The III Military Region (Región Militar III Levante) also known as the Captaincy General of Valencia, was a historical subdivision of

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

territory from the military point of view - a

military district Military districts (also called military regions) are formations of a state's armed forces (often of the Army) which are responsible for a certain area of territory. They are often more responsible for administrative than operational matters ...

, from 1939 to 1984. Its jurisdiction extended through the provinces of the current

Valencian Community The Valencian Community is an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain. It is the fourth most populous Spanish Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community after Andalusia, Catalonia and the Community of Madrid wit ...

, and the

Murcia Region The Region of Murcia (, ; ; ) is an autonomous community of Spain located in the southeastern part of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Mediterranean coast. The region is in area and had a population of 1,511,251 as at the start of 2020. About a ...

. The region's headquarters was located in

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

Territory

From 1943, it comprised the following six

Province of Spain A province in Spain * , ; sing. ''provincia'') * Basque (, sing. ''probintzia''. * Catalan (), sing. ''província''. * Galician (), sing. ''provincia''. is a territorial division defined as a collection of municipalities. The current ...

, Castellón,

Alicante Alicante (, , ; ; ; officially: ''/'' ) is a city and municipalities of Spain, municipality in the Valencian Community, Spain. It is the capital of the province of Alicante and a historic Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean port. The population ...

Albacete Albacete ( , , ) is a city and municipality in the Spanish autonomous community of Castilla–La Mancha, and capital of the province of Albacete. Lying in the south-east of the Iberian Peninsula, the area around the city is known as Los Llan ...

, and the

Murcia Murcia ( , , ) is a city in south-eastern Spain, the Capital (political), capital and most populous city of the autonomous community of the Region of Murcia, and the Ranked lists of Spanish municipalities#By population, seventh largest city i ...

. By the 1980s, it had its headquarters in

encompassed the provinces of

, Castellón, and

, as well as the

Region of Murcia The Region of Murcia (, ; ; ) is an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain located in the southeastern part of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coast. The region is in area and had a popul ...

and the

Balearic Islands The Balearic Islands are an archipelago in the western Mediterranean Sea, near the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. The archipelago forms a Provinces of Spain, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain, ...

History

Origins

The division of

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

into Captaincies General dates from 1705, when they adjusted to the old kingdoms that constituted the

Hispanic Monarchy Hispanic Monarchy and Spanish Monarchy may refer to: *the 1479-1716 period of the Spanish Empire ( Hispanic Monarchy (Political entity)) that is divided in: **Habsburg Spain **Iberian Union *the Monarchy of Spain The monarchy of Spain or S ...

. They were thirteen regions:

Andalusia Andalusia ( , ; , ) is the southernmost autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain, located in the south of the Iberian Peninsula, in southwestern Europe. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomou ...

Aragon Aragon ( , ; Spanish and ; ) is an autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces of Spain, ...

Burgos Burgos () is a city in Spain located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is the capital and most populous municipality of the province of Burgos. Burgos is situated in the north of the Iberian Peninsula, on the confluence of th ...

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; ) or Canaries are an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean and the southernmost Autonomous communities of Spain, Autonomous Community of Spain. They are located in the northwest of Africa, with the closest point to the cont ...

Castilla la Vieja Old Castile ( ) is a historic region of Spain, which had different definitions across the centuries. Its extension was formally defined in the 1833 territorial division of Spain as the sum of the following provinces: Santander (now Cantabria) ...

Catalonia Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...

Extremadura Extremadura ( ; ; ; ; Fala language, Fala: ''Extremaúra'') is a landlocked autonomous communities in Spain, autonomous community of Spain. Its capital city is Mérida, Spain, Mérida, and its largest city is Badajoz. Located in the central- ...

, Galicia, Coast of Granada,

Guipúzcoa Gipuzkoa ( , ; ; ) is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the autonomous community of the Basque Country. Its capital city is Donostia-San Sebastián. Gipuzkoa shares borders with the French department of Pyrénées-Atlantique ...

Mallorca Mallorca, or Majorca, is the largest of the Balearic Islands, which are part of Spain, and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, seventh largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. The capital of the island, Palma, Majorca, Palma, i ...

Navarra Navarre ( ; ; ), officially the Chartered Community of Navarre, is a landlocked foral autonomous community and province in northern Spain, bordering the Basque Autonomous Community, La Rioja, and Aragon in Spain and New Aquitaine in France. ...

and

. In 1898, the peninsular territory was divided into seven new Military Regions, at the same time that the General Command of

Ceuta Ceuta (, , ; ) is an Autonomous communities of Spain#Autonomous cities, autonomous city of Spain on the North African coast. Bordered by Morocco, it lies along the boundary between the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. Ceuta is one of th ...

and

Melilla Melilla (, ; ) is an autonomous city of Spain on the North African coast. It lies on the eastern side of the Cape Three Forks, bordering Morocco and facing the Mediterranean Sea. It has an area of . It was part of the Province of Málaga un ...

. The '' III Military Region '' has its origin in the

Captaincy General of Valencia The III Military Region (Región Militar III Levante) also known as the Captaincy General of Valencia, was a historical subdivision of Spanish territory from the military point of view - a military district, from 1939 to 1984. Its jurisdiction ext ...

, maintaining headquarters and the five provinces of the old kingdoms of

and of

, temporarily adding the Cuenca province of the Captaincy General of Castilla la Nueva.

20th century

After the proclamation of the Second Republic, a government decree dissolved the military regions and replaced them with Organic Divisions. In July 1936, the head of the III Organic Division was brigadier general

Fernando Martínez-Monje Restoy Fernando is a Spanish and Portuguese given name and a surname common in Spain, Portugal, Italy, France, Switzerland, and former Spanish or Portuguese colonies in Latin America, Africa and Asia (like the Philippines, India, and Sri Lanka). It is e ...

. In July 1939, after the end of the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

the military regions were re-established. The III Region is assigned the III Army Corps with two divisions. By 1944, the two division consisted of the 31st (

, RI "Tetuán" 14 at Castellón; RI España 18 at Albacete; RI Guadalajara 20 at Valencia); and the 32nd (

, with the RI "San Fernando" 11 at Alicante; RI Mallorca 13 at Lorca; RI Vizcaya 21 at Alcoy). The corps also had a naval base defence regiment, RIBN "Sevilla" 40 at Cartagena. There were a total of seven

Infantry Infantry, or infantryman are a type of soldier who specialize in ground combat, typically fighting dismounted. Historically the term was used to describe foot soldiers, i.e. those who march and fight on foot. In modern usage, the term broadl ...

, 1 of

Cavalry Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from ''cheval'' meaning "horse") are groups of soldiers or warriors who Horses in warfare, fight mounted on horseback. Until the 20th century, cavalry were the most mob ...

, 3 of

Field Artillery Field artillery is a category of mobile artillery used to support army, armies in the field. These weapons are specialized for mobility, tactical proficiency, short range, long range, and extremely long range target engagement. Until the ear ...

, 1 of

Anti-aircraft Anti-aircraft warfare (AAW) is the counter to aerial warfare and includes "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It encompasses surface-based, subsurface ( submarine-launched), and air-ba ...

and one regiment of

Engineers Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, build, maintain and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials. They aim to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while consider ...

. During the first moments of the failed

1981 Spanish coup d'état attempt A coup d'état was attempted in Spain in February 1981 by elements of the Civil Guard and the Spanish military. The failure of the coup marked the last serious attempt to revert Spain to a Francoist government and served to consolidate Spain ...

the then captain general of the area, Lieutenant General

Jaime Milans del Bosch __NOTOC__ Jaime Milans del Bosch y Ussía (8 June 1915 – 26 July 1997) was a lieutenant general in the Spanish Army who was dismissed and imprisoned in 1981 for his role in the failed coup d'état of 23 February 1981. Biography Milans del Bo ...

, joined the uprising and decreed the

State of War A declaration of war is a formal act by which one state announces existing or impending war activity against another. The declaration is a performative speech act (or the public signing of a document) by an authorized party of a national govern ...

throughout the region under its jurisdiction. That night of February 23, Milans del Bosch took to the streets of

with 1,800 military personnel and 60 tanks, which were broadcast on television."La Cena de los Golpistas", in El.País.es
/ref> The city was surrounded by soldiers with armored vehicles and other army trucks that had left the bases of

Bétera Bétera () is a Municipalities of Spain, municipality in the Comarques of the Valencian Community, ''comarca'' of Camp de Túria in the Valencia (autonomous community), Valencian Community, Spain. With 23,647 inhabitants, it is the second most pop ...

and

Paterna Paterna is a city and a municipality in the province of Valencia in the Valencian Community, Spain. It is located northeast of the comarca of '' L'Horta de Valencia'', northwest of the inland suburbs of Valencia, and on the left bank of the riv ...

. An armored column went to

Manises Air Base Manises Air Base () is a defunct Spanish Air Force base. It was located in Manises by Valencia Airport, the civilian airport for the city and metropolitan area of Valencia, Spain. Units The air base housed the following units in the past: *24th ...

to convince its commander to join the coup, but he did not. Furthermore, given the clear refusal of the King

Juan Carlos I Juan Carlos I (; Juan Carlos Alfonso Víctor María de Borbón y Borbón-Dos Sicilias, born 5 January 1938) is a member of the Spanish royal family who reigned as King of Spain from 22 November 1975 until Abdication of Juan Carlos I, his abdic ...

to support the coup plotters, del Bosch had to obey the King's orders and withdrew the troops from the streets. With the exception of

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

( I Military Region), in no other military region were there attempted coups. The next day he was arrested and later on trial for the failed coup attempt. In the 1995 territorial reorganisation, the 'Levant' character of the III Military Region was totally lost; the III Military Region was given the name 'Pirenaica,' made up of parts of the former IV and V Military Regions on the French border. A numbered RM III finally disappeared in 2002.

References

* *{{cite web , title=Real Decreto 1451/1984, de 1 de agosto, por el que se reestructura la organización militar del territorio nacional para el Ejército de Tierra. , url=https://www.boe.es/buscar/doc.php?id=BOE-A-1984-17298 , publisher=Ministerio de Defensa , accessdate=2 October 2020 Military units and formations of Spain Military units and formations established in 1939 Military units and formations disestablished in 2002 Military districts and regions

Territory

History

Origins

20th century

See also

References