Popular Action (Spain)
Encyclopedia
Popular Action was a Spanish
Roman Catholic
political party active during the Second Spanish Republic
.
The group was formed after the fall of the monarchy in order to defend the interests of Roman Catholics in the new Spanish Republic. It emanated from the Asociación Católica Nacional de Propagandistas and effectively formed a political party based around this hard-line monarchist
movement. The main leader of Popular Action was editor of El Debate
and future cardinal Ángel Herrera Oria
.
Popular Action failed to gain much popular support and after the party suffered heavy losses in the 1931 elections
a rethink of their structure and relationship with other monarchists followed. The group thus became the core of the monarchist party the Spanish Confederation of the Autonomous Right
(CEDA) when it was established in 1933.
Even after the formation of CEDA the party's youth movement, Juventudes de Acción Popular (commonly known as the Greenshirts) continued to organise. However in the spring of 1936 the decline of Popular Action was underlined when 15,000 Greenshirts left the movement to join the Falange
instead. On the eve of the Spanish Civil War
Popular Action had around 12,000 members. When Francisco Franco
announced his decree establishing the Falange Española de las Juntas de Ofensiva Nacional Sindicalista on 19 April 1937 Popular Action was one of a number of parties absorbed into this new pan-right
group.
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
Roman Catholic
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
political party active during the Second Spanish Republic
Second Spanish Republic
The Second Spanish Republic was the government of Spain between April 14 1931, and its destruction by a military rebellion, led by General Francisco Franco....
.
The group was formed after the fall of the monarchy in order to defend the interests of Roman Catholics in the new Spanish Republic. It emanated from the Asociación Católica Nacional de Propagandistas and effectively formed a political party based around this hard-line monarchist
Monarchism
Monarchism is the advocacy of the establishment, preservation, or restoration of a monarchy as a form of government in a nation. A monarchist is an individual who supports this form of government out of principle, independent from the person, the Monarch.In this system, the Monarch may be the...
movement. The main leader of Popular Action was editor of El Debate
El Debate
El Debate is a defunct Spanish Catholic daily newspaper, published in Madrid between 1910 and 1936. It was the most important Catholic newspaper of its time in Spain....
and future cardinal Ángel Herrera Oria
Ángel Herrera Oria
Ángel Herrera Oria was a Spanish journalist, Catholic lay leader, politician and later priest, bishop and cardinal...
.
Popular Action failed to gain much popular support and after the party suffered heavy losses in the 1931 elections
Spanish general election, 1931
-Background:General Primo de Rivera, who had run a military dictatorship in Spain since 1923, resigned as head of government in January 1930. There was little support for a return to the pre-1923 system, and the monarchy had lost credibility by backing the military government...
a rethink of their structure and relationship with other monarchists followed. The group thus became the core of the monarchist party the Spanish Confederation of the Autonomous Right
Spanish Confederation of the Autonomous Right
The Spanish Confederation of the Autonomous Right was a Spanish political party in the Second Spanish Republic. A Catholic conservative force, it was the political heir to Angel Herrera Oria's Acción Popular and defined itself in terms of the 'affirmation and defence of the principles of Christian...
(CEDA) when it was established in 1933.
Even after the formation of CEDA the party's youth movement, Juventudes de Acción Popular (commonly known as the Greenshirts) continued to organise. However in the spring of 1936 the decline of Popular Action was underlined when 15,000 Greenshirts left the movement to join the Falange
Falange
The Spanish Phalanx of the Assemblies of the National Syndicalist Offensive , known simply as the Falange, is the name assigned to several political movements and parties dating from the 1930s, most particularly the original fascist movement in Spain. The word means phalanx formation in Spanish....
instead. On the eve of the Spanish Civil War
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...
Popular Action had around 12,000 members. When Francisco Franco
Francisco Franco
Francisco Franco y Bahamonde was a Spanish general, dictator and head of state of Spain from October 1936 , and de facto regent of the nominally restored Kingdom of Spain from 1947 until his death in November, 1975...
announced his decree establishing the Falange Española de las Juntas de Ofensiva Nacional Sindicalista on 19 April 1937 Popular Action was one of a number of parties absorbed into this new pan-right
Right-wing politics
In politics, Right, right-wing and rightist generally refer to support for a hierarchical society justified on the basis of an appeal to natural law or tradition. To varying degrees, the Right rejects the egalitarian objectives of left-wing politics, claiming that the imposition of equality is...
group.