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Carlism (Basque:Karlismo;Catalan:Carlisme;Galician:Carlismo; Spanish:Carlismo) is aTraditionalist andLegitimist political movement in Spain aimed at establishing an alternative branch of theBourbon dynasty,[1] one descended fromDon Carlos, Count of Molina (1788–1855), on theSpanish throne.
The movement was founded as a consequence of an early 19th-century dispute over the succession of the Spanish monarchy and widespread dissatisfaction with theAlfonsine line of the House of Bourbon, and subsequently found itself becoming a notable element of Spanishconservatism in its 19th-century struggle against liberalism, which repeatedly broke out into military conflicts known as theCarlist Wars.
Carlism was at its strongest in the 1830s. However, it experienced a revival following Spain's defeat in theSpanish–American War in 1898, when theSpanish Empire lost its last remaining significant overseas territories of thePhilippines,Cuba,Guam, andPuerto Rico to theUnited States.[2]
Carlism continued to play a notable role in the 20th century as part of theNationalist faction in theSpanish Civil War and the subsequently triumphantFrancoist regime until theSpanish transition to democracy in 1975. Carlism continues to survive as aminor party:
Objectively considered, Carlism appears as a political movement. It arose under the protection of a dynastic flag that proclaimed itself "legitimist", and that rose to the death ofFerdinand VII, in the year 1833, with enough echo and popular roots, ... they distinguish in it three cardinal bases that define it:
a) A dynastic flag: that of legitimacy.
b) A historical continuity: that of Las Españas.
c) And a legal-political doctrine: the traditionalist.
— ¿Qué es el Carlismo?[3]
Traditionally, all but one of the Spanish kingdoms allowed the succession of daughters in the absence of sons and of sisters in the absence of brothers (male-preference primogeniture). The one exception,Aragon, tended to favoursemi-Salicism. The most elaborate rules formed the "Seven-part code" (Siete partidas) of the late 13th century.
On 1 November 1700 a French Bourbon prince,Philip V, acceded to the Spanish throne. In the French royal house,Salic law applied, which did not permit female succession. Accordingly, the traditional Spanish order of succession had to give way to a semi-Salic system, which excluded women from the crown unless all males in theagnatic descent from Philip, in any branch, became extinct. It is not implausible that this change might have been enacted at the insistence of a hostile foreign power, as the scenario of such a union could impinge profoundly on questions of national importance (particularly among states that preferred to maintain their distance from policy positions occupied by the Franco-Spanish consensus, of which theHoly Roman Empire was one). Some disagreement on this topic was evident for a number of years, even after it became clear that any question of a Franco-Spanish union was a political non-starter.
Although the Spanish government made several attempts to revert to the traditional order, as in the Decree of 1789 byCharles IV (see below), the succession question became pressing only when, by 1830,Ferdinand VII found himself ailing, without any issue, but with a pregnant wife. He decided in 1830 to promulgate the 1789 decree, securing the crown for the unborn child even if female. The law placed the child,Princess Isabel, ahead of Ferdinand's brotherInfante Carlos, who until then had beenheir presumptive.
Many contemporaries (starting with the King's brother and the cadetBourbon branches) saw the changed succession as illegal on various counts.[4] They formed the basis for the dynastic Carlist party, which only recognized the semi-Salic succession law that gave Infante Carlos precedence over Ferdinand's daughter, the futureIsabella II.
As in many European countries, after theNapoleonic occupation, the Spanish political class was split between the "absolutists", supporters of theancien régime, and the Liberals, influenced by the ideas of theFrench Revolution. The long war for Spain's independence from the Napoleonic Empire left a large supply of experiencedguerrilla fighters and an oversized military officialdom—for the most part, staunch Liberals. The perceived success of the uprising of 1808 againstNapoleon left also a broad, if unconscious, belief in the validity of the right ofrebellion, with long-lasting effects on the politics of Spain andSpanish America, extending through the 19th century and beyond.
The reign ofFerdinand VII proved unable to overcome the political divide or to create stable institutions. The so-calledLiberal Triennium (1820–1823) re-instated the 1812 constitution after a military"pronunciamiento", but was followed by theOminous Decade (1823–1833), ten years of absolute rule by the king, that left bitter memories of persecution in both parties. While in power, both groups had divided themselves into moderate and radical branches. The radical branch of the absolutists (or royalists), known as theApostólicos, looked upon the heir presumptive,Don Carlos, as its natural head, as he was profoundly devout and, especially after 1820, staunchly anti-liberal.
In 1827,Catalonia was shaken by the rebellion of theAgreujats orAgraviados ("the Aggrieved"), an ultra-absolutist movement, which, for a time, controlled large parts of the region. The infante was for the first time then hailed as king. He denied any involvement. The last years of King Ferdinand saw a political realignment due to the troubles surrounding his succession. In October 1832, the King formed a moderate royalist government underFrancisco Cea Bermúdez, which almost succeeded in curbing the Apostolic party and, through an amnesty, in gaining liberal support for Isabella's right to succeed under theregency of her mother,Maria Christina of Bourbon-Two Sicilies. If only to get rid of Don Carlos, the Liberals accepted the newPrincess of Asturias. Moreover, the first years of the 1830s were influenced by the failure of theFrench Restoration, which meant the end of Bourbon rule in France, and thecivil war in Portugal between both legitimist and liberal parties.
Besides this political evolution, the years before the Carlist wars were marked by a deep economic crisis in Spain, partly spurred by the loss of the continental American provinces, and by the bankruptcy of the state. The last triggered enhanced tax pressures which further fueled social unrest. Certain economic measures proposed by the Liberals (such as theDesamortización, i.e. the takeover, division and sale of thecommons andChurch property, initiated in 1821) were directly threatening the viability of many small farms, whose residents were accustomed to rely on the common pasture lands to feed, at little or no cost, their mules and oxen. Widespread poverty followed, as did the closure of most hospitals, schools and other charities.[citation needed]
An important factor was the religious question. The radical liberals (progresistas) after 1820 had grown more and moreanticlerical, strongly opposingreligious institutes.[citation needed] They were suspected of being adherents ofFreemasonry. This policy alienated them from many sectors of the (mostly deeplyCatholic) Spanish people, especially in rural areas.[citation needed] The only institution abolished in the "Liberal Triennium" that was not restored by Ferdinand VII wasthe Inquisition. One of the demands of the radical absolutist party was its reinstitution. Liberals had been, while in power, quite doctrinaire, pursuing centralization and uniform administration.
Besides the Basque Country, in many regions of Spain there were intense particularist feelings, which were thus hurt. While only a secondary factor at the outbreak of the first Carlist war, this anti-uniformist localism, exemplified in the defence of thefueros,[citation needed] would become in time one of the more important banners of Carlism. This won Carlism support in theBasque territories (Navarre,Gipuzkoa,Biscay andAraba), as well as the old realms of theCrown of Aragon (Aragon, Catalonia andValencia), as those areas resented the abolition of their ancient self-government privileges by issuance of theNueva Planta Decrees.
The history of Carlism can be usefully divided into four different stages,[citation needed] whose dates are only approximate (thus the overlap is intentional):
The period of theCarlist Wars, during which the party tried to attain power mainly through military means, is both classical Carlism, because the wars – or the threat of them – placed Carlism on the centre stage of Spain's political history, and formative, as Carlism evolved the cultural and sociological form it would retain for well over a hundred years. Historical highlights of this era are the:
All three wars share a common development pattern:[citation needed]
At the beginning of each war, no regular army unit was on the Carlist side, and only the third was the result of a planned uprising. The first war was noteworthy for being, on both sides, extremely brutal. The Liberal army mistreated the population, most of whom it suspected of being Carlist sympathizers, to the point of, sometimes, attempted extermination;[citation needed] Carlists, very often, treated Liberals no better than they had treated Napoleonic soldiers and agents, to such an extent that the international powers forced the warring parties to recognize somerules of war, namely the "Lord Eliot Convention". Brutality did not disappear completely, andgiving no quarter to one's enemy was not uncommon.[citation needed]
The areas over which Carlism could establish some sort of territorial authority during the first war (Navarre,Rioja, the rural Basque Country, inner Catalonia, and northern Valencia) would remain the main bulwarks of Carlism throughout its history, although there were active supporters of the movement everywhere else in Spain. Especially in Navarre, Asturias, and parts of the Basque Provinces Carlism remained a significant political force until the late 1960s.
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The loss of prestige and subsequent fall of Isabel II in 1868, plus the staunch support of Carlism by PopePius IX, led a sizable number of former Isabelline conservative Catholics (e.g.,Francisco Navarro Villoslada,Antonio Aparisi,[5]Cándido Nocedal,Alejandro Pidal) to join the Carlist cause. For a time, even beyond the start of the third war (1872), it became the most important, and best organized, "right-wing" opposition group to the revolutionary regime, with some 90 members of parliament in 1871.
After the defeat,[clarification needed] a group (led by Alejandro Pidal) left Carlism to form a moderate, non-dynastic Catholic party in Spain, which later merged with the conservatives ofAntonio Cánovas del Castillo.
In 1879 Cándido Nocedal was charged with the reorganization of the party. His main weapon was a very aggressive press (in 1883 PopeLeo XIII published the encyclicalCum multa, trying to moderate it). His stance was an uncompromising adherence to the Carlists' political and, especially, religious principles (hence the term "integrist"). This tendency became so radical that in 1888, Carlos VII had to expel the group centred aroundRamón Nocedal, Cándido's son, which thus gave rise to another small, but in clerical circles influential,Integrist Party.
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Meanwhile,Marquis de Cerralbo built up a modern mass party, centered around the local assemblies (called "Círculos", of which several hundred existed throughout Spain in 1936) and their social action programmes, and in active opposition to the political system of the Restoration (participating even in broad coalitions, such as 1907's "Solidaritat Catalana", with regionalists and republicans). Duringelectoral campaigns the Carlists,except Navarre, achieved little success.
From 1893 to 1918,Juan Vázquez de Mella was its most important parliamentary leader and ideologue, seconded byVíctor Pradera, who had wide influence on Spanish conservative thinking beyond the party.World War I had a special influence on Carlism. As the Carlist claimant, thenJaime, Duke of Madrid, had close ties to theRussian Imperial Family, had been mistreated by Austrian EmperorFranz Josef, and was also Head of the House of Bourbon, he favoured theAllies, but was living under house arrest in Austria, atSchloss Frohsdorf, with almost no communication with the political leadership in Spain.[citation needed] As the war ended and Don Jaime could again freely communicate with Spain, a crisis erupted, andVázquez de Mella and others had to leave the party's leadership (the so-called "Mellists").
In 1920, Carlism helped to found the "Sindicatos Libres" (Catholic Labour Unions) to counter the increased influence of leftist trade unions over the working class, clinging to a difficult balance between labour claims and the interests of the upper-class, to whom Carlism was so attached.Miguel Primo de Rivera's dictatorship (1923–1930) was opposed but ambiguously viewed by Carlism, which, like most parties, entered a period of slumber, only to be awakened by the coming of theSecond Republic in 1931. In the run-up to the proclamation of the Republic, the Carlists got together with the re-foundedBasque Nationalist Party within the pro-chartersCoalición Católico Fuerista in the core areas of Carlism, theBasque region, thus providing the springboard for the draft Basque Statute.
In October 1931, Carlist claimant to the Spanish throneDuke Jaime died. He was succeeded by the 82-year-old claimantAlfonso Carlos de Borbón, reuniting under him the integralists led byOlazábal 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 partyComunión 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 cults, as France did in 1905, an approach traditionalists could not stand.
TheComunión 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 most extreme proponent of these views wasJuan Vazquez de Mella, who argued that Jewish capital had financed the liberal revolution and was now behind the Communist revolution in order, in union with the "Muslim hordes" (even the nativetribesmen of the Rif fighting for their freedom), to destroy Christian civilization and impose a "Jewish tyranny on the world".[6] At the time, aRothschild-Marx link and a bridgehead laid over Spain was being cited in the far-right circles to found these claims.[7]
In Navarre, the main Carlist stronghold, the movement revolved around the newspaperEl Pensamiento Navarro, read almost exclusively by the clergy and second in circulation toElDiario de Navarra, another ultra-Conservative daily with an anti-Basque streak. The dormant paramilitaryRequeté of the early 20th century was activated. As early as May 1931,Jaime del Burgo (father of the 1979 UPNnamesake party leader) and otherJaimist young members organized arms smuggling fromEibar to distribute them among "defence" parties calledDecurias, counting on the financing of wealthy personalities (big landowners, etc.). In 1932, the first coup d'état attempt took place against the Republic in theSanjurjada, with a Carlist inspiration.[8]
TheOctober 1934 Revolution cost the life of the Carlist deputyMarcelino Oreja Elósegui, withManuel 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 defensiveDecurias of Navarre (deployed in party seats and churches), theRequeté grew into a well-trained and strongest offensive paramilitary group in Spain when Manuel Fal Condé took the reins. It numbered 30,000red berets (8,000 in Navarre and 22,000 in Andalusia).[9]
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The Carlist militia, theRequetés, had been receiving military training during theSecond Spanish Republic but had significant ideological differences with many of the conspiring generals.[10] With the July 1936 revolt and the ensuing Spanish Civil War, the Carlists fell naturally if uneasily on the side of theNationalist rebels.General Mola, known for his openness on his no-holds-barred, criminal approach,[11][12] had just been relocated away to Pamplona by the Republican authorities, ironically to the very heart of the far-right rebellion.
In May 1936, the General met withIgnacio Baleztena, a Navarrese Carlist figure at the head of theRequetés, offering the participation of 8,400 volunteers to support the uprising, turned into a counter-revolutionary reaction. The principles divide betweenManuel Fal Conde and Mola (basically aFalangist) almost broke the understanding for a Carlist allegiance to the coup on 4 July 1936. However, rebellious cooperation against the legitimate Republican government was restored by the intervention ofTomás Domínguez Arévalo, count of Rodezno.
The highest Carlist authority, Duke Alfonso Carlos, did not approve of the pact, but all the same, by then Mola was negotiating directly with the Carlist Navarre Council (Junta Navarra), one that opted for the support of the uprising. On 19 July, the state of war was declared in Pamplona and the Carlist corps (tercio) in the city took over. In a few days, just about all of Navarre was occupied by the military and theRequetés. There was no front.
Immediately the rebels, with a direct participation of theRequetés and the clergy (the Carlist core in Navarre), engaged in a brutal repression to stamp out dissent that affected all inconvenient, mildly progressive, or Basque nationalist inhabitants and personalities.[citation needed] The killing in the rearguard took a direct death toll (extrajudicial executions) ranging from 2,857[11] to 3,000[13] toc. 4,000.A bleak scene of social humiliation and submission ensued for those surviving.
The Carlists' prospects in Gipuzkoa and Biscay were not auspicious. The military coup failed, and Carlist units were overwhelmed by forces loyal to the Republic, i.e. different leftist forces and the Basque nationalists. Many crossed the front line to make themselves safe in the rebel zone, and added to the Carlist regiments in Álava and Navarre. Pamplona became the rebel launching point for theWar in the North.
On 8 December 1936, Fal Conde had to leave temporarily for Portugal after a major clash with Franco. On 19 April 1937 the Carlist political bloc was "unified" with theFalange under the pro-Franco, umbrella nationalist party,FET y de las JONS (Falange Española Tradicionalista de las Juntas de Ofensiva Nacional Sindicalista). Unwilling to leave the Nationalist movement, but unhappy with the merger, the new Carlist claimantJavier, prince de Borbón-Parma, condemned those Carlists who joined the new party. He was expelled from the country, while Fal Conde was not allowed to return to Spain until after the war. Low-level Carlists, with the notable exception of those in Navarre, generally distanced themselves from the workings of the new party and in many cases never joined at all.[14]
Henceforth, the mainstream kept an uncomfortable minority position inside the regime, more often than not at odds with its official policy, although the Ministry of Justice was thrice given to aloyal "Carlist" (who was accordingly expelled from the Traditionalist Communion). This time was also marred by the problem of succession and internal strife over Francoism. Carlist ministers in Franco's August 1939 cabinet included GeneralJosé Enrique Varela at army, andEsteban Bilbao at justice.[15] At the same time, two of nine seats in the Junta Política were given to Carlists. Of the hundred-member National Council of the FET, seven seats were occupied by Carlists.[16]
Carlists continued to clash with Falangists, notably in an incident atBilbao'sBasilica of Begoña on 16 August 1942. Accounts of the violence vary, but a Carlist rally (where some allegedly shouted anti-Franco slogans) was targeted by two grenades hurled by Falangists.[citation needed] While alleged fatalities and the number of those injured have long been disputed, the incident led to a shakeup of the Franco cabinet and the judicial conviction of six Falangists (one, Juan José Domínguez, was executed for the crime).[17]
In 1955, Fal Conde resigned as Jefe Delegado of the movement and was replaced byJosé María Valiente, who formally assumed the title in 1960. The change marked a shift from opposition to collaboration with Francoism, and the rapprochement ended in 1968 when Valiente left office. Franco recognized both the titles of nobility conceded by the Carlist claimants and those of the Isabelline branch. At his death, the movement was badly split, and unable to get wide public attention again. In 1971,Don Carlos Hugo, prince de Borbón-Parma founded the newCarlist Party based on theconfederalist vision forLas Españas ("the Spains") and socialistautogestion (then promoted inYugoslavia). AtMontejurra, on 9 May 1976, adherents of the old and new versions of Carlism brawled. Two Hugo supporters were killed by far-right militants, among whom wasStefano Delle Chiaie. The Carlist Party accused Hugo's younger brother,Don Sixto Enrique de Borbón-Parma, of aiding the militants, which collaboration the Traditionalist Communion denies.[18]
In thefirst democratic elections on 15 June 1977, only one Carlist senator was elected, journalist and writer Fidel Carazo fromSoria, who ran as an independent candidate. In the parliamentary elections of 1979, rightist Carlists integrated in the far-right coalitionUnión Nacional, which won a seat in the Cortes for Madrid; but the elected candidate was not himself a Carlist. The Carlists have since remained extra-parliamentary, obtaining only town council seats.
In 2002, Carlos Hugo donated the House's archives to theArchivo Histórico Nacional, which was protested by his brother Don Sixto Enrique and by all Carlist factions.[citation needed] Into the 21st century, there are three political organizations which claim the Carlist identity:
Theregnal numbers are those used by their supporters. While they were not proclaimed kings, they made use of some titles associated with the Spanish throne.[citation needed]
| Claimant | Portrait | Birth | Marriages | Death |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carlos, Count of Molina (Carlos V) (English: Charles V) 1833–1845 |  | 29 March 1788, Aranjuez son ofCarlos IV andMaria Luisa of Parma | Maria Francisca of Portugal September 1816 3 children Maria Teresa, Princess of Beira 1838 No children | 10 March 1855 Trieste aged 66 |
| Carlos, Count of Montemolin (Carlos VI) (English: Charles VI) 1845–1861 |  | 31 January 1818, Madrid son ofCarlos, Count of Molina andMaria Francisca of Portugal | Maria Carolina of Bourbon-Two Sicilies 10 July 1850 No children | 31 January 1861 Trieste aged 43 |
| Juan, Count of Montizón (Juan III) (English: John III) 1861–1868 |  | 15 May 1822, Aranjuez son ofCarlos, Count of Molina andMaria Francisca of Portugal | Beatrix of Austria-Este 6 February 1847 2 children Ellen Sarah Carter ? 2 children | 21 November 1887 Hove aged 65 |
| Carlos, Duke of Madrid (Carlos VII) (English: Charles VII) 1868–1909 |  | 30 March 1848,Ljubljana son ofJuan, Count of Montizón andBeatrix of Austria-Este | Margarita of Bourbon-Parma 4 February 1867 5 children Berthe de Rohan 28 April 1894 No children | 18 July 1909 Varese aged 61 |
| Jaime, Duke of Madrid (Jaime III) (English: James III) 1909–1931 |  | 27 June 1870,Vevey son ofCarlos, Duke of Madrid andMargarita of Bourbon-Parma | never married | 2 October 1931 Paris aged 61 |
| Alfonso Carlos, Duke of San Jaime (Alfonso Carlos I) (English: Alphonse Charles I) 1931–1936 |  | 12 September 1849 London son ofJuan, Count of Montizón andBeatrix of Austria-Este | Maria das Neves of Portugal 26 April 1871 1 child | 29 September 1936 Vienna aged 87 |
At the death of Alfonso Carlos in 1936 most Carlists supportedPrince Xavier of Bourbon-Parma whom Alfonso Carlos had named asregent of the Carlist Communion. A minority of Carlists supportedArchduke Karl Pius of Austria, Prince of Tuscany, a grandson through the female line of Carlos VII. A fringe movement of Carlists supportedAlfonso XIII, the exiled constitutional king of Spain, who was the senior male-line descendant of KingCharles IV, through his third sonFrancisco de Paula (whose eldest son Francisco de Asís had married his cousin Isabella II). The majority of Carlists, however, considered Alfonso disqualified because he did not share the Carlist ideals (and, importantly, because Spanish law[19] excluded from succession the descendants of those who commit treason against the king, as Carlists deem Alfonso's male-line ancestors to have done once Francisco de Paula recognized the reign of Isabella II). Many also regarded his descent as illegitimate, believing thatAlfonso XII's biological father was a lover of Queen Isabella's rather than her husband. Most of the following events happened under theregime of Francisco Franco, who skillfully played each faction off against the others.
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Prince Xavier of Bourbon-Parma (25 May 1889 – 7 May 1977), known in Spain asDon Javier de Borbón, had been named regent of the Carlist Communion by Alfonso Carlos in 1936 as the nearest member of the House of Bourbon who shared the Carlist ideals.
During theSecond World War, Prince Xavier returned to the Belgian army, where he had served duringWorld War I. He was demobilized and joined the Frenchmaquis. He was taken prisoner by theNazis and sent toNatzweiler andDachau concentration camp, where American troops liberated him in 1945. In 1952, Javier was proclaimed King of Spain, asserting Carlist legitimacy. Since the death of Alfonso Carlos, his successor by right ofagnatic primogeniture had yet to be determined.[citation needed] To do so, it was necessary to trace the patriline of Philip V to his seniormost descendant who was not excluded from the throne by law (for treason,morganatic marriage, birth out-of-wedlock and other reasons legally established in theNovísima Recopilación of 1805, in force at the time of the First Carlist War). In 1952, when all lines senior to the House of Bourbon-Parma were deemed excluded, the claim was taken up by Don Javier (descended fromPhilip, Duke of Parma, third son of Philip V).[21] Even though he was raised in the Carlist camp and named regent of the Carlist Communion in 1936, his proclamation as king later in 1956 was, it was asserted, not a political move based on ideology, but the consequence of dynastic legitimacy.[citation needed] He remained the Carlist claimant until his renunciation in 1975.
Therefore, we are faced with the last branch descending in a direct male line from DonFelipe V, through his son the Infante DonFelipe, Duke of Parma; his grandson the Infante DonFernando, also Duke of Parma, Plasencia and Guastalla; his great-grandson the Infante DonLuis, King of Etruria; his great-great-grandson the Infante DonCarlos Luis, successively King of Etruria, Duke of Lucca and Duke of Parma; his fourth grandson the Infante Don Carlos,Carlos III of Parma, and his fifth grandson the Infante DonRoberto, Duke of Parma, Plasencia and Guastalla, brother-in-law of DonCarlos VII by the marriage of this Monarch with his sister the Infanta DoñaMargarita (...) From the second marriage of Don Roberto twelve children were born, of whom the Most Serene Lord Infante DonSixto Fernando (the only male married morganatically) has died, and His Royal Highness the Infante DonFrancisco Javier Carlos, Duke of Parma is alive.
— Quién es el rey?: la actual sucesión dinástica en la monarquía española
Changes in the views of some in the Carlist movement polarized Javier's supporters between his two sons, Carlos Hugo and Sixto Enrique (and many more endorsing neither) in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Carlos Hugo turned organized Carlism into a socialist movement, while his brother Sixto Enrique (supported by his motherMadeleine de Bourbon-Busset) followed afar rightist course. In 1977, Sixto Enrique's supporters published a manifesto from Javier condemning Carlos Hugo. Several days later Carlos Hugo's supporters published a manifesto from Javier recognising Carlos Hugo as his heir.
Carlos Hugo, Duke of Parma (8 April 1930 – 18 August 2010), was the elder son of Xavier. He was a Carlist claimant from 1977 until his death. After alienating many Carlists by his attempts to approach Franco (1965–1967), Carlos Hugo switched to a leftistTitoist,workers' self-management socialist movement. In 1979 he accepted Spanish citizenship from KingJuan Carlos I and in 1980 he renounced his membership in the Partido Carlista, which he had created. Carlos Hugo had the support of a minority of Carlists including the Partido Carlista.[citation needed] He also excluded the Luxembourger branch of the family from Carlist succession due tounequal marriages by princes of that branch that were recognized as dynastic by the Grand Duke.
Prince Carlos, Duke of Parma (born 27 January 1970), is the elder son of Carlos Hugo. He inherited the Carlist claim on his father's death in 2010. Carlos has the support of a minority of Carlists including the Partido Carlista.[citation needed]
Prince Sixto Enrique of Bourbon-Parma (born 22 July 1940) claims to be the current regent of the Carlist Communion. He is known as the Duke of Aranjuez.
Don Sixto Enrique is supported by the minorityComunión Tradicionalista, and some others who believe that his elder brother Carlos Hugo was the rightful heir, but ineligible for the succession on account of his socialism. Sixto Enrique has never claimed to be Carlist king, in the hopes that one of his nephews will one day accept traditional Carlist values.[citation needed]
The eldest daughter ofInfante Carlos, Duke of Madrid, wasBlanca de Borbón y Borbón-Parma (1868–1949). She marriedArchduke Leopold Salvator of Austria (1863–1931). In 1943, one of their sons presented himself as a Carlist claimant in succession to his great-uncle Alfonso Carlos. Since this claim comes through a female line, it is rejected by most Carlists:[21]
However, the newspaper El Cruzado Español, inspired by the aforementioned elements, developed a campaign of agitation and confusion, and was thus disavowed and declared a dissident. During those days, an extravagant manifesto appeared, claiming that, with the death of DonJaime (whose leadership they had not defended during his lifetime), the sole and legitimate heir was the InfantaArchduchess Doña Blanca. In Zumárraga and Zaragoza, meetings took place at that time in which Doña Blanca's youngest son,Archduke Carlos Pío, were proclaimed, without further ado. These meetings had no impact thanks to the timely intervention of traditionalist figures who were aware of the maneuver. In view of this, some of those elements affected to abide by DonAlfonso Carlos. Now they deny the validity of his latest dispositions. However, any protest or declaration should have been made at that time. But in every respect, however veiled, he continued to diverge from the traditionalists afterward. On the occasion of Her Imperial and Royal Highness Archduchess Blanca's visit to Spain, this august princess disavowed her own son's candidacy. A few years were allowed to pass for this to be forgotten, and then the attack was resumed. (...) For Blanca to have a right to the throne as the closest female to the last reigning male, all Bourbon lines would have to be completely evacuated, or at least incapacitated, a situation quite different from reality.
— Fernando Polo, Quién es el rey?: la actual sucesión dinástica en la monarquía española
In 2012, SenatorIñaki Anasagasti of theBasque Country proposed the idea of creating a united Basque-Navarrese-Catalan monarchy with Archduke Dominic of Austria as its king.[24][25]
Alfonso XIII became the senior representative by primogeniture of the House of Bourbon at the death of Alfonso Carlos in 1936. He had reigned as the constitutional king of Spain as Alfonso XIII until his exile in 1931. He was the son of KingAlfonso XII, son ofFrancisco de Asis de Borbón, son ofInfante Francisco de Paula, the younger brother of Charles V. He was recognised as Carlist claimant by a small number of Carlists who considered the death of Alfonso Carlos an opportunity to reunite Spanish monarchists, both Carlist and Isabelline. Nonetheless, despite this apparently attractive opportunity, Francisco de Paula and his descendants were considered legally and morally excluded from the line of succession by many Carlists as traitors, according to the Spanish laws of succession as they stood in 1833 (and as defended by Carlists since then).[26] In 1941 Alfonso abdicated; he died two months later.
Alfonso's eldest son had died in 1938. His second sonInfante Jaime, Duke of Segovia had been pressured to renounce his rights to the constitutional succession in 1933. Both had married morganatically. King Alfonso's third son,DonJuan, Count of Barcelona was his chosen successor.
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Carlism or Traditionalism can be labelled as acounter-revolutionary movement. Carlism's intellectual landscape was a reaction against theLiberal, Radical, and anti-religious currents of theEnlightenment in Spain; in particular theBourbon Reforms, theconfiscation and sale of Church property by the State, the expulsion of thereligious orders, and Government bans onCatholic schools andClassical Christian education based on theTrivium. In this sense, it is akin to the French (Legitimism) andJoseph de Maistre's thinking, but it also bears a close similarity with theJacobitism of theBritish Isles. It is difficult to give an accurate description of Carlist thinking for several reasons:
While Carlism and Falangism had certain similarities—social conservatism,Catholic social teaching,anti-Marxism, and beginning the reversal of theSecularization ofSpanish culture by overturning anti-Catholic laws and policies that began with theSuppression of the Jesuits and theBourbon Reforms in the 18th-century—there were also stark differences between the two movements. Most significant, Falangism called for a strongcentralized government,coerciveHispanization through the educational system, andSpanish nationalism, Carlism was more supportive of thefueros, preserving and reviving regional traditions,linguistic rights for localheritage languages, and regional autonomy were their main tenets. Carlism also supportsSalic Law regarding royal succession to the Spanish throne and accordingly count asLegitimists.
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These four words (which can be translated as God, Fatherland, Local Rule, and King), have been the motto and cornerstone of Carlism throughout its existence. What Carlism understood by these was:
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The term "carlistas" when applied to followers of Carlos Maria Isidro emerged in the mid-1820s and has even filtered out to public discourse overseas.[33] Following outbreak of thecivil war in 1833 the liberal and pro-government press started to use the denomination commonly, though initially also the name of "carlinos" remained in circulation,[34] along expressions like "facciosos",[35] "rebeldes",[36] somewhat less frequent "absolutistas"[37] and other denominations, often intended as insults. The followers of Carlos Maria initially did not use the term, and preferred to refer to themselves in general terms as defenders of faith, monarchy, traditional order and/or legitimism; they cautiously started to accept the name in the 1840s.[38] Gradually in the Isabelline period the term became common and used universally, also by the Carlists themselves. In 1909–1931 the movement was often referred to as "Jaimismo"/"Jaimistas", as the claimantDon Jaime exceptionally did not bear the iconic name of Carlos.
In the late 19th century a related but not equivalent term "tradicionalistas" entered into circulation and was also applied either to the movement in general or to some of its factions in particular;[39] however, in press usage until the fall of the monarchy in 1931 "carlistas"/"carlismo" was 7 times more popular than "tradicionalistas"/"tradicionalismo".[40] During the republican period of 1931–1936 public usage changed; "tradicionalistas"/"tradicionalismo" were used 2–3 times more frequently than "carlistas"/"carlismo", though the former assumed somewhat broader connotation.[41] In the Francoist era of 1939–1975 the press, tightly censored especially until the mid-1960s, gave slight precedence to "carlistas" vs "tradicionalistas"[42] and to "tradicionalismo" vs "carlismo".[43] For the post-Francoist period there is no representative statistics available.[44] Currently in historiography and political science there is little agreement as to mutual relationship between "traditionalism" and "carlism".[45]
Until the late 1860s, the Carlist movement did not assume a formal structure. Shortly before the outbreak of theThird Carlist War the first Carlist political organization emerged; during the following 160 years the mainstream movement was embodied into various political entities, some of them loose and with somewhat different names adopted locally.[46] Relatively little significance was attached to organization, as Carlists considered themselves a broad social movement which in a sense was antithetical to a party. Splinter factions used to build their own structures, and the names of these evolved as well,[47] some names were re-cycled[48] and in popular discourse various alternate, informal or incorrect formal names have been used.[49] Differences between informal and formal names have been often disregarded.[50] The result was naming confusion, e.g. in the early 20th century 48% of press references featured "partido carlista" or "Partido Carlista", 18% featured "Partido Tradicionalista", 15% featured "Partido Jaimista" and 13% "Comunión Tradicionalista", plus at least 4 other denominations in circulation. In the mid-1930s the claimant Alfonso Carlos intended to introduce some discipline and declared that the only formal name be this of "Comunión Tradicionalista Carlista",[51] but he later himself referred to "Comunión Católico-Monárquico-Legitimista".[52] Statistical summary of frequency of various names as in press usage is reviewed in the below table.[53]
| period | CCM[54] | CJ[55] | CL[56] | CT[57] | CTC[58] | PC[59] | PCM[60] | PJ[61] | PT[62] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1860–1879 | 242 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 6807 | 117 | 0 | 143 |
| 1880–1899 | 686 | 0 | 3 | 1449 | 0 | 9947 | 82 | 3 | 2348 |
| 1900–1919 | 210 | 227 | 183 | 1390 | 0 | 5260 | 21 | 1601 | 1958 |
| 1920–1939 | 210 | 24 | 44 | 2671 | 7 | 362 | 5 | 257 | 1114 |
| 1940–1959 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 179 | 1 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 16 |
| 1960–1979 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 954 | 68 | 3726 | 4 | 1 | 17 |
| total | 1355 | 251 | 235 | 6646 | 76 | 26109 | 231 | 1864 | 5686 |
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The liberal Spanish journalistMariano José de Larra opposed Carlism and published several lampoons against it.Nadie pase sin hablar al portero (1833) presents Carlists as a bunch of bandit priests.[63]Ernest Hemingway refers to Carlism inFor Whom the Bell Tolls. He mentions two fascists and says, "They were Carlists from Navarra".[citation needed]Francisco Navarro-Villoslada was a Carlist writer that published ahistoric novel,Amaya o los vascos en el siglo VIII, in the fashion ofWalter Scott, presenting the legendary origins of Spanish monarchy as the start ofReconquista.[citation needed]The Arrow of Gold byJoseph Conrad is set against the background of the third Carlist war.[citation needed]
Ramón María del Valle-Inclán, novelist, poet and playwright, was a member of theSpanish Generation of 1898. He wrote novels about Carlism and was an active Carlist himself.[citation needed]Pío Baroja wrote a novel,Zalacaín el aventurero (Zalacain the Adventurer), set during the Third Carlist War, and referred to Carlism in an unfavourable light in several other works.[citation needed] The Spanish philosopherMiguel de Unamuno suffered as a child the siege ofBilbao during theThird Carlist War. Later he wrote a novelPaz en la guerra about that time. In 1895 he wrote toJoaquín Costa about his plans for an essay on the "intrahistoric" element of rural socialism within the Carlist masses.[citation needed] The American conservative writer andNational Review columnist,L. Brent Bozell Jr., sympathized with Carlism andFrancoism and considered Spanish Catholic authoritarianism to be preferable to American democracy.[64]
Objetivamente considerado, el Carlismo aparece como un movimiento político. Surgió al amparo de una bandera dinástica que se proclamó a sí misma «legitimista», y que se alzó a la muerte de Fernando VII, en el año 1833, con bastante eco y arraigo popular, ... se distinguen en él esas tres bases cardinales que lo definen. a) Una bandera dinástica: Una continuidad histórica: Y una doctrina jurídico-política:
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