BERENGUER (Y FUST), DMASO, COUNT (CONDE) DE XAUEN

born Aug. 4, 1873, Cuba died May 19, 1953, Madrid, Spain Spanish general who served briefly as prime minister (January 1930February 1931) before the establishment of the Second Republic. Berenguer entered the army in 1889, served in Cuba and Morocco, and was promoted to general in 1909. He was minister of war in 1918, when, after a long interval, the army began to express its political views. He then served as high commissioner in Morocco and was appointed head of King Alfonso XIII's military household. When the dictatorship of Miguel Primo de Rivera came to an end, Alfonso made Berenguer prime minister, hoping that he would be able to prepare for a return to constitutional rule. But the political parties blamed the king for permitting the dictatorship; and the republicans, socialists, and Catalan left demanded that he abdicate. Berenguer negotiated from January to December 1930 without success. Then there occurred a small military revolt at Jaca. Berenguer resigned on Feb. 14, 1931, but served as minister of war under his successor, Admiral Juan Bautista Aznar-Cabaas. The municipal elections of April 1931 showed the republicans to be in the majority in the main cities, and Alfonso XIII left the country. The republicans took over, and Berenguer was in prison during most of the Second Republic. In 1946 he published a defense of his administration.