Spanish Army


The Spanish Army is the terrestrial army of the Spanish Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is one of the oldest active armies — dating back to the late 15th century. However, it could be considered even older if the Visigoth Kingdom of Toledo is taken into account. In the sixth century, with Reccared I, the territorial unity of the Kingdom was achieved, which included the entire Iberian Peninsula, thus finishing the work already begun by his father Liuvigild, being the Spanish Visigoth Army responsible of defending the borders of the kingdom especially against the Franks.

History

The Spanish Army has existed continuously since the reign of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella. The oldest and largest of the three services, its mission was the defense of Peninsular Spain, the Balearic Islands, the Canary Islands, Melilla, Ceuta and the Spanish islands and rocks off the northern coast of Africa.

Under the Habsburgs

During the 16th century, Habsburg Spain saw steady growth in its military power. The Italian Wars resulted in an ultimate Spanish victory and hegemony in northern Italy by expelling the French. During the war, the Spanish Army transformed its organization and tactics, evolving from a primarily pike and halberd wielding force into the first pike and shot formation of arquebusiers and pikemen. During the 16th century, this formation evolved into the tercio infantry formation.
Backed by the financial resources drawn from the Americas, Spain fought wars against its enemies, such as the long-running Dutch Revolt, defending Christian Europe from Ottoman raids and invasions, supporting the Catholic cause in the French civil wars and fighting England during the Anglo-Spanish War. The Spanish Army grew in size from around 20,000 troops in the 1470s to around 300,000 troops by the 1630s during the Thirty Years' War that tore Europe apart, requiring the recruitment of soldiers from across Europe. With such numbers involved, Spain had trouble funding the war effort on so many fronts. The non-payment of troops led to many mutinies and events such as the Sack of Antwerp, in which 17,000 people died.
The Thirty Years' War drew in Spain alongside most other European states. Spain entered the conflict with a strong position, but the ongoing fighting gradually eroded her advantages; first Dutch, then Swedish innovations had made the tercio more vulnerable, having less flexibility and firepower than its more modern equivalents. Nevertheless, Spanish armies continued to win major battles and sieges throughout this period across large swathes of Europe. French entry into the war in 1635 put additional pressure on Spain, with the French victory at the Battle of Rocroi in 1643 being a major boost for the French. By the signing of the Peace of Westphalia in 1648, Spain was forced to accept the independence of the Dutch Republic.

18th century

Spain remained an important naval and military power, depending on critical sea lanes stretching from Spain through the Caribbean and South America, and westwards towards Manila and the Far East.
The Army was reorganized on the French model and in 1704 the old Tercios were transformed into Regiments. The first modern military school was created in Segovia in 1764. Finally, in 1768 King Charles III sanctioned the "Royal Ordinances for the Regime, Discipline, Subordination, and Service in His Armies", which were in force until 1978.

Napoleonic era and Restoration

In the late 18th century, Bourbon-ruled Spain had an alliance with Bourbon-ruled France and therefore did not have to fear a land war. Its only serious enemy was Britain, which had a powerful Royal Navy; Spain, therefore, concentrated its resources on its Navy. When the French Revolution overthrew the Bourbons, a land war with France became a danger which the king tried to avoid.
In Spanish Army the officer corps was selected primarily on the basis of royal patronage, rather than merit. About a third of the junior officers had been promoted from the ranks, and they did have talent, but they had few opportunities for promotion or leadership. The rank-and-file were poorly trained peasants. Elite units included foreign regiments of Irishmen, Italians, Swiss, and Walloons, in addition to elite artillery and engineering units. In combat, small units fought well, but their old-fashioned tactics were hard of use against the French Grande Armée, despite repeated desperate efforts at last-minute reform.
Conditions however steadily worsened for the Frenchs although Napoleon brought more effective troops into the peninsula, as the Guerrila increasingly took control of Spain's battle against Napoleon in guerrilla warfare and created a more or less unified underground national resistance, for which traditional armies of the time were not organized or prepared for yet. It was not the Spanish Army that defeated Napoleon, but the insurgent peasants or rebels in insurgency against the government of his brother, Joseph I, implanted by Napoleon as a new monarch. By 1812, the army controlled only scattered enclaves, and could only harass the French with occasional raids. It was the Spanish resistance that defeated Napoleon.

Nineteenth-century wars

Spain entered the 19th century with a reduction of territory and recognition of power in Europe following the Congress of Vienna in 1814 and faced renewed problems in the international arena. The Spanish military was devastated as a consequence of its former alliance with France, costing it its main fleets and many war damages in its military arsenals and weapons factories, much of which was inflicted by the British or Portuguese allies during the Peninsular campaign to prevent the French or Spanish to resume their services after the war. In the immediate aftermath of the war, while its administration was facing local rebellions against a renewed absolutist monarchy, the overseas colonies inspired by France and the United States of America sought to wrestle control from the debilitated European government that demanded more taxes to rebuild itself after the Napoleonic period disasters. Many continental armies were sent to Central America and South America which proved to be futile and too late. The former Empire lost an important artery of its power and with it the wealth in revenues which it had become dependent on over the centuries. In response, attempts were made to reform the military into a modern and standing national force, with conscription being adopted.
Spain faced a series of internal dynastic conflicts, collectively known as the Carlist Wars, requiring Spain to undergo a series of reforms directed at its military, administrative, and social structures. As consequence of these internal conflicts, and the weakness of the central structures of government under the monarchy, many generals with political ambitions would interrupt public life in multiple Coup d'états, known as Pronunciamientos, for the rest of the century until the Second Restoration of the Bourbons in Spain under Alfonso XII. These series of military interruptions in civil government eventually shaped a permissive cultural and political mentality, with a tacit expectation of "special emergency interventions" from the military that would pervade well into the first third of the 20th century. In the year 1920 the Spanish army was composed of about 500,000 men. ultimately ending up in the Spanish Civil War.

Second Republic (1931–36)

During the Second Spanish Republic, the Spanish government enlisted over ten million men to the army.

Civil War (1936–39)

Some US citizens came to Spain to fight in their civil war for two main reasons. The first being to promote their ideals and the other being to escape the trials of living in America during the great depression.
The Americans totaled 2,800 and suffered heavy casualties: 900 killed and 1,500 wounded.

The Spanish Army under the Francoist Regime (1939–1975)

This period can be divided in four phases:
At the end of the Civil War, the Spanish Army counted with 1,020,500 men, in 60 Divisions. During the first year of peace, Franco dramatically reduced the size of the Spanish Army to 250,000 in early 1940, with most soldiers two-year conscripts.
A few weeks after the end of the war, the eight traditional Military Regions were reestablished. In 1944 a ninth Military Region, with HQ in Granada, was created. The Air Force became an independent service, under its own Air Ministry.
Concerns about the international situation, Spain's possible entry into World War II, and threats of invasion led him to undo some of these reductions. In November 1942, with the Allied landings in North Africa and the German occupation of Vichy France bringing hostilities closer than ever to Spain's border, Franco ordered a partial mobilization, bringing the army to over 750,000 men. The Air Force and Navy also grew in numbers and in budgets, to 35,000 airmen and 25,000 sailors by 1945, although for fiscal reasons Franco had to restrain attempts by both services to undertake dramatic expansions.
During the Second World War, the Spanish Army had eight Army Corps, with two or three Infantry Division each. Additionally, there were two Army Corps in Northern Africa, the Canary Islands General Command and the Balearic Islands General Command, one Cavalry Division and the Artillery's General Reserve. In 1940 a Reserve Group, with three Divisions, was created.

The Blue Division">Blue Division">The Blue Division

Although Spanish caudillo Francisco Franco was neutral and did not bring Spain into World War II on the side of Nazi Germany, he permitted volunteers to join the German Army on the condition they would only fight against the Soviet Union on the Eastern Front, and not against the Western Allies or any Western European occupied populations. In this manner, he could keep Spain at peace with the Western Allies, while repaying German support during the Spanish Civil War and providing an outlet for the strong anti-Communist sentiments of many Spanish nationalists. Officially designated as División Española de Voluntarios by the Spanish Army and as 250 Infanterie-Division in the German Army,The Blue Division was the only component of the German Army to be awarded a medal of their own, commissioned by Hitler in January 1944 after the Division had demonstrated its effectiveness in impeding the advance of the Red Army, on the Volkhov front and in the siege of Leningrad, mainly at the battle of Krasny Bor.

International Isolation

At the end of the Second World War, the Spanish Army counted 22,000 officers, 3,000 NCO and almost 300,000 soldiers. The equipment dated from the Civil War, with some systems produced in Germany during the World War. Doctrine and Training were obsolete, as they had not incorporated the teachings of the Second World War. This situation lasted until the agreements with the United States in September 1953.

Agreement with the United States (Barroso Reform, 1957)

After the signature of the military agreement with the United States in 1953, the assistance received from Washington allowed Spain to procure more modern equipment and to improve the country's defence capabilities. More than 200 Spanish officers and NCOs received specialised training in the United States each year under a parallel program. With the Barroso Reform, the Spanish Army abandoned the organisation inherited from the Civil War to adopt the United States' pentomic structure. In 1958 three experimental pentomic Infantry Divisions were created. In 1960, five more pentomic Infantry Divisions and four mountain Divisions were created. All in all, after the Barroso Reform, the Spanish Army had 8 pentomic Infantry Divisions, four Mountain Divisions, one Armoured Division, one Cavalry Division, three independent Armoured Brigades and three Field Artillery Brigades.

Years of Economic Development (Menéndez Tolosa Reform, 1965)

The 1965 Reforms were inspired by contemporary French organisation and Doctrine of the era. The Army was grouped into two basic categories: the Immediate Intervention Forces and the Operational Defence Forces and were divided into the following:
During the last years of the Francoist regime, contemporary weapons were ordered for the Spanish Army. In 1973, the military education system was reformed in depth, in order to make its structure and objectives similar to those existing in the civilian universities. It was during this time that the Spanish Army fought in the campaigns in what is now Western Sahara against Arab forces in the area who agitated for the end of Spanish colonial rule.

The Spanish Army under King Juan Carlos I and beyond

Initial years (1975–1989)

Three main events characterise this period: creation of a single Ministry of Defence to replace the three existing military ministries, the failed coup d'état in February 1981 and the accession to NATO in 1982.
The Army modernisation program was done between 1982 and 1988 in order for Spain to achieve full compliance with NATO standards. When the plan was completed the following results were achieved:
The end of the Cold War came with the reduction of the term of military service for conscripts until its complete abolition in 2001 and the increasing participation of Spanish forces in multinational peacekeeping operations abroad are the main drivers for changes in the Spanish Army after 1989. Three reorganisation plans were implemented since: the RETO plan, the NORTE plan and the Instruction for Organisation and Operation of the Army 2005.

Today

Personnel

In 2001, when compulsory military service was still in effect, the army was about 135,000 troops. Following the suspension of conscription the Spanish Army became a fully professionalised volunteer force and by 2008 had a personnel strength of 75,000. In case of a war or national emergency, an additional force of 80,000 Civil Guards comes under the Ministry of Defence command.

Equipment

Weapons

Unmanned aerial vehicles

Commanders in Chief of the Spanish Army

Army Ministers

Source: :es:Ministerio del Ejército

Ranks and insignia

The military ranks of the Spanish army are as follows below. For a comparison with other NATO ranks see Ranks and Insignia of NATO. Ranks are wore on the cuff, sleeves and shoulders of all army uniforms, but differ by the type of the uniform being used.