José Millán-Astray and the Nationalist 'Crusade' in Spain

Abstract

The encounter in Salamanca on 12 October 1936 between Miguel de Unamuno, the renowned Spanish writer and philosopher, and Jose Millan-Astray Terreros, 'El Glorioso Mutilado' who founded the Spanish Foreign Legion, has become almost legendary. Although the details of the incident remain somewhat obscure, most accounts agree that only the intervention of General Francisco Franco's wife prevented the one-eyed, one-armed Millan-Astray who was shouting 'Long Live Death!' and 'Death to Intellectuals!' from striking the elderly poet. Unamuno had welcomed the military rising orchestrated by Franco, Emilio Mola, Millan-Astray and other leading military figures in July of 1936, hoping that it would end the violence and disorder pervading much of Spanish society. Moreover, the rebels' proclaimed intent to 'unify' Spain under the Catholic and Castilian banner had undoubtedly appealed to Unamuno. He, along with Angel Ganivet and many other intellectuals associated with the 'generation of '98', believed that only a regenerated Spain based on Castilian history and values could rise and reclaim its status as a great country. In fact, this specious concept of a 'Castilian' Spain had attained a truly mystical quality in their writings.' The depths to which Spain had fallen since the days of Philip II had become painfully clear to them when their country lost the last remnants of its empire to the United States in 1898. The apparent impotence of the Republican government in the face of growing social and political disorder had led Unamuno to lose hope in the democratic path to Spanish 'recovery'; he thus supported the rebellious generals' pronounced desire to unify Spain's diverse elements and interests. Yet, as the encounter with Millan-Astray would make clear, the rebels acted on the basis of perceptions and goals that differed considerably from those of Unamuno. The incident took place on the