Traditionalist Spanish Phalanx of the Councils of the National Syndicalist Offensive Falange Española Tradicionalista y de las Juntas de Ofensiva Nacional Sindicalista
Abbreviation	FET y de las JONS
Governing body	Movimiento Nacional[1]
Secretary General [es]	R. Fernández-Cuesta (first)[a] I. García López (last)[2][3][b]
Founded	19 April 1937; 87 years ago (1937-04-19)
Dissolved	7 April 1977; 47 years ago (1977-04-07)
Merger of	FE de las JONS Comunión Tradicionalista
Succeeded by	FE-JONS
Headquarters	Calle de Alcalá 44, Madrid[note 1]
Newspaper	Arriba[5]
Student wing	Sindicato Español Universitario
Youth wing	Frente de Juventudes
Women's wing	Sección Femenina
Trade union	Spanish Syndical Organization
Sports body	National Sports Delegation
Membership	932,000 (1942 est.)[6] 980,054 (1973 est.)[7]
Ideology	Authoritarian conservatism[8] Fascism[note 3] Francoism[15] Falangism[25]
Political position	Far-right[26][27]
Religion	Roman Catholicism
European affiliation	European Social Movement[28] New European Order[28]
Foreign service	DNSEF (until 1945)[note 4]
Colours	Red   Black   Blue
Slogan	"¡Arriba España!" (unofficial) (lit. 'Up with Spain!')
Anthem	"Cara al Sol" (transl. 'Facing the Sun')
Party flag
Politics of Spain Political parties Elections ^ (4 December 1937 – 9 August 1939) ^ (7 July 1976 – 13 April 1977)

Part of a series on
Falangism
Organizations Falange Española Falange Española de las JONS Falanga National Radical Camp Falange Filipina Lebanese Phalanges Falange Española Tradicionalista y de las JONS Bolivian Socialist Falange Phalange Française Vanguard Unionist Progressive Party Falange Española de las JONS (Auténtica) Falange Española de las JONS (1976) Fuerza Nueva Falange Española Independiente National Alliance July 18 Falange Española Auténtica Movimiento Falangista de España National Union Unidad Falangista Montañesa National Front National Falange La Falange (1999) Republican Social Movement Falange Auténtica
History Juntas de Ofensiva Nacional- Sindicalista (1931–1934) Falange Española (1933–1934) Falange Española de las JONS (1934–1937) Spanish Civil War (1936–1939) Francoist Spain (1939–1975)
Ideology National syndicalism Fascism Third Position Spanish nationalism Greater Spain Hispanidad
People Ángel Alcázar de Velasco Martín Almagro Basch Nicasio Álvarez de Sotomayor Juan Antonio Ansaldo Agustín Aznar Tomás Borrás Ernesto Giménez Caballero Carulla Sancho Dávila y Fernández de Celis José Luis de Arrese Raimundo Fernández-Cuesta Rafael García Serrano Alfonso García Valdecasas Pierre Gemayel José Antonio Girón Manuel Hedilla Irazusta (Julio) Irazusta (Rudolfo) Ramiro Ledesma Charles Lescat Osvaldo Lira Charles Luca Gustavo Morales Narciso Perales Ramiro Ledesma Ramos José Antonio Primo de Rivera Miguel Primo de Rivera Pilar Primo de Rivera Onésimo Redondo Dionisio Ridruejo Luis Rosales Julio Ruiz de Alda Rafael Sánchez Mazas Andrés Soriano Óscar Únzaga Enrique Zóbel de Ayala
Literature Arriba Cara al Sol La Conquista del Estado La Gaceta Literaria Twenty-Seven Points
Related topics List of Falangist movements Falangism in Latin America Francoism Fascist symbolism
Spain portal Politics portal

Part of a series on
Francoism
Organizations Movimiento Nacional FET y de las JONS Council of the Realm National Council of the Movement Spanish Syndical Organization Frente de Juventudes Sección Femenina Armed Police Corps General Police Corps Tribunal de Orden Público Instituto Nacional de Colonización Instituto Nacional de Industria Fuerzas Armadas de España Cortes Españolas Sindicato Español Universitario Servicio Exterior de Falange
History Spanish coup of July 1936 Spanish Civil War White Terror Francoist concentration camps Spain during World War II Spain and the Holocaust First Francoism First Francoist government Concordat of 1953 Pact of Madrid Stabilization Plan Spanish miracle Burgos trials Assassination of Luis Carrero Blanco Spanish transition to democracy
Ideology Anti-communism Anti-liberalism Anti-Masonry Antisemitism Authoritarianism Falangism Hispanic eugenics Eugenics in Mexico Militarism Monarchism Natalism National Catholicism Pan-Hispanism Spanish irredentism Spanish nationalism Spanish unionism Traditionalism
People Blanco Fernández-Cuesta Fernández-Miranda Franco Fraga de la Fuente Minguijón Navarro Oreja Elósegui (Marcelino) Oreja Elósegui (Ricardo) Piñar Rosales Vigón Yagüe
Economy Economy of Spain (1939-1959) First Development Plan Second Development Plan Third Development Plan Stabilization Plan
Culture Art and culture in Francoist Spain Cantos nacionales Cara al Sol Censorship in Francoist Spain DGCT Eagle of Saint John El Caudillo El Generalísimo Gender roles in Francoist Spain Motherhood in Francoist Spain Francoist mottos No-Do Revisionist historiography Sociological Francoism Symbols of Francoism Yoke and arrows
Laws and referendums Francoist electoral regime Law of Political Responsibilities Army Conscription and Replacement Law Fundamental Laws of the Realm Ley de Sucesión en la Jefatura del Estado Organic Law of the State Political Reform Act 1947 Spanish law of succession referendum 1966 Spanish organic law referendum
Neo-Francoism Búnker Francisco Franco National Foundation New Force National Alliance July 18 National Union (Spain) 23-F Spanish Solidarity
Related topics Blue Division Economic history of Argentina Lost children of Francoism Carlo-francoism Diplomatic relations Euskadi Ta Askatasuna (ETA) Francoist language policies Latin Bloc (proposed alliance) Miracle of Chile Pact of Forgetting Project Islero Second Spanish Republic Spanish Maquis Valley of the Fallen
Category Conservatism portal Spain portal

The Falange Española Tradicionalista y de las Juntas de Ofensiva Nacional Sindicalista (lit. 'Traditionalist Spanish Phalanx of the Councils of the National Syndicalist Offensive'; FET y de las JONS),^[30] frequently shortened to just "FET",^[31] was the sole legal party of the Francoist regime in Spain. It was created by General Francisco Franco in 1937 as a merger of the fascist Falange Española de las JONS (FE de las JONS) with the monarchist neo-absolutist and integralist Catholic Traditionalist Communion belonging to the Carlist movement.^[32] In addition to the resemblance of names, the party formally retained most of the platform of FE de las JONS (26 out of 27 points) and a similar inner structure.^[33] In force until April 1977, it was rebranded as the Movimiento Nacional in 1958.^[34]

The FET y de las JONS began as the Spanish Falange, a Falangist party, The Council of National Syndicalist Offensives, a national syndicalist party and Traditionalist Communion, a Catholic monarchist party, three parties that were becoming relevant in Spanish right wing politics before the civil war. The Spanish Falange and the Council of National Syndicalist Offensives were relatively small, and merged into the Spanish Falange de la JONS leading up to the 1936 election. As civil war broke out, the Falange grew rapidly in membership, and the Traditionalist Communion, already a prominent force, mobilized its forces to fight the leftist government.

With the eruption of the Civil War in July 1936, the Falange fought on the side of the Nationalist faction against the Second Spanish Republic. Expanding rapidly from several thousand to several hundred thousand,^[35] the Falange's male membership was accompanied by a female auxiliary, the Sección Femenina. Led by José Antonio's sister Pilar Primo de Rivera, this latter subsidiary organization claimed more than a half million members by the end of the war and provided nursing and support services for the Nationalist forces.^[36]

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"). After being sentenced to death on 18 November 1936, José Antonio Primo de Rivera was executed on 20 November 1936 (a date since known as 20-N in Spain) in a Republican prison, giving him martyr status among the Falangists. This conviction and sentence was possible since he'd lost his parliamentary immunity after his party did not have enough votes during the last elections.

On April 19, 1937, Francisco Franco issued a Unification Decree, which forcibly merged the Falange with the Carlist Comunión Tradicionalista to form the Falange Española Tradicionalista y de las JONS (FET y de las JONS). Franco assumed the role of jefe nacional ("National Chief"), following the model of a fascist party.^{[37][note 5]} All other parties supporting the rebel faction were disbanded, but former members of those parties were free to join the FET as individual members. The new party's official ideology was the Falangists' 27 puntos—reduced after the unification to 26, the article barring mergers being dropped. The merged party incorporated many Falangist symbols–the blue shirt, the yoked arrows, the red and black flag, and the anthem Cara al Sol among others.^[39] Despite this, the party was in fact a wide-ranging nationalist coalition, closely controlled by Franco. Parts of the original Falange (including Hedilla) and many Carlists did not join the unified party. Franco had sought to control the Falange after a clash between Hedilla and his main critics within the group, the legitimistas of Agustín Aznar and Sancho Dávila y Fernández de Celis, that threatened to derail the Nationalist war effort.^[40] Franco became jefe nacional and "Supreme Caudillo" of the FET. He was vested with "the most absolute authority," including the power to name his successor, and was only responsible to "God and history."^[41]

None of the vanquished parties in the war suffered such a toll of deaths among their leaders as did the Falange. 60% of the pre-war Falange membership lost their lives in the war.^{[citation needed]}

However, 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.^{[citation needed]}

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.

Membership in the Falange/FET reached a peak of 932,000 in 1942.^[6] Despite the official unification of the various Nationalist factions within the party in 1937, tensions continued between dedicated Falangists and other groups, particularly Carlists. Such tensions erupted in violence with the Begoña Incident of August 1942, when hardline Falangist activists attacked a Carlist religious gathering in Bilbao with grenades. The attack and the response of government ministers with Carlist leanings (most notably Varela and Galarza) led to a government crisis and caused Franco to dismiss several ministers. Ultimately, six Falangists were convicted of the attack and one, Juan Domínguez, was executed.^[42]

By the middle of the Second World War, Franco and leading Falangists, while distancing themselves from the faltering European fascists, stressed the unique "Spanish Catholic authoritarianism" of the regime and the Falange. Instructions were issued in September 1943 that henceforth the Falange/FET would be referred to exclusively as a "movement" and not a "party".^[43]

The Falange also developed youth organizations, with members known as Flechas and Pelayos,^{[citation needed]} under the umbrella of the Spanish Youths Organization. Most of these young members wore red berets.

With improving relations with the United States, economic development and the rise of a group of relatively young technocrats within the government, the Falange continued to decline. In 1965, the SEU, the movement's student organization, was officially disbanded.^[44] At the same time, the membership of the Falange as a whole was both shrinking and aging. In 1974, the average age of Falangists in Madrid was at least 55 years. The organization's relatively few new members came mostly from the conservative and devoutly Catholic areas of northern Spain.^[45]

• Servicio Exterior de Falange
• Unification Decree (Spain, 1937)

• Albanese, Matteo; Hierro, Pablo del (2016). Transnational Fascism in the Twentieth Century: Spain, Italy and the Global Neo-Fascist Network. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4725-3200-8. Retrieved 5 July 2020.
• Blinkhorn, Martin (2003). Fascists and Conservatives: The Radical Right and the Establishment in Twentieth-Century Europe. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-134-99712-1.
• Griffin, Roger; Feldman, Matthew (2004). Fascism: The 'fascist epoch'. Taylor & Francis. pp. 82–83. ISBN 978-0-415-29019-7. Retrieved 5 July 2020.
• Payne, Stanley G. (1987). The Franco Regime, 1936–1975. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press. ISBN 978-0-299-11074-1.
• Payne, Stanley G. (1999). Fascism in Spain, 1923–1977. University of Wisconsin Press.
• Payne, Stanley G. (2011) [1987]. The Franco regime, 1936–1975. University of Wisconsin Press. ISBN 978-0299110741.
• Thomàs, Joan Maria (2013). "La unificación: coyuntura y proyecto de future" [Unification: current situation and future project]. In Ruiz Carnicer, Miguel Ángel (ed.). Falange. Las culturas políticas del fascismo en la España de Franco (1936-1975) [Falange. The political cultures of fascism in Franco's Spain (1936-1975)] (PDF) (in Spanish). Zaragoza: Institución Fernando el Catolico. p. 170. ISBN 978-84-9911-216-9.
• Thomàs, Joan Maria (2019). José Antonio Primo de Rivera: The Reality and Myth of a Spanish Fascist Leader. Berghahn Books. ISBN 978-1-78920-209-0.
• Thomàs, Joan Maria (2020). "La Alemania nazi y el fascismo español durante la Guerra Civil" [Nazi Germany and Spanish Fascism during the Civil War]. Cuadernos de Historia de España (in Spanish). 87 (87). Buenos Aires: Universidad de Buenos Aires: 38. doi:10.34096/che.n87.9047. ISSN 0325-1195.