José Miaja Menant was a Spanish Army Officer in the Second Spanish Republic

Second Spanish Republic

The Second Spanish Republic was the government of Spain between April 14 1931, and its destruction by a military rebellion, led by General Francisco Franco....

.

Early life

He entered the Infantry Academy at Toledo in 1896. His first post was in Asturias. Miaja was later transferred to Melilla

Melilla

Melilla is a autonomous city of Spain and an exclave on the north coast of Morocco. Melilla, along with the Spanish exclave Ceuta, is one of the two Spanish territories located in mainland Africa...

 where he served in the Moroccan War of 1900, achieving the rank of major comandante

Comandante

Comandante is a political documentary film by American director Oliver Stone. In the film, Stone interviews Cuban leader Fidel Castro on a diverse range of topics. Stone and his film crew visited Castro in Cuba for three days in 2002, and the film was released in 2003, having its premiere at the...

 in 1911, and rising to General

General

A general officer is an officer of high military rank, usually in the army, and in some nations, the air force. The term is widely used by many nations of the world, and when a country uses a different term, there is an equivalent title given....

 in 1932. Despite Miaja's membership of the right-wing Unión Militar Española

Unión Militar Española

Unión Militar Española was a secret society of Spanish Army officers involved in a conspiracy to bring about the restoration of the monarchy during the 1930s...

, in 1935 conservative minister of War, José María Gil-Robles y Quiñones

José María Gil-Robles y Quiñones

José María Gil-Robles y Quiñones was a prominent Spanish politician in the period leading up to the Spanish Civil War....

, sent him to Lérida, a relatively obscure posting far from the capital, an indication that he did not have the full confidence of the government.

Spanish Civil War

At the start of the military rebellion that lead to the Spanish Civil War

Spanish Civil War

The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...

, he was stationed in Madrid

Madrid

Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...

, remaining loyal to the Republican government and was appointed Minister of War. In November 1936, he was named commander of the Junta de Defensa (Defense Council) for Madrid, when the government evacuated the capital before the imminent arrival of Nationalist troops. With Vicente Rojo Lluch

Vicente Rojo Lluch

Vicente Rojo Lluch was Chief of the General Staff of the Spanish Armed Forces during the Spanish Civil War.-Early life:...

 as chief-of-staff, he managed to halt the Nationalists at the river Manzanares at the Battle of Madrid.

As commander of the Central Zone, he directed the battles of the Jarama

Battle of Jarama

The Battle of Jarama was an attempt by General Franco's Nationalists to dislodge the Republican lines along the river Jarama, just east of Madrid, during the Spanish Civil War...

, Guadalajara

Battle of Guadalajara

The Battle of Guadalajara saw the Republican People's Army defeat Italian and Nationalist forces attempting to encircle Madrid during the Spanish Civil War...

 and Brunete

Battle of Brunete

The Battle of Brunete , fought 15 miles west of Madrid, was a Republican attempt to alleviate the pressure exerted by the Nationalists on the capital and on the north during the Spanish Civil War...

. He later supported the rebellion

Final offensive of the Spanish Civil War

The Final offensive of the Spanish Civil War took place between the 26th of March and the 1st of April 1939, towards the end of the Spanish Civil War...

 led by Segismundo Casado

Segismundo Casado

Segismundo Casado López was a Spanish Army officer in the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War.-Early life:...

 against the government in March 1939, heading the Council of National Defense.

Exile

After the end of the Civil War, he went to Gandia

Gandia

Gandia is a city and municipality in the Valencian Community, Eastern Spain on the Mediterranean. Gandia is located on the Costa del Azahar, 65 km south of Valencia and 96 km north of Alicante....

, where he boarded a British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 ship that took him into exile, first to Algeria

Algeria

Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...

 and France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

, then to Mexico

Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

, where he died on 14 January 1958.