The Spanish Army was transformed during the 18th century by an influx of progressive officers who modernised and expanded it. It was closely modelled on the French armies of Louis XIV and Louis XV in tactical doctrine, organisation, armament and uniforms. In battle, they were often brave to the point of carelessness, and were thus sometimes difficult to control. The army also had several Swiss and Walloon regiments, less given to all-out attacks, but renowned for their steadiness under fire. In this first of three volumes, Réne Chartrand examines the organisation and uniforms of the Spanish Army of the Napoleonic Wars (1799-1815).
In the 19th and 20th centuries, Spain was a key player in the military conflagrations that created modern Europe. From the Napoleonic Wars, through the dress rehearsal for World War II that was the Spanish Civil War, to the grim struggle against terrorism today, the military history of modern Spain has both shaped and reflected larger forces beyond its borders. This volume traces the course of Spanish military history, primarily during the 20th century. Chapter 1 provides the foundation for the role of the Spanish Army at home (the War of Independence [Napoleonic War], the Carlist Wars, and pronunciamientos), abroad (Morocco, 1859-60), and as an instrument for Liberal reforms in Spain. Chapter 2 covers the period following the Spanish-American War as the Army redirected its focus to the Spanish Protectorate in northern Morocco. This chapter covers the Rif Rebellion (1921-27), the dictatorship of Miguel Primo de Rivera (1923-30) and concludes with the end of the monarchy and the establishment of the 2nd Republic in 1931. Chapters 3 and 4 present the two armies of the Spanish Civil War, as well as their relationship to the warring factions of Nationalists and Republicans. Chapter 5 looks at the Spanish Army during World War II on the Eastern Front (Russia), in its overseas colonies, as well as in Spain. De-colonialism is covered in chapter 6 as Spain, following the lead of the other European powers, began to shed itself of its African empire. Chapter 8 charts Spain's integration into the Western defense community in the 1950s, its membership in NATO, and its participation in peacekeeping and humanitarian missions in the Balkans and the Middle East. Chapter 9 focuses on Spain's struggle against terrorism, both the domestic Basques of ETA (Fatherland and Liberty) and the newer conflict against al-Qaeda and radical Islamic fundamentalism.
Bog om de væbnede styrker fra alle landene i Mellemøsten, med afsnit om historie og et kapitel med 30 sider krigskort, der giver oversigt over alle slag i perioden 1517-1973, bla. den arabisk-israelske krig 1948/56.
This volume – covering the final years of the Peninsular War (1808-1814) and the long trek over the Pyrenees into France – concludes the author's remarkable in-depth study of the army that fought alongside Wellington's redcoats throughout the Peninsular War. Prior to 1813 it was the Spanish armies that bore the brunt of the fighting and this text – based on primary research in Spanish and British archives which will be new to most readers – fills a large and long-standing gap in our knowledge of those Napoleonic campaigns which have always fascinated English-speaking students of the period.
Long before England established a serious presence in the New World, Spain had already established an overseas Empire. In North America, this included vast tracts of territory including most of what today comprises the states of Florida, Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Alabama, Illinois and California. In later years, as the British and the French came to expand their claims, they often came into conflict with the Spanish. The Spanish also played a significant part during the American Revolution, fighting against the British and drawing off forces needed to fight the Americans. This book covers all of the North American Spanish forces that fought in the campaigns of the 18th century.
A magisterial history of “Napoleon’s Vietnam”, by the highly acclaimed historian of Spain In this definitive account of the Peninsular War (1808–14), Napoleon’s six-year war against Spain, Ronald Fraser examines what led to the emperor’s devastating defeat against the popular opposition—the guerrillas—and their British and Portuguese allies. As well as relating the histories of the great political and military figures of the war, Fraser brings to life the anonymous masses—the artisans, peasants and women who fought, suffered and died—and restores their role in this barbaric war to its rightful place while overturning the view that this was a straightforward military campaign. This vivid, meticulously researched book offers a distinct and profound vision of “Napoleon’s Vietnam” and shows the reality of the disasters of war: the suffering, discontents and social upheaval that accompanied the fighting. With a new Introduction by Tariq Ali.
Constant Spanish guerrilla activity so drained the resources and diverted the attention of the French military that Wellington was able to advance against and overcome a numerically superior enemy. So many French soldiers were being used to counter the guerrillas and the threat that they posed that less than a third of the French army could be tasked with confronting Wellington. This book brings to life, for the first time, the formation, tactics and experiences of the Spanish guerrilla forces that fought Napoleon's army. Using much previously unpublished material, it offers a vivid description of the guerrilla and his lifestyle.
Napoleon’s forces invaded Spain in 1808, but two years went by before they overran the southern region of Andalucía. Situated at the farthest frontier of Napoleon’s “outer empire,” Andalucía remained under French control only briefly—for two-and-a-half years—and never experienced the normal functions of French rule. In this groundbreaking examination of the Peninsular War, Charles J. Esdaile moves beyond traditional military history to examine the French occupation of Andalucía and the origins and results of the region’s complex and chaotic response. Disillusioned by the Spanish provisional government and largely unprotected, Andalucía scarcely fired a shot in its defense when Joseph Bonaparte’s army invaded the region in 1810. The subsequent French occupation, however, broke down in the face of multiple difficulties, the most important of which were geography and the continued presence in the region of substantial forces of regular troops. Drawing on British, French, and Spanish sources that are all but unknown, Esdaile describes the social, cultural, geographical, political, and military conditions that combined to make Andalucía particularly resistant to French rule. Esdaile’s study is a significant contribution to the new field sometimes known as occupation studies, which focuses on the ways a victorious army attempts to reconcile a conquered populace to the new political order. Combining military history with political and social history, Outpost of Empire delineates what we now call the cultural terrain of war. This is history that moves from battles between armies to battles for hearts and minds.
