Nationalist & Republican Army Ranks

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von thoma
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Nationalist & Republican Army Ranks

#1

Post by von thoma » 15 Feb 2013, 08:41

Some plates useful to the layman in the military ranks of the Spanish Army 1936-1939 during SCW.

CTV and Legion Condor Ranks.
SpanishcivilwarNatVolunteers.jpg
SpanishcivilwarNatVolunteers.jpg (64.51 KiB) Viewed 3745 times
Nationalist Army Ranks.
SpanishNationalArmyRanks30s.jpg
SpanishNationalArmyRanks30s.jpg (40.42 KiB) Viewed 3745 times
Republican (Reds) Army Ranks.
SpanishCivilWarRepublicanranksArmy.jpg
SpanishCivilWarRepublicanranksArmy.jpg (36.62 KiB) Viewed 3745 times
" The right to believe is the right of those who don't know "

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Leo Niehorster
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Re: Nationalist & Republican Army Ranks

#2

Post by Leo Niehorster » 15 Feb 2013, 11:13

Nice find. Thanks for posting.
Leo


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Ironmachine
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Re: Nationalist & Republican Army Ranks

#3

Post by Ironmachine » 15 Feb 2013, 13:31

von thoma wrote: Nationalist Army Ranks.
ranks.JPG
ranks.JPG (31.42 KiB) Viewed 3719 times
There is a mistake with the ranks of "General de División" and "General de Brigada". With the II Republic the insignia for both were very similar, a star on a cane and a saber (what the plate shows for "General de Brigada"). The only difference was that the "General de Brigada" had a silver star and the "General de División" had a gold star.
It goes without saying that in the black and white photos of the period it is practically impossible to distinguish them. José María Bueno made this same mistake in his book about uniforms of the SCW, and many authors had followed him. This had caused some funny incidents, like prestigious (and ignorant) historians commenting that Franco kept his "General de Brigada" insignia when he was already a "General de División". :lol:
I don't remember now when the insignia for "General de División" changed to two stars, but I'm quite sure that it was either in 1939 or with the uniformity reform of 1943.

In addition, for the period in question (the 1930's), there were two other general ranks in the Spanish Army, at least at the very beginning and the very end of the decade: "Teniente General" y "Capitán General". The II Republic abolished these ranks (though "Capitán General" was formally a dignity, "dignidad"), but there were still three "Tenientes Generales" in service in 1936, at the eve of the SCW. The rank of "Capitán General" was restored in July 1938, and that of "Teniente General" in 1939.

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Ironmachine
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Re: Nationalist & Republican Army Ranks

#4

Post by Ironmachine » 15 Feb 2013, 22:36

Ironmachine wrote:I don't remember now when the insignia for "General de División" changed to two stars, but I'm quite sure that it was either in 1939 or with the uniformity reform of 1943.
I can confirm now that the change was introduced with the Reglamento de Uniformidad de 1943: "General de División" changed to two four-pointed stars in gold over cane and saber in gold, and "General de Brigada" changed to one four-pointed star in gold over cane and saber in gold.

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Re: Nationalist & Republican Army Ranks

#5

Post by Ironmachine » 15 Feb 2013, 22:50

It must be noted that in the 1930's there were even more changes. With the arrival of the II Republic, a law of 4 December 1943 introduced even more ranks in the lower part of the rank scale. From lower to higher: "soldado de segunda", "soldado de primera", "cabos", "sargento" (these were all "clases de tropa", that is soldiers), "sargento primero", "brigada", "subayudante", "subteniente" (these were "suboficiales", that is non-commissioned officers), "alférez", "teniente", "capitán", "comandante", "teniente coronel", "coronel", "general de brigada" y "general de división".
By a law of 5 July de 1934 the "sargentos segundos" were rejoined with the "sargentos primeros" and the "subayudantes" dissapeared.

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Re: Nationalist & Republican Army Ranks

#6

Post by Ironmachine » 15 Feb 2013, 22:59

Regarding the plate about the Republican ranks, those represented are the ones introduced by an order of 2 November 1936. For the militia the same insignia was used, but totally in red.
There were some changes introduced by a decree of 16 February 1937: the ranks of "general de división" and "general de brigada" were formally suppressed (though already they did not appear expressly in the order mentioned above), the rank of "comandante" changed its name for "mayor", and there was no mention of the ranks of "alférez" and "brigada".
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Re: Nationalist & Republican Army Ranks

#7

Post by Ironmachine » 09 Mar 2013, 09:22

The rank insignia for the comissars of the EPR
(taken from http://morirenespana.blogspot.com.es/20 ... chive.html)
Comisarios.jpg
More details about the rank insignia of the EPR can be found here:
http://www.sbhac.net/Republica/Fuerzas/ ... ivisas.htm

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Leo Niehorster
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Re: Nationalist & Republican Army Ranks

#8

Post by Leo Niehorster » 09 Mar 2013, 11:01

Very impartial site. (cough, cough) 8O
Mind you — in all fairness — some interesting data.

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Ironmachine
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Re: Nationalist & Republican Army Ranks

#9

Post by Ironmachine » 09 Mar 2013, 15:09

Leo Niehorster wrote:Very impartial site. (cough, cough) 8O
Indeed! :lol: :lol:
Certainly not the place to go if you know nothing about the SCW, but if you know enough to discern fact from propaganda there is, as you said, some valuable information in there.
Regards.

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