← Autodidact Archive · Original Dissent · Hilaire Belloc
Thread ID: 8408 | Posts: 20 | Started: 2003-07-24
2003-07-24 07:37 | User Profile
I admit my knowledge of Falangism and its theories is limited when compared to other nationalist ideologies. Does anybody know any real good sources about the Falange and its political theories?
I like to add that I often get somewhat contradictionary info from Falangists websites. They seem to espouse nationalism but sometimes call for a confederation of North American states. Some claim to be pro-Zionist, others don't but all seem to be against anti-semitism. They claim to be Fascists yet attack Hitler. How does this relate to true Falangism?
2003-07-24 15:00 | User Profile
perun1201,
The so-called Neo-"Falangism" I have seen on the Web seem to be run by "Liberal" pro-miscegenation Pinkos, a perverted fake "nationalism".
How does this relate to true Falangism?
I do not think these guys have much of any relationship to true Falangism. The true Falangist were very like the Italian Fascists.
A sick Neo-"Falangism" site [url=http://www.falange.org/faq.htm]http://www.falange.org/faq.htm[/url]
2003-07-24 16:58 | User Profile
Thanks Faust. That really cleared thinks up for me.
The Neo-Falangist sites in my opinion didn't talk sh*t about what Falangism is all about, except stupid 3 sentence answers.
2003-07-24 20:17 | User Profile
*Originally posted by perun1201@Jul 24 2003, 09:37 * ** I like to add that I often get somewhat contradictionary info from Falangists websites. They seem to espouse nationalism but sometimes call for a confederation of North American states. Some claim to be pro-Zionist, others don't but all seem to be against anti-semitism. They claim to be Fascists yet attack Hitler. How does this relate to true Falangism? **
Well, those same contradictions appear in the Spanish falangists sites and political parties, there is antifascists falangists and there are Fascist falangists, there are falangist antinazis and falangist pro-nazis, there are pro-zionists falangists (due to their Catholic religion) and there are falangists anti-zionists, falangists anti-Franco and falangists pro-Franco (the old Spanish dictator), etc, etc.
The problem is a lot of people doesn't know What it was really the falangism, the falangism was a Fascist movement and it has some racist connotations, there is several books in Internet on the topic and I would like to be recommended them to you, but they are in Spanish language
2003-07-24 22:23 | User Profile
**there are pro-zionists falangists (due to their Catholic religion) **
Catholicism is pro-zionist? News to me, considering its amillenial eschatology.
Care to elucidate?
2003-07-24 22:41 | User Profile
Originally posted by Centinel@Jul 25 2003, 00:23 * ** > *there are pro-zionists falangists (due to their Catholic religion) **
Catholicism is pro-zionist? News to me, considering its amillenial eschatology.
Care to elucidate? **
The old Catholicism is not pro-zionist, but however there is some ultra-Catholic falangist that are pro-zionists
2003-07-25 00:40 | User Profile
Wasn't anti-semitism in Spain more historically based on religion rather than on race? A jew a could convert to christianity and not be in fear of persecution. Thats how I understand it. I know the Spainish Inquisition often launched campaigns against converted Jews(conversos I believe) who they suspected of secretly practicing Judaism. Didn't the Falange also pick up this theme about Jews, they opposed them as a religion but not necessarily as a race?
2003-07-25 01:05 | User Profile
AntiYuppie,
I do agree the Falangists and fascist did not have explicitly "racialist" positions. We must remember non-"white" immigration was not a problem at that time to speak of; so "racialism" needs something to feed it. Had african savages been in Spain at time, I think it likely they would have been deported. Let not forget how many of them were deported in 1492.
Left wing article on Spanish Rightist: [url=http://www.axt.org.uk/antisem/archive/archive1/spain/spain.htm]http://www.axt.org.uk/antisem/archive/arch...spain/spain.htm[/url]
2003-07-25 01:25 | User Profile
*Originally posted by Faust@Jul 25 2003, 03:05 * ** AntiYuppie,
I do agree the Falangists and fascist did not have explicitly "racialist" positions. We must remember non-"white" immigration was not a problem at that time to speak of; so "racialism" needs something to feed it. Had african savages been in Spain at time, I think it likely they would have been deported. Let not forget how many of them were deported in 1492.
Left wing article on Spanish Rightist: [url=http://www.axt.org.uk/antisem/archive/archive1/spain/spain.htm]http://www.axt.org.uk/antisem/archive/arch...spain/spain.htm[/url] **
Exactly, Spain and Italy had much less Jews (and the Jews had less influence) than Germany and Eastern Europe, and for this reason their Fascisms were less anti-Semite than the German Nazism or the Romanian Legionarism. And of course, without non-whites surrounding to them it is not very probable that racialists feelings appear in them.
It happens the same thing that in the northern states of USA where there is much less black population that in the south and the white population has less negative attitudes toward the blacks, while in the southern states the opposite happens due to the high percentage of black population.
2003-07-25 01:31 | User Profile
**Exactly, Spain and Italy had much less Jews (and the Jews had less influence) than Germany and Eastern Europe, and for this reason their Fascisms were less anti-Semite than the German Nazism or the Romanian Legionarism. And of course, without non-whites surrounding to them it is not very probable that racialists feelings appear in them. **
Isn't that because many of the Jews were driven out during the Black Death of the 1340's? I remember reading about something like that, that they driven out of many parts of Western Europe into Eastern Europe. It was during the Black Death that Poland contained one of the largest population of Jews in Europe, because of all the migrations from Western Europe.
Also like I said before, wasn't the Jewish question in Italy and Spain thought as more of a purely religious question as opposed to one of race? If a Jew converted to Christianity, they'd be protected from persecution. I mentioned the before the Spainish Inquisition targeted converted Jews they suspected of secretly practicing Judaism. So wasn't the Jew question more of religious affiliation as opposed to more of one based on race? Is this at all correct?
2003-07-25 04:45 | User Profile
perun1201,
In 1492 Granada fell to Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain; then 250,000 Jews were expelled from Spain along with the Moors. This brought Spain centuries long crusade against the Muhammudan Moors to a glorious close. This left the moors of Africa with no one in Spain to help them try new invasions.
2003-07-25 06:58 | User Profile
**In 1492 Granada fell to Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain; then 250,000 Jews were expelled from Spain along with the Moors. This brought Spain centuries long crusade against the Muhammudan Moors to a glorious close. This left the moors of Africa with no one in Spain to help them try new invasions. **
Thanks Faust, I guess I must've been thinking of some other regions of Europe were Jews migrated to the East during the Plague. I know many groups of Flagellants(religious fanatics who beat themselves to cure people of the plague) were highly anti-semitic and often attacked Jewish communities. [url=http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06089c.htm]http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06089c.htm[/url]
Although I still would like if anybody can fill me on my question about whether or not the Jewish question was seen in Spain as primarily a religious and not really a racial question, especially during periods like the Spainish Inquistion? Thats how I understand it, can somebody please fill me in on that.
:tux: :tux: :tux:
2003-07-25 18:37 | User Profile
At present, I am putting together a very comprehensive post on the history the Flangism (and other forms of Spanish National Revolt) which should answer the question raised at the start of the thread. As my real world activist commitments take most of time I have yet to complete it but a few quick comments are in order.
With respect to the matter of race and National Revolutionary movements one would do well to remember that within a homogenous society (ex. Spain, Portugal, Italy, during the intra-war period) race is not an issue in terms of domestic affairs so making it a central aspect of your ideology is absurd. Within the Iberian contexts of the era jews didn't matter because the leftist forces of national destruction were totally homegrown (ex. The Anarchist CNT) or Spaniards taken with Marxism rather then jews looking to control/destroy Occidental society. Nonetheless, the Falangists of the ââ¬Ë40s were pan Europeans influenced by German National Socialism and clearly anti-jewish although such thinking was not a defining character for the obvious reason mentioned above. In Central, Northern and Western Europa the forces of national destruction were largely run by jews which is why National Revolutionaries in those nations were logically anti-jewish by definition.
In any case, a great many leading Italian Fascist thinkers were anti-jewish and racial (ex. Mosca, Pareto, Malaparte, Gentile) but such matters did not deserve major emphasis because the domestic forces of national destruction were not, by enlarge, racially derived. Of course we should mention that significant German style National Socialist formations existed (as did an Italian SS Division which fought with distinction) that were critical of the regime de-emphasizing the jewish question. As the war progressed Mussolini's regime increased and by the time that Salo Republic (Italian Social Republic) Mussolini's attitude became very anti Jewish in part because of jewish infiltration of his previous regime. During the post war period Italian Fascism has been overwhelmingly anti- jewish and racial because Italy is not longer a racially homogenous state and it under threat of destruction from third world immigration and jewish institutional power.
As I will cover in great depth shortly, Flangism is like any movement in that anyone can falsely lay claim to a title. At this forum we have some one calling for the biologic destruction of Europeans that calls himself a white nationalist so one should not be surprised that labels are abused else where. Seeing that the founder of the Falange Espanola has been dead for 67 years and the Camisas Viejas (original Falangists) were totally marginalized and repressed by the Franco regime by the ââ¬Ë50s it is not surprising that lots of confusion exists with respect to what it means to be a Falangist now. Some such groups advocate positions totally at odds with the original F.E.(ex. Libertarianism or Catholic theocracy) while others wish to emulate the neutered puppet of the post war Franco era that bore a derived name inspite of the fact that Jose Antonio was not pro military or pro Franco except by circumstances outside of his control. It seems to me that a Falangist is someone true to the ideals of the original FE and those that have radically departed from his vision are no more a Falangist then George Bush is a conservative or Ares a white nationalist.
Getting back to race one sees the problem attempting to resurrect a movement whose leadership is long gone in a radically different historical/cultural milieu. While it is true that Jose Antonia never focused on race as it was irrelevant to the Spain of the ââ¬Ë30s anyone looking at the situation today must consider what has changed in terms of the threat to the continued existence of the Spanish nation act accordingly. Not being a necromancer I can make no claims to insight as to how Jose Antonio would change his ideology to fit the current era. I will say how ever that any genuine nationalist wishes to see his nation controlled by and for his own people rather then hordes of aliens transform it into a third world dung heap. Those that can't change their doctrine to defend the core of their principles are reactionaries in the worst sense of the term and exactly the sort of people that the original Falangists violently objected to.
I will not address the sub text of Raina's post yet as it alludes to a severe miseducation about race on her part which is to involved to be addressed before my major post on this topic.
2003-07-26 07:21 | User Profile
triskelion,
Great Post.
In any case, a great many leading Italian Fascist thinkers were anti-jewish and racial (ex. Mosca, Pareto, Malaparte, Gentile) but such matters did not deserve major emphasis because the domestic forces of national destruction were not, by enlarge, racially derived. Of course we should mention that significant German style National Socialist formations existed (as did an Italian SS Division which fought with distinction) that were critical of the regime de-emphasizing the jewish question. As the war progressed Mussolini's regime increased and by the time that Salo Republic (Italian Social Republic) Mussolini's attitude became very anti Jewish in part because of jewish infiltration of his previous regime. During the post war period Italian Fascism has been overwhelmingly anti- jewish and racial because Italy is not longer a racially homogenous state and it under threat of destruction from third world immigration and jewish institutional power.
While it is true that Jose Antonia never focused on race as it was irrelevant to the Spain of the ââ¬Ë30s anyone looking at the situation today must consider what has changed in terms of the threat to the continued existence of the Spanish nation act accordingly. Not being a necromancer I can make no claims to insight as to how Jose Antonio would change his ideology to fit the current era. I will say how ever that any genuine nationalist wishes to see his nation controlled by and for his own people rather then hordes of aliens transform it into a third world dung heap. Those that can't change their doctrine to defend the core of their principles are reactionaries in the worst sense of the term and exactly the sort of people that the original Falangists violently objected to.
2003-07-29 19:35 | User Profile
Before one can talk about the original Falange Espanola one must first take briefly into account the forerunners of that party. An authoritarian Spanish nationalism not wed to monarchism first arose in 1909 with the leader of Juventudes Mauristas led by Antonio Maura who sought to hold back the rising tide of Marxism and Anarchism by curtailing liberal parliamentarianism via electoral reforms and the limited implementation of moderate labor reforms and quasi-Listian inspired welfare and labour reforms. A far more idealistic and Romantic and Liberal form of nationalism came from the so called "generation of ââ¬Ë98" style intellectualism of Miguel de Unamuno and Antonio Machado who offered a literary passion/style to nationalism and nothing else.
General Miguel (father of the founder of Flangism Jose Antonio) Primo De Rivera led a coup in ââ¬Ë23 which put an end to the massive leftist inspired violence and social upheaval that started in 1917 and had threatened to engulf the nation. His regime lasted 7 years was basically an ideologically void based upon nothing more then autocratic reaction and a never defined institutionalism meant simple to maintain the last century's socio-economic status quo. He was a simple, unpretentious and honest man totally uninterested theory which I liken to an autocratic version of an idealized Eisenhower.
He did create a "constitutional association" which was open to all Spaniards of "Good moral character wishing to uphold the constitution of 1876"called the Union Patriotica which was nothing more then a means for those conservatives that backed the regime to voice support and seek patronage and it was never a mass party in any form.
In fairness, the regime did give legal representation to the largest trade union of the time (the UGT) along with a means for arbitration know as "comites patitarios" and was backed by the church. He thought highly of Mussolini and signed a treaty of support for his regime but had no knowledge of or interest in Fascism. However, Jose Calvo Sotelo, who latter helped to found the Maurassian Accion Espanola, was the finance minister for the regime and it is likely that what reforms were enacted came from his efforts and intellect.
For several years, a withdrawn, paternalistic nature combined with the return to stability gave regime middle and upper class support and the socialists never actively opposed it and were given a fair degree of freedom while the communists and anarchists were repressed only to the extent that they seemed to threaten public order. The depression of ââ¬Ë29 combined with the poor health of the autocrat led to socialist agitation and upper class dissatisfaction which resulted in the military withdrawing support in 1930 and the collapse of the regime . The Rivera regime was followed by two short lived juntas and the disastrous return of Alfonso XIII which ended when the depression mounted in ââ¬Ë31 and the monarchy fell after doing very poorly in elections it should never have called starting the Republican era.
Ramiro Ledesma Ramos was philosophy graduate student/postal clerk taken with German thinkers like Fitche and Spengler and the revolutionary syndicalism of the anti Marxist and anarchist CNT, the revolutionary nationalism of the NSDAP and Mussolini and the theories of Don Jose Ortega y Gasset. He founded a small Madrid based paper called La Conquista del Estado in ââ¬Ë31. The theory organ promoted a maximal leader theory and a state directed (not owned) form syndicalism as means of protecting the working classes but doing so for the purpose of national economic modernization which never seemed to me to be fully developed and overly academic .
An advocate of small farmers in Valladolid inspired mainly by Hitler and the Austrian clerical National Socialists named Onesimo Redondo Ortega promoted a Catholic version of National Syndicalism which was broadly compatible with Ledesma's notions. He published a fiercely anti-jewish and folkish paper called "Libertad" which served as the basis for the creation of his small and locally centered party the Juntas Castellanas de Actuacion Hispanica (JCAH).
Redondo merged his JCAH with Ledesma's La Conquista del Estado near the end of ââ¬Ë31 to form the Juntas de Ofensiva Nacional Syndicalista (JONS) whose members were known as the Jonsistas. The party was very small, poorly run and in perpetual financial crisis as a result of endless feuding between Redondo and Ledesma as well as the fact that both totally lacked any willingness to compromise or forge links with like minded organizations or people or fully develop their ideology. In this sense, they were rather like the American paleo-con and racial scenes of living memory.
The traditional basis of radical counter establishment Spanish nationalism remained with the Carlist party Communion Tradicionalista which was a monarchist group opposed to the Alfonso's Bourbon line and in favour of traditional corporatism and theocracy. They had a very impressive theoretical canon stretching back several generations, plenty of money and an excellent militia know as the "Requetes" or "Boinas rojas" which was conditionally supportive of and given limited material assistance by Fascist Italy. The Bourbon monarchists were led by the Renovacion Espanola which while vaguely supportive of traditional corporatism was essentially reactionary and establishmentarian. The remainder of the right consisted of timid middle class based parties perfectly happy with the restrained left socialism of the republic funded by the church which wished to use the respectable right to restore it's privileges and wealth and hoped that genuine Bolshevism failed to gain more influence within the republic.
Jose Antonio Primo De Rivera was from a minor aristocratic line, a very esthete intellectual and in possession of stunning public speaking skills and leadership ability. He was inspired by Spengler, Keyserling and Ortega from his days at university. He was concerned with the destruction of cultural brought by the rise of the twin materialisms of modern capitalism and social democracy as well as the hardships faced by the Spanish working class and objected to the staid, corrupt and cynical nature of the old right and the nillistic internationalism of the Marxist left. He was always interested in the promotion of passionate ideas and often times said that his intellectual preoccupations left him unsuited to be a "caudillo del Fascio". He was angered by the betrayal of his father by the military and aristocracy which he never trusted and saw as disinterested in nationalism outside of how well it served their financial interests.
He ran for the Constituent Cortes from Madrid in ââ¬Ë31 on behalf of the Union Monaquica and while losing did better then expected and started up a legal firm. Even then he was disillusioned with the old regime and inspite of defending his father readily admitted that reform of the old order was impossible and that revolutionary change was needed that was free from simplistic reaction from the right and dogmatic pipe dreams of the left.
Borrowing from Ortega y Gasset's elite theory came Jose Antonio's notion of a "creative minority" which held that a small authoritarian ruling clique driven by self sacrifice, social justice and nationalism could bring about revolutionary change and economic modernization. Jose Antonio also was an advocate of a dialectic view of national renewal called "destino en lo universal" and decline which bore some similarity to those of Ortega y Gasset and Mosca although I am aware of no indication that he had been exposed to the latter's writings.
He fell in with a former Union Patriotica propagandist named Manuel Delgado Barreto who founded a newspaper in ââ¬Ë33 called El Fascio for promoting Fascist and National Socialist thought from else where in Europa. Ledesma and Jose Antonio half heartedly contributed to the paper which they both viewed as unoriginal and staid whose ownership they viewed as self serving and establishmentarian. The paper was immediately shutdown by the Republican government, the presses destroyed and most of the print run burned publicly.
The main value of El Fascio is that it put Jose Antonio in touch with the famous aviator Ruiz de Alda whom during an interview with the paper expressed opinions very similar to Jose Antonio and together they founded the Falange Espanola near the end of ââ¬Ë33. Jose Antonio provided the ideology, leadership and image while de Alda provided fund raising and organizational skills courtesy of his industrial connections. The new party was violently condemned by the left, harassed by the state and ignored/rejected by the right save the high brow radical and influential Catholic corporatist journals ABC and Accion Espanola. The former was edited was the famous Carlist theoretician Victor Pradera who viewed the party quite positively. Pradera's qualified support for the F.E. combined with the prestige of the De Rivera name and the indorsement of the ultra radical proponent of Fascistic monarchism Juan Antonio Ansaldo brought large numbers of supporters of the old regime and the more radical elements of the monarchist movement into the party with hopes of supporting a Spanish Fascism. The other wing of the party was university students enraptured with the charisma and poetry of Jose Antonio fervently struggling for National Revolution.
He won a seat in the Cortes from reactionary Cadiz on a combined rightist list but he never was an active office holder as he was sickened by the corruption of the time. Instead, the region was dominated by Ramon Carranza, the so called Marques de al Pesadilla (i.e. the Marquis of the Nightmare) who was the last of the old style political bosses (caciques) notorious for his brutal private militia and ruthless corruption.
Ledesma's JONS went bankrupt due to the growth of the F.E. and the resurgence of the establishment right in the election of ââ¬Ë33 which left the JONS with just three hundred members. This forced Ledesma to seek a reluctant merger with the F.E. as both favoured radical nationalism and National Syndicalism (although of very different varieties) in early ââ¬Ë34. The new party was called the FE de los JONS and took the yoked arrows (a classic symbol of imperial Spain) on a black and yellow background which was used as the banner by JONS from day one. The party was ruled by a triumvirate of Jose Antonio, Ledesma and de Alda. This union never benefitted the Falange as it alienated many Fascists within the party and led to constant maneuvering for organizational influence between Ledesma and Jose Antonio.
Earlier I mentioned the "generation of ââ¬Ë98" who Jose Antonio sought to emulate making the FE a literary as well as a political movement inspite of being ignored by the leading intellectuals of of that era. He did attract a literary following of poets like Rafeal Sanchez Mazas, Samuel Ros, Dionisio Ridruejo and others which helped to cement the Romantic tone of the group which provided a major draw for idealistic and violent Fascist university students which was always a major element of the FE. The tenor of the material putout by the FE became heavily laden with ultra-traditionalistic rhetoric of sacrifice, transcendence, violence and ancestral idolization which is best remembered by Jose Antonio's famous metaphor about the "dialects of pistols and fists" which was wrongly viewed by the government and the radical left, and some of the less high brow Falangists, as an incitement to terrorism which encouraged government repression and leftist violence.
National Syndicalism as advocated by Jose Antonio and the original FE differed from Italian corporatist arrangements in which the firms with a given industry were placed within a "corporation" governed by an administrative board comprised equally of workers, capitalists and state selected representatives. By contrast the syndicates advocated by the FE were organized by the state to be "vertically integrated"( i.e. all private firms within a given industry belonging to a single syndicate) organizations run by the worker themselves with governmental macro economic planning intended to end usury and stock market speculation while maintaining private property and protecting small land owners and shopkeepers. The state intended for the syndicates to run themselves via a populist "industrial democracy" whose purpose was to reduce class conflict, raise wages and end the feudal nature that defined Spanish capitalism of the era. Labor disputes were meant to be handled by an arbitration system similar to the "comites patitarios" system practiced by the Primo de Rivera dictatorship.
National syndicalism as promoted by the FE differed from the libertarian/anarchist syndicalism pushed by the CNT. Libertarian socialism of the day advocated localized worker ownership with no "rationalization of production" on an industry wide scale. Libertarian socialism of the era was violently anti-clerical, opposed to any national state formation or traditionalism or any form of capitalist enterprise on any level. Any contact between communities would be one basis of independent worker councils with no over arching institutional frame work directing societal or industrial affairs.
The cycle of political violence of the era started was in large measure an outgrowth of the battles between the Marxist-socialist Federacion Univeritaria Espanola (FUE) and the FE's student syndicate the Sindicato Espanol Universitario (SEU). SEU militants started murdering FE members and supporters culminating in the murder of 20 year old Matias Montero who was an early JONS supporter and founder of the SEU. Jose Antonio's genteel intellectualism combined with the lack of party militia opened the FE up to attacks from the right when the response to the spat of killings was press releases saying that the FE rejected terrorism. The leading radical monarchist journal ABC said the FE seemed more Franciscan then Fascist and took to calling the FE "Funeraria Espanola".
Facing a revolt within the FE and the lose of the SEU Jose Antonio agreed to establish a militia (Falange de la Sangre or Blood Falange) led by a violent Fascist activist from the fringes of the Renovacion Espanola and long time friend of de Alda named Juan Antonio Ansaldo. Ansaldo hunted down and executed infiltrators within the FE and led endless, bloody battles with leftist militias. The Blood Falange was dissatisfied with Jose Antonio's rejection of violence and plotted a coup in which he would be murdered. Instead, Jose Antonio and fellow FE Cortes member the Marques de al Eliseda were arrested during a raid on the party headquarters along with many other but when Jose Antonio was released he rejected freedom and took a short jail sentence with numerous other party members. He latter had Ansaldo thrown out of the party leaving the Blood Falange operating as local units taking revenge for leftist violence with no interaction with the national leadership. Ansaldo went to France in exile where he continued to be involved with a French National Socialist militia/party and countless intrigues in Spain and endless violence.
It was at this time that the FE attracted it's most prestigious member Jose Calvo Sotelo who was finance minister for the De Rivera dictatorship who was forced into exile in ââ¬Ë30 but allowed back under an amnesty in ââ¬Ë34. He was a major figure within the Fascist wing of radical Maurrassian monarchism and drifted into the National Socialist circles that orbited around Leon Daudat who vocally supported him inspite of his arch Catholicism as did many other secular Fascists and National Socialists outside of Spain and such is still the case today. Jose Antonio hated Sotelo for personality reasons as well as for lacking sufficient support for his father's regime. Sotelo left the FE and used his money and connections to found a rival and quickly growing Fascist group called the Bloque Nacional which was set to become the principle force in Spanish National Revolution prior to his assassination by Marxist militia men in July of ââ¬Ë36 which helped started the civil war.
Ledesma attempted to split the party in ââ¬Ë35 and was thrown out. He then attempted to take over the small industrial syndicates started by the FE and in a dramatic show down between angry proletarian Jonsistas, Ledesma and himself Jose Antonio won over almost everyone present with a passionate, improvised speech and plenty of physical courage . That event ended Ledesma's career in politics and he went back to being a postal clerk but was arrested and executed by the Republican government towards the end of ââ¬Ë36 in any case. Jose Antonio survived a couple of assination attempts during early ââ¬Ë36 as well.
The FE was formerly banned in March of ââ¬Ë36 and Jose Antonio jailed on bogus charges and spent some time in prison attempting to run the FE via letters and visits from loyalists. The FE grew rapidly during this period but the local branches were basically self sufficient which meant that ideological training was non-existent for new members. Jose Antonio's long time comrade Raimundo Fernandez Cuesta ran the party in Madrid (till his captured by the Republicans in early ââ¬Ë37) with several other Jose Antonio loyalists while former JCAH founder and JONS leader Onesimo Redondo was the chief rural FE leader and a Germanophile mechanic named Manuel Hedilla ran the party militia which had absorbed the SEU. Onesimo Redondo also published his own Clerical National Socialist theory organ which made him and J.Perez de Cabo (author of the first Falangist theory book "Arriba Espana!") the other major leadership figures of the time.
Jose Antonio was martyred for his beliefs by the Republican government while in captivity on November 20th of ââ¬Ë36. Manuel Hedilla worked with a NSDAP advocate that joined the FE named Victor de la Serna who brought the Hedilla faction of the party limited training and support from Germany which he used to help publish a series of high brow journals written by a circle of pro - German intellectuals that supported him. They were opposed by Jose Antonio loyalists who disapproved of foreign interference in party matters centered in Madrid and another faction in Andalusia. Redondo was quickly run out by a Falangist militia run by Luis Vicen and Jose Giron and the party became more fractionalized with intrigues abounding. In the Spring of ââ¬Ë37 a group of Jose Antonio loyalists attempted to take control of the party and expel of Hedilla. The attempt end with gun battle in which one of the would be usurpers, Sancho Davila, was proven to be a sodomite as was rumored when he was captured in bed with a fellow pervert. This affair left Hedilla the single most powerful party leader and he was elected Jefe Nacional by party leaders three days latter.
The FE became closely intertwined with the Carlist Communion Tradicionalista during the civil war as they comprised the civilian militias which were a very important segment of the Nationalist military force. While the Carlists and the FE differed dramatically in terms of style, temperament and religion they held similar hatreds of the establishment, promoted a fierce nationalism and comparable economic thought. Also, the collapse of the Bloque Nacional after the death of Sotelo filled the FE with plenty of new militants inspired by Austrian & French clerical Fascism and National Socialism and the more radical segments of Fascistic monarchism.
In any case, of this infighting was for not as the nationalist segment of Spain was controlled by Franco's army which one day after Hedilla election decreed that the FE was to merge with the Communion Tradicionalista and form a new state authoritarian party which he named the Falange Espanola Tradicionalista y de las Juntas de Ofensiva Nacional-Sydicalista (FET-JONS) and Franco became the new Jefe Nacional and declared support for the 27 point manifesto of the original FE and offered Hedilla the chairman of the party's Junta Politica which was an advisory board to Franco consisting of Carlists and Falangist picked by Franco. The FET-JONS also had "technical sections" which were made up of local party leaders assigned by the military to administer civil order within the nationalist controlled zones. Hedilla refused the post and attempted to keep the party independent which resulted in his arrest as well as supporters real and imagined but most were released after a short jail stay .
Hedilla was sentenced to death on trumped up charges of conspiring against the Caudillo but official protests from the German government, numerous Falangists and the pro Falangist General Yague as well as Franco's brother-in-law and eventually successor Serrano Suner got the sentence changed to life imprisonment with four years of solitary confinement and harsh treatment which never broke his spirit. Hedilla was released in ââ¬Ë47 and continued to agitate ineffectively against the regime on behalf of genuine Flangism till his death while living under internal exile.
The original Falangist activists, the so called "camisas viejas" (i.e. old shirts), were very dissatisfied with the new arrangement and gained little solace from Franco's pledge to attempt to enact the National Syndical program of the old FE. Franco's bid to raise the FET-JONS in the minds of populace was in large measure based upon starting a cult of Jose Antonio in which his death was observed by the regime yearly, his writings placed into schools and chairs named after him at universities while Franco falsely claimed that Jose Antonio was an unqualified supporter of the regime. Carlists were very unhappy with the FET and the ascendance of Falangists within the new regime's bureaucracy so they abandoned the FET in droves.
The FET-JONS and the entire syndical structure that it supposedly controlled was detached from the regime's Council of Ministers which held the real authority within the regime leaving the party as nothing more then a bureaucracy that dispensed patronage positions to regime loyalists. The exception being General Yague's endless intrigue to gain influence within the regime in which he was supported by old line Falangists and the veteran's associations of Falangists and Carlist militiamen that felt betrayed by the Franco regime who faced periodic purges.
The only significant camisas viejas presence worth mentioning at this time was the famed poet and Jose Antonio loyalist Dionisio Ridruejo placed in charge of the regime's propaganda which was heavily censored by the military and thus largely negated his chances for promoting genuine National Revolution. Instead, most camisas viejas decided to work within the Franco regime hoping to gain influence. Some FE loyalists started an underground group called the Falange Espanola Authentica (FEA) which carried out secret organizing amongst the Falangist militia and governing "technical sections" right up till the end of the regime in ââ¬Ë75 while facing heavy state repression. During the Civil War 60% of the camisas viejas who made up most of the party militia died fighting for a regime that was controlled by people that had zero interest or disdain for National Revolution and ironically established a regime very much like the ideologically free paternalistic dictatorship of General Miguel Primo De Rivera so disliked by Romantically inspired Fascists.
During the Second World War over 45000 Spaniards served in the Waffen SS "Blue Division" on the Eastern front under the command of the Falangist General Munoz Grande. The vast bulk of those volunteers that served on the Eastern Front were FE loyalists that fought with great distinction and effectiveness suffering 47% losses while battling infinitely superior Soviet forces. In ââ¬Ë43 the division was reduced to 3 battalions by order of Franco and renamed the Blue Legion which was formally disbanded in late ââ¬Ë44. However, the soldiers within that unit volunteered to stay and fought valiantly right through the Battle of Berlin receiving new enthusiastic Falangist volunteers right up till the bitter end.
After the war the FET-JONS was quickly marginalized along with any Carlists left within the regime. The party had become irrelevant in practice as well as theory by the late ââ¬Ë50s as the regime openly embraced simplistic Catholic reaction and quasi-libertarian economics ending the myth that the syndicates were anything other then a declining means for dispensing largesse to sycophants of the regime.
Not surprisingly, the quasi-libertarianism of the ââ¬Ë50s transformed Spain into just another crassly materialistic nation which slowly undermined the autarchic interests upon which the regime depended. As Spain became secularized conspicuous consumption became the popular faith of the land. Predictably, these societal changes encouraged resulted in a massive up swing in cultural Bolshevism which in turn encouraged the rise of far left insurgency during the ââ¬Ë60s. When Vatican II gutted nearly two thousand years of tradition and the very essence that faith in favour of contemporary banalities the last bastion of support for the regime outside of the military vanished. The economic crisis of the early ââ¬Ë70s combined with the poor health of Franco and a growing campaign of leftist terrorism left the regime tottering. Serrano Suner ran the regime as a care taker from ââ¬Ë73 to ââ¬Ë75 which transferred power to the liberal Borbon Price Juan Carlos who in turned quickly called elections that transformed Spain into a perfectly typical example of a decadent European social democracy. The destruction of Spanish traditionalism by the Franco regime set the stage of the current and on going devolution of Spain into a third world nation via immigration and the rise of an anti-Spanish ruling establishment in which jews have risen to prominence.
Twenty years after the death of Jose Antonio in ââ¬Ë56 his long time comrade Jose Luis de Arrese described the sorry state of the Falangist vision by saying
"Jose Antonio: are satisfied with us?
I don't think so.
And I think not because you struggled against materialism and egoism, while today men have forgotten the grandeur of your words only to run like madmen down the path of materialism and egoism.
Because you wanted a fatherland of poets and dreamers eager for a difficult glory, while men seek only a catering, round bellied fatherland, full of starch, though it possesses neither beauty nor gallantry.
Because you sacrifice, while men look from one side to the other to hide themselves.
Because men confound your slogan of being better with getting along better.
Because you called a cortege of thousands of martyrs that they might serve us as standard and guide, and yet men have not seen in of your followers an example, and they find its memory uncomfortable and they are annoyed when we repeat in there ears, closed to all martyrs, to the extent that some exploit the fallen as a platform on which to climb or a springboard for business and self-indulgence.
Jose Antonio, you not satisfied with us. You who watch from your place, from twentieth of November, with a profound sense of melancholy and scorn.
You can not be satisfied with this mediocre, sensual life."
2003-07-30 23:16 | User Profile
I hope that my posts have addressed the questions asked by the chap that started this thread. While I am far from an expert on Falangism and readily admit it is not quite suited to me I wil attempt to answer any questions raised on the matter as I regret that it seems no followers of the original FE are to be found here.
2003-07-31 01:25 | User Profile
I hope that my posts have addressed the questions asked by the chap that started this thread. While I am far from an expert on Falangism and readily admit it is not quite suited to me I wil attempt to answer any questions raised on the matter as I regret that it seems no followers of the original FE are to be found here.
Well first off this chap's name is Perun. ;) Yes your posts were very interesting and informational. However, one question still remains unanswered. Wasn't the Jewish question in Spain more historically based on religion as opposed to purely race? I've asked this at least 2 times and have received no answer. As I understand it, if a Jew converted to Catholicism there would be no trouble. I know the Inquisition targeted converted Jews they believed to be secretly practicing Judaism(conversos). So wasn't it true that the Jewish question in Spain was based more on religion as opposed to race?
2003-08-01 06:40 | User Profile
Hello Perun,
I am glad that you found my posts informative and interesting. I should state however that I find much of the original FE problematic and that I am not an unqualified supporter of that ideology but I have tried my best to provide an accurate portrayal of that movement.
In answer to your question I must first state that I am not an expert on anything Spanish although I have attempted to study the various forms of National Revolutionary thought in Spain as a result some of that material being translated into my own tongue by comrades now deceased. In short, I believe that traditionally objections to Jewry within Spain were based primarily upon religion although in numerous cases they were simply slaughtered rather then given a chance to convert although the latter was certainly more common. I would however hasten to point out that conversos were often times in history discriminated against vigorously as part of a theological doctrine and general nativistic disposition that held that jews were fundamentally different then Spaniards. That notion can't be called racial in any strict sense but it certainly had that effect when it was enacted as public policy. I don't happen to have the reverences dealing with the matter at hand but I would be happy to dig them out given a day or two if your interested.
It seems to me that the real matter at hand is that Jewry, until very recently, was actively suppressed, very small and that they held little institutional power as a result regardless of the reasons for them being oppressed. I would also restate the obvious point with respect to the original FE that race was not a part of their outlook for the simple reason that until recently Spain was very homogenous nation making race a non issue in domestic terms in much the same way that Chinese nationalists don't spend to much time focusing upon race because they have an undisputed dominance over their own nation and have no need to worry about alien populations within their land.
By the way, what does your name mean?
2003-08-01 14:33 | User Profile
triskelion,
I am do no know what "perun1201" means it to mean, but Perun is a Slavic God.
**Slav mythology 2: Perun and Veles
"Perun is the God of Thunder (like Perkunas of Balt mythology, Parjanya of Indian mythology, Thor of Scandinavian mythology, Donar of Germanic mythology, Taranis of Celt mythology"
[url=http://fantalov.tripod.com/slav2.htm]http://fantalov.tripod.com/slav2.htm[/url] **
2003-08-01 20:49 | User Profile
**triskelion,
I am sue what "perun1201" means it to mean, but Perun is a Slavic God. **
Perun is ok. I'm just so used to having to put numbers after your name on forums and e-mail addresses I did that. I didn't know that Perun by itself wasn't already taken(but it is now by me ;) ).
Yes Perun was an ancient Slavic god of thunder and war, but as I said before I'm a devout Christian. My prayers go to either St. Michael the Archangel or St. George(parton of Moscow plus also knighthood and chivalry). [url=http://www.catholic-forum.com/saints/saintg05.htm]http://www.catholic-forum.com/saints/saintg05.htm[/url]