A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies , and in some nations' air and space forces , marines or naval infantry .
18-599: General Vasco dos Santos Gonçalves OA ( Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈvaʃku ɣõˈsalvɨʃ] ; Lisbon 3 May 1921 – 11 June 2005) was a Portuguese army officer in the Engineering Corps who took part in the Carnation Revolution and later served as Prime Minister from 18 July 1974 to 19 September 1975. Vasco dos Santos Gonçalves was born on 3 May 1921, in Sintra , Portugal. His father, Vítor Gonçalves ,
36-405: A four-star rank (NATO OF-9). Usually it is the most senior peacetime rank, with more senior ranks (for example, field marshal, marshal of the air force, fleet admiral) being used only in wartime or as honorary titles. In some armies, however, the rank of captain general , general of the army , army general or colonel general occupied or occupies this position. Depending on circumstances and
54-477: A major outranks a lieutenant ) is due to the derivation of major general from sergeant major general , which was a rank subordinate to lieutenant general (as a lieutenant outranks a sergeant major ). Several countries (e.g. Balkan states) use the rank of lieutenant colonel general instead of lieutenant general, in an attempt to solve this apparent anomaly. In contrast, in Russia and a number of other countries of
72-467: A Marxist. Vasco dos Santos Gonçalves died on 11 June 2005 at the age of 84 after drowning in his brother's swimming pool due to cardiac complications. General In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel . The adjective general had been affixed to officer designations since the late medieval period to indicate relative superiority or an extended jurisdiction. Other nomenclatures for general officers include
90-439: A series of campaigns of civil disobedience against Gonçalves' government. On 18 August, Gonçalves delivered an impassioned speech decrying his political opponents. The tone of this speech raised doubts about his sanity and two weeks later, amid a growing threat of civil war, President Francisco da Costa Gomes dismissed Gonçalves. Gonçalves' dismissal was met with heavy opposition from the radical Portuguese left, most notably from
108-543: Is a military rank used in many countries. The rank originates from the Old European System . The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages , where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the battlefield, who was normally subordinate to a captain general . In modern armies, lieutenant general normally ranks immediately below general (or colonel general ) and above major general ; it
126-472: Is equivalent to the navy rank of vice admiral , and in air forces with a separate rank structure, it is equivalent to air marshal . In the United States, a lieutenant general has a three star insignia and commands an army corps , typically made up of three army divisions , and consisting of around 60,000 to 70,000 soldiers. The seeming incongruity that a lieutenant general outranks a major general (whereas
144-701: The Ongoing Revolutionary Process . Early in March 1975, Gonçalves's leadership was challenged by a right-wing coup attempt which ultimately failed. Emboldened by this, the Prime Minister proceeded to nationalize all Portuguese-owned capital in the banking, insurance, petrochemical, fertilizer, tobacco, cement, and wood pulp sectors of the economy, as well as the Portuguese iron and steel company, major breweries, large shipping lines, most public transport, two of
162-602: The Portuguese Workers' Communist Party , which organized mass demonstrations in Lisbon in September 1975. After his tenure as Prime Minister, Gonçalves retired from politics and would occasionally attend rallies in support of movements from the left. His last public appearance was in 2004 at an event with Portuguese Prime Minister José Manuel Durão Barroso . While remaining independent throughout his life, Gonçalves identified as
180-705: The Portuguese overseas territories of Angola and Mozambique . In 1973, Gonçalves joined the Armed Forces Movement and was involved in the planning of the overthrow of the Estado Novo regime. Gonçalves's tenure as Prime Minister of Portugal was marked by political turmoil and instability. The PM oversaw the transition of the Portugal into a democracy known as the Processo Revolucionário Em Curso or
198-488: The air force rank of air chief marshal as the equivalent of the specific army rank of general. This latter group includes the British Royal Air Force and many current and former Commonwealth air forces—e.g. Royal Australian Air Force , Indian Air Force , Royal New Zealand Air Force , Nigerian Air Force , Pakistan Air Force , etc. In most navies , flag officers are the equivalent of general officers, and
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#1732891527214216-481: The army in question, these ranks may be considered to be equivalent to a "full" general or to a field marshal five-star rank (NATO OF-10). The rank of general came about as a "captain-general", the captain of an army in general (i.e., the whole army). The rank of captain-general began appearing around the time of the organisation of professional armies in the 17th century. In most countries "captain-general" contracted to just "general". The following articles deal with
234-446: The former Soviet Union , lieutenant general is a rank immediately below colonel general , and above major general – in these systems there is no use of the brigadier general of many Western countries. In addition, some countries use the lieutenant general as the rank of divisional commander, and some have designated them with French revolutionary system . For example, some countries of South America use divisional general as
252-515: The naval rank of admiral is equivalent to the specific army rank of general. A noteworthy historical exception was the Cromwellian naval rank " general at sea ". In recent years in the American service there is a tendency to use flag officer and flag rank to refer to generals and admirals of the services collectively. Lieutenant general Lieutenant general ( Lt Gen , LTG and similar)
270-465: The rank of general, or its equivalent, as it is or was employed in the militaries of those countries: Some countries (such as the United States) use the general officer ranks for both the army and the air force , as well as their marine corps ; other states only use the general officer ranks for the army, while in the air force they use air officers as the equivalent of general officers. They use
288-633: The three principal shipyards, core companies of the Companhia União Fabril (CUF) conglomerate, radio and TV networks (except that of the Roman Catholic Church), and important companies in the glass, mining, fishing, and agricultural sectors. In April 1975, the Socialist Party and its allies gained a majority in the provisional constituent assembly; they quickly denounced Gonçalves, whom they accused of left-wing extremism, and they began
306-473: The titles and ranks: In addition to militarily educated generals, there are also generals in medicine and engineering. The rank of the most senior chaplain, (chaplain general), is also usually considered to be a general officer rank. In the old European system, a general, without prefix or suffix (and sometimes referred to informally as a " full general "), is usually the most senior type of general, above lieutenant general and directly below field marshal as
324-549: Was an amateur footballer turned foreign exchange dealer. He graduated from the Portuguese military academy as an engineer in 1942. Gonçalves married, in 1950, Aida Rocha Afonso, with whom he had a son, Vitor, and a daughter, Maria João. In 1942, Gonçalves graduated from a Portuguese military academy in the Army Engineering Corps. As an officer, Gonçalves served in Portuguese Goa , and spent part of his military career in
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