page_title: Manuel Fal Conde
section_title: Insurgency and unification
hierarchical_section_title: Manuel Fal Conde / Insurgency and unification
caption_attribution_description: Español: Portada de El Siglo Futuro del 8 de abril de 1936
context_page_description: Manuel Fal Conde, 1st Duke of Quintillo was a Spanish Catholic activist and a Carlist politician. He is recognized as a leading figure in the history of Carlism, serving as its political leader for over 20 years and heading the movement during one of its most turbulent periods. Initially he led the belligerent faction pressing anti-Republican insurgency; during the Spanish Civil War he joined the Nationalists; later on he championed anti-Francoist strategy.
context_section_description: Convinced that in the battle against democracy Carlists must strike first, Fal threw himself into wartime preparations; his initial plan was abandoned in April 1936. He envisaged a purely Carlist insurrection with conditional assistance of the army. Fal placed his bets on Sanjurjo, who agreed to lead the rising. Talks with Mola proved unsuccessful. The general refused to accept Fal's conditions, which aimed at toppling the Republic and installing Traditionalist monarchy. However, Mola opened parallel negotiations with the Navarrese. Led by Rodezno, the latter bypassed Fal and were keen to commit local Requeté to a joint insurgency with almost no strings attached. Though at that point Fal considered dismissing the entire Navarrese junta, he decided not to risk open confrontation; Rodezno and his entourage outmaneuvered him and elicited hesitant approval from the royal envoy, Don Javier.
  Upon the outbreak of hostilities Fal headed the new Carlist wartime executive, Junta Nacional Carlista de Guerra, and had to acknowledge that instead of being equal partner, Carlism was getting reduced to a junior role. His position was already precarious. Death of Sanjurjo deprived him of a key ally among the generals. Death of Alfonso Carlos left the movement with no king and made dissent easier. The Navarrese set up their own Junta Central Carlista de Guerra de Navarra, which emerged as a competitive, though theoretically only regional body, and kept bypassing Fal; Carlist executive was decomposing. As Requeté units, the key Carlist argument, unconditionally left at generals’ disposal were dispersed among various fronts, Carlism – in line with Fal's worst nightmares – was indeed getting dominated by its alliance partners. During the outbreak of the Nationalist uprising in Navarre, a mass killing was conducted by the insurgents against all civilian dissidence in the Navarre rearguard, taking a death toll of circa 3,000. Fal's attitude towards the Republicans is subject to conflicting accounts. Some maintain that he was the instigator of bloody repressions, also directed against the clergy with Basque nationalist sympathies, while others claim exactly the opposite, namely that he did his best to prevent executions. Discussion related to the Carlist - and, due to his political leadership, also Fal's personal responsibility for nationalist atrocities committed in the rearguard is not conclusive.
  To enhance Carlist position versus the military Fal launched two new projects in November. The first one was Obra Nacional Corporativa, general labor organization, another one was Military Academy, intended to train Carlist command cadres. Uncomfortable with Fal's independent stance, Franco summoned him to Burgos in early December and presented with the choice between exile and firing squad. Rodezno-dominated Junta Nacional advocated compliance and Fal left Spain for Lisbon, remaining official though increasingly theoretical Carlist leader.
  Faced with unification pressure Fal did not dismiss such a perspective, but talking to fellow Traditionalists in Insua he insisted it should be completed on Carlist terms, reiterating this position also during February talks with Falangists. At meetings in Burgos (March) and Pamplona (April), unattended by Fal, the balance tilted towards Rodeznistas, ready to accept Franco's terms of amalgamation. They presented Don Javier with an ultimatum and ensured that he at least did not object. Following Unification Decree Fal was passed over as leader of a technically non-existent movement. Initially he did not protest and even advised to comply. Despite olive branch offered by Franco – including a ministerial job or seat in Consejo Nacional – he politely refused to join. His exile was lifted in October 1937. He eventually abandoned quiet in favor of direct counter-action, suggesting to Don Javier that all those accepting seats in the FET executive be expelled; the regent acted on his advice. Unification turned into Falangist absorption of Carlist offshoots.
caption: Alfonso Carlos and Don Javier, April 1936
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