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The Traditionalist Communion (, CT; , ) was one of the names adopted by the
Carlist movement Carlism (; ; ; ) 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), on the Spanish throne. The ...
as a political force since 1869.


History

In October 1931, Carlist claimant to the Spanish throne Duke Jaime died. He was succeeded by the 82-year-old claimant Alfonso Carlos de Borbón, reuniting under him the integrists led by Olazábal and the "Mellists". They represented a region-based Spanish nationalism with an entrenched identification of Spain and Catholicism. The ensuing radicalized Carlist scene overshadowed the "Jaimists" with a Basque inclination. The Basque(-Navarrese) Statute failed to take off over disagreements on the centrality of Catholicism in 1932, with the new Carlist party ''Comunión Tradicionalista'' opting for an open confrontation with the Republic. The Republic established a secular approach of the regime, a division of Church and state, as well as freedom of religion, as France did in 1905, an approach traditionalists could not stand. The ''Comunión Tradicionalista'' (1932) showed an ultra-Catholic, anti-secular position, and plotted for a military takeover, while adopting far-right apocalyptic views and talking of a final clash with an alliance of alleged anti-Christian forces. The October 1934 Revolution cost the life of the Carlist deputy Marcelino Oreja Elósegui, with Manuel Fal Condé taking over from young Carlists clustering around the AET (Jaime del Burgo and Mario Ozcoidi) in their pursuit to overthrow the Republic. The Carlists started to prepare for an armed definite clash with the Republic and its different leftist groups. From the initial defensive Decurias of Navarre (deployed in party seats and churches), the Requeté grew into a well-trained and strongest offensive paramilitary group in Spain when Manuel Fal Condé took the reins. It numbered 30,000 red berets (8,000 in Navarre and 22,000 in Andalusia). When the
Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...
broke out in 1936 following the election of a coalition of socialist, communist, and anarchist parties, the Traditionalist Communion sided with the Spanish Nationalists, despite ideological differences with the Falangists, out of shared Catholicism and repression under the Republic. Seeking to unify all Nationalist Forces, the General
Francisco Franco Francisco Franco Bahamonde (born Francisco Paulino Hermenegildo Teódulo Franco Bahamonde; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general and dictator who led the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalist forces i ...
announced that all political parties, other than
FET y de las JONS The Falange Española Tradicionalista y de las Juntas de Ofensiva Nacional Sindicalista (; FET y de las JONS), frequently shortened to just "FET", was the sole legal party of the Francoist regime in Spain. It was created by General Francisco ...
, were dissolved, and the Traditionalist Communion ceased to exist.


Ideology

Carlism Carlism (; ; ; ) is a Traditionalism (Spain), Traditionalist and Legitimist political movement in Spain aimed at establishing an alternative branch of the Bourbon dynasty, one descended from Infante Carlos María Isidro of Spain, Don Carlos, ...
is a reactionary, monarchist, and extremely Catholic ideology. It developed after the King Philip V changed the succession laws, meaning Don Carlos would no longer become the next king. Its main tenets are "God, Country, and King", and it spawned many other political parties, the most notable of which was the Carlist Party of Euskal Herria, which was formed as an underground party during the fascist government and went on to run in the elections following the democratization of Spain.


Legacy

Carlism remained a scattered movement until the end of the dictatorship. While a fraction of the movement actively supported the Francoist regime, most of Carlists were forced to go underground. The Traditionalist Communion was reorganised during the 1950s and 1960s in a situation of illegality and prohibition imposed in
Francoist Spain Francoist Spain (), also known as the Francoist dictatorship (), or Nationalist Spain () was the period of Spanish history between 1936 and 1975, when Francisco Franco ruled Spain after the Spanish Civil War with the title . After his death i ...
to university and workers' organisations of non-integrated
Carlism Carlism (; ; ; ) is a Traditionalism (Spain), Traditionalist and Legitimist political movement in Spain aimed at establishing an alternative branch of the Bourbon dynasty, one descended from Infante Carlos María Isidro of Spain, Don Carlos, ...
(Group of Traditionalist Students, AET at the university; Traditionalist Worker’s Movement, MOT) into the Francoist only official party, with the support of prince Carlos Hugo, Duke of Parma. In 1970, the Carlist Party was officially established by a Congress of the Carlist People in
Arbonne Arbonne (; ) is a Communes of France, commune in French Basque Country, a region of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques Departments of France, department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of southwestern France. Geography Arbonne is located some 6 km ...
, in which it adopted a program for the ideological change of Carlism towards self-management socialism and the conversion of the Carlist movement into a federal and democratic party of the masses on a class basis which aspired a pact between the dynasty and the people to a socialist monarchy. The socialistic turn of both Duke Carlos Hugo and his son Prince Carlos, Duke of Parma was rejected by the more right-wing factions of Carlism, under the leadership of Prince Sixtus Henry of Bourbon-Parma, who re-established the Traditionalist Communion in 1975. In 1986, the Communion, alongside two other right-wing Carlist Party, established the Traditionalist Carlist Communion, a political party which promotes the traditional version of Carlism, based upon integrism, foralism and
reactionism In politics, a reactionary is a person who favors a return to a previous state of society which they believe possessed positive characteristics absent from contemporary.''The New Fontana Dictionary of Modern Thought'' Third Edition, (1999) p. 729. ...
.


References

{{Authority control 1869 establishments in Spain 1937 disestablishments in Spain Carlism Catholic political parties Conservative parties in Spain Defunct conservative parties Defunct political parties in Spain Monarchist parties in Spain Political parties established in 1869 Political parties disestablished in 1937 Political parties of the Spanish Civil War Monarchist organizations