Towards a New Sphere of Practices and Knowledge: The Militarization of Meteorology in Francoist Spain

Abstract

ArgumentThis paper analyzes the concept of militarization in both senses of the word, that of mobilization for war and that of social control exercised by military forces. During the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939), the role and nature of meteorology was transformed by the rebel band on the basis of the mythification of a Service model that was supported by victory and that would be projected as a paradigm for the postwar years. The new Servicio Meteorológico Nacional reflected the social control exerted by the Franco regime and its aeronautical and military interests. The “amphibianism” – or quality of being both civil and military simultaneously – is one of the main features of this transformation. Interestingly, this dual (civil and military) condition of meteorologist appears to be intrinsic to the construction of a new “sphere of practices and knowledge” in Francoist Spain.