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Alfonso XIII was forced to leave Spain in 1931 General Franco did not protest. Throughout Rebel Spain radios continued for weeks to end their programs with "Viva la República!" Although General Franco has since consistently placated his monarchist supporters by talking vaguely of restoration, the odds are that such an ambitious general will want no throne around when he finally gets down to the job of governing all Spain.
Changes. If the general aims of the original rebellion were simply to restore the Army clique to power, as soon as the rebellion became a prolonged civil war, aims had to be expanded to obtain additional supporters. While social revolution of the most violent kind occurred in Loyalist Spain during the war, scarcely less fundamental changes have taken place in Franco territory.
The chief supporters of General Franco's administrations have been:1) the Carlistas or Requetés, 2) the Falangistas, or Spanish Phalanx. The Requetés are monarchists, devout Catholics, traditionalists in every sense of the word. The Falangistas have modeled their organization after the German Nazis and the Italian Fascists, believe in a broad and wide social reorganization.
Most numerous and most zealous Rebel troops at the war's start were the Requetes. Coming from the North, they fought each other tooth and toenail until Madrid, Basque and Aragon campaigns until a large proportion of them were killed. The Falange, on the other hand, was less zealous about fighting at the front, more anxious to help back of the lines. When Generalissimo Franco first moved from Seville to Badajoz, then to Burgos, the Falangistas were left behind to patrol the cities.
Suffering fewer casualties at the front, the Falange soon overtook in membership and influence the Requetés until today they are the dominant group in New Spain, numbering some 3,000,000 members as against 800,000 Carlistas. The two groups fought each other tooth and toenail until Generalissimo Franco took a hand and consolidated them into one organization, but they nevertheless remain separate parts of the same nominal party—the Falange Espanola Tradicionalista de las Jons, known for short as the F. E. T.
With the tide of Fascism coming in fast, it would be impossible for Dictator Franco to ignore it. Moreover, he has often expressed his admiration for the totalitarian way of government. Although by no means an eloquent speaker and a poor subject to interview, visitors returning from Rebel Spain report that his popularity is rising high with his military successes. Thirty-two months ago, when he began his long drive to turn the Popular Front Government at Madrid out of office, he never dreamed that he would be anything but the head of a military junta. Since that time Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler have given him some valu able advice and object lessons on dealing with big powers like England and France.
He has also learned much about governing a State. But henceforth as the head of a State, instead of a mere military man, his troubles are just beginning. It remains doubtful whether the little mustached Generalissimo will ever come up to the calibre of his German and Italian mentors, but with further coaching and support from his Fascist friends, he may be able to hold on to his job for years. The friends hope so.