Gonzalo Queipo de Llano y Sierra (5 February 1875 - 9 March 1951) was a Spanish Army general. He distinguished himself quickly in his career, fighting in Cuba and Morocco, later becoming outspoken about military and political figures which led to his imprisonment, removal from posts and involvement in plots against Spanish governments. He was a Nationalist military leader during the Spanish Civil War under Francisco Franco, gaining the soubriquet "El general de la radio" ["radio" or "broadcasting general" in English media] for his threats and explicitness on air. Under his control of southern Spain, tens of thousands of Spaniards perished as part of the Nationalists' White Terror. In his post-war roles he was effectively sidelined by Franco.
Biography
Early Years
He was born in Tordesillas, to María de las Mercedes Sierra y Vázquez de Novoa and Gonzalo Queipo de Llano y Sánchez. His father was the municipality's judge. He had seven siblings. After completing the Instituto de Ponferrada entrance exam, he excelled in courses there, also studying at the diocesan seminary. In 1891, he joined the 4.º Batallón de Artillería de Plaza in Ferrol as a trumpet player. Aged 18, he became an artilleryman and enrolled at the :es:Academia de Caballería de Valladolid in 1893 along with Santiago Mateo Fernández (whom he later arrested and executed).
Cuba
In February 1896, he was promoted to 2nd Lieutenant in the Regimiento de Dragones de Santiago, Granada. He requested a transfer to Cuba, arriving in Havana in August and joining battle in the Regimiento de Caballería Pizarro. For bravery, he was promoted to 1st lieutenant in October. In 1897, with the Regimiento Expedicionario del Príncipe, he was made captain for numerous actions. The following year he received the :es:Orden militar de María Cristina, Spain's second-highest wartime medal, amongst his other awards. He left Cuba in October for the Regimiento de Reserva de Valladolid.
Spain, Morocco and Argentina
There followed many transfers and reposts: in December 1900, he joined Regimiento de Lanceros de Villaviciosa (Jerez de la Frontera); four months later he was in the Lanceros de Borbón (Salamanca); then the Farnesio Lancers in Valladolid, where he lived with his mother. He married Genoveva Martí y Tovar, daughter of a judge, on 4 October 1901. The next October, he was with the Regimiento de Lanceros de la Reina in Alcalá de Henares. There he received the Orden Civil de Beneficencia for saving a soldier from drowning. In November 1909, his unit moved against Rifian tribesmen after the Barranco del Lobo 'disaster'. The following year, his (anonymous) criticisms of the Ministry of War were discussed in parliament; he organised an officer's demonstration leading to two months in gaol. After a year's leave in Argentina he was promoted to commander in 1911. In 1912, he was in Albacete before joining the Regimiento de Cazadores de Vitoria (Granada) leaving for Ksar el-Kebir to command three squadrons (this part of Morocco became a Spanish protectorate that year) then a Larache cavalry group in 1913 - through which he gained another María Cristina cross - promotion to lieutenant colonel (1914) and placement in charge of a military court (1916). Illness forced his convalescence in Madrid. Upon recovery in February 1917, he was posted to Cordoba then requested leave to Ávila.
Returning in 1918, he joined the Regimiento de Húsares de Pavía, the Depósito de Reserva de Lugo in Alcalá de Henares - becoming a colonel - then returning to the Lanceros de la Reina. In December 1922, Niceto Alcalá-Zamora made him brigadier general and 2nd commander in Ceuta. In 1923 and 1924 his units policed the Ghomara resistance. He antagonised the Moroccan Directorate so general Miguel Primo de Rivera transferred him to the military government of Cádiz; general José Aizpuru Martín-Pinillos, high commissioner in Morocco, demanded his return to take charge of the Ceuta Zone and lead a column around Tétouan. With Franco (then a lieutenant colonel) he published La Revista de Tropas Coloniales; he edited the first half-dozen, writing critical comments of Primo de Rivera who removed him in September 1924 and gaoled him for a month at Ferrol. His later involvement with the Comité Militar Revolucionario saw him transferred to the III Brigada de Caballería. He formed the Asociación Militar Republicana with general Eduardo López Ochoa so was recalled to Madrid in July 1926. In 1928, general Severiano Martínez Anido sent him to languish in the army reserves.