1.
Spain
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By population, Spain is the sixth largest in Europe and the fifth in the European Union. Spains capital and largest city is Madrid, other urban areas include Barcelona, Valencia, Seville, Bilbao. Modern humans first arrived in the Iberian Peninsula around 35,000 years ago, in the Middle Ages, the area was conquered by Germanic tribes and later by the Moors. Spain is a democracy organised in the form of a government under a constitutional monarchy. It is a power and a major developed country with the worlds fourteenth largest economy by nominal GDP. Jesús Luis Cunchillos argues that the root of the span is the Phoenician word spy. Therefore, i-spn-ya would mean the land where metals are forged, two 15th-century Spanish Jewish scholars, Don Isaac Abravanel and Solomon ibn Verga, gave an explanation now considered folkloric. Both men wrote in two different published works that the first Jews to reach Spain were brought by ship by Phiros who was confederate with the king of Babylon when he laid siege to Jerusalem. This man was a Grecian by birth, but who had given a kingdom in Spain. He became related by marriage to Espan, the nephew of king Heracles, Heracles later renounced his throne in preference for his native Greece, leaving his kingdom to his nephew, Espan, from whom the country of España took its name. Based upon their testimonies, this eponym would have already been in use in Spain by c.350 BCE, Iberia enters written records as a land populated largely by the Iberians, Basques and Celts. Early on its coastal areas were settled by Phoenicians who founded Western Europe´s most ancient cities Cadiz, Phoenician influence expanded as much of the Peninsula was eventually incorporated into the Carthaginian Empire, becoming a major theater of the Punic Wars against the expanding Roman Empire. After an arduous conquest, the peninsula came fully under Roman Rule, during the early Middle Ages it came under Germanic rule but later, much of it was conquered by Moorish invaders from North Africa. In a process took centuries, the small Christian kingdoms in the north gradually regained control of the peninsula. The last Moorish kingdom fell in the same year Columbus reached the Americas, a global empire began which saw Spain become the strongest kingdom in Europe, the leading world power for a century and a half, and the largest overseas empire for three centuries. Continued wars and other problems led to a diminished status. The Napoleonic invasions of Spain led to chaos, triggering independence movements that tore apart most of the empire, eventually democracy was peacefully restored in the form of a parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Spain joined the European Union, experiencing a renaissance and steady economic growth
2.
Spanish Armed Forces
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The Spanish Armed Forces are the military forces of the Kingdom of Spain. The Spanish Armed Forces are a military force charged with defending the Kingdoms integrity and sovereignty. They consist of the Army, Navy and Air Force, the King is the Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces, with the title Capitán General de las Fuerzas Armadas. The current Chief of the Defence Staff is General Fernando Alejandre Martínez, the Spanish Armed Forces are active members of NATO, the Eurocorps, the European Union Battlegroups, and also provide peace keeping troops to the United Nations. During the 15th and 16th century, Spain evolved into Europes foremost power with the voyages of Christopher Columbus leading to Spain acquiring vast lands in the Americas. During the reign of Charles V and Philip II, Spain reached the peak of its power with the Spanish Empire spanning 19.4 million square km of the earths surface, a total of 13%. By the mid 17th century this power had weakened by the Thirty Years War along with financial problems. Thanks to these reforms, Spain performed well in the French Revolutionary Wars, the war of Jenkins Ear, the war of Austrian Succession and several other engagements. Following the war, the Spanish military was in condition and political instability resulted in the loss of most of Spains former colonies, except Cuba, Puerto Rico. These too would be lost later in the Spanish–American War, the Spanish armed forces are a professional force with a strength in 2012 of 123,300 active personnel and 16,400 reserve personnel. The country also has the 80,000 strong Civil Guard which comes under the control of the Ministry of Defence in times of a national emergency, the Spanish defence budget is 5.71 billion euros a 1% increase for 2015. The increase comes because of security concerns in the country, the Spanish army consists of 15 active brigades and 6 military regions. Modern infantry have diverse capabilities and this is reflected in the roles assigned to them. There are four operational roles that infantry battalions can fulfil, air assault, armoured infantry, mechanised infantry, the Spanish army has the latest technology at its disposal to preserve the territorial integrity of the Kingdom of Spain. The current flagship of the Spanish Navy is the assault ship Juan Carlos 1 which is also used as an aircraft carrier. In addition, the fleet consists of,2 amphibious transport docks,11 frigates,3 submarines,6 mine countermeasure vessels,23 patrol vessels, the total displacement of the Spanish Navy is approximately 220,000 tonnes. As of 2012, the Armada has a strength of 20,800 personnel, the Infanteria de Marina are the marine infantry of the Spanish Navy, the oldest in the world. It has a strength of 5,000 troops divided into base defense forces, one of the three base defense battalions is stationed with each of the Navy headquarters
3.
Juan Prim, 1st Marquis of los Castillejos
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Prim was the son of lieutenant colonel Pablo Prim. After the pacification of 1839, as a progressist opposed to the dictatorship of General Espartero, however, in 1843 he was elected deputy for Tarragona, and after defeating Espartero at Bruch he entered Madrid in triumph with General Serrano. The regent Maria Christina promoted him major-general, and made him conde de Reus, the sentence was not carried out, and Prim remained an exile in England and France until the amnesty of 1847. He then returned to Spain, and was first employed as captain-general of Puerto Rico, in 1854 he was elected to the cortes, and gave his support to General ODonnell, who promoted him lieutenant-general in 1856. In the war with Morocco he did good service at Castillejos, Cabo Negro, Guad al Gelu and Campamento in 1860 that he was made marqués de los Castillejos. Prim commanded the Spanish expeditionary army in Mexico in 1862, when Spain, Great Britain, Prim was a sympathizer with the Mexican liberal cause refused to consent to the ambitious schemes of French emperor Napoleon III, and withdrew Spanish forces following a meeting with Manuel Doblado. On Prims return to Spain he joined the opposition, heading pronunciamentos in Catalonia against generals Narváez, in September 1868 General Serrano and General Prim returned, and Brigadier Topete, commanding the fleet, raised the standard of revolt at Cádiz. In July 1869 General Serrano was elected regent, and Prim became president of the council and was made a marshal. On 6 November 1870 Amadeo, Duke of Aosta, was elected king of Spain, the Cortes took his children as wards of the country, three days afterwards King Amadeo I swore in the presence of the corpse to observe the new Spanish constitution. This is due to the fact that Prim had searched all the European courts of the time trying to find a monarch who was not opposed to being democratically elected. He is quoted for saying that looking for a monarch in Europe is like trying to find an atheist in heaven. After France had rejected the almost elected Leopold of Hohenzollern because of their fear that Prussia might thereby become more powerful, le Général Prim et la situation actuelle de lEspagne. Guited, Historia militar y política del General Don Juan Prim, map of the approximate route of Prim from Ocaña to Portugal
4.
Francisco Franco
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Francisco Franco Bahamonde was a Spanish general who ruled over Spain as a military dictator for 36 years from 1939 until his death. As a conservative and a monarchist, he opposed the abolition of the monarchy, with the 1936 elections, the conservative Spanish Confederation of Autonomous Right-wing Groups lost by a narrow margin and the leftist Popular Front came to power. Intending to overthrow the republic, Franco followed other generals in attempting a coup that precipitated the Spanish Civil War. With the death of the generals, Franco quickly became his factions only leader. Leaving half a million dead, the war was won by Franco in 1939. He established a dictatorship, which he defined as a totalitarian state. Franco proclaimed himself Head of State and Government under the title El Caudillo, under Franco, Spain became a one-party state, as the various conservative and royalist factions were merged into the fascist party and other political parties were outlawed. Although Francos Spain maintained a policy of neutrality during World War II. Francos regime has been called a fascist one, Spain was isolated by the international community for nearly a decade after World War II. By the 1950s, the nature of his regime changed from being openly totalitarian, by the 1960s Spain saw incremental reforms and progressive economic development. After a 36-year rule, Franco died in 1975 and he restored the monarchy before his death, which made King Juan Carlos I his successor, who led the Spanish transition to democracy. After a referendum, a new constitution was adopted, which transformed Spain into a democracy under a constitutional monarchy. Franco was born at half past noon on December 4,1892, at 108 Calle Frutos Saavedra in Ferrol and his father was of Andalusian ancestry. His mother was María del Pilar Bahamonde y Pardo de Andrade, Francisco was to follow his father into the Navy, but as a result of the Spanish–American War the country lost much of its navy as well as most of its colonies. Not needing any more officers, the Naval Academy admitted no new entrants from 1906 to 1913, to his fathers chagrin, Francisco decided to try the Spanish Army. In 1907, he entered the Infantry Academy in Toledo, graduating in 1910 as a lieutenant, two years later, he obtained a commission to Morocco. Spanish efforts to occupy their new African protectorate provoked the protracted Rif War with native Moroccans and their tactics resulted in heavy losses among Spanish military officers, and also provided an opportunity to earn promotion through merit. It was said that officers would receive either la caja o la faja, Franco quickly gained a reputation as a good officer
5.
Legion of Honour
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The Legion of Honour, full name National Order of the Legion of Honour, is the highest French order of merit for military and civil merits, established 1802 by Napoléon Bonaparte. The order is divided into five degrees of increasing distinction, Chevalier, Officier, Commandeur, Grand Officier and Grand-Croix. The orders motto is Honneur et Patrie and its seat is the Palais de la Légion dHonneur next to the Musée dOrsay, in the French Revolution, all French orders of chivalry were abolished, and replaced with Weapons of Honour. The Légion however did use the organization of old French orders of chivalry, the badges of the legion also bear a resemblance to the Ordre de Saint-Louis, which also used a red ribbon. Napoleon originally created this to ensure political loyalty, the organization would be used as a facade to give political favours, gifts, and concessions. The Légion was loosely patterned after a Roman legion, with legionaries, officers, commanders, regional cohorts, the highest rank was not a grand cross but a Grand Aigle, a rank that wore all the insignia common to grand crosses. The members were paid, the highest of them extremely generously,5,000 francs to an officier,2,000 francs to a commandeur,1,000 francs to an officier,250 francs to a légionnaire. Napoleon famously declared, You call these baubles, well, it is with baubles that men are led, do you think that you would be able to make men fight by reasoning. That is good only for the scholar in his study, the soldier needs glory, distinctions, rewards. This has been quoted as It is with such baubles that men are led. The order was the first modern order of merit, under the monarchy, such orders were often limited to Roman Catholics, and all knights had to be noblemen. The military decorations were the perks of the officers, the Légion, however, was open to men of all ranks and professions—only merit or bravery counted. The new legionnaire had to be sworn in the Légion and it is noteworthy that all previous orders were crosses or shared a clear Christian background, whereas the Légion is a secular institution. The jewel of the Légion has five arms, in a decree issued on the 10 Pluviôse XIII, a grand decoration was instituted. This decoration, a cross on a sash and a silver star with an eagle, symbol of the Napoleonic Empire, became known as the Grand Aigle. After Napoleon crowned himself Emperor of the French in 1804 and established the Napoleonic nobility in 1808, the title was made hereditary after three generations of grantees. Napoleon had dispensed 15 golden collars of the legion among his family and this collar was abolished in 1815. The Légion dhonneur was prominent and visible in the French Empire, the Emperor always wore it and the fashion of the time allowed for decorations to be worn most of the time
6.
Cross of Valour (Greece)
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The Cross of Valour is the second highest military decoration of the Greek state, awarded for acts of bravery or distinguished leadership on the field of battle. The award was established through Law ΓΡΣΗ/30-4-1913, as a rather than a simple medal. In some cases, after battles, the entire personnel of some units was decorated with the Cross of Valour. Awards continued to be made for feats performed during the Asia Minor Campaign even after its end, in 1923 and 1924, with 509 Gold Crosses and 3 Silver Crosses accounted for. Given the great scarcity of medals, however, as well as the political upheavals of the 1920s. With the outbreak of the Greco-Italian War on 28 October 1940, until the fall of Greece to the Germans in April 1941,240 Gold Crosses and 300 Silver Crosses were awarded. The Greek government in exile awarded 96 Gold Crosses and 92 Silver Crosses to Greek and various Allied officers. The Cross of Valour continued to be awarded for actions during the Greek Civil War and for the Greek participation in the Korean War, as well as for a few cases from World War II, from 1947 to 1955. During this period, eight Commanders Crosses,4,548 Gold Crosses and 11,072 Silver Crosses were awarded to Greek, with the abolition of the monarchy by the Greek military junta in 1973, the countrys honours system was revised. In April 1974, Law Decree 376/1974 was promulgated, which regulated military awards for wartime and peacetime, the regulations as to award procedure were left to be determined by Presidential Decree. As of 2003, this had not been enacted, the Royal Decree of 31 March 1921 instituted the Cross of Valour in three grades, Commanders Cross, worn as a badge on a necklet, and the Gold Cross and Silver Cross, worn as badges on chest ribbons. No limit was set on the number of awards in each grade, the Silver Cross was to be made entirely of silver, while the Gold and Commanders crosses where enamelled in white with blue edges. The ribbon consists of five pale blue and white stripes, for each repeat award, a silver 4-millimeter star was added to the ribbon. For World War II awards, a bar with 1940 was placed on the ribbon to distinguish it from the earlier 1913 version, repeat awards were designated with 5-millimeter miniature silver crowns, although a maximum of three was allowed to be worn on the ribbon. General Staff of National Defense, 148–163, george J. Beldecos, Hellenic Orders, Decorations and Medals, pub. Hellenic War Museum, Athens 1991, ISBN 960-85054-0-2
