Spanish Legion


For centuries, Spain recruited foreign soldiers to its armies, forming the foreign regiments such as the Regiment of Hibernia. However, the specific unit of the Spanish Army and Spain's Rapid Reaction Force, now known as the Spanish Legion, and informally known as the Tercio, is a 20th-century creation. It was raised in the 1920s to serve as part of Spain's Army of Africa. The unit, which was established in January 1920 as the Spanish equivalent of the French Foreign Legion, was initially known as the Tercio de Extranjeros, the name under which it began fighting in the Rif War of 1921–1926.
Over the years, the force's name has changed from Tercio de Extranjeros to Tercio de Marruecos, and by the end of the Rif War it became the "Spanish Legion", composed of several tercios as sub-units.
The Legion played a major role in the Nationalist forces in the Spanish Civil War. In post-Franco Spain, the modern Legion has undertaken tours of duty in the Yugoslav Wars, Afghanistan, Iraq and Operation Libre Hidalgo UNIFIL.

History

The Spanish Legion was formed by royal decree of King Alfonso XIII on 28 January 1920, with the Minister of War stating, "With the designation of Foreigners Regiment there will be created an armed military unit, whose recruits, uniform and regulations by which they should be governed will be set by the Minister of War". However, traditionally the Legion has held 20 September 1920, the day the first Legionnaire enlisted, as its founding date.

Predecessor

Historically there had been a "Spanish Foreign Legion" which preceded the modern Legion's formation in 1920. On 28 June 1835, the French government had decided to hand the French Foreign Legion over to the Spanish government in support of Queen Isabella's claim to the throne during the First Carlist War. The French Foreign Legion, with around 4,000 men, landed at Tarragona on 17 August 1835. This became the French Auxilliary Division until it was disbanded on 8 December 1838, when it had dropped to only 500 men.

The Title of Spanish Legion

The Spanish Legion was modelled on the French Foreign Legion. Its purpose was to provide a corps of professional troops to fight in Spain's colonial campaigns in North Africa, in place of conscript units that were proving ineffective. The first commanding officer, Lieutenant Colonel José Millán-Astray Terreros, referred to his unit as ‘La Legión’ from the start but this only became part of the unit's title from 1937.
In the original Tercio de Extranjeros there were Latin Americans, amongst others, one Chinese, three Japanese, one Maltese, one Russian, both German & Austrian, one Italian, two Frenchmen, four Portuguese, one Belgian, unknown Filipino and one Spanish woman from Puerto Rico. However, soon the majority of its members were Spaniards who joined to fight outside of European Spain.
Tercio is an old Spanish military term that roughly translates as ‘regiment'. In the 18th century tercios were replaced by regiments. There is no equivalent word in English. Dating from the 16th century, the name was chosen to evoke the era of Spain's military supremacy as the leading Catholic power in Europe under the Habsburg Emperors. Organised into tercios in 1534, the Spanish infantry gained a reputation for invincibility.
In 1925, the unit title was changed to Tercio de Marruecos. This was soon abbreviated to ‘The Tercio’. In 1937 at the height of the Spanish Civil War, the Tercio de Marruecos was renamed La Legión, the name by which it is still known today.

Early campaigns

The Spanish Legion's first major campaign was in Spanish North Africa. In 1920 Spain was facing a major rebellion in the Protectorate of Spanish Morocco, led by the able Rif leader Abd el-Krim. On 2 September 1920, King Alfonso XIII conferred command of the new regiment on Lieutenant Colonel of Infantry José Millán-Astray, chief proponent of its establishment. Millán-Astray was an able soldier but an eccentric and extreme personality. His style and attitude would become part of the mystique of the Legion.
On 20 September 1920 the first recruit joined the new Legion, a date which is now celebrated annually. The initial make-up of the regiment was a headquarters unit and three battalions. Each battalion was in turn made up of a headquarters company, two rifle companies, and a machine gun company. The regiment's initial location was at the Cuartel del Rey en Ceuta on the Plaza de Colón. At its height, during the Spanish Civil War, the Legion consisted of 18 banderas, plus a tank bandera, an assault engineer bandera and a Special Operations Group. Banderas 12 to 18 were considered independent units and never served as part of the additional tercios into which the Legion was organised.
Francisco Franco was the Legion's second-in-command, concurrently commanding the 1st Bandera. The Legion fought in Spanish Morocco in the Rif War. Together with the Regulares, the Legion made up the Spanish Army of Africa. Units of both the Legion and the Regulares were brought to Spain by the Republican government to help put down the Asturian Revolution of 1934.

Civil War

Under the leadership of Lieutenant Colonel Juan Yagüe, the Army of Africa played an important part in the Spanish Civil War on the Nationalist side. The professionalism of the Legion and the Regulares gave the Nationalist troops a significant initial advantage over the less well trained Spanish Republican forces. The Army of Africa remained an elite spearhead until the expansion of the rebel armies after April 1937 led to the Legion and Moroccan units being distributed across several fronts.

After the Civil War

Following the Francoist victory in 1939, the Legion was reduced in size and returned to its bases in Spanish Morocco. In 1940, it was reorganized into three Tercios. The 4th Tercio of the Legion was established in 1950.
Emblems, coats of arms, and names of the Tercios:
1st Tercio, "Great Captain" Gonzalo Fernandez de Cordoba

2nd Tercio, "Fernando Alvarez de Toledo, Duke of Alba"

3rd Tercio, "Don Juan of Austria"

4th Tercio, "Alexander Farnese, Duke of Parma"
When Morocco gained its independence in 1956, the Legion continued in existence as part of the garrison of the remaining Spanish enclaves and territories in North Africa. The Legion fought Moroccan irregulars in the Ifni War in 1957–58.
On 17 June 1970, Legion units opened fire and killed between two and eleven demonstrators at the Zemla neighbourhood in El Aaiun, Spanish Sahara, modern day Western Sahara. The incident, which became known as the Zemla Intifada, had a significant influence on pushing the Sahrawi anticolonial movement into embarking on an armed struggle which continues, though Spain has long since abandoned the territory and handed it over to Morocco.
Through the course of the Legion's history, Spaniards have made up the majority of its members, with foreigners accounting for 25 percent or less. During the Rif War of the 1920s most of the foreigners serving with the Legion were Spanish-speaking Latin Americans.

Modern legion

In the 2000s, after the abandonment of conscription, the Spanish Legion once again accepted foreigners into service. Male and female native Spanish speakers, mostly from Central American and South American states, were included.
Today, acceptance to the Spanish Legion is based on the following criteria:
  • Be a Spanish citizen or a citizens from former Spanish territories. Foreign recruits are required to have a valid Spanish residence permit.
  • Be a citizen in good legal standing
  • Not be deprived of civil rights
  • Be at least 18 years of age and not be 29 on the day of joining boot camp.
  • Be able to pass psychological, physical and medical evaluations
Image:Spanish Legion Bastille Day 2007.jpg|thumb|The Spanish Legion on the Bastille Day Military Parade in Paris
In recent years, the Spanish Legion was involved in Bosnia as part of the SFOR. It also took part in the Iraq War, deploying in Najaf alongside Salvadoran troops, until the new Spanish government of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero fulfilled its electoral promises by withdrawing Spanish troops from Iraq. The legion units deployed in Iraq were involved in several operations against the insurgency. In 2005, the legion was deployed in Afghanistan as part of the NATO-led International Stabilisation Force. In 2006, the 10th Bandera was sent to Southern Lebanon as part of United Nations' Operation UNIFIL.

Present role and deployment

The Spanish Legion is now mostly used in NATO peacekeeping missions. It has 5,000 soldiers in a Brigade of two Tercios based in Ronda, Málaga and Viator, Almería . Two other independent tercios are deployed in the Spanish African enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla as part of their respective garrisons. The legion is directly controlled by the Spanish General Staff.
Although the detachment at Málaga was transferred away, each year a company of legionaries from one of the Tercios returns to march in the Holy Week procession with the Christ of the Good Death, a life-size effigy of Christ Crucified, adopted by the legion as Patron in the 1920s. It also has its own confraternity with its home chapel located in this historic city, where veterans who served in this unit are counted among its membership. The Legion's detachments also take part in various Holy Week events nationwide, including its military band.
Image:Spanish legionaries in Iraq DM-SD-05-11384.jpg|thumb|Legionnaires in Iraq

Units constituting modern Spanish Legion

The currently active units of the Spanish Legion are:
  • II Spanish Legion Brigade "Rey Alfonso XIII" in Viator
  • * 2nd Spanish Legion Headquarters Bandera
  • * 2nd Spanish Legion Light Armored Cavalry Group "Reyes Católicos"
  • * 3rd Spanish Legion Tercio "Don Juan de Austria"
  • ** VII Spanish Legion Bandera "Valenzuela"
  • ** VIII Spanish Legion Bandera "Colón"
  • * 4th Spanish Legion Tercio "Alejandro Farnesio"
  • ** X Spanish Legion Bandera "Millán Astray"
  • * 2nd Spanish Legion Field Artillery Group
  • * 2nd Spanish Legion Engineer Battalion
  • * 2nd Spanish Legion Logistic Group
In other commands: