Page 175 - Fascism: The Bloody Ideology Of Darwinsim

Fascism's Hatred Of Religion 175

1933. The party was established by a fascist ideologue called Jose Antonio
Primo de Rivera, in imitation of Italian fascism, and was opposed to
democracy, the Constitution, leftist movements and the Church. In fact, the
word "Falange" (Phalanx in Spanish) was a martial concept taken from pagan
cultures. The name referred to the arrangement of a regiment of soldiers, as
practiced first in ancient Sumeria, and then in ancient Greece and Rome.
General Franco, the commander-in-chief of the Spanish army at the time, took
over control of the Falange party in 1936, when the civil war erupted as a result
of fighting between right and left in the country. However, he softened the
party's anti-religious stance, in an attempt to make his brand of fascism appear
compatible with religion.
Franco waged a particularly bloody civil war, not hesitating even to
bomb civilians when he thought it necessary. He won the three-year war in
1939, and the dictatorship he set up afterwards lasted until the 1970s. In order
to maintain the regime, he pursued policies to ensure the support of the
Catholic Church. At the same time, the Church was given a capitalistic role in
the economic life of the country. Franco's approach was always to defend the

Throughout his time in power, Franco forbade the development of any religious
sentiments he may have considered at odds with the principles of the fascist state.
He turned the Church away from its true principles, and made it a supporter of his
fascist regime.