Falange
From Freepedia
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. This article is primarily about the Spanish Falange. For information about the Lebanese Phalange, see the Kataeb Party article.
In Spain, the Falange was a authoritarian royalist political organization founded by José Antonio Primo de Rivera in 1933 in opposition to the Second Spanish Republic. Among its goals was the strengthening of the Spanish nation through a program of national-syndicalist social organization. During the Spanish Civil War the Falange became a leading force on the Nationalist side, eventually favouring Generalissimo Francisco Franco. After the war, the Falange was combined with the Carlist parties by Generalissimo Franco's Decreto de Unificación (Unification Decree), 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), continued until Franco's death in 1975.
Members of the party were called Falangists (Spanish: Falangistas).
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Ideology
- 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- Corporate state in which class struggle would be superseded by the Vertical Trade Union, joining workers and owners.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, with a touch of anti-clericalism.
- Attention to the Castilian farmers
- Nationalist pride in the history of the Spanish Empire
- Anti-communism and anti-anarchism
Symbols
- 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, reminiscent of the Anarchist flag of the CNT.
Origins
The Falange was a small party when it was founded in 1933 by José Antonio Primo de Rivera, a lawyer and son of former dictator General Miguel Primo de Rivera, along with Onésimo Redondo and others. It united with several other small parties, becoming Falange Española de las JONS. Its strongly Catholic philosophy of populist and patriotic authoritarianism had many superficial parallels with German nazism (though without the anti-semitism) and Italian fascism. Members of many Falangist cadres wore the uniform of the movement, consisting of blue shirts and red berets.
During the Second Spanish Republic, its gunfighters became involved in street shootings with leftist revolutionaries.
After the electoral victory of the Popular Front, Primo de Rivera was arrested (6 July 1936). Falange joined the conspiracy to overthrow the Republic. On 17 July, the African army led by Franco rebelled. The next day right-wing forces in mainland Spain followed suit.
Spanish Civil War
During the Spanish Civil War, the Falangists fought on the Nationalist side against the Left-led Republic; Primo de Rivera was the leader of one of the main groups within the Nationalist coalition, but because of his incarceration was unable to exert any actual influence (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 executed in a Republican prison, giving him martyr status among the Falangists.
After Franco seized power, he united the Falange with the Carlist Comunión Tradicionalista, forming Falange Española Tradicionalista de las JONS (FET de las JONS). Those who opposed the new regime were suppressed, sometimes harshly; Falangists also seized the property of opposition parties and trade unions.
After the war
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".
The Nationalist coup originally had a distinctively Catholic flavor, but after the opening to the United States and the Spanish Miracle of the 1950s, Franco began working with younger, more technocratic secular politicians, linked to Opus Dei.
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 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.
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 right-leaning 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. Another U.S. Falangist party, the American Falange Party, also exists. Both American Falange groups are vehement in rejecting racism, antisemitism, and neo-nazism and espousing traditional National Syndicalism, which was neither racist or socialist in nature.
Debate
It is a topic of constant discussion between the ones who consider themselves as genuine Falangists and people of other parties, particularly among extreme leftists, whether Falangism is an extreme right-wing movement or not. That is because Falangists consider themselves to be neither rightists nor leftists, but members of a nationalist, traditionalist, and distributist movement whose roots lie deeply in Catholic monarchism. Many modern political analysts agree that Falangism is, indeed, a right-wing anti-democratic political movement due to its emphasis on family, free enterprise, and regionalism , albeit one with strongly anticapitalist foundations. Debate continues.
See also
- Rafael Sánchez Mazas, one of the head ideologues of the original Falange
- Lebanese Phalange, a Maronite party inspired by Falange.
- History of Spain
- Integralism
- Fascism
External links
- Falange Española de las JONS (in Spanish)
- La Falange, Spanish Falange party website (in Spanish)
- Falange Auténtica (in Spanish)
- American Falange Party American Falange
- Christian Falangist Party of America Christian Falange
