Acción Española (, ''Spanish Action'') or AE was a Spanish cultural association active during the Second Spanish Republic, meeting point of the ultraconservative and far right intellectual figures that endorsed the restoration of the Monarchy. It was also a political magazine of the same name. The group was heavily influenced by '' Action Française'' both in its name and its

ideology An ideology is a set of beliefs or philosophies attributed to a person or group of persons, especially those held for reasons that are not purely epistemic, in which "practical elements are as prominent as theoretical ones." Formerly applied pri ...

Stanley G. Payne Stanley George Payne (born September 9, 1934) is an American historian of modern Spain and European Fascism at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He retired from full-time teaching in 2004 and is currently Professor Emeritus at its Department ...

, ''Spain's First Democracy: The Second Republic, 1931-1936'', 1993, p. 171 Constituted in October 1931, the cultural association was inaugurated on 5 February 1932,

Eduardo González Calleja Eduardo González Calleja (born 1962) is a Spanish historian, professor of Contemporary History at the Charles III University of Madrid (UC3M). He is the author of a long list of scholar works dealing with political violence. Biography He was b ...

, ''Contrarrevolucionarios. Radicalización violenta de las derechas durante la Segunda República, 1931-1936'', 2011, pp. 51-52 following the founding of the journal on 15 December 1931.

Formation

AE began life in December 1931 as a journal organised by doctrinaire monarchists. It was edited by Ramiro de Maeztu. Drawing in followers of the former Prime Minister

Antonio Maura Antonio Maura Montaner (2 May 1853 – 13 December 1925) was Prime Minister of Spain on five separate occasions. Early life Maura was born in Palma, on the island of Mallorca, and studied law in Madrid. In 1878, Maura married Constanci ...

and the ultraconservative wings of

Social Catholicism Catholic social teaching, commonly abbreviated CST, is an area of Catholic doctrine concerning matters of human dignity and the common good in society. The ideas address oppression, the role of the state, subsidiarity, social organization, con ...

and

Carlism Carlism ( eu, Karlismo; ca, Carlisme; ; ) is a Traditionalist and Legitimist political movement in Spain aimed at establishing an alternative branch of the Bourbon dynasty – one descended from Don Carlos, Count of Molina (1788–1855) – ...

, the group that developed around this journal promised to revive a strong Catholic monarchy. AE soon adopted an antisemitic discourse in imitation of similar movements in Europe. It soon built up contacts abroad, notably with '' Action Française'', the ''

Integralismo Lusitano ''Integralismo Lusitano'' (English: "Lusitanian Integralism") was a Portuguese integralist political movement founded in Coimbra in 1914 that advocated traditionalism but not conservatism Conservatism is a cultural, social, and pol ...

'' and National Syndicalist movements in Portugal, and individual members of the National Fascist Party of Italy. The group's close links with Portuguese groups were driven by a strong belief in Hispanidad and a desire to see a return to the values of ''

La Raza The Spanish expression ('the people' or 'the community'; literal translation: 'the race') has historically been used to refer to the Hispanophone populations (primarily though not always exclusively in the Western Hemisphere), considered as ...

'', which they felt had been abandoned in Spain. They also established a front political party, '' Renovación Española'', in March 1933.

Development

The group committed itself to a new Catholic monarchy based on the principle of ''instauración'' or installation, where the new monarchy would be strongly

authoritarian Authoritarianism is a political system characterized by the rejection of political plurality, the use of strong central power to preserve the political ''status quo'', and reductions in the rule of law, separation of powers, and democratic votin ...

and corporatist in nature. It has been argued that the ideas of AE, rather than the Falange, had the strongest influence on

Francisco Franco Francisco Franco Bahamonde (; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general who led the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalist forces in overthrowing the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War ...

, as his eventual state featured a corporatist Cortes, a reliance on the military and the continuation of existing elites as promoted by the AE. AE attracted some leading figures in Spanish society, with members of the group including the poet

José María Pemán José María Pemán y Pemartín (8 May 1897 in Cadiz – 19 July 1981, Ibid.) was a Spanish journalist, poet, playwright, novelist, essayist, and monarchist intellectual. Biography Originally a student of law, he entered the literary world with ...

, the militarist Jorge Vigón Suero-Díaz and the film-maker Ernesto Giménez Caballero. Members of AE set up a 'conspiratorial committee' in late 1932, meeting at the regularly at the

Biarritz Biarritz ( , , , ; Basque also ; oc, Biàrritz ) is a city on the Bay of Biscay, on the Atlantic coast in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in the French Basque Country in southwestern France. It is located from the border with Spain. ...

home of

Juan Antonio Ansaldo Juan Antonio Ansaldo y Vejarano (24 June 1901 – 29 April 1958) was a Spanish monarchist and aviator. He was a lifelong friend and supporter of José Sanjurjo, the senior of the three generals who launched the coup of July 1936, which started th ...

to plan a restoration coup. A substantial amount of money was spent stockpiling arms, whilst Lieutenant-Colonel

Valentín Galarza Morante ''Valentín'' is a 2002 Cinema of Argentina, Argentine-Cinema of France, French-Cinema of Italy, Italian Drama (film and television), drama film written and directed by Alejandro Agresti. The film features Rodrigo Noya as Valentín and Carmen Mau ...

was given responsibility for building up subversive cells in the army. However, despite continuous plotting, no coup was ever launched by the group. The organization's co-founder, the famed political theorist Ramiro de Maeztu was summarily executed by a Republican death squad in the early days of the Spanish Civil War. The cultural association was shut down since 6 August 1932 until 3 May 1934.

, Víctor Pradera, ,

Pedro Sainz Rodríguez Pedro Sainz Carlos Rodríguez (1897 in Madrid – 1986) was a Spanish writer, Philology, philologist, publisher and politician, an adviser to Infante Juan, Count of Barcelona and one of the main architects of the reign of Juan Carlos I of Spa ...

, Ramiro de Maeztu, the , José Calvo Sotelo, José Ibáñez Martín, Agustín González de Amezúa,

, the , Manuel Pombo Polanco,

Eugenio Vegas Latapie Eugenio Vegas Latapie (1907–1985) was a Spanish monarchist writer, activist and conspirator who was noted for the extremism of his monarchism. A native of Irun, he was a leading member of the Acción Española. In his later years, Vegas Lat ...

and the were among the members of its late (following the 1934 reopening of the cultural association) executive board.

In Francoist Spain

Because the AE was not a political party, it was not absorbed into the Falange Española Tradicionalista y de las Juntas de Ofensiva Nacional-Sindicalista, although it was closely associated with that movement and AE members held leading positions within the group. A conflict broke out in April 1938 when leading AE member

was deprived of his seat on the FET y de las JONS National Council, leading to less co-operation between the AE and the

Francoist State Francoist Spain ( es, España franquista), or the Francoist dictatorship (), was the period of Spanish history between 1939 and 1975, when Francisco Franco ruled Spain after the Spanish Civil War with the title . After his death in 1975, Spai ...

. Vegas Latapie and Ansaldo were involved in plotting against Franco around 1940 and 1941, although the AE as a group was not involved.Payne, ''The Franco Regime'', p. 295

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Accion Espanola 1931 establishments in Spain Magazines established in 1931 Defunct political magazines published in Spain Monarchist organizations Organisations of the Spanish Civil War Alfonsists Antisemitic publications Monarchism in Spain Spanish-language magazines Magazines with year of disestablishment missing