Emilio Esteban Infantes

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Emilio Esteban-Infantes
Gijón, Spain
Allegiance	Kingdom of Spain (1915–1931)  Spanish Republic (1931–1936)  Spanish State (1936–1958)  Nazi Germany (1942–1943)
Service/branch	Spanish Army  German Army (Wehrmacht)
Years of service	1915–1942, 1943–1958 (Spain) 1942–1943 (Germany)
Rank	General
Commands held	Blue Division
Battles/wars	Rif War Spanish Civil War Battle of Teruel World War II Battle of Krasny Bor
Awards	Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross Medalla Militar German Cross

Emilio Esteban-Infantes Martín (18 May 1892 – 6 September 1962) was a Spanish officer who served during the Spanish Civil War, and later in World War II as commander of the Blue Division (Spanish: División Azul, German: Blaue Division), or the 250th Infantry Division of the German Wehrmacht. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross of Nazi Germany.

Early career

Infantes was born in Toledo on 18 May 1892. In 1907, aged 15, he entered the Toledo Infantry Academy where his classmates included Francisco Franco and Juan Yagüe. Graduating in 1910, he was commissioned as a lieutenant and was sent to join the Spanish African Army in Morocco. In 1912, at only 20 years of age, he received a meritorious promotion to captain during combat activity in the prolonged Rif War which lasted from 1909 to 1927. By 1928 he had achieved the rank of lieutenant colonel and in that year, following the end of the Moroccan war, was appointed a professor at the General Military Academy in Zaragoza by its new director, General Francisco Franco.

Spanish Civil War

He was in Madrid on 17 July 1936 when the military insurrection against the Republican government began and had to quickly escape to Burgos, where he joined the Nationalist forces under Franco. As a result, he was sentenced to death in absentia by the Republican government. During the war, he held various major military appointments including chief of general staff of the Castillian Army Corps during the Brunete offensive in July 1937 and the subsequent Battle of Teruel between December 1937 and February 1938. He then took over as colonel in command of the 5th Division of Navarre and received the Military Medal for his contribution to the ultimate success and victory of the Nationalist forces. In May 1940, a year after the civil war had ended, he was promoted to brigadier-general in command of the Army General Staff of Morocco and Military Region IV.

Second World War

After Hitler launched

Esteban Infantes was close friend of the Minister of War, General

In December 1942, Esteban Infantes formally took command of the Blue Division. He faced a difficult situation replacing such a legendary and popular commander as Muñoz Grandes. The German generals also initially considered him to be too anglophile in his outlook but Esteban Infantes soon won their respect as he began to demonstrate his considerable skill as a great military planner especially in more counter-offensive situations that developed on the Eastern Front during 1943.

Esteban Infantes faced a major Soviet attempt to break the siege of Leningrad in February 1943, when the

After this, due to the course that the war was taking, Franco decided to withdraw the Blue Division and replace it with the smaller Blue Legion. Esteban Infantes was responsible for the establishment of this smaller unit before handing the command over to Oberst Antonio García Navarro. He then returned to Spain in December 1943, where he was promoted to lieutenant general and given command of Military Region IX.

Later career

After the war he occupied various posts including president of the Supreme Council of Military Justice, commander of the VII Military Region and head of Franco's military household before finishing his career as Chief of Central

• Kleinfeld, Gerald A. (1979). Hitler's Spanish Legion: The Blue Division in Russia. Southern Illinois University Press.
  ISBN 0-8093-0865-7
  .