page_title: Carlo-francoism
section_title: Personal Trajectories
hierarchical_section_title: Carlo-francoism / Personal Trajectories
caption_attribution_description: Español: Título original: Acto de la Falange celebrado en un salón de La Perla del Océano (3/3) Localización: San Sebastián (Guipúzcoa)
context_page_description: Carlo-francoism was a branch of Carlism which actively engaged in the regime of Francisco Franco. Though mainstream Carlism retained independent stand, many Carlist militants on their own assumed various roles in the Francoist system, e.g. as members of the FET executive, Cortes procuradores, or civil governors. The Traditionalist political faction of the Francoist regime issued from Carlism particularly held tight control over the Ministry of Justice. They have never formed an organized structure, their dynastical allegiances remained heterogeneous and their specific political objectives might have differed. Within the Francoist power strata, the carlo-francoists remained a minority faction that controlled some 5% of key posts; they failed to shape the regime and at best served as counter-balance to other groupings competing for power.
  In Spanish the term appears in scientific narrative, though it is mostly used as a derogatory designation intended to stigmatize and abuse; the related name of carlofranquistas has filtered out from Spanish historiography and public discourse into the English academic language.
context_section_description: It is close to impossible to sketch a typical path of a Carlist engaged in Francoism. Personal careers differed widely, from time of access to level of enthusiasm to political success or failure. Moreover, numerous carlo-francoists did not maintain a consistent stand during almost 40 years of the Franco regime; many demonstrated a vacillating approach, marked by varying modes of engagement or even by erratic twists and turns of their careers.
  A significant group of recognized personalities who landed top jobs in the late 1930s in few years were already no longer associated with the official policy. Some got increasingly disappointed with the emerging system and resigned, up to total withdrawal into privacy; some were sidetracked to marginal roles by political opponents; some were totally ousted and persecuted, up to the point of serving jail sentences. A large group scaled down their engagement in the system; having earlier been chief promoters of unification, they later preferred to remain at arms-length and pursued their own objectives. There were cases of grand returns, marked first by engagement, then by marginalization, and then by re-engagement, at times including assumption of top state jobs. Some individuals re-engaged to dismantle the system from within; some re-engaged to abandon the officialdom again and to work to other political ends.
  There were examples of political transformation in the opposite direction, when opponents to Francoism later joined its official structures. Some individuals outwardly rejected high ministerial jobs in the 1940s but were aspiring to them in the 1960s; when eventually assuming prestigious posts they could have adhered to Francoist orthodoxy or they could have advanced own political schemes. In few cases the U-turn performed was dramatic, as most zealous adversaries of the system turned into its most zealous advocates. There were individuals who resigned jobs in Carlism as a measure of disagreement with unification and were jailed or exiled, but some 20 years later they neared the regime; they not only landed prestigious jobs, but also emerged as most vociferous advocates of Francoism during its terminal years, speaking out against the commencing transición.
  Last but not least, a large fraction of carlo-francoists maintained a fairly constant stand. Very often it boiled down to amalgamation into Francoist structures. With focus on ongoing administrative work, their political activities were reduced to hardly visible minimum; this was the case especially of mid-level officials and military men. Most of them got consumed by routine and advancing in age, ended up as colorless bureaucrats. Some recorded periods of more intense militancy interchanging with dormant decades spent on day-to-day routine tasks. Some for most of the time remained somewhat lukewarm participants; undecided whether to engage or to withdraw, they refused major jobs and for years performed second-row roles. Some became public faces of the regime and started to demonstrate dissent no earlier than on retirement. Few, following decades at minor positions, grew to more important roles, e.g. as mayors of provincial capitals or assuming high jobs in central administration. Finally, some having entered the regime identified with it totally and throughout the rest of their career remained militant Francoists, engaged in eradicating perceived opposition or groupings deemed not sufficiently loyal to caudillo.
caption: Carlist and Nazi emblems
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