Falange Española de las JONS the Second Spanish Republic. Expanding rapidly from several thousand to several hundred thousand members, the Falange's male membership was accompanied by a female auxiliary, the "Sección Femenina". Led by José Antonio's sister Pilar, this latter subsidiary organization claimed more than a half million members by the end of the Civil War and provided nursing and support services for the Nationalist forces. The command of the party rested upon Manuel Hedilla as many of the first generation leaders were dead or incarcerated by the Republicans. Among them was José Antonio Primo de Rivera, who was a Government prisoner. As a result,
Miguel Primo de Rivera to legitimize itself or to solve the country's woes, the king also began to draw away. Alfonso, who had sponsored the establishment of Madrid's University City, watched with dismay as the country's students took to the streets to protest the dictatorship and the king's support for it. A clandestine pamphlet portrayed Alfonso as Primo de Rivera's dancing partner. Yet the king did not have to remove Primo de Rivera. On 26 January 1930, the dictator asked the military leaders if he still had their support. Their lukewarm responses, and his recognition that the king no longer backed him, persuaded him