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311 16 The Military Transition: Democratic Reform of the Spanish Armed Forces Narcís Serra and Marton Harsanyi The Spanish transition from a dictatorship to a democratic state began after Francisco Franco`s death on November 20, 1975. King Juan Carlos I named Adolfo Suárez as the head of the first government , placing the country on the path to change. Suárez initiated the Law for Political Reform, which created a parliamentary democracy by calling for free elections and developing the framework for a democratic country based on a revised constitution. The newly appointed government had to cope with the opposition of the hard-liner Francoist Bunker group, which had influence over certain parts of the armed forces. To deal with the Bunker group, Suárez turned to the democratic wing of the military and strengthened the role of General Gutierrez Mellado, a champion of reform. During the transition period, terrorist operations gained momentum. The Basque separatist group, Euskadi Ta Askatasuna (ETA), renewed its activity: the group`s three deadliest consecutive years were 1978, 1979, and 1980. The first democratic elections in Spain were held in 1977, and the newly drafted constitution came into effect by a referendum on December 6, 1978. The antigovernmental forces attempted a coup in 1981. During the coup, led by Antonio Tejero, approximately 200 armed officers of the Guardia Civil burst into the Spanish Congress of Deputies during the process of appointing Leopoldo Calvo Sotelo to be the country`s new prime minister. They were quickly arrested; no other military units supported them. 16-2478-0 ch16.indd 311 5/20/13 8:57 AM 312 NARCÍS SERRA AND MARTON HARSANYI This chapter analyzes the reform of the armed forces in several dimensions: the laws and orders that reorganized the structure and procedures of the armed forces to bring them under the authority of the elected government; the reforms to the military justice system to confine it to military matters and integrate it into the overall Spanish judicial system; and the changes within the Spanish armed forces to focus them on external missions and improve their effectiveness . All of these dimensions were interrelated and took place simultaneously. Reorganizing the Armed Forces To bring the armed forces into a democratic political structure, four fundamental changes were made: the creation of the joint chiefs of staff, the revision of the constitution, the creation of the Ministry of Defense and the Law of Basic Criteria for National Defense, and the reform of the Code of Military Justice. The overall objective of the legal and organizational changes was to remove the army from a privileged direct relationship with the people and the crown and to place it firmly under the control of the elected government. Accordingly, the joint chiefs were placed under the authority of the president, and the revised constitution placed the armed forces in the sections establishing the civilian government’s administrative and authoritative control. However, the reformers had to make compromises with their opponents, and the revised constitution was not as clear about the authority over the armed forces as they would have liked. An article in the preamble to the constitution devoted to the armed forces did not make significant changes from the 1967 Francoist law that established the state’s organizing powers under Franco’s dictatorship, except for separating out the civil guard from the armed forces, so the authority of the government over the armed forces read in an ambiguous manner. Other issues were also disputed in the constitutional commission by those opposed to democratic reform: retention of the death penalty during times of war, recognition of the right to objections of conscience, the independence of the military system of justice, and the retention of courts of honor. Military reform was based on an understanding of general democratic principles , comparative law, and the practices of other countries. Although General Diez Alegría made it clear that there was opposition within the armed forces to a single Ministry of Defense, Vice President Gutierrez Mellado experienced difficulty in coordinating three separate service ministries and prepared a plan to consolidate the services. Mellado’s office called the first meeting of the Commission for Military Matters on January 4, 1977, to create a single defense ministry. It was to have one under secretariat and three general secretariats, one for each service. 16-2478-0 ch16.indd 312 5/20/13 8:57 AM [3.141.100.120] Project MUSE...

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