LARGO CABALLERO, FRANCISCO

born Oct. 15, 1869, Madrid died March 23, 1946, Paris Spanish Socialist leader, prominent during the Second Republic, of which he became prime minister soon after the outbreak of the civil war of 193639. Largo Caballero worked in Madrid as a plasterer before joining the Socialist Party in 1894. He soon became an official in the party's trade union federation, the Unin General de Trabajadores (UGT), and rose to become chief lieutenant of the union's head, Pablo Iglesias. Sentenced to life imprisonment for his part in the general strike of August 1917, he was released on his election to Parliament in 1918. In 1925 he succeeded Iglesias as head of the UGT. He cooperated with the government of dictator Primo de Rivera (192330) in hopes of increasing Socialist strength and standing. Minister of labour from 1931 to 1933 in the second Spanish Republic (193139), 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, following the electoral victory of the Popular Front, 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 310, 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 Negrn. In 1939 he went into exile in France. During World War II he was interned by the Germans in Dachau concentration camp, but he survived the war and died in exile.