Falange

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This article is about the Spanish political party. For the Lebanese Phalange, see the Kataeb Party.

The Falange (or Phalange) is the name assigned to several political movements and parties dating from the 1930s, most particularly the original movement in Spain. The word Falange means phalanx formation in Spanish. This bellic symbol was chosen due to the militaristic nature of the party.

In Spain, the Falange was a political organization founded by José Antonio Primo de Rivera in 1933, during the Second Spanish Republic. Primo de Rivera was a Madrid lawyer, son of General Miguel Primo de Rivera, who governed Spain as a mild dictatorial Prime Minister, with the acquiescence of King Alfonso XIII, in the 1920s (from September 1923 to January 1930). General Primo de Rivera believed in state planning and government intervention in the economy. His son and the Phalangists he led expressed regret for the demise of the elder Primo de Rivera's regime, and proposed to revive his policies and strengthen the Spanish nation through a program of national-syndicalist social organization, who would include and provide equality to every social status, poor and rich.

During the Spanish Civil War the doctrine of the Falange was used by General Franco, who virtually took possession of its ideology, while José Antonio Primo de Rivera was sentenced to death by the Spanish Republican Government. During the war, and after its founder's death, the Falange was combined by decree (Unification Decree) with the Carlist party, under the sole command of Generalísimo Franco, forming the core of the sole official political organization in Spain, the Falange Española Tradicionalista y de las Juntas de Ofensiva Nacional-Sindicalista, or "Spanish Traditionalist Phalanx of the Assemblies of National-Syndicalist Offensive" (FET y de las JONS). This organization, also known as the National Movement (Movimiento Nacional) after 1945, continued until Franco's death in 1975. Since 1975, Phallangists have diversified into several different political movements which have continued into the 21st Century.

Members of the party were called Falangists (Spanish: Falangistas).

1 Ideology
2 Symbols
3 Early history
4 Spanish Civil War
5 After the war
6 Post-Franco era
7 Falangism today
8 Notes
9 See also
10 External links

[edit] Ideology

The yoke and arrows were carried from JONS.

National Syndicalism (nacionalsindicalismo) was the official ideology of the State.
- Corporate state in which class struggle would be superseded by the Vertical Trade Union, joining workers and owners.
- Roman Catholicism
- Attention to the Castilian farmers
- Nationalist pride in the history of the Spanish Empire
- Anti-communism, anti-anarchism and anti-capitalism

[edit] Symbols

flag of the FE JONS party

El yugo y las flechas (the yoke and arrows), the symbol of the Reyes Católicos.
The blue shirt, a symbol of industrial workers.
Cara al Sol, "Facing the sun", its anthem.
The red beret of Carlism (after the unification).
A flag with red, black and red vertical stripes.
The Swan as a symbol of Cardenal Cisneros (Frente de Juventudes branch).

[edit] Early history

Shirt Shield from the Frente de Juventudes, 1950s.

The year after its founding, the Falange united with the Juntas de Ofensiva Nacional-Sindicalista of Onésimo Redondo, Ramiro Ledesma, and others, becoming Falange Española de las Juntas de Ofensiva Nacional-Sindicalista.

During the Second Spanish Republic, the Falange professed Christian values and confronted wealthy land-owners and communists.^{[citation needed]} Its members were opposed by leftist revolutionaries.^{[citation needed]}

After the electoral victory of the Popular Front, and still in a Democracy the party suffered official persecution and Primo de Rivera was arrested on (6 July 1936). As a result, the Falange joined the conspiracy to overthrow the Republic. On 17 July, the African army led by Franco rebelled. The next day nationalist forces in mainland Spain, including Primo de Rivera's party, followed suit.

[edit] Spanish Civil War

During the Spanish Civil War, the Falangists fought on the Nationalist side against the Left-led Republic, being the fastest growing party on their side (from a few thousands to some hundred thousand members before the Unification). This sudden rise can be well explained; Franco used its ideological pillar.

The command of the party rested upon Manuel Hedilla, as many of the first generation leaders were dead or incarcerated by the Republicans. Among them was Primo de Rivera, who was a Government prisoner. As a result, he was referred to among the leadership as el Ausente, (the Absent One). On 20 November 1936 (a date since known as 20-N in Spain), Primo de Rivera was sentenced to death by the Spanish legal Government in a Republican prison, giving him martyr status among the Falangists. This was possible due to the fact that he had lost his Parliamentary immunity, after his party did not have enough votes during the last elections.

After Franco seized power, on 19 April 1937 Franco united under his command the Falange with the Carlist Comunión Tradicionalista, forming Falange Española Tradicionalista y de las JONS (FET y de las JONS), whose official ideology were the falangist's 27 puntos. Despite this, the party was in fact a wide ranging nationalist coalition, closely controlled by Franco. Parts of the original Falangist (including Hedilla) and most Carlists did not join the unified party.

The Falange suffered terribly during the war. None of the vanquished parties in the war suffered such a toll of deaths among their leaders as did the Falange. Sixty per cent of the pre-war Falange membership lost their lives in the war.^[1]

Most of the property of all other parties and trade unions were assigned to the party. In 1938, all trade unions were unified under falangist command.

[edit] After the war

Yoke and Arrows. Spain, 1940s.

After the war, the party was charged with developing an ideology for Franco's regime. This job became a cursus honorum for ambitious politicians -- new converts, who were called camisas nuevas ("new shirts") in opposition to the more overtly populist and ideological "old shirts" from before the war.

The Falange also developed youth organizations (Flechas, Pelayos; compare to Hitlerjugend and Italian Balilla and Arditi), a female section (Sección Femenina) led by José Antonio's sister, that instructed young women on how to be "good patriots, good Christians and good wives", and a student's union (the Sindicato Unificado de Estudiantes (SEU)) -mandatory till the 50's.

After the opening to the United States and the Spanish Miracle of the 1960s, Franco began working with younger, more technocratic politicians linked to Opus Dei.

[edit] Post-Franco era

After Franco's death (20 November 1975, also known as "20-N") the Spanish Crown was restored to the House of Borbón in the person of HM King Juan Carlos, and a move towards democratization begun under Adolfo Suárez, a former chief of the movimiento. The new situation splintered the Falange. In the first elections in 1977, three different groups fought in court for the right to the Falangist name. Today, decades after the fall of the Francoist regime, Spain still has a minor Falangist element, represented by a number of tiny political parties. Chief among these are Falange Auténtica, Falange Española Independiente, FE - La Falange and Falange Española de las Juntas de Ofensiva Nacional-Sindicalista, the latter taking its name from the historical party. Vastly reduced in size and power today, these Falangist-inspired parties are rarely seen publicly except on ballot papers, in State-funded TV election advertisements, and during demonstrations on historic dates, like November 20 (death of Jose Antonio Primo de Rivera and General Francisco Franco). Even then their presence is greatly anecdotal.

[edit] Falangism today

Despite changing times, Falangism remains a living political philosophy. The Kataeb, a political party in Lebanon, also espouses a Falangist ideology, and is the most prominent nationalist organization in the region; in Bolivia there is a political party called Falange Socialista Boliviana. In America, one small group, the Christian Falangist Party of America, inspired by Kataeb, was formed in 1985. It is vehement in rejecting racism, antisemitism, and neo-nazism and espousing traditional National Syndicalism, which it claims is neither racist nor socialist in nature. In Spain, the three Falange (Falange Española de las JONS, Falange Española and Falange Auténtica) parties received 27,166 votes in the 2004 legislative election.