Acción Española

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Acción Española
Purposecultural and political organisation
Location
Key people
Ramiro de Maeztu (President)
Eugenio Vegas (Secretary)
José María Pemán (President)
  1. ^ The journal was founded in December 1931.

Acción Española (Spanish pronunciation: [aɣˈθjon espaˈɲola], 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.[1] 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.[2] Constituted in October 1931,[3] the cultural association was inaugurated on 5 February 1932,[1] following the founding of the journal on 15 December 1931.[1]

Formation

AE began life in December 1931 as a journal organised by doctrinaire monarchists. It was edited by

Renovación Española, in March 1933.[7]

Development

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

Falange, had the strongest influence on Francisco Franco, as his eventual state featured a corporatist Cortes, a reliance on the military and the continuation of existing elites as promoted by the AE.[9]

AE attracted some leading figures in Spanish society, with members of the group including the poet José María Pemán,[10] the militarist Jorge Vigón Suero-Díaz[11] and the film-maker Ernesto Giménez Caballero.[12]

Members of AE set up a 'conspiratorial committee' in late 1932, meeting at the regularly at the

Valentín Galarza Morante was given responsibility for building up subversive cells in the army.[13] 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.[14]

José María Pemán, Víctor Pradera, Carlos Ruiz del Castillo [es], Pedro Sainz Rodríguez, Ramiro de Maeztu, the marquis of Lozoya [es], José Calvo Sotelo, José Ibáñez Martín, Agustín González de Amezúa, Juan Antonio Ansaldo, the marquis of Quintanar [es], Manuel Pombo Polanco, Eugenio Vegas Latapié and the marquis of la Eliseda [es] were among the members of its late (following the 1934 reopening of the cultural association) executive board. [15][16]

In Francoist Spain

Because the AE was not a political party, it was not absorbed into the

Francoist State.[18] Vegas Latapié and Ansaldo were involved in plotting against Franco around 1940 and 1941, although the AE as a group was not involved.[19]

References

  1. ^ a b c Eduardo González Calleja, Contrarrevolucionarios. Radicalización violenta de las derechas durante la Segunda República, 1931-1936, 2011, pp. 51-52
  2. ^ a b Stanley G. Payne, Spain's First Democracy: The Second Republic, 1931-1936, 1993, p. 171
  3. ISBN 84-321-2984-4
    .
  4. ISBN 978-84-8432-618-2
    .
  5. ISBN 978-84-8427-044-7
    .
  6. ^ Sandie Eleanor Holguín, Creating Spaniards: Culture and National Identity in Republican Spain, 2002, p. 44
  7. ^ Stuart Joseph Woolf, Fascism in Europe, 1981, p. 384
  8. ^ Payne, Spain's First Democracy, pp. 171-2
  9. ^ Payne, Spain's First Democracy, p. 173
  10. ^ Preston, Franco, p. 134
  11. ^ Preston, Franco, p. 110
  12. ^ Holguín, Creating Spaniards, p. 115
  13. ^ Paul Preston, Franco, 1995, pp. 89-90
  14. ISBN 84-95379-65-1
    .
  15. ABC
    . Sevilla: 30. 1934-05-05.
  16. ISBN 978-84-370-7833-5. Archived from the original
    (PDF) on November 5, 2021.
  17. ^ Stanley G. Payne, The Franco Regime, 1936-1975, 1987, p. 118
  18. ^ Payne, The Franco Regime, p. 189
  19. ^ Payne, The Franco Regime, p. 295
Political parties and organizations in the Spanish Civil War
The Popular Front (Republican) Supporters of the Popular Front (Republican) Nationalists (Francoist)

The Popular Front was an electoral alliance formed between various left-wing and centrist parties for elections to the Cortes in 1936, in which the alliance won a majority of seats.

  • UR (Unión Republicana - Republican Union): Led by Diego Martínez Barrio, formed in 1934 by members of the PRR, who had resigned in objection to Alejandro Lerroux's coalition with the CEDA. It drew its main support from skilled workers and progressive businessmen.
  • IR (Izquierda Republicana - Republican Left): Led by former Prime Minister Manuel Azaña after his Republican Action party merged with Santiago Casares Quiroga's Galician independence party and the Radical Socialist Republican Party (PRRS). It drew its support from skilled workers, small businessmen, and civil servants. Azaña led the Popular Front and became president of Spain. The IR formed the bulk of the first government after the Popular Front victory with members of the UR and the ERC.
  • ERC (Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya -
    president of the Generalitat of Catalonia
    .
  • PSOE (Partido Socialista Obrero Español - Spanish Socialist Workers' Party): Formed in 1879, its alliance with Acción Republicana in municipal elections in 1931 saw a landslide victory that led to the King's abdication and the creation of the Second Republic. The two parties won the subsequent general election, but the PSOE left the coalition in 1933. At the time of the Civil War, the PSOE was split between a right wing under Indalecio Prieto and Juan Negrín, and a left wing under Largo Caballero. Following the Popular Front victory, it was the second largest party in the Cortes, after the CEDA. It supported the ministries of Azaña and Quiroga, but did not actively participate until the Civil War began. It had majority support amongst urban manual workers.
    • UGT (Unión General de Trabajadores - General Union of Workers): The socialist trade union. The UGT was formally linked to the PSOE, and the bulk of the union followed Caballero.
    • Federacion de Juventudes Socialistas (Federation of Socialist Youth)
  • PSUC (Partit Socialista Unificat de Catalunya - Unified Socialist Party of Catalonia): An alliance of various socialist parties in Catalonia, formed in the summer of 1936, controlled by the PCE.
  • JSU (Juventudes Socialistas Unificadas - Unified Socialist Youth): Militant youth group formed by the merger of the Socialist and the Communist youth groups. Its leader, Santiago Carrillo, came from the Socialist Youth, but had secretly joined the Communist Youth prior to merger, and the group was soon dominated by the PCE.
  • PCE (Partido Comunista de España -
    Communist Party of Spain): Led by José Díaz
    in the Civil War, it had been a minor party during the early years of the Republic, but grew in importance during the war.
  • Trotskyists
    formed in 1935 by Andreu Nin.
  • PS (Partido Sindicalista - Syndicalist Party): a moderate splinter group of CNT.
  • Unión Militar Republicana Antifascista
    (Republican Anti-fascist Military Union):     Formed by military officers in opposition to the Unión Militar Española.
  • Anarchist groups. The anarchists boycotted the 1936 Cortes election and initially opposed the Popular Front government, but joined during the Civil War when Largo Caballero became Prime Minister.
    • CNT (
      anarcho-syndicalist
      trade unions.
    • FAI (Federación Anarquista Ibérica - Iberian Anarchist Federation): The federation of anarchist groups, very active in the Republican militias.
    • Mujeres Libres (Free Women): The anarchist feminist organisation.
    • FIJL (Federación Ibérica de Juventudes Libertarias - Iberian Federation of Libertarian Youth)
  • Catalan nationalists.
    • Estat Català (Catalan State): Catalan separatist party created back in 1922. Founding part of ERC in 1931, it sided with the Republican faction during the war.
  • Basque nationalists.
    • PNV (Partido Nacionalista Vasco - Basque Nationalist Party): A Catholic Christian Democrat party under José Antonio Aguirre, which campaigned for greater autonomy or independence for the Basque region. Held seats in the Cortes and supported the Popular Front government before and during the Civil War. Put its religious disagreement with the Popular Front aside for a promised Basque autonomy.
    • ANV (Acción Nacionalista Vasca - Basque Nationalist Action): A leftist Socialist party, which at the same time campaigned for independence of the Basque region.
    • STV (Solidaridad de Trabajadores Vascos - Basque Workers' Solidarity): A trade union in the Basque region, with a Catholic clerical tradition combined with moderate socialist tendencies.
  • SRI (Socorro Rojo Internacional -
    Comintern
    that provided considerable aid to Republican civilians and soldiers.
  • International Brigades: pro-Republican military units made up of anti-fascist Socialist, Communist and anarchist volunteers from different countries.

Virtually all Nationalist groups had very strong Roman Catholic convictions and supported the native Spanish clergy.

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