Spanish Republican Armed Forces
The Spanish Republican Armed Forces were initially formed by the following two branches of the military of the Second Spanish Republic:
- Spanish Republican Army and Ejército Popular de la República Española ). It included the Aeronáutica Militar air arm.
- Spanish Republican Navy, which included the naval aviation.
History
The Spanish Republican Armed Forces went through two clear phases during their existence:
At the time of the democratic municipal elections that led to the proclamation of the Spanish Republic, the Air Force was divided in two branches, the Aeronáutica Militar and Aeronáutica Naval, the former being the air arm of the Spanish Republican Army and the latter the naval aviation of the Spanish Republican Navy.
In September 1936 the Navy and Air Ministry and the Air Undersecretariat,, both part of the National Defence Ministry of the Republic, were established under the command of Indalecio Prieto as minister.
The Republican air arm was restructured again in May 1937, well into the Civil War. The new structure unified the Aeronáutica Militar and Aeronáutica Naval. Some sources give this date as the date of the creation of the Spanish Republican Air Force, although it had been previously operative already under its two branches. The Republican Air Force would keep this structure until this disbandment two years later.
