Largo Caballero, Francisco

born Oct. 15, 1869, Madrid, Spain

died March 23, 1946, Paris, France

Spanish socialist leader and prime minister (1936–37).

He joined the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party in 1894 and rose to become head of the party's trade-union federation in 1925. He cooperated with the dictatorship of Miguel Primo de Rivera, then served in the Second Republic as labour minister (1931–33). After the Popular Front's election victory in 1936, he became prime minister and tried to unify the leftist parties; however, an extreme-left uprising in Barcelona in 1937 during the Spanish Civil War caused a cabinet crisis and he was forced to resign. He went into exile in France and was interned by the Germans in World War II (1942–45).

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▪ prime minister of Spain

born October 15, 1869, Madrid, Spain

died March 23, 1946, Paris, France

      Spanish socialist leader, prominent during the Second Republic, of which he became prime minister soon after the outbreak of the civil war of 1936–39.

      Largo Caballero worked in Madrid as a plasterer before joining the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (Partido Socialista Obrero Español; PSOE) in 1894. He soon became an official in the party's trade union federation, the Unión General de Trabajadores (UGT), and rose to become chief lieutenant of the union's head, Pablo Iglesias (Iglesias, Pablo). Sentenced to life imprisonment for his part in the general strike of August 1917, he was released on his election to the Cortes (parliament) in 1918. In 1925 he succeeded Iglesias as head of the UGT. Largo Caballero cooperated with the government of dictator Miguel Primo de Rivera (Primo de Rivera, Miguel) (1923–30) in hopes of increasing the PSOE's strength and standing. Minister of labour from 1931 to 1933 in the second Spanish Republic (1931–39), he introduced progressive labour legislation.

      After the general elections of 1933, which inaugurated a period of centre-right government, Largo Caballero moved further to the left, spoke increasingly of Socialist revolution, and supported the abortive uprising of October 1934.

      In September 1936 Largo Caballero became prime minister and minister of defense. He attempted to tighten army discipline and endeavoured to secure respect for governmental authority in the Republican war zone. But an extreme-left uprising in Barcelona (May 3–10, 1937) was used by the communists to provoke a cabinet crisis, and he was forced to resign.

      After his fall, Largo Caballero was politically isolated by the new government of Juan Negrín (Negrín López, Juan). In 1939 he went into exile in France. Arrested by the French police in 1939, Largo Caballero was later released and placed under house arrest. In 1943 he was arrested by the German Gestapo and interned at the Dachau concentration camp. He was freed by Polish troops and returned to Paris, where he died and was buried. In 1978 his body was moved to Madrid.

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