TheSpanish Army (Spanish:Ejército de Tierra,lit. 'Army of Land') is the terrestrial army of theSpanish Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is one of the oldestactive armies, dating back to the late 15th century.
The Spanish Army has existed continuously since the reign ofKing Ferdinand andQueen Isabella (late 15th century). The oldest and largest of the three services, its mission was the defence ofPeninsular Spain, theBalearic Islands, theCanary Islands,Melilla,Ceuta and theSpanish islands and rocks off the northern coast of Africa.
During the 16th century,Habsburg Spain saw steady growth in its military power. TheItalian Wars (1494–1559) resulted in an ultimate Spanish victory and hegemony in northernItaly by expelling the French. During the war, the Spanish Army transformed its organization and tactics, evolving from a primarilypike andhalberd wielding force into the firstpike and shot formation ofarquebusiers andpikemen. During the 16th century, this formation evolved into thetercio infantry formation.
Backed by the financial resources drawn from theAmericas,[3] Spain fought wars against its enemies, such as the long-runningDutch Revolt (1568–1609), defending ChristianEurope fromOttoman raids and invasions, supporting theCatholic cause in theFrench civil wars and fightingEngland during theAnglo-Spanish War (1585–1604). The Spanish Army grew in size from around 20,000 troops in the 1470s to around 300,000 troops by the 1630s during theThirty Years' War that tore Europe apart, requiring the recruitment of soldiers from across Europe.[4] 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 theSack of Antwerp (1576), in which 17,000 people died.[5]
The Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) 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 thetercio more vulnerable, having less flexibility andfirepower than its more modern equivalents.[6] 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 theBattle of Rocroi in 1643 being a major boost for the French. By the signing of thePeace of Westphalia in 1648, Spain was forced to accept the independence of theDutch Republic.
Spain remained an important naval and military power, depending on criticalsea lanes stretching from Spain through theCaribbean andSouth America, and westwards towardsManila and theFar East.
The Army was reorganized on the French model and in 1704 the oldTercios were transformed intoRegiments. The first modern military school (the Artillery School) was created inSegovia in 1764. Finally, in 1768 KingCharles III sanctioned the "Royal Ordinances for the Regime, Discipline, Subordination, and Service in His Armies", which were in force until 1978.[7]
In the late 18th century,Bourbon-ruled Spain had an alliance with Bourbon-ruledFrance and therefore did not have to fear a land war. Its only serious enemy was Britain, which had a powerfulRoyal Navy; Spain, therefore, concentrated its resources on itsNavy. When theFrench 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 ofIrishmen,Italians,Swiss, andWalloons, in addition to elite artillery andengineering units. In combat, small units fought well, but their old-fashioned tactics were hard to use against the FrenchGrande Armée, despite repeated desperate efforts at last-minute reform.[8]
In 1808, Napoleon tried to deposeCarlos IV of Spain and install his brotherJoseph Bonaparte on the Spanish throne, sparking thePeninsular War. Initially, there was little resistance and Spain was occupied. Soon, however, Spanish units began to reorganize and set upguerrilla warfare, culminating in a Spanish victory at theBattle of Bailén within the first two months of the war. The defeated French evacuated the peninsula all the way to theEbro valley near thePyrenees, suffering many humiliating defeats against the regular Spanish Army. They were among the first sound defeats of the hitherto seemingly unbeatableImperial French Army, forcing Napoleon to intervene personally with massive forces, but also sparked theWar of the Fifth Coalition, as other European powers, led byAustria, were encouraged to declare war on France. The situation steadily worsened for the French although Napoleon brought more effective troops into the peninsula, asthe guerrilla insurgents increasingly took control of Spain's battle against Napoleon and created a more or less unified undergroundnational resistance, for whichtraditional armies of the time were not organized or prepared for yet.[9] By 1812, however, the army controlled only scattered enclaves, and could only harass the French with occasional raids.[10] Fortunately for the Spanish, the disastrousFrench invasion of Russia severely weakened the French Army and forced Napoleon to cut troop concentrations in Spain, ultimately allowing the Army, militia and their British allies to drive the French out of Spain by 1814.
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The Spanish Army emerged from theNapoleonic Wars devastated as a result of years of destructive conflict during the Peninsular War.[11] Aseries of conflicts inSpain's American colonies with the aim of political independence from theSpanish Empire, which had broken out in 1808, led to the loss of a majority of these colonial possessions by 1833.[12] During these conflicts, numerous armies from Spain were dispatched to Spanish America in order to defeat theLatin American revolutionaries; these efforts proved mostly unsuccessful. Combined with disturbances in Spain against theSpanish government, Spain's military strength suffered further during the post-Napoleonic era of the early 19th century. Recognizing the need to reform the Spanish Army, reforms were passed by the government of Spain during this period to reform and modernize the armed forces into a professionalstanding army; as part of these reforms,conscription was adopted by the Spanish Army. This grew the size of the Army to 250,000 in 1828, and it increased in 1830 to 300,000 soldiers. This therefore made the Spanish Army a relatively strong Army in Europe, though internal conflicts did affect the Army, forcing them to choose sides.[citation needed]
Spain faced a series of internal dynastic conflicts, collectively known as theCarlist Wars (1833–1876), during the 19th century; these conflicts led the Spanish state to undergo a series of reforms directed at its military, administrative, and social structures.[13] As consequence of the Carlist Wars, and the weakness of the central structures of government under theSpanish monarchy, many generals with political ambitions stagedcoup d'états, known aspronunciamientos, which continued to occur untilBourbon Restoration in Spain underKing Alfonso XII. These military interventions against the civil government eventually shaped a permissive cultural and political mentality, with a tacit expectation in Spain of "special emergency interventions" from the military that would pervade well into the first third of the 20th century.[14]
Throughout 1914-18 the Spanish Army continued to be maintained on a peacetime basis without the extendedmobilisation measures of other neutral nations (Netherlands,Denmark,Switzerland andSweden) in closer proximity to areas of actual fighting. Except in Morocco, Spanish troops continued to wear colourful dress uniforms for parade and off-duty wear; a feature that quickly disappeared in all armies directly involved in the war.[15]
The main rifle of the Spanish Army at this time was a version of the Mauser, manufactured inOviedo in 7 mm caliber, known as theMauser Model 1893 rifle.[16] To this was added a small number of machine guns such as theMaxim gun,Hotchkiss M1909 and even theM1895 Colt. However, the number of machine guns per company or division was much lower than in the rest of the European countries. The artillery was made up of cannons made byKrupp or various versions of the Schneider cannon made inTrubia andSeville. Most were being used in theRif War being fought in northern Morocco (Rif), where Spain had been granted aprotectorate.
TheSpanish Navy was barely a shadow of its former self, though it was starting to rebuild. Its best units were thedreadnoughtEspaña and thepre-dreadnoughtPelayo and, under construction, the dreadnoughtsAlfonso XIII andJaime I. The navy had thearmored cruisersCarlos V,Princesa de Asturias, andCataluña, theprotected cruisersRío de la Plata(es:Río de la Plata),Extremadura(es:Extremadura), andReina Regente, theunprotected cruiserInfanta Isabel and, under construction, thelight cruiserVictoria Eugenia. In addition there were sevendestroyers: four of theFuror-class and, under construction, three new destroyers of theBustamante-class, which were joined by the fourRecalde-class andÁlvaro de Bazán-classgunboats, in addition to other, older gunboats such asMac-Mahón andTemerario.
Finally, the massive construction ofT-1 class torpedo boats [es] began, of which six had already beencommissioned, together with the oldertorpedo boatsOrión,Habana, andHalcón torpedo boats. Finally, the navy also included the typical conglomerate oftugboats,cutters, gunboats, and small boats.
In short, the Spanish Navy of 1914 was composed largely of older ships that were not sunk near Cuba and the Philippines during theSpanish–American War, either because they survived the naval battles or because they were part ofAdmiral Manuel de la Cámara's fleet, which had not been involved in the conflict. Other ships had been built recently under theFerrándiz Plan.
The Military Aeronautics (predecessor of theSpanish Air Force) had just been created in 1913, so it had few units. All the planes were bombers, since the fighters did not appear until well into the war. Of biplanes it hadFarman MF.7,Farman MF.11,Lohner B.I; and monoplanes with severalMorane-Saulnier G andNieuport II, which together formed the Military Aeronautics, to which a few more biplanes and the first seaplanes of the Naval Aeronautics would later be added.
Spanish neutrality left the country outside the technological advances derived from war needs, so that, at the end of the war in November 1918, the Spanish Military Aviation was in a situation of clear inferiority in means compared to those of the other neighbouring countries.
This period can be divided in four phases:[17]
At the end of the Civil War, theFrancoist (Nationalist) Army counted 1,020,500 men, in 60 divisions.[18] 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.[19]In October 1940, the Army had sixteen line infantry divisions; three mountain divisions; one cavalry division; and five divisions inSpanish Morocco (IX Army Corps and X Army Corps), for a total of twenty-five. Other units included, in addition to those of the army corps in each captaincy: four tank regiments; field artillery, coastal and anti-aircraft regiments; regiments of different engineering specialties; the garrisons of the Canary Islands, the Balearic Islands, Ceuta and Melilla, Ifni-Sahara, and the naval bases; and more than one hundred workers' battalions.
A few weeks after the end of the war, theeight traditional Military Regions (Madrid, Sevilla, Valencia, Barcelona, Zaragoza, Burgos, Valladolid, and theVIII Military Region at La Coruña) were reestablished. In 1944 theIX Military Region, with its headquarters in Granada, was created.[18] TheAir Force became an independent service, under its ownMinistry of the Air.
Concerns about the international situation, Spain's possible entry into the Second World War, and threats of invasion led Franco to undo some of these reductions. In November 1942, with theAllied landings in North Africa and the German occupation ofVichy France bringing hostilities closer than ever to Spain's border, Franco ordered a partial mobilization, bringing the army to over 750,000 men.[19] TheAir Force andNavy 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.[19]
During the Second World War, the Army in metropolitan Spain had eight Army Corps, with two or three Infantry Divisions each.[20] Additionally, theArmy of Africa had two Army Corps in Northern Africa, and there were the Canary Islands General Command and the Balearic Islands General Command, one Cavalry Division, plus the Artillery's General Reserve. In 1940 a Reserve Group, with three Divisions, was created.[18]
Although SpanishcaudilloFrancisco Franco was neutral and did not bringSpain intoWorld War II on the side ofNazi Germany, he permitted volunteers to join theGerman Army (Wehrmacht) on the condition they would only fight against theSoviet Union on theEastern Front, and not against theWestern Allies or anyWestern European occupied populations. In this manner, he could keep Spain at peace with the Western Allies, while repaying German support during theSpanish Civil War and providing an outlet for the strong anti-Communist sentiments of many Spanish nationalists. Officially designated asDivisión Española de Voluntarios by theSpanish Army and as250 Infanterie-Division in theGerman Army, the Blue Division was the only component of the German Army to be awardeda medal of their own, commissioned by Hitler in January 1944 after the Division had demonstrated its effectiveness in impeding the advance of theRed Army, on theVolkhov front (October 1941 – August 1942) and in thesiege of Leningrad (August 1942 – October 1943), mainly at thebattle of Krasny Bor.[21]
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. Their doctrines and training were obsolete, as they had not incorporated the teachings of the Second World War; Scianna elaborates on the weaknesses of equipment, political role, and worldview.[22] This situation lasted until the agreements with the United States in September 1953.[17]
After the signing of themilitary 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. With the Barroso Reform (1957), the Spanish Army abandoned the organisation inherited from the Civil War to adopt the United States'pentomic structure.General Instruction 158/107 of 1958 led to the raising of three experimental infantry divisions (DIE 11 at Madrid, DIE "Guzman el Bueno" 21 at Algeciras, and DIE 31 at Valencia).[23] Instruction 160/115 of January 15, 1960 extended these changes to another five transformation divisions (DIT, at Gerona, Málaga, Oviedo, Vigo, Vitoria, respectively) and the four mountain divisions (divisións de infantería de montaña, DIM).[24] Most of the heavy divisions had five manoeuvreagrupaciones based on two to three regiments and support formations, while the Mountain Divisions "Urgel" 42, 51, 52, and "Navarra" 62 had sixbatallón de cazadores de montaña anchored on two to three regiments, an independent company, and what appears to be a battalion of motorised infantry.[25]
Theoretically, these divisions were divided between three corps that would have reached across the boundaries of the Captaincies General if they had been formed:[26]
All in all, after the Barroso Reform, the Spanish Army had eight Pentomic infantry divisions, four mountain divisions,Armoured Division No. 1 "Brunete", the "Jarama" Cavalry Division, organized into a division HQ and four armoured groups ("agrupaciones blindadas"), three independent Armoured Brigades at rather reduced strength, and three Field Artillery Brigades ("Brigada de artillería de campaña") with assigned artillery groups.[17]
The 1965 Reforms were inspired by then-contemporary French organisation and doctrine.Camilo Menéndez Tolosa's reforms from 1965 divided the Army into two categories: the Immediate Intervention Forces (FII, Field Army) and the Defensa Operativa del Territorio (DOT, Operational Territorial Defence (Territorial Army)) territorial forces.
The FII had the mission of defending the Pyrenean and the Gibraltar frontiers and of fulfilling Spain's security commitments abroad. It was to be "an army corps equipped and trained for conventional and limited nuclear warfare, ready to be deployed within or outside national borders."[27] It was made up of:
The DOT was to maintain security in the regional commands and of reinforce theCivil Guard and the police against subversion and terrorism. It comprised nine independent Infantry Brigades (one in every one of theMilitary Regions of Spain), organized with a brigade HQ and two infantry battalions each; theMountain Infantry Division No. 4 "Urgell"[30] andMountain Infantry Division No. 6 "Navarra";[29] the Mountain Reserve of the Army High Command; the Canary Islands, Balearic Islands, Ceuta and Melilla commands, with their respective DOT units including theRegulares (six groups later reduced to four) and the Spanish Legion (4 Tercios); and the Army General Reserve Command, composed of DOT units working as the reserve force of the Army, the equivalent to the United States Army Reserve.[17]
During the last years of the Francoist regime, contemporary weapons and vehicles were ordered for the 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 nowWestern Sahara against Arab forces in the area who agitated for the end of Spanish colonial rule.
Three main events characterise this period: creation of a singleMinistry of Defence (1977) to replace the three existing military ministries (Army,Navy andAir Ministries), the failedcoup d'état in February 1981 and the accession toNATO in 1982.
TheModernización del Ejército de Tierra plan was carried out from 1982 to 1988 so that Spain could achieve full compliance with NATO standards.[31] Military regions in mainland Spain were reduced from nine to six; the Intervention Force and the Territorial Defence were merged; the number of brigades was reduced from 24 to 15; and personnel numbers cut from 279,000 to 230,000.
The end of theCold War meant the disappearance of the Eastern Bloc threat. The reduction of the term of military service for conscripts until its complete abolition in 2001[32] and the increasing participation of Spanish forces in multinational peacekeeping operations abroad[33] were the main drivers for changes in the army after 1989.
Three reorganisation plans have been implemented since. The first was the RETO plan (1990).[34] In 1994, Plan NORTE was published, which was implemented between 1995 and 1999. NORTE eliminated four of the five existing divisions, leaving the Army composed of the Permanent Force and the Mobilizable Reserve.[35] The Permanent Force included a mechanized division of three brigades, a cavalry brigade, a parachute brigade, a light airborne brigade, a Legion brigade, a mountain hunter brigade, the garrison forces of the Canary Islands, the Balearic Islands, Ceuta and Melilla, and other support elements. The now "Manoeuvre Force", located in the old Captaincy of Valencia, was reduced to an army corps equivalent of a complete heavy division and the equivalent of a light division with reduced support. The Mobilizable Reserve included three mobilizable infantry brigades, a mobilizable cavalry brigade and other support units. The captaincies general finally disappeared, being replaced by regional commands. The third plan was the Instruction for Organisation and Operation of the Army (IOFET) 2005.
In 2001, when compulsory military service was still in effect, the army was about 135,000 troops (50,000 officers and 86,000 soldiers). Following the suspension of conscription the Spanish Army became a fully professionalised volunteer force and by 2022 had a personnel strength of 74,700 active military personnel and 8,478 men in reserve.[36] In case of a war or national emergency, an additional force of 80,000Civil Guards comes under the Ministry of Defense's command.
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The rank insignia ofcommissioned officers.
| NATO code | OF-10 | OF-9 | OF-8 | OF-7 | OF-6 | OF-5 | OF-4 | OF-3 | OF-2 | OF-1 | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Spanish Army[37] |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | |||||||||||||
| Capitán general | General de ejército | Teniente general | General de división | General de brigada | Coronel | Teniente coronel | Comandante | Capitán | Teniente | Alférez | ||||||||||||||
The rank insignia ofnon-commissioned officers andenlisted personnel.
| NATO code | OR-9 | OR-8 | OR-7 | OR-6 | OR-5 | OR-4 | OR-3 | OR-2 | OR-1 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spanish Army[37] |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Suboficial mayor | Subteniente | Brigada | Sargento primero | Sargento | Cabo mayor | Cabo primero | Cabo | Soldado (larga duración) | Soldado (compromiso inicial) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| NATO land forces |  | |
|---|---|---|
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