Falange

Falange (Spanish “phalanx”), Spanish political party founded in 1933 by José Antonio Primo de Rivera, son of Miguel Primo de Rivera, Spain's dictator during the 1920s. Named for an ancient Greek military formation, the Falange glorified strength and force, favoring a dictatorship similar to that of Benito Mussolini of Italy. Rejecting liberalism, socialism, and communism, the Falangists were originally also hostile to the Roman Catholic church. In 1934 they merged with another pro-fascist group, the Juntas de Ofensiva Nacional Syndicalista (Union of the Nation Syndicalist Offensive), and in the civil war of 1936-1939 supported the rebellion of General Francisco Franco against the Spanish republic. In 1937, on Franco's orders, the Falange merged with the pro-Roman Catholic and monarchist Carlists. This composite group became the official party of the Franco dictatorship in its early years, and Primo de Rivera, who had been killed during the civil war, was honored as a national hero. After World War II, Franco deemphasized the role of the Falange in his regime. In the 1950s it became part of the broader National Movement, which remained the official party until Franco's death.