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TheMovimiento Nacional (English:National Movement) was a governing institution of Spain established by GeneralFrancisco Franco during theSpanish Civil War in 1937. DuringFrancoist rule in Spain, it purported to be the only channel of participation in Spanish public life.[1] It responded to a doctrine ofcorporatism in which only so-called "natural entities" could express themselves: families, municipalities and unions. It was abolished in 1977.
The Movimiento Nacional was primarily composed of:
The National Movement was led byFrancisco Franco, titledJefe del Movimiento (English: Chief of the Movement), assisted by a "Minister-Secretary General of the Movement". The hierarchy extended itself to all of the country, with a "local chief of the movement" named in each village.
People who strongly identified with the Movimiento Nacional were colloquially known asFalangistas orAzules ("Blues"), from the colour of the shirts worn by theFalange Militia,José Antonio Primo de Rivera'sfascist organization created during theSecond Spanish Republic.Camisas viejas (Old shirts) enjoyed the honour of being historical members of the Falange, compared toCamisas nuevas (New shirts), who could be accused ofopportunism.
The ideology of the Movimiento Nacional was summed up by theslogan¡Una, Grande y Libre!, which stood for the indivisibility of the Spanish state and the refusal of anyregionalism ordecentralization, its imperial character, both past (the defunctSpanish Empire in theAmericas) and foreseen (inAfrica), and its independence towards the purported "Judeo-Masonic-Marxistinternational conspiracy" (a personal obsession of Franco), materialized by theSoviet Union, the European democracies, the United States (until thePact of Madrid of 1953), or the "exterior enemy" which could threaten the nation at any time; as well as towards the long list of "internal enemies", like "anti-Spanish", "reds", "separatists", "liberals", "Jews" and "Freemasons", among others, coining expressions like"judeomarxistas".
Since one-party rule was enforced inFrancoist Spain, the only practical expression ofpluralism consisted in the mixture of internal "families" (Familias del Regimen) competing together inside the National Movement. These roughly included four "families" with a genealogy tracing back to the right-wing political groups in the interwar period: theFalangists (orazules, originally from the FascistFE de las JONS), with a preeminence over FET y de las JONS, theSpanish Syndical Organization (OSE), and the "social" government areas; theCarlists (issued fromTraditionalist Communion), who held a tight control over theMinistry of Justice; the monarchistAlfonsines (issued fromRenovación Española andAcción Española), well connected to the economic elites and the military command; and theNational Catholics, "Catholics" in the sense of closely linked topolitically Catholicist entities serving theChurch's interests (issued fromCEDA), embodied by theAsociación Católica de Propagandistas (ACNP).[2] In addition, a new family emerged in the 1950s, thetechnocrats, conservatives linked to theOpus Dei who embraced a businesslike approach to the administration of the State.[2]
Franco held his power by balancing these internal rivalries, cautious not to show any favoritism to any of them nor compromise himself too much to anyone.
Fractions of those families eventually migrated to dissident stances. These included examples such as the intermittent dissent of a part of theAlfonsist monarchists who vouched for an immediate coronation ofJuan de Borbón as king, as well as sizeable part of the Catholicist family joining by late Francoism the opposition to the dictatorship subsumed withinChristian democratic groups.[3]
| No. | Portrait | Name (Birth–Death) | Term | Political party | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Took office | Left office | Time in office | ||||
| 1 |  | Raimundo Fernández-Cuesta (1896–1992) | 4 December 1937 | 9 August 1939 | 1 year, 248 days | National Movement |
| 2 | .jpg) | Agustín Muñoz Grandes (1896–1970) | 9 August 1939 | 16 March 1940 | 220 days | National Movement |
| Position vacant (16 March 1940 – 19 May 1941) | ||||||
| 3 |  | José Luis de Arrese (1905–1986) | 19 May 1941 | 20 July 1945 | 4 years, 62 days | National Movement |
| Position vacant (20 July 1945 – 5 November 1948) | ||||||
| (1) | | Raimundo Fernández-Cuesta (1896–1992) | 5 November 1948 | 15 February 1956 | 7 years, 102 days | National Movement |
| (3) | | José Luis de Arrese (1905–1986) | 15 February 1956 | 25 February 1957 | 1 year, 10 days | National Movement |
| 4 | _Discurso_del_ministro_del_Movimiento_Jos%25C3%25A9_Sol%25C3%25ADs_en_el_cincuentenario_del_Cabildo_de_Gran_Canaria_(cropped).jpg) | José Solís Ruiz (1913–1990) | 25 February 1957 | 29 October 1969 | 12 years, 246 days | National Movement |
| 5 |  | Torcuato Fernández-Miranda (1915–1980) | 29 October 1969 | 3 January 1974 | 4 years, 66 days | National Movement |
| 6 |  | José Utrera Molina (1926–2017) | 3 January 1974 | 11 March 1975 | 1 year, 67 days | National Movement |
| 7 | | Fernando Herrero Tejedor (1920–1975) | 11 March 1975 | 12 June 1975 † | 93 days | National Movement |
| (4) | | José Solís Ruiz (1913–1990) | 13 June 1975 | 11 December 1975 | 181 days | National Movement |
| 8 | .jpg) | Adolfo Suárez (1932–2014) | 12 December 1975 | 6 July 1976 | 207 days | National Movement |
| 9 | | Ignacio García López (1924–2017) | 7 July 1976 | 13 April 1977 | 280 days | National Movement |
| Election | Leading candidate | Cortes Españolas | Government | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | Seats | +/– | |||
| 1967 | Francisco Franco | 564 / 564 |  0 | Sole legal party | ||
| 1971 | 7,294,134 | 100.00 | 561 / 561 |  3 | Sole legal party | |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
