The Defence High Command ( es, link=no, Alto Estado Mayor, 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 Kingdom of Spain, defending its territorial integrity and the constitutional order, according to the functions entrusted to them by the Constitution o ...

during the

Francoist regime Francoist Spain ( es, España franquista), or the Francoist dictatorship (), was the period of Spanish history between 1939 and 1975, when Francisco Franco ruled Spain after the Spanish Civil War with the title . After his death in 1975, Spai ...

and the

Spanish transition to democracy 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 Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

. 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 (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

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

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 a ...

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 ( en, National Defense Junta) 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 ...

, 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 is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information (intelligence) from non-disclosed sources or divulging of the same without the permission of the holder of the information for a tangibl ...

and

counterintelligence Counterintelligence is an activity aimed at protecting an agency's intelligence program from an opposition's intelligence service. It includes gathering information and conducting activities to prevent espionage, sabotage, assassinations or ot ...

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

Ministry of the Interior An interior ministry (sometimes called a ministry of internal affairs or ministry of home affairs) is a government department that is responsible for internal affairs. Lists of current ministries of internal affairs Named "ministry" * Ministry ...

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 ( es, link=no, Junta de Jefes de Estado Mayor, 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 ...

(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 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