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