José Antonio Primo de Rivera of one-party rule Falange preferred the formalities of a liberal democracy. The party had no formal view on religion other than to guarantee freedom of worship while at the same time acknowledging and affirming that Roman Catholicism was the historical religion of the Spanish people and its spiritual role in society was important to them. In Primo de Rivera's thinking the ultimate goal of the new political movement was the resurgence of Spain as a major power. Article 1 of the Falangist Manifesto of 1934 reads, We believe in the supreme reality of Spain. To strengthen her, to make her
Francisco Largo Caballero succeeded him as head of the party and of the UGT. Moderate in his positions at the beginning of his political life, he advocated maintaining a degree of UGT cooperation with the dictatorial government of General Miguel Primo de Rivera, which permitted the union to continue functioning under his military dictatorship (that lasted from 1923 to 1930). This was the start of his political conflict with Indalecio Prieto, who opposed all collaboration with the dictatorial regime. He was Minister of Labor Relations between 1931 and 1933, in the first governments of the Second Spanish Republic, headed by Niceto Alcalá-Zamora, and