Primo de Rivera, Miguel (1870-1930), Marques de Estella, was a Spanish army general. He overthrew Spain’s constitutional government in 1923, and ruled as dictator from 1923 to 1930, during the reign of King Alfonso XIII. He withdrew Spain from the League of Nations, and he ended a rebellion in Spanish Morocco.
Primo was born in Cadiz. He was a member of an important military family, and served as an officer in Morocco, Cuba, and the Philippines. In 1922, he became captain general of Barcelona. Primo was dissatisfied with Spain’s constitutional government. In 1923, with the king’s approval, he led a bloodless overthrow of the government. Political and social unrest eventually forced Primo to resign in 1930. He died in exile in Paris.
