Falange y el nombramiento de gobernadores civiles durante el segundo mandato de Arrese (1956-1957)

Abstract

There is a widespread historiographical agreement on the relevance of civil governments in the imposition of the Franco dictatorship’s policies in the provinces, so the governors have a great presence in many studies on the articulation of the regime in the periphery. However, we do not know much about the way the dismissals and the appointments of the governors (also provincial leaders of the single-party) were developed. In fact, the mistake of attributing such appointment solely to the Ministry of the Interior has been frequent, which according to some interpretations proves the defeat of the party as subordinate to the State. For this reason, this article explores this appointment policy, using the archive of Diego Salas Pombo, Vicesecretario General del Movimiento (1956-1957). The research in that archive allows us to know how the appointments were managed and the profile of the candidates valued for such positions, mainly proposed by the Secretaría General del Movimiento. The results show that fet-jons always sought control of civil governments and provincial leadership of the party, entrusting such positions to addicted men, generally faithful Falangists, whether they were exponents of the old guard or militants closely linked to the party apparatus, including some cadres from its youth branches. This policy, a continuation of the one that had been observed since the early 1940s, allowed fet-jons to have a considerable control over civil governments and, through them, over politics in the provinces during the first half of Franco regime.