José Antonio Aguirre Guide, Meaning , Facts, Information and Description
José Antonio Aguirre Lecube (born ) was a Spanish political figure. He assumed the position of first lendakari or president of Euskadi during the Spanish Civil War. He was determined to create a Basque Army to fight on the side of the Republic.A former player in the Athletic Bilbao football team, a student at Deusto University and militant of the EAJ-PNV party, before becoming Basque president he was mayor of the Biscayne locality of Getxo. His main characteristic was loyalty to the Second Spanish Republic. He knew that the future of Euskadi was dependent on a Republican victory.
He formed a Government of concentration in that nationalists, republican, Socialists, Communists and other sectors were present, not without tensions among them.
Battalions of different ideologies formed the Basque Army, which reflected the state of the Government. Well armed, although barely trained, the Eusko Gudarostea managed to mobilize 100,000 soldiers. One of the most pressing deficiencies, that unbalanced the odds, was the absence of heavy artillery and aviation. Famous are the desperate calls of Aguirre to his allies Prieto and Azaña to send equipment to Euskadi. Historians agree that this action was nonviable due to the difficulty in breaking the siege that Biscay was put under.
In June 1937, the nationalists broke through the Iron Belt of Bilbao and entered the Basque capital thanks to the defection of the engineer Goicoechea, who had designed the fortifications. Aguirre transfered his Government to Trucíos before maintaining course to Santander later to march to Catalonia, where he arranged to continue fighting with his men for the Republic. In the meantime, the nationalistic leader Juan de Ajuriaguerra agreed to a surrender in Santoña (now in Cantabria) to the Italians (Pact of Santoña) that Franco did not respect, all behind the back of Aguirre, who was in favor of continuing the conflict.
But events superceded the efforts of the first lehendakari in history, who fled to France after the war, being pursued for years by pro-Franco agents, leading to an incredible exile that took him to Paris, Berlin, and New York.
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