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,
Spanish Patriotic Union Spanish Patriotic Union The Spanish Patriotic Union (, UPE) was the political party created from above by Spanish dictator Miguel Primo de Rivera, conceived as a support to his conservative dictatorship and integrating political catholicism, technocrats, and the business-owning classes. The party's power was dependent upon the power of its founder and leader, not any popular mandate. Following the dismissal of Miguel Primo de Rivera in January 1930 by King Alfonso XIII, the party was succeeded by the "Unión Monárquica Nacional" ("National Monarchist Union"). There is no reliable information on membership figures. The party review "Unión Patriótica" claimed in 1927