plainly doubted whether other troops would be successful. The minister of war, the radicalDiego Hidalgo, later explained that he was appalled at the alternative prospect of seeing the young conscripts from the peninsula dying in Asturias because of their inexperience. They would be fighting against past-masters of dynamiting and of the technique of the ambush. ‘I decided’, he wrote, ‘that it was necessary to call on the units which Spain maintains for its defence, whose
métier
is to fight and die in the accomplishment of their duty.’ 1 Within a few hours of General Franco’s arrival at the ministry of war, units of the Legion were indeed dispatched under Colonel Yagüe to assist the regular garrisons in the north. Another column under a liberal general, López Ochoa, who had led the military side to the republican conspiracy in 1930, fought its way to reinforce the beleaguered garrison in the centre of Oviedo.
The Foreign Legion and the
Regulares
were successful. Accompanied by aircraft, they swiftly relieved Oviedo though not before the sanctuary of the ‘chaste King’ Alfonso, the beautiful ‘cámara santa’, was nearly destroyed by the miners. Gijón fell on 10 October. In these towns, the conquerors gave themselves over to repression. After fifteen days of war and revolution, only the communists wanted to fight on in the other towns. González Peña resigned his directorship of the revolution. The Legion captured several of the towns house by house. Colonel Yagüe, in command of the Legion, encouraged the exemplary use of brutality in the repression. In the end, the rebels at Sama finally surrendered. Belarmino Tomás, the socialist leader who had been at the centre of all the fighting, spoke in the following terms to a crowd of miners gathered in the main square:
Comrades, red soldiers! Here before you, certain that we have fulfilled the mandate with which you have entrusted us, we come to speak of the melancholy plight into which our glorious insurrectionary movement has fallen. We have to describe our peace conversations with the general of the enemy army. We have been defeated only for the time being. All that we can say is that, in the rest of the provinces of Spain, the workers did not do their duty and support us. Because of this failure, the government has been able to conquer the insurrection in Asturias. Furthermore, though we have rifles, machine-guns, and cannons, we have no more ammunition. All we can do, therefore, is to arrange peace. But this does not mean that we abandon the class struggle. Our surrender today is simply a halt on the route, where we make good our mistakes, preparing for our next battle which must end in the final victory of the exploited … 1
There followed a severe retribution under the direction of a brutal major of police, Lisardo Doval, known for his ruthlessness. Some 1,500–2,000 persons were believed killed, and nearly 3,000 wounded. Of the dead, about 320 were civil guards, soldiers, assault guards and carabineers. The remainder, it must be presumed, were workers. Certainly many deaths occurred after the end of the fighting, at the time when the Legion were ‘driving home’ their victory. 2 Several thousand, perhaps as many as 30,000, political prisoners were also made in Spain during October and November 1934 (though the number may have been half that). Of these, the majority were in Asturias. The
casas del pueblo
of the region were turned into extra prisons, and those held within were subjected to every kind of indignity, including torture. 3 Almost 2,000 people died in this little revolution, among them 200 in the repression, 230–260 in the army or forces of order, and about 33 priests. A journalist, Luis de Sirval, who ventured to point out these terrible things, was himself arrested and murdered in prison by three officers of the Legion. In Madrid, Generals Franco and Goded were regarded as the saviours of the nation, while the right-wing press gave
métier
is to fight and die in the accomplishment of their duty.’ 1 Within a few hours of General Franco’s arrival at the ministry of war, units of the Legion were indeed dispatched under Colonel Yagüe to assist the regular garrisons in the north. Another column under a liberal general, López Ochoa, who had led the military side to the republican conspiracy in 1930, fought its way to reinforce the beleaguered garrison in the centre of Oviedo.
The Foreign Legion and the
Regulares
were successful. Accompanied by aircraft, they swiftly relieved Oviedo though not before the sanctuary of the ‘chaste King’ Alfonso, the beautiful ‘cámara santa’, was nearly destroyed by the miners. Gijón fell on 10 October. In these towns, the conquerors gave themselves over to repression. After fifteen days of war and revolution, only the communists wanted to fight on in the other towns. González Peña resigned his directorship of the revolution. The Legion captured several of the towns house by house. Colonel Yagüe, in command of the Legion, encouraged the exemplary use of brutality in the repression. In the end, the rebels at Sama finally surrendered. Belarmino Tomás, the socialist leader who had been at the centre of all the fighting, spoke in the following terms to a crowd of miners gathered in the main square:
Comrades, red soldiers! Here before you, certain that we have fulfilled the mandate with which you have entrusted us, we come to speak of the melancholy plight into which our glorious insurrectionary movement has fallen. We have to describe our peace conversations with the general of the enemy army. We have been defeated only for the time being. All that we can say is that, in the rest of the provinces of Spain, the workers did not do their duty and support us. Because of this failure, the government has been able to conquer the insurrection in Asturias. Furthermore, though we have rifles, machine-guns, and cannons, we have no more ammunition. All we can do, therefore, is to arrange peace. But this does not mean that we abandon the class struggle. Our surrender today is simply a halt on the route, where we make good our mistakes, preparing for our next battle which must end in the final victory of the exploited … 1
There followed a severe retribution under the direction of a brutal major of police, Lisardo Doval, known for his ruthlessness. Some 1,500–2,000 persons were believed killed, and nearly 3,000 wounded. Of the dead, about 320 were civil guards, soldiers, assault guards and carabineers. The remainder, it must be presumed, were workers. Certainly many deaths occurred after the end of the fighting, at the time when the Legion were ‘driving home’ their victory. 2 Several thousand, perhaps as many as 30,000, political prisoners were also made in Spain during October and November 1934 (though the number may have been half that). Of these, the majority were in Asturias. The
casas del pueblo
of the region were turned into extra prisons, and those held within were subjected to every kind of indignity, including torture. 3 Almost 2,000 people died in this little revolution, among them 200 in the repression, 230–260 in the army or forces of order, and about 33 priests. A journalist, Luis de Sirval, who ventured to point out these terrible things, was himself arrested and murdered in prison by three officers of the Legion. In Madrid, Generals Franco and Goded were regarded as the saviours of the nation, while the right-wing press gave
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