The Defence High Command (, AEM) was the principal staff body of the

Spanish Armed Forces The Spanish Armed Forces are in charge of guaranteeing the sovereignty and independence of the Spain, Kingdom of Spain, defending its territorial integrity and the constitutional order, according to the functions entrusted to them by the Spanish ...

during the

Francoist regime Francoist Spain (), also known as the Francoist dictatorship (), or Nationalist Spain () was the period of Spanish history between 1936 and 1975, when Francisco Franco ruled Spain after the Spanish Civil War with the title . After his death in ...

and the

transition to democracy Democratization, or democratisation, is the structural government transition from an authoritarian government to a more democratic political regime, including substantive political changes moving in a democratic direction. Whether and to what ...

. It operated between 1939 and 1980, and was in charge of coordination between the staffs of the three branches of the Armed Forces (

Army An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by ...

Navy A navy, naval force, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the military branch, branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral z ...

and the

Air Force An air force in the broadest sense is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an army aviati ...

History

The AEM was created on 30 August 1939 with the objective of having a "body of coordination, study and information, which would provide to the supreme command the elements of suitable judgment for the orientation of its designs". In this way the Defence High Command is constituted with the following tasks: * Submit to the authority studies and proposals for the management of national energies so that in case of war they were insured to the maximum extent their evolution and functioning in autarkic regime. * Prepare the study of the resolutions that proceed in order to the weighting of organic media between the Army, Navy and the Air Force. * Study and propose the general lines of the permanent organizations that should constitute bases of combined operations of the aforementioned forces. * Study and propose directives and plans for their joint action in case of war. * Provide the supreme command with the necessary information for the appreciation of the military and economic potential of other countries. For this it was necessary on the one hand the appointment of a General-Chief who would be a member and secretary of the

National Defense Junta The Junta de Defensa Nacional () was a military junta which governed the territories held by the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalist faction of the Spanish Civil War from July to September 1936. The junta's president was Migue ...

, and on the other hand the creation of a secretariat and three sections: a military, an economic and an informational. On 5 February 1944, the need to act against foreign intelligence services within Spain was raised. That is why a new military intelligence agency began operating, the so-called "" (SIAEM). However, due to problems of coordination between the various counterintelligence mechanisms of the time, it was decided in 1945 to divide the powers: the Defence High Command would be in charge of

espionage Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering, as a subfield of the intelligence field, is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information ( intelligence). A person who commits espionage on a mission-specific contract is called an ...

and

counterintelligence Counterintelligence (counter-intelligence) or counterespionage (counter-espionage) is any activity aimed at protecting an agency's Intelligence agency, intelligence program from an opposition's intelligence service. It includes gathering informati ...

of military character both inside and outside the country, while the

Ministry of the Interior An interior ministry or ministry of the interior (also called ministry of home affairs or ministry of internal affairs) is a government department that is responsible for domestic policy, public security and law enforcement. In some states, the ...

would be in charge of the internal security of the country, and the rest of the ministries would collect the general information according to their needs. After the death of Franco in 1975, the administrative structure of the Armed Forces was reorganized. The AEM disappeared in 1980 when all its functions were taken over by the

Board of Joint Chiefs of Staff The Board of Joint Chiefs of Staff (, JUJEM) was the highest joint military command body of the Spanish Armed Forces that operated between 1977 and 2005. The Board, subject to the political dependence of the Prime Minister, constituted the highest ...

(JUJEM), which was succeeded in 1984 by the Defence Staff (EMAD).

List of chiefs of the Defence High Command

† denotes people who died in office.

Timeline

Notes

References

{{Authority control Military of Francoist Spain Staff (military) 1939 establishments in Spain 1980 disestablishments in Spain

History

List of chiefs of the Defence High Command

Timeline

See also

Notes

References