Symbols of Francoism right and extreme left, often degenerating into violence. On the right, the traditionalist Carlist movement revived. In 1933, the aristocratic José Antonio Primo de Rivera, son of the former dictator, founded the far-right Falange movement, similar to the Italian Fascists. In February 1934 the Falange merged with the "Juntas de Ofensiva Nacional-Sindicalista" (J.O.N.S), another right-wing group. Left-wing trade unions staged industry-wide or citywide strikes, and in Catalonia Marxist and Anarchist groups competed for power. Landless laborers seized land, occupied estates and burned churches. At a time of political crisis, on 17 July 1936, General Francisco Franco led the Spanish colonial
Miguel Primo de Rivera After his death, his son, José Antonio Primo de Rivera, played an important role in the development of fascism in Spain. It was under Primo de Rivera's rule that Francisco Franco was promoted to general, the youngest holding this high rank in Europe. Miguel Primo de Rivera was born into a landowning military family of Jerez de la Frontera. His father was a retired colonel. His uncle, Fernando, was Captain General in Madrid and the soon-to-be first marquess of Estella. Fernando later participated in the plot to restore the constitutional monarchy in 1875, ending the tumultuous First Republic. His great-grandfather