José Luis de Arrese y Marga (15 April 1905 – 6 April 1986) was a leading

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

politician with both the

Falange Falange () is the name of a political party whose ideology is Falangism. Falange primarily refers to: * Falange Española, a Spanish political party active 1933–1934, it merged with the Juntas de Ofensiva Nacional-Sindicalista (JONS) * Falange ...

and its successor movement the

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 ...

Early years

Arrese was born in

Bilbao Bilbao is a city in northern Spain, the largest city in the Provinces of Spain, province of Biscay and in the Basque Country (greater region), Basque Country as a whole. It is also the largest city proper in northern Spain. Bilbao is the List o ...

to a

Basque Basque may refer to: * Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France * Basque language, their language Places * Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France * Basque Country (autonomous co ...

family which was noted for its support of

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, ...

. Philip Rees, ''

Biographical Dictionary of the Extreme Right Since 1890 The ''Biographical Dictionary of the Extreme Right Since 1890'' is a reference book by Philip Rees, on leading people in the various far right movements since 1890. It contains entries for what the author regards as "the 500 major figures on the ...

'', Harvester Wheatsheaf, 1990, p. 14 He went to

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

in order to train as an architect, obtaining his doctorate in architecture in 1932. As a student he was a member of the conservative ''Asociación de Estudiantes Catolicos'' and was also a founder of the ''Federacion Espanola de Trabajadores'', a workers organisation that focused on

anti-communism Anti-communism is Political movement, political and Ideology, ideological opposition to communism, communist beliefs, groups, and individuals. Organized anti-communism developed after the 1917 October Revolution in Russia, and it reached global ...

Falangism

It is unclear when Arrese first joined the Falange as sources disagree. Philip Rees states that Arrese was a founder member of the group in 1933 but Wayne H. Bowen states that he did not become a member until 1936.Wayne H. Bowen, ''Spain During World War II'', University of Missouri Press, 2006, p. 86 Either way however Arrese associated himself with the ''camisa vieja'' tendency, a hardline faction made up of early members of the movement. At the outbreak of 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 ...

Arrese found himself in the Republican zone and took refuge in the Embassy of

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

before escaping to the

Nationalist Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation,Anthony D. Smith, Smith, A ...

section in 1937. A close associate of

Manuel Hedilla Manuel Hedilla Larrey (July 18, 1902 – February 4, 1970) was a Spanish political figure who was a leading member of the Falange and an early rival for power towards Francisco Franco. He was a mechanic by trade. Early life Hedilla was born i ...

, he backed his ally in his quarrel with

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 ...

and as a consequence was sentenced to two years imprisonment by a Francoist military tribunal. However his release was promptly arranged by General

Gonzalo Queipo de Llano Gonzalo Queipo de Llano y Sierra (5 February 1875 – 9 March 1951) was a Spanish Army general. He distinguished himself quickly in his career, fighting in Cuba and Morocco, later becoming outspoken about military and political figures which led ...

, a Francoist who nonetheless had a good relationship with Arrese. He returned to some influence as ''jefe provincial'' of

Málaga Málaga (; ) is a Municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 591,637 in 2024, it is the second-most populo ...

in December 1937 and helped to ensure the development of low cost housing and efficient fuel provision in the region. He was a strong supporter of the

national syndicalism National syndicalism is a socially far-right adaptation of syndicalism within the broader agenda of integral nationalism. National syndicalism developed in France in the early 20th century, and then spread to Italy, Spain, and Portugal. F ...

that formed part of original Falangist ideology and published a book in 1940 entitled ''La Revolucion Social del Nacional Sindicalismo''.

Nazism

An enthusiastic supporter of

Nazism Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During Hitler's rise to power, it was fre ...

, Arrese was one of the first to propose the creation of the

Blue Division The 250th Infantry Division (), better known as the Blue Division (, ), was a unit of volunteers from Francoist Spain operating from 1941 to 1943 within the German Army () on the Eastern Front during World War II. It was officially designated t ...

to support the Nazi war effort. On 20 May 1941 in an attempt to appeal to

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...

, who was still enjoying much success in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

at the time, Arrese was one of three extremists appointed to the cabinet by

, in this case to the position of General Secretary of the Movement. The appointment was a shrewd one by Franco as, although Arrese was identified with the Old Shirt tendency, he also had a strong personal loyalty to ''El Caudillo''. Arrese retained his strong interest in Nazism and in January 1943 he made a visit to

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

where he met with

and

Joachim von Ribbentrop Ulrich Friedrich-Wilhelm Joachim von Ribbentrop (; 30 April 1893 – 16 October 1946) was a German Nazi politician and diplomat who served as Minister for Foreign Affairs (Germany), Minister of Foreign Affairs of Nazi Germany from 1938 to 1945. ...

and inspected

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

aircraft and building projects. This was to be the last formal contact between Spain and Germany before the fall of Hitler. Despite his enthusiasm for the Nazis Arrese did intimate to Hitler that he felt there was a wide gap between the two ideologically as Arrese was a lifelong devout member of the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

. On 20 July 1945 Arrese was removed from his position, his appointment no longer politically expedient, and indeed the role was left symbolically vacant in an attempt to disassociate

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 ...

from

fascism Fascism ( ) is a far-right, authoritarian, and ultranationalist political ideology and movement. It is characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural social hie ...

Post-war

He enjoyed a return of sorts in 1956 when Franco dismissed

Raimundo Fernández-Cuesta Raimundo Fernández-Cuesta y Merelo (5 October 1896, Madrid – 9 July 1992, Madrid) was a leading Spain, Spanish politician with both the Falangism, Falange and its successor movement the Spanish Traditionalist Phalanx of the Assemblies of N ...

as the leader of the paramilitary Blue Shirts, although in truth the role had lost much of its importance as both the Army and the Monarchists had grown in power at the expense of the traditional Falangists. In attempt to regain control for the Falangists he approached Franco the following year with a new draft constitution that would enshrine

totalitarianism Totalitarianism is a political system and a form of government that prohibits opposition from political parties, disregards and outlaws the political claims of individual and group opposition to the state, and completely controls the public s ...

in Spain and threatened to resign if it was denied. Franco however rejected the move, endorsing a much more pro-monarchy document and, in a cabinet reshuffle, handing Arrese the humiliation of the very minor portfolio of Minister of Housing. By 1960 Arrese had disappeared from any governmental role.De Blaye, ''Franco'', p. 194 Disillusioned by the development of post-war Spain he made a speech in 1958 on the anniversary of the death of

José Antonio Primo de Rivera José Antonio Primo de Rivera y Sáenz de Heredia, 1st Duke of Primo de Rivera, 3rd Marquess of Estella GE (24 April 1903 – 20 November 1936), often referred to simply as José Antonio, was a Spanish fascist politician who founded the Falan ...

in which he stated "you rimo de Riveracannot be satisfied with this mediocre, sensual life". He left his role as Minister of Housing in 1960 after being refused an increase in departmental social housing budget. He retired from public life, eventually settling in Corella where he died in 1986.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Arrese, Jose Luis de 1905 births 1986 deaths Politicians from Bilbao Spanish Falangists Spanish Roman Catholics Housing ministers of Spain FET y de las JONS politicians