FALANGE AND THE IRON GUARD

THE SPANISH FALANGE THROUGH ITS AGENTS IN BUCHAREST HELPED THE IRON GUARD STAGE A COUP D’ETAT TO REPLACE KING CAROL II , WITH Ion Antonescu AND Horia Sima. THE SPANISH AGENT PEDRO PRAT Y SOUTZO, INDOCTRINATED CODREANU’S IRON GUARD, WITH FALANGIST IDEOLOGY, AND RECRUITED GENERAL on Antonescu TO BECOME A CARBON COPY ( CONDUCATORE ) OF GENERALISIMO FRANCO, “CAUDILLO” OF SPAIN. THE “FALANGE” TEAM OF AGENTS LED BY PEDRO PRAT Y SOUTZO, THE SPANISH AMBASSADOR TO ROMANIA, AND THE SUBSEQUENT TEAM OF FALANGE AGENTS, PROMPTED THE ANTONESCU REGIME AND APARATUS OF STATE TILL THE SURRENDER OF ROMANIA ON 23 AUGUST 1944.

Gen. Gheorghe Cantacuzino Grãnicerul, Corneliu Zelea Codreanu,Pedro Prat y Soutzo (asmbasadorul Spaniei la Bucuresti) si alte persoane oficiale întâmpinând trupurile celor doi eroi la sosirea lor în Gara de Nord din Bucuresti -Februarie 1937.

The Spanish Civil War was followed with special attention in a large number of countries, since the character of “class war” with which it was assumed constituted a reason for attraction of the first order. In Romania, where right-wing parties predominated, there was a bitter confrontation between the representative of the Government of the Republic, Manuel López Rey, and the envoy of the coup coalition, Pedro Prat y Soutzo. In this article we will study the instruments that each of these characters used to attract support in Eastern Europe, showing which publications and newspapers they used in this particular propaganda and diplomatic mission.Prat y Soutzo, Pedro de. Atena (Grecia), 23.6.1892 – Madrid, 16.11.1969. Diplomatic.

THE CONDITIONS OF DEPARTURE: ROMANIA AND THE SPANISH CIVIL WAR
When the armed conflict broke out in Spain, Romanian politics showed a clear predominance of right-wing tendencies. At the top of power was King Carol II, who had come to power in 1930 after a coup d'état, supported (much to his chagrin, as he wanted to position himself above them) by the liberal parties (at that time in the power) and agrarians (the National Peasant Party, led by Iuliu Maniu, stood out). From the left, both the Communist Party and social democracy.

National-Democratic Christian and in 1923 the anti-Semitic National Christian Defense League, which had its bases in the northeast of the country. The Transylvanian politician Octavian Goga, Minister of the Interior between 1926 and 1927, created the National Agrarian Party. From the union of the Cuza and Goga parties, the National Christian Party would emerge in 1939. These groups adjusted, with their nationalism and anti-Semitism, to the traditional formulas of right-wing parties. However, Cuza's program contained, in addition to obsessive anti-Semitism, demands regarding the unification of all Romanians in an ethnic national state in which foreigners would be excluded from political life, as well as confusing postulates on the improvement of farmers. This picture was completed by Cora's disciple, Corneliu Zelea Codreanu. In 1927, he established the Legion of the Archangel Michael, in the place of several small far-right organizations. In 1930 he founded a force of eleven chauvinism and anti-Semitism of the population, and spread anti-Marxist and anti-capitalist slogans. He promised the peasants equality; to the youth, a better world; Yet theThey were practically disjointed. The situation was very different with respect to fascist parties and organizations, which
 They posed a real threat to the
monarch and the Romanian Parliament. Since the twenties were in full swing, showing many of them
clear links with Italian fascism.
One of Codreanu's closest collaborators was Ion Motza, son of a Transylvanian priest, translator of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion into Romanian and member of Action Française. Motza would die in the Spanish Civil War as a volunteer alongside Franco's troops. Codreanu's guard resorted to xenophobia,

chauvinism and anti-Semitism of the population, and spread anti-Marxist and anti-capitalist slogans. He promised the peasants equality; to the youth, a better world; and the bourgeoisie order. This scenario of Romanian politics, where the
left was marginalized, made it difficult
extreme the actions that the representatives
diplomats of the Second Republic had
to deploy. Furthermore, it was necessary to add the
continuous defections of personnel in favor of
the rebels. We refer to what happened
with Pedro Prat and Soutzo,13 Luis Beneyto or
Agustín de Foxá. They were all in
Romania at the service of the republican government,
but when the military uprising broke out
They changed sides and went on to defend the
interests of the coup plotters in the Transylvanian country.
Prat y Soutzo went on to direct the Legation Franco, Beneyto was appointed Chief
Provincial of FET and JONS in Romania
and Foxá became Extraordinary Inspector
of External Falange for the Balkans and
14
January 1937.
The republican leaders, faced with such abandonments (the last of them had been that of Agustín de Foxá on September 2, 1936), decided to send Manuel López Rey as the new Chargé d'Affaires in Bucharest in The reports that López Rey and Prat and Soutzo
developed during the first months of the
war constitute a very valid instrument
to measure the support they enjoyed
each of the two sides in Romania. In
September 1936, Prat y Soutzo wrote that
the country's press, except the organs of
extreme left, recorded "with the greatest
sympathy the news favorable to the armies
nationals, commenting on them widely and
highlighting with horror the crimes and
destructions of anarchism and communism
16
allies. López Rey ratified these
impressions by indicating that the Romanian press was, in general, of a "reactionary and ultra-reactionary" ideology, which had prevented the publication "of anything truly democratic for more than four years." The support available to the Republic was reduced to a very limited number of publications. This was the case of Reporter, “truly democratic, pursuing a clearly anti-fascist policy and a fervent supporter of the Spanish Republic”; Dimineata and Adeverul, who “engaged in fairly democratic politics”; Luptea, «democrat

From what has been explained so far, it can be deduced that the most relevant support was with Prat and Soutzo, who during the years in which he was at the head of the Republican Legation in Bucharest had woven a network of personal friendships with important members of politics, society and culture. from Romania. Among his main supporters were deputies and right-wing leaders such as Pamfil Seicaru, director of the newspaper Curentul; the aforementioned Alexandre Cuza and Octavian Goga; the General Director of Security, Constantin Cernat; the director of the National Bank of Romania; the powerful Jewish industrialist Max Ausnit; the Sephardic colony; the Catholic Archbishop of Bucharest, Alexandre Cisar; and even the Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church, Niron Cristen, who on more than one occasion had "raised his voice in strong terms against the savagery of our adversaries and in favor of

This broad support was continued in the Romanian written media, willing collaborators when it came to disseminating the proclamations and victories of Franco's troops among their readers. Prat and Soutzo pointed out as "favorable to our side" the Universul, which attacked "hardly our adversaries and those who supported them", focused on the small and medium bourgeoisie and was directed by Stelian Popescu; Curentul, represented the independent nationalists and was, in the opinion of López Rey, "clearly Francoist and slanderer, rude and mendacious towards the Republic"; 

Pedro Prat was forced to leave the country
in the late 1940s accused of conspiring with
with the Iron Guard against King Carol II.

De-a lungul anilor 1940, cronicile și cărțile despre cei care au luptat împotriva comunismului pe pământ rusesc au proliferat în Spania francoistă. Unul dintre cele mai clare exemple a fost apariția lucrării România. De la Garda de Fier la Garda Roșie, a cărei autor îi corespundea lui Hernán-Bastida, pseudonimul sub care s-au ascuns jurnaliștii Juan Manuel de la Aldea și Trinidad Nieto Funcia. Aflate în timpul celui de-al Doilea Război Mondial la București, au îndeplinit o importantă sarcină de propagandă, întărind relațiile dintre regimul antonescian și cel al lui Franco. La aceasta trebuie să adăugăm activități remarcabile în domeniul spionajului în favoarea Axei. În acest articol vom analiza toate aceste probleme, precum și principalele articole care au fost produse în urma acelei experiențe, atât în ​​mass-media spaniolă, cât și în cea românească. Pentru aceasta vom recurge la diverse surse documentare (AGA și AMAE), surse bibliografice și gazetice de interes și puțin cunoscute. Cuvinte cheie: Propaganda; Anticomunism; Jurnalism; Al doilea razboi mondial; Frontul sovietic. De-a lungul deceniului anilor patruzeci au proliferat în Spania francistă cronici și cărți care au luptat împotriva comunismului pe pământ rusesc. Unul dintre cele mai clare exemple a fost apariția lucrării România. De la Garda de Fier la Garda Roșie, a cărei autor îi corespundea lui Hernán-Bastida, pseudonim sub care se ascundeau jurnaliștii Juan Manuel de la Aldea și Trinidad Nieto Funcia. Au staționat în timpul celui de-al Doilea Război Mondial la București, au jucat o importantă sarcină de propagandă întărirea relațiilor dintre regimul lui Antonescu și Franco. La aceasta trebuie adăugate activități importante în domeniul spionajului pentru Axe. În acest articol vom discuta despre toate aceste probleme, precum și despre elementele majore rezultate din această experiență, atât în ​​presa spaniolă, cât și în cea românească. Ne vom baza pe diverse surse documentare (AGA și AMAE), bibliografice și periodice de interes și puțin cunoscute. Cuvinte cheie: Propaganda; Anticomunism; Jurnalism; Al doilea razboi mondial.