Mola, Emilio

Mola, Emilio (āmē`lyō mō`lä), 1887–1937, Spanish nationalist general. Entering the army in 1904, he rose to the rank of general by 1927, when he commanded a military district in Morocco. He was made director-general of the Spanish police in 1930, but lost favor the following year under the new republican government. He regained his Moroccan command in 1935, only to be relieved of it by the leftist government a year later. In July, 1936, he was the chief organizer of the nationalist conspiracy against the Republic eventually headed by Francisco Franco. A superb strategist, he recruited the antirepublican army in Navarre. As commander of this Army of the North, he was in charge of the operations against Irún, San Sebastian, and Bilbao, but he was killed in a plane crash in 1937. His memoirs (3 vol.) were published in 1934.