 5, 1939 Casado, claiming that Prime Minister Juan Negrín was planning a Communist takeover, conducted a coup d'état with the support of Julián Besteiro, the leader of the right wing of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party, and disillusioned anarchist leaders. They established an anti-Negrín Consejo Nacional de Defensa.

General José Miaja in Madrid joined the rebellion on March 6 by ordering the arrests of Communists in the city. Negrin fled to France on 6 March. But Luis Barceló, commander of the 1st Corps of the Army of the Center, rejected the coup and tried to regain control of the capital. His troops entered Madrid and there was fierce fighting for several days in the capital. Anarchist troops led by Cipriano Mera managed to defeat the 1st Corps, and Barceló was captured and executed.

Casado tried to negotiate a peace settlement with General Francisco Franco, who refused anything less than unconditional surrender. Surviving members of the Republican Army were no longer willing to fight. The Nationalist Army entered Madrid virtually unopposed on March 28, 1939.

Aftermath
Casado fled to Valencia, where he boarded an English ship at the end of March and went into exile in Venezuela. He remained in exile in Venezuela until 1961, when he returned to Spain in 1961.

Besteiros was arrested and tried in a court martial, where he was sentenced to life imprisonment. He died in prison.