Falange

Falange

The Spanish Phalanx of the Assemblies of the National Syndicalist Offensive (Spanish: Falange Española de las Juntas de Ofensiva Nacional Sindicalista, FE de las JONS), known simply as the Falange ( listen), is the name assigned to several Spanish political movements and parties dating from the 1930s, and dovetailed with the Fascist movement in Italy. The word Falange in Spanish refers to a Phalanx formation or front a political metaphor commonly adopted by modern radicalized movements in the early-to-middle 20th century such as: Popular front, National Front or Vanguard. Members of the party were called Falangists (Spanish: Falangistas). Since 1975, Falangists have split into several different political movements that have continued into the 21st century. The main political movement that retained its Falangist heritage and is the continuation of the party is the FE JONS.

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 the son of General Miguel Primo de Rivera, who governed Spain as Prime Minister in the 1920s.

Unlike other members of the Spanish right, the Falange was republican, avant-gardist and modernist (see Early History below), in a manner similar to the original spirit of Italian Fascism. Its uniform and aesthetic was similar to contemporary European fascist and national socialist movements. After the party was coopted by Francisco Franco and consolidated with the Carlists, it ceased to have a fascist character (which sought a revolutionary transformation of society whereas Franco was conservative), although it retained many of the external trappings of fascism.

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 arrested and executed 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 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.