





































ESPANA NUESTRA: 
THE MOLDING OF PRIMARY SCHOOL CHILDREN FOR A FASCIST SPAIN 

Ronald W. Wilhelm 

Much of the history of education in 
Spain can be characterized as one of 
intense, often violent struggle among 
proponents of opposing ideologies. As 
various socio-economic sectors in 
Spain have matured, conflicted, and 
coalesced, Spanish educational history 
has been riddled with evidence of 
intrigue, alignments, dissolutions, 
and realignments of various political 
factions. Spanish educational 
institutions did not escape the 
conflicts in the 1800s between the 
landed oligarchy and the church 
hierarchy united against the growing 
liberal industrial sector to determine 
the structure of the Spanish state and 
the direction of economic development. 
The subsequent emergence of 
agricultural and industrial workers' 
organizations espousing Marxist and 
anarchist doctrines added yet more 
pressures. 

The institutions of social 
organization suffered under such 
stress that, by the early decades of 
this century, the nation exploded in a 
civil war as the only means to 
establish a new social order. 
Ideology, as a principal vehicle to 
promote group interest (whether that 
be anarcho-syndicalist, communist, 
Carlist, or national-syndicalist), 
became increasingly important to all 
sectors in Spain; so much so, in fact, 
that when the society dissolved into 
civil conflict, education was 
converted by both Nationalists and 
Republicans into an ideological 
instrument of war. 

Once the armed conflict had been 
decided, the Francoist High Command 
united, by decree, several nationalist 
factions, including the Carlist 
monarchist Comuni6n Tradicionalista 
and the dominant, fascist Falange 
Espanola de las Juntas de Of ens iva 
Nacional Sindicalista (Ellwood, 1990). 
In order to secure its victory, the 
new Francoist coalition intensified 
its efforts to lay the foundation for 
the "New State" by instilling in 
Spanish youngsters ideological values 
heavily influenced by 
thought. The ideological role 
by education during the 
became institutionalized early in the 
post-war years. The usually unnoticed 
role of school curriculum and 
textbooks, in in the 
promotion of a given group's 
ideology emerged in Franco's Spain as 

67 

clearly overt. 

The present analysis of a single 
item of the period indicates that, as 
Jean Anyon suggested, "Textbooks not 
only express the dominant groups' 
ideologies, but also help to form 
attitudes in support of their social 
position" (1979). Perhaps no better 
example of textbook promotion of the 
fascist ideology can be found than 
Espana Nuestra, published in 1943 for 
use in the elementary schools of 
Generalisimo Francisco Franco' s "New 
State." 

The study presented here analyzed 
the content of Espana Nuestra in order 
to identify the elements of its 
specific ideological thrust. Of 
particular interest were attitudes 
toward and definitions of national­
syndicalism, national-Catholicism, as 
well as attitudes toward monarchy and 
democracy, and the heroes, allies, and 
enemies of the "New" Spain. 
Ideological descriptions, definitions, 
and symbols were examined in terms of 
how they legitimated the power, 
actions, and needs of the hegemonic 
group in post-civil war Spain. 

Ideology, Education and the 
Consolidation of Victory 

Espana Nuestra can be seen 
appropriately as but one minor element 
in the process of redef ining Spanish 
society--a process that actually began 
during the civil war. As the 
Nationalists gained territory from the 
Republicans, they reorganized the 
education system, which, they 
believed, had, under the Republicans, 
been one of the causes of the "retreat 
of traditional values." The 
Movimiento Nacionalista was eager to 
restore the Catholic church as the 
preeminent custodian of a 
"confessional education,· that is, one 
in which Catholic dogma and morality 
would once again be a major subject in 
all schools, both public and private, 
and in which the Church retained the 
right to the education offered 
in all centers of The 
"traditional" values by the 
Nationalists in elementary education 
included militarism, 
catholicism, and civic-mindedness. 
This same code of values facilitated 
the militarization of Spanish culture 
after the war. The Nationalist 

that such a 



continued militarization of society 
was necessary in order to defend their 
victory over the enemies of Spain 
(often defined as a "Communist­
Jewish-Masonic Conspiracy") with the 
best defense being youth educated in 
traditional values of the Sixteenth 
Century (Fernandez Soria, 1984). 

Franco and the Movimiento 
Nacionalista, dominated by the 
Falangist party, correctly understood 
the necessity of the use of ideology 
in the consolidation of power and, 
thus, sought to transform the Spanish 
education system. This task was 
accomplished by instituting a series 
of edicts, purges, and a new 
curriculum which was centered upon 
books such as Espana Nuestra. 
Teachers who were militants or 
sympathizers of the Republican Frente 
popular, members of secret societies 
(Freemasons), or even those who could 
have done something but did nothing to 
stop the "anarchists" were dismissed 
from service. Over fifty percent of 
Spain's teachers were affected by 
these purges. At the time of the 
Nationalist triumph in 1939, all 
teachers were required to take an exam 
of patriotic and religious content in 
order to be employed. Students were 
required to present statements of 
their religious and patriotic conduct 
signed by civilian, military, and 
church authorities before they could 
matriculate (de Puelles Benitez, 
1980) • 

By decree, at least fifty percent 
of the vacancies left by the purges 
were to be filled with Nationalist 
ex-combatants who met aptitude 
standards for teachers. Another 
twenty percent of the educational 
administration positions were to be 
filled with those disabled in the war. 
Thus, an education system directed by 
those who fought for the "New State" 
in the trenches insured the 
institutionalization of the ideology 
that had driven the Movimiento 
Nacionalista during the war (Fernandez 
Soria, 1984). 

One such soldier of the 
"ideological trenches" was the author 
of Espana Nuestra, Ernesto Gimenez 
Caballero, acknowledged as one of the 
prominent ideologues of 
national-syndicalism. Prior to the 
civil war, he was instrumental in 
promulgating the feasibility of 
fascism for Spain through his 
and writings, many of 
published in a magazine, La 
Literaria, which he founded. He was 
credited as the "intellectual 

68 

progenitor of the Movimiento Nacional" 
with adapting the doctrines of Italian 
fascism to Spain (Foard, 1975; Payne, 
1987). During the war, he continued to 
promote the building of a fascist 
Spain through his work as an advisor 
to Franco and through his 
contributions to the journals 
Jerarquia and Vertice, both organs of 
Falangist propaganda (Fernandez Soria, 
1984; Gimenez Caballero, 1979). 
Envisioning himself as the "Spanish 
Goebbels, .. Gimenez Caballero' s 
tireless efforts to win the Spanish 
masses to his version of fascism often 
placed him at odds with his own 
Falangist party and with Franco 
himself (Foard, 1975). Following the 
war, he used his literary talents to 
create for the youth of Spain a 
history textbook, Espana Nuestra, that 
would exalt Catholic and militarist 
values, and the Spanish language as a 
"reflejo constante del alma nacional" 
(Gimenez Caballero, 1943). 

Organization of the Text 

The book, Espana Nuestra, is a 
history of Spain written for students 
in the elementary grades. Its style 
follows a pattern, identified by 
Fernandez Soria (1984) in other 
Nationalist works, in which glorious 
and critical moments in Spanish 
history were interpreted as coinciding 
with a given Falangist doctrine such 
as militarism, Catholic morality, or 
national unity. On the other hand, 
tragic moments in history were related 
to ideological elements of the 
opposition such as religious freedom 
and political liberalism. Indeed, the 
author himself expressed this bias 
clearly in the introduction to the 
text. 

No hay ninguna concesion para el 
terrible enemigo que ha conducido a 
nuestro pueblo a la guerra civil 
mas espantosa: al separatismo de 
dos Espanas y de dos cast as de 
espanoles. En cambio, hasta los mas 
remotos sucesos de nuestra Patria 
estan siempre referidos al 
Movimiento unificador de nuestro 
Falangismo ... (intro. ) I,: 

For this camisa (literally "old 
shirt," founding member of the 

), fascism, as practiced in 
Spain and Italy I represented the 
"political manifestation of the revolt 
of the Latin peoples the 
cultural imperialism of their northern 
neighbours" (Foard, 1975). 

Gimenez Caballero the 
book into six 



epilogue. Each of the six main parts 
consisted of a varying number of 
subdivisions for an overall total of 

Each chapter 
with three sets of 

exercises: oral, written, and 
arts, which the author 

drawing, and 
written exercises 
for facts, as well as 

sion, analysis, 

The "Espana: 
Una, Grande, occurred 
sporadically throughout the text, 
summarized the central themes of 
fascist ideology. These recurrent 
themes followed closely the essential 
norms of the Falangist Movement, 
published as "Los 26 Puntos" and 
adopted by Franco's "Nuevo Estado" 
(VEP, 1941). In his introduction, 
Gimenez Caballero indicated clearly 
the principles that guided his work 
and served as the conceptual framework 
for five major sections in the text. 

.•• que las bases de esta Nuestra 
Espana [sic) son dos sentimientos 
fundacionales: el religioso y el 
heroico. Cuyas consecuencias llevan 
a una exaltacion incesante de los 
valores catolicos y militares de 
Espana. Unicos capaces de 
justificar con exactitud y grandeza 
el Destino universal de Espana, la 
clave de su Paisaje, el genio de su 
Lengua, el impetu de sus Fundadores 
y el fruto de sus Obras. (intro.)3 

The final portion of the book was 
composed of a vocabulary list for use 
in reading and completing the 
end-of-chapter exercises. 

The book contains 145 simple, 
pen-and-ink illustrations, each 
occupying a space approximately 7 cm 
by 10 cm. The sizeable number of 
drawings in a book of 261 pages can be 
attributed to Gimenez Caballero's 
belief that, for educational purposes, 
the visual of an illustration 

than 
(1979) • 

In his introduct 
indicated that the book 
for the children and 

the author 
intended 

diverse and 

text content 
exercises. 
consisted of 

also, as a 
teachers in the 
their children. 

mixed purpose 
an unevenness in 

and 
While 
fables 

69 

events for the very young, 
contained abbreviated 

figures, such as 
artists, that 

exercises were to 
and/or 
the 

the illustrations in 

Ideology and Prose Imagery 

Gimenez Caballero wrote his lessons 
in a first person, conversational 
style addressed to young readers. 
Throughout the text, he used 
anthropomorphic images and fables to 
explain events from geology to human 
emotions to the origin of the Spanish 
language. Several examples, which 
follow, illustrate this point. The 
story of Little Red Riding Hood 
introduced a section on four visions 
of the Spanish countryside (PP. 
69-112). The author c6mpared the 
effect of Little Red Riding Hood' s 
fear on her perceptions of the woods 
with the effect of Nationalist 
soldiers' fear in combat on their 
perceptions of the surrounding 
countryside. Later in the same 
section, the geography of Spain was 
presented in terms of the search, by 
the Desert, as a savage knight, for 
and, finally, marriage to his lost 
love, the Rain, a princess whose court 
was in Spain. The mining industry was 
explained, not in terms of the miners' 
organizations and struggles, which 
were a recent part of Spanish reality 
when the book was but rather 
by the story of "Blancaflor" (Snow 
White and the Seven Dwarfs). In 
addition, young students learned that 
the Pyrenees Mountains resulted from 
violent battles between 

French mountains and 
is oric Castilian ranges 

( ercitos de rocas de lavas") 
when was a (p. 34). 

some 
an 
the 

because of his own 
, Gimenez Caballero 

his most for 
of 

• For , the 
dialect were 

and newborn chicks. 
was described as the 
words which were set 

butterflies each time 



children discovered and used new 
terms. Latin was presented as the 
father of the Spanish (Castilian) 
language, with the nation of Spain, 
its mother, and the other romance 
languages and dialects, its siblings 
(pp. 127-128). With the death of the 
father (the fall of the Roman Empire), 
the widowed mother was forced to raise 
her children alone. 

In another passage more closely 
related to the Falangist ideology of 
restoration of Spain as a world 
imperial power I the language was 
presented as a mother, sent by God, to 
embrace her children throughout the 
world so that they might understand 
one another (pp. 116-117). Lest the 
readers miss the importance of the 
Spanish language, the author 
admonished: 

iEscuchad bien esto y para siempre, 
n~nos espanoles! jel que de 
vosotros olvide su Lengua espanola 
o la cambie por otra dejara de ser 
espanol y cristiano! iPor traici6n 
contra Espana y pecado contra Dios! 
iY tendra que escapar de Espana! Y 
cuando muera, su alma traidora lira 
al inf ierno ! (p. 11 7 ) 5 

The impact of such an admonition on 
young Spaniards in provinces other 
than Castile and whose first language 
was not the Castilian dialect is not 
difficult to imagine. Gimenez 
Caballero later underscored his 
warning with a tale of a Basque 
grandfather ("El Abuelete Vasco") who 
held fast to his allegiance to Spain 
and Castilian Spanish even when under 
pressure from Basque separatists, who 
eventually left him in frustration and 
went off "bufando con los rojos" (pp. 
122-124) . 

Ideology and Visual Imagery 

Symbols of the Falangist movement, 
some of which were revived from 
fifteenth century monarchies, were 
inserted independently or interwoven 
with illustrations throughout the 
text. These symbols were first 
proposed by Gimenez Caballero for the 
national-syndicalist movement in 1929 
in an article entitled "Carta a un 
companero de la joven Espana" (1985 . 
By 1943, the young readers of 
Nuestra would have been very 
with the symbols of the 
so the author needed only 
romanticized accounts of 
significance and origin. 

The illustration on the front cover 
of the book combines several symbols 

70 

in an image which summarizes the goal 
intended by Gimenez Caballero in 
writing to the youth of Spain. 
HIAlerta Jovenes centinelas de 
Espana I" (p. 67).6 A young boy wearing 
the red beret and blue shirt of the 
Falangist movement holds a rifle and 

watch over (a map of) Spain, 
whose five kingdoms (symbolized by 
five black arrows) are united and 
bound together under the yoke of an 
imperial monarchy. In developing the 
mystique of the arrows (flechas) and 
the yoke (yugo), the author explains 
they were symbols from the imperial 
and unified Spain of the Catholic 
monarchs, Queen Isabel and King 
Ferdinand II; the bundle of arrows 
symbolizing Isabel's uniting of the 
kingdoms of Spain and the yoke 
symbolizing Ferdinand's bringing order 
to the world. Arrows, as symbols, 
appear independently eight more times 
in illustrations in the text and the 
yoke, three. In addition to the cover 
illustration, the Falangist symbol of 
five arrows bound together under the 
yoke ("el haz y el yugo") appears five 
more times, usually to signify the end 
of a major section of the book. 

Gimenez Caballero uses ascending 
and descending arrows in an 
illustration to represent the history 
of the rise and decline of Spanish 
destiny as the summit of a sierra (p. 
41). Beginning with the first century 
"unification of Spain with the Roman 
Empire," the arrows point to an 
ascending destiny, passing on to 
"Spanish-Gothic unification" of the 
six century, then to the wars of the 
"Great Reconquest" from the eighth to 
the fifteenth century, and culminating 
with the "unified and imperial" Spain 
of the Catholic monarchs. At this 
point the arrows start their descent 
through the "disaster of the 
Invincible Armada" in 1588, to the 
"loss of empire" from the seventeenth 
to nineteenth centuries, down to the 
"loss of Spanish unity" during the 
Republican government from 1931-1936. 
Here the dates 18 julio 1936 to 1 
abril 1939 (the dates encompassing the 
Spanish Civil War) are accompanied by 
an arrow that I not to the nadir 
of disintegration, but 

toward the 
and 

Two other s I the 
red beret and the blue ,were 

to the author, from 
The beret­

of Castile were 
book as the 

defenders of all 
Both 



were related to the contributions of 
agricultural laborers in terms of 
production and defense. 

Another prominent Falangist symbol, 
appearing in two illustrations, merits 
attention: the open-hand, Roman 
salute, similar to the one used in 
Mussolini's Italy and in Nazi Germany. 
In the text's first section on the 
images of Spain (pp. 11-25), the 
reader encounters an outline map of 
Spain over which was placed the open 
palm of a hand, "en seftal de paz y de 
saludo al mundo" (p. 19). The 
narrative explains that, historically, 
the Germanic peoples to the north saw 
Spain as a nation which extended its 
hand in peace and salutations to the 
world and to Germany in particular. 
The narrative further suggests that 
the name "Espafta" was derived from an 
old German word, spanne, meaning the 
span of an open hand. In one other 
illustration entitled "El pufto cerrado 
y la mano abierta," GimAnez Caballero 
cleverly juxtaposed the closed fist, 
often associated with Communist 
salutes, with the Falangist salute to 
illustrate an explanation of the evils 
of envy (p. 210). The open palm 
appears surrounded by five stars and 
next to a cloud hovering over a hairy, 
brutish clenched fist entwined by a 
serpent. The narrative explains, "Por 
eso el comunismo es la politica de la 
Envidia y hace que el Comunismo 
enrosque la mano--cierre el pufto--con 
el rencor de una cabeza de serpiente" 
(p. 201).7 GimAnez Caballero uses 
these images to pay subtle tribute to 
Nationalist allies, Hitler's Germany 
and Mussolini's Italy. 

Images of National-Catholicism 

Molding a unified, fascist Spain so 
recently divided by the civil war 
called for the promotion of 
nationalism as the principal 
ideological concern. For the Comuni6n 
Tradicionalistas, Spanish nationalism 
was intricately interwoven with 
Catholicism. Thus, the nation was to 
be unified, not in the diversity of 
its regions, but in steadfast 
obedience to Catholic dogma and the 
State. 

In the first section Espana 
Nuestra, which dealt with 
of Spain, Catholicism and 
were united ically in a "medal" 
that students were instructed to make 
and wear. Each child's medal 
consisted of a photograph of his/her 
mother pasted on a small outline map 
of Spain. The and photograph, 
then, were to a ribbon that 

71 

the students had painted red and gold, 
the imperial colors of the Spanish 
flag. The following coloring 
instructions subtly inculcated the 
fascist ideology of militant 
nationalism in union with Catholicism: 

... color de sangre como la que 
habAis visto verter quiza a 
vuestros padres, a vuestros 
hermanos mayores, a vuestros amigos 
grandes, en las trincheras del 
Caudillo. Y con color de oro, con 
el color del pan que Dios os da 
todos los dias, con el amarillo de 
la tierra espaftola donde triunfaron 
nuestros combatientes (p. 22-23).8 

On the reverse side of the map, the 
children were instructed to draw a 
cross. The medal was then to be worn 
inside the students' blue shirt held 
over the heart by the pin of the 
Falangist symbol ("el haz y el yugo") 
on the outside of the shirt. The 
ideological message to young learners 
emerged clearly: Spain was one's 
mother! Given the still fresh 
memories of civil strife, such strong 
imagery must have been a powerful 
force in the development of political 
socialization. 

But, GimAnez Caballero was 
relentless in molding young defenders 
for the Caudillo's Spain. He followed 
the construction of the medal with an 
admonishment to young male readers. 

... si alguien ante ti se rie 0 

insulta el nombre de Dios, 0 de 
Espafta, 0 de tu madre, ino vaciles! 
Con tus puftos, con tus dientes y 
tus pies, arremete contra Al. Y si 
no 10 haces, lcobarde! Ya no podras 
llevar esa medalla de papel sobre 
el corazon, ni las flechas en la 
camisa. (p. 23)9 

Apparently little girls were to 
respond to such insults in a manner 
more appropriate to their sex 
according to the Traditionalist view 
of women. 

Llora con pena, amarga, infinita, 
callada. Y veras como quien ha 
insultado tu tesoro se pone palido, 
y babucea. Y te intenta hacer una 
caricia, y se a con la cabeza 

a y en silencio vencido por la 
fuerza de tu pena ~ por el valor de 
tu • (p. 23)~ 

In Espafta Nuestra, young students 
were to learn that the destiny of 
Christ was also the of 
"Morir y resucitar. Dar su sangre para 
que se unan todos los pueblos y todos 



los paisajes del Mundo" (p. 29) .11 

Pupils studied an outline map of Spain 
upon which a crucified Christ had been 
placed with arms outstretched across 
the Pyrenees and feet extending down 
to Gibraltar (p. 30). Gimenez 
Caballero called upon Spanish 
youngsters to suffer and sacrifice as 
did Christ. Then, the author joined 
militaristic nationalism and 
Catholicism in an ideological twist to 
the suffering servant theology: "Por 
eso--ninos mios--es preciso imagineis 
a Espana como un perpetuo combate y 
mireis su vida con mirada militar" (p. 
29) .12 Being a suffering servant in 
Christ's image meant that one not only 
must serve but also defend Spain in 
military conquest. Unity in Christ 
justified Spain's return as a world 
imperial power. 

Images of the New Spain's Allies 
and Enemies 

In addition to such Catholic 
nationalism, which readers encountered 
repeatedly throughout the text, 
Gimenez Caballero took great care to 
instruct Spanish children about 
Spain's historic relations with other 
European powers. The images used to 
inform readers about international 
relationships illuminated a unique 
aspect of the author's version of 
fascism. Some ten years prior to the 
publication of Espana Nuestra, Gimenez 
Caballero became increasingly 
marginalized from Falangist leadership 
circles because he advocated an 
international fascist movement (Foard, 
1975) • The Falange, on the other 
hand, sought to unify Spain under a 
decidedly nationalist, Catholic state 
in order to return her to the "destino 
universal" of world empire. 

In Espana Nuestra, Gimenez 
Caballero pursued his version through 
a series of prose and graphic images 
that clearly identified Spain's 
enemies and friends. Of particular 
interest, given the political 
alignment of Europeans at the time the 
text was written during World War II, 
were descriptions of the relationship 
between Spain and Italy. The author 
presented Rome, not as an invader of 
Spain, but rather, as a mother--one 
who provided a , laws, methods 
in agriculture, commerce and civil 
defense, and built the infrastructure 
for Spanish culture (p. 50). Spain, 
on the other hand, was a loyal 
daughter and rightful heir to the 
empire. "Espana--hija--fiel de Roma 
toda la Historia--realiza, al fin, en 
el siglo XVI, otra vez la unificaci6n 
del Orbe, la fusi6n de razas y credos" 

72 

(p. 59).13 The Roman Empire, by 
uniting the world under one rule, 
prepared "la venida de Cristo." 

In addition to the references 
regarding Rome and Italy already 
cited, readers of Espana Nuestra 
learned that Germans, too, were 
allies. "Y ante el heroismo frente a 
Napole6n y la grandeza del Castellano, 
dec ian los alemanes que los espanoles 
eramos sus hermanos" (p. 140) .14 The 
author suggested that the Goths 
provided Spanish royalty with two 
essential characteristics: "una raza 
aria, aristocratica y los atributos 
regios, copiados del mundo romano" 
(pp. 173-174) .IS 

If Germany and Italy were Spain's 
allies, then who were the enemies 
against whom young Spaniards must be 
ever vigilant? The guideposts of the 
Falangist Movement, "Los 26 Puntos" 
stated, "Toda conspiraci6n contra esa 
unidad es repulsiva. Todo separatismo 
es un crimen que no perdonaremos" 
(VEP, 1941) .16 Throughout Espana 
Nuestra, the author identified various 
elements as contributors to division 
and separatism in Spain. Most of them 
were subsumed under the term "los 
rojos" (the Reds). 

Historical events, even those from 
centuries past, were reinterpreted in 
terms of recent struggles during the 
Spanish civil war with los rojos. For 
example, Carthage, identified as the 
first great enemy of Spain, was 
likened to "la Rusia bolchevique" 
(p. 49). The Moor invasion of Spain 
was presented as a struggle between 
Christians and "aquellos rojos 
orientales" (p. 54). The strategies 
of the wars (the "Gran Reconquista") 
to drive the Moors from Spain were 
equated with those used during the 
Spanish civil war against "los 
barbaros rojos" (p. 55). The 
devastation caused by Napoleon's 
invasion of Spain was comparable only 
"a como nos los destrozaron los rojos" 
(p. 64). A child, Dominguito del Val, 
martyred in 1250 A.D. was compared 
with "esos ninos nuestros que murieron 
bajo la metralla y el hambre de los 
rojos" (p. 153). A Spanish bishop of 
the church in Rome was described 
as having "los primeros 

(p. 165). The 
historic battle of 

Lepanto in A.D., Soliman, the 
Turk, was referred to as "el Stalin de 
entonces" (p. 170). In one 
particularly strong 
Communism, dubbed the 
Envy," was in an accompany ing 
illustration as a viper (p. 201). 



In other passages, which emphasized 
national-syndicalism, the author 
carefully explained that he chose to 
use the term artesano rather than 
obrero because the former was a 
syndical term for a manual laborer, 
which ..... lleva en si una idea de amor 
y de arte, de individualizaci6n, para 
regenerar masas gregarias de 
'trabajadores en serie' que la maquina 
y la industria pesada habian 
convertido en esclavos y cosas" (p. 
196) .18 The term obrero was not 
employed because .. con tanto odio y 
violencia ha sido profanado por el 
socialismo" (p. 196) .19 Likewise, the 
author chose to use labrador rather 
than campesino when discussing 
agricultural workers because the 
former term was "mas nacional It than 
the latter, which was used by Marxists 
(p. 194). 

While "la Rusia bolchevique" 
received the brunt of Gimenez 
Caballero's vehemence, France and 
Great Britain did not escape it. The 
author lamented the results of the 
French influence on Castilian. "La 
Lengua de Espana, atacada como por 
Cain por su hermana la Lengua 
francesa, comenz6 a morir sutilmente 
de envenenamiento. Moria de 
infecci6n, plagada la sangre de unos 
bichitos 0 carcomas llamados 
galicismos, francescismos" (p. 139).20 

British influence on Castilian 
Spanish is described as ..... iotra 
nueva enfermedad grave: el 
anglosajonismo y el nordismo" (p. 
141).~ The "grave new sickness" 
involved the use of English terms by 
intellectuals and nobility. "Y hubo 
la 'nurse' y la 'miss' para los ninos. 
Y el 'flirt' para los j6venes. Y los 
'clubs' para los mayores. Y el 'five 
o'clok tea,' y el 'bridge,' y el 
garden-party' (pp. 141-142).n For 
Gimenez caballero, this new sickness 
appeared to be a recrudescence of 
"parlamentarismo," which had invaded 
political thought and brought on the 
Carlist wars--Nineteenth Century 
conservatism's attempt to "liberar a 
Espana de sus invasores 
parlamentarios, liberales, 
intelectuales y revolucionarios. Para 
lograr que Espana sea vez Una, 
Grande y Libre" (p. 140). 

As be in a work by a 
fascist ideologue, Jews also were 
identified as the enemies of Spain. 
Jews were as conspirators 
consorting "elementos franceses" 
in the separatist revolt in Cataluna 
in 1640 (p. 138) or with Russia to 
fill the and working classes 

73 

with "odio social" and "separatismos 
regionales" (p. 66), or with the 
Freemasons to assassinate priests and 
monks in the Nineteenth Century (p. 
154) . They were also presented as 
murderers of children, like Dominguito 
del Val (p. 153), and as exploiters 
who stole from the serf class (p. 
195). That Jews posed a problem for a 
unified Spain seemed clear to Gimenez 
Caballero, but his work also inferred 
a solution, one not inconsistent with 
Hitler's Final Solution. 

Los Reyes Cat6licos traen a Espana 
el supremo organismo que ha 
existido de Unificaci6n y 
depuraci6n nacional: el Santo 
Tribunal de la Inquisici6n (1478) 0 

Ministerio general de Seguridad 
Estatal. Gracias al cual se logra 
la unidad religiosa, vigilando y 
castigando a judios y herejes. 

(p. 217)24 

In order for the Francoist "New State" 
to survive such a panoply of enemies 
from within and without, the citizenry 
of Spain, according to Gimenez 
Caballero, had to adopt a vigilant and 
militarist world view. 

Images of Militant Nationalism 

Perhaps, not surprisingly, a 
dominant theme of the text was the 
militaristic aspect of Falangist 
nationalism. The philosophical source 
of Falangist militarism, as defined by 
Gimenez Caballero, was derived from 
the writings of Seneca, ..... a quien se 
debe la concepci6n de que 'la vida es 
milicia'" (p. 51).25 In one of two 
chapters dealing with the economic 
bases of Spain (pp. 85-91), which the 
author called "services" to the 
nation, readers encountered a 
description of a mule as an animal 
..... que sube el pan y las balas a 
nuestros soldados" (p. 88).~ In 
describing the shepherds of Castile, 
the author wrote: 

Y--en un momento de peligro--el 
cayado 0 la garrocha se transforman 
en fusil. Su ojo, habituado a la 
lejania, precisa la bala. Y sus 

se hacen viveres de todo un 
para que ese Ejercito 

s avanzar, moverse y 
vencer a las ciudades inm6viles, a 
las huertas comodonas, a los 
obreros que impunan martillos, a 
los payeses que impunan hoces. 

(p. 84)27 

In the section dealing with the 
or geography of Spain (pp. 

were identified in 



terms of their historical military 
value. HEl rio Ebro es el baluarte 
contra la invasion musulmana en 
Arag6n, y el de Zaragoza contra 
Napole6n, y el de nuestros 
combatientes nacionales contra los 
rojos" (p. 83).28 A discussion of 
Spain's mineral resources included, 
"Espafia tiene sustancias y piedras 
minerales ... Y hast a explosivos para 
matar a la gente mala que no quiere a 
Espafia" (p. 94).29 Even the citrus 
groves were interpreted as 
representing the colors of the Spanish 
flag: "Los naranjales de Espafia, con 
su encarnado, y los limones, con su 
amarillo, significan nuestra bandera 
frutal ante las naciones" (p. 92).30 
The intellectuals who founded the 
Academia de la Lengua were portrayed 
as "guerrilleros de la erudici6n y las 
Letras" in a war against French 
influence over Castilian Spanish (p. 
140) • 

Gimenez Caballero joined a militant 
nationalist ideology with theology in 
his discussion of the defense of 
Hispanidad. He explained that fe 
(faith) meant F. E., or the Falange 
Espanola, and that since July 18, 1936 
(the date of the Movimiento 
Nacionalista's revolt against the 
Republican government) , " ... la fe 
reedifica triunfal sus obras en 
Espafia" (p. 208).31 The Eucharist was 
explained in terms of Spain's farm 
laborers who produced bread and wine, 
which "Los Heroes tuvieron que comer 
para guerrear" (p. 194).n 

Approximately twenty percent of the 
textbook's illustrations contain 
militaristic themes. Four 
illustrations, for example, refer 
specifically to Falangist military 
exploits during the civil war; another 
from the same period is entitled 
"Revoluci6n marxista." Sixteen 
questions from the end-of the chapter 
exercises related directly to symbols 
of the Falangist movement. Over one 
hundred questions, ranging from 
"Escribid sobre los avances y frentes 
nacionales en la guerra de 1936 a 
1939" (p. 40)33 to ""Que juegos teneis 
de ~uerra vosotros los muchachos?" (p. 
85) , are related to militaristic 
themes. 

If Spain were to the glory 
of world empire, she would need a 
warrior king, decisive in battle and 
skilled in itics. In this regard, 
the author's treatment of HEl 
Caudillo," as Franco was 
affectionately known, merits 
attention. a series of 
comparisons with legendary heroes of 

74 

Spain, Gimenez Caballero is able to 
expand the image of Generalisimo 
Franco beyond that of a mere military 
figure to that of the caring father 
and generous provider and defender of 
a nation. The author explains, "Los 
Caudillos son aquellos jefes que van a 
la cabeza de sus pueblos en las 
guerras y triunfan ... ' Mussolini en 
Italia, Hitler en Alemania, Oliveira 
en Portugal, Franco en Espafia. La 
palabra Caudillo significa 'cabeza, 
gui6n, capitan'" (p. 164).35 Of note 
again here is the relationship drawn 
between Franco and other fascist 
leaders of the day. 

To Franco befell the task of 
breathing life into the "Genio de 
Espafia" . Gimenez Caballero called 
upon heroes both real and legendary 
from Spain's romanticized past in an 
effort to glorify and almost deify 
Franco. The Caudillo was heralded in 
Espafia Nuestra as "el heroe de 
romance como el Cid" whose destiny was 
the reconquest of the Spanish Empire. 
He demonstrated the decisiveness of 
Pizarro, the Spanish conquistador. As 
a military strategist, he rivaled "el 
Gran capitan," Gonzalo Fernandez de 
C6rdoba, conqueror of the Moors. In 
the epilogue (pp. 231-236), "La fabula 
maravillosa de Espafia," Franco 
appeared as the Caudillo arriving 
mounted on a white stallion to save 
the princess, Spain, from a deep 
stupor caused when she ate a fruit 
poisoned by her evil step-mother, who 
was envious of Spain's power and 
beauty. "Franco es el Caudillo nuevo y 
tradicional de Espafia" (p. 172).M 

The Impossible Dream 
The ideological perspective 

uncovered in this analysis of the 
textbook provides insight into 
education in Francoist Spain following 
the civil war. More importantly, it 
illuminates some of the ideological 
processes by which the victors of the 
Spanish civil war consolidated and 
justified their power to a new 
generation of Spanish youngsters. 

Gimenez Caballero, when interviewed 
in 1977, spoke as a poet of the 
conditions in a society which produce 
fascism: HEl fascismo se produce en 
los paises que han tenido una 
historia, una tradici6n, y que se ven 
desposeidos de ellas, que se quedan 
anulados en la Historian (1979). 
Clearly his work in Espana Nuestra 
constituted one attempt to rekindle in 
the youth of Spain what he called the 
genio or the essential nature and 

of her people. Yet, his chosen 
for molding minds was 

encumbered an that looked 



beyond Spain's borders, and thus, 
beyond Falangist nationalism, for 
strength. Gimlnez Caballero 
desperately envisioned a new 
generation of Spaniards, emboldened by 
his effort in Espana Nuestra, to 
restore Spain to her Sixteenth Century 
grandeur as an imperial power. He 
called upon his young readers to be 
vigilant defenders of Franco's "New 
State" but armed them only with 
rhetoric, religiosity, and a 
romanticized revisionist history. 

NOTES 

1 This and all subsequent passages 
quoted from the text are in their 
original form. My translation of the 
passage to English appears by the 
corresponding number in the notes. 

2 There is no concession for the 
terrible enemy which has brought our 
people to a most frightening civil 
war: the separatism of two Spains and 
of two casts of Spaniards. On the 
other hand, even the most remote 
successes of our Fatherland are always 
related to the unifying Movement of 
our Falangism ... 

3 .•. that the bases of this Nuestra 
Espana are two fundamental feelings: 
religious and heroic, whose 
consequences lead to an unceasing 
exaltation of the Catholic and 
militaristic values of Spain, the only 
ones capable of justifying with 
preciseness and greatness the 
universal Destiny of Spain, the key to 
her Countryside, the genius of her 
Language, the impetus of her Founders, 
and the fruit of her Works. 

4 Write about the eagle as a bird of 
prey and as an imperial symbol. 

5 Listen well and forever, Spanish 
children! He of you who forgets his 
Spanish Tongue or exchanges it for 
another ceases to be Spanish and 
Christianl For (committing) a 
betrayal of Spain and a sin against 
God I And he must leave Spain I And 
when he should die, his traitorous 
soul shall go to Helll 

6 Be alert, youth, sentinels of Spain. 

7 For that (reason) Communism is the 
politics of Envy which makes Communism 
twist around the hand--closing the 
fist--with the rancor of the head of a 
serpent. 

8 ••• color of blood like that which 
perhaps you may have seen your 
fathers, or your older brothers, or 

75 

your older friends shed in the 
trenches of the Caudillo. And with 
the color of gold, with the color of 
the bread which God gives us everyday, 
with the color of the yellOW Spanish 
soil upon which our combatants 
triumphed. 

9 •.• if someone laughs at or insults 
the name of God or of Spain, or of 
your mother before you, do not 
vacillate! Assail him with your 
fists, with your teeth and your feet. 
And if you do not do it, coward! You 
shall not wear that paper medal over 
your heart, nor the arrows on your 
shirt. 

10 Cry with grief, bitterness, 
unceasingly, quietly .. And you shall 
see how whoever has insulted your 
treasure will grow pale and shrivel. 
And he will try to caress you and will 
draw away with head lowered in silence 
vanquished by the strength of your 
sorrow and by the valor of your grace. 

11 To die and to live again. To give 
her blood so that all the peoples and 
nations of the world may unite. 

12 For that (reason)--my children--it 
is correct that you should imagine 
Spain as (in) a perpetual combat and 
that you should view your life with a 
military vision. 

13 Spain--daughter--loyal to Rome 
throughout History--realizes, at last, 
at the end of the XVI Century, once 
again the unification of the Globe, 
the fusion of races and beliefs. 

14 And in face of the heroism while 
confronting Napoleon and the greatness 
of the Castilian, the Germans said 
that the Spanish were their brothers. 

15 ... an Aryan race, aristocracy and 
the regal attributes copied from the 
Roman world. 

16 Every conspiracy against that unity 
is repulsive. All separatism is a 
crime which we will not pardon. 

17 ... those of our children who died 
under the machine gun and hunger of 
the Reds. 

18 ... carries an idea of love and of 
art, of individualization, to 
regenerate the collective masses of 
"workers in series" who the machine 
and heavy industry had converted into 
slaves and things. 

19 ... with such hate and violence has 
been profaned by socialism. 



20 The Spanish Language, attacked as 
(happened with) Cain by her sister 
French Tongue, began to die subtly of 
poison. And she died of infection, 
her blood plagued by some vermin and 
beetle larvae called "Gaulisms, 
Frenchisms." 

21 ... another new, grave illness: 
Anglosaxonism and Nordism. 

22 And there was the "nurse" and the 
"miss" for the children. And "flirt" 
for the youth. And "clubs" for 
adults. And "five o'clock tea," and 
"bridge," and garden-party." 

23 ... to free Spain from her 
parliamentarian, liberal intellectual 
and revolutionary invaders. So that 
Spain might once again be United, 
Great and Free." 

24 The Catholic Monarchs bring to 
Spain the supreme organism of 
unification and national purification 
which has (ever) existed: the Holy 
Tribunal of the Inquisition (1478) or 
General Ministry of State security. 
Thanks to which religious unity is 
achieved (by) watching and castigating 
Jews and heretics. 

25 ... to whom is attributed the 
concept that "life is militia." 

26 ..• which carries (into the 
mountains) the bread and bullets to 
our soldiers. 

27 And--in a moment of danger--the 
shepherd's hook or crook is 
transformed into a rifle. His eye, 
accustomed to (seeing) at a distance, 
aims the bullet. And his cattle 
become victuals for an entire Army, so 
that that Army can always advance, 
move and conquer immobile cities, 
commodious orchards, workers who hold 
hammers, ignorant peasants who hold 
sickles. 

28 The Ebro River is the bulwark 
against the Muslim invasion in Aragon, 
and the (river) of Zaragoza against 
Napoleon, and of our combatants 
against the Reds. 

29 Spain has substantial mineral 
deposits ..• and even explosives to kill 
the bad people who do not love Spain. 

30 The orange groves of spain, 
their red, and lemons, with 
yellow, signify our fruitful 
before the nations. 

with 
their 
flag 

31 ... faith triumphantly reconstructs 
her works in Spain. 

76 

32 The Heroes had to eat in order to 
do battle. 

33 Write about the advances and 
nationalist fronts in the war of 1936 
to 1939. 

34 What war games do you boys have? 

35 Caudillos are those chieftains who 
go at the head of their people in wars 
and triumph ... Mussolini in Italy, 
Hitler in Germany, Oliveira in 
Portugal, Franco in Spain. The word 
Caudillo means "head, guide, captain." 

36 Franco is the new and traditional 
Caudillo of Spain. 

37 Fascism is produced in countries 
which have had a history, a tradition, 
and have been dispossessed of them, 
(and) which are left obliterated in 
History. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Anyon, Jean. "Ideology and United 
States History Textbooks." Harvard 
Educational Review 49 (1979) 
361-386. 

de Puelles Benitez, Manuel. Educaci6n 
e ideologia en la Espana 
contemporanea. Barcelona: 
Editorial Labor, S.A., 1980. 

Ellwood, Sheelagh M. "Falange 
Espanola and the Creation of the 
Francoist 'New State'." European 
History Quarterly 20 (1990) 
209-225. 

Fernandez Soria, Juan Manuel. 
Educaci6n y cultura en la guerra 
civil. Valencia: Imprinta Martin, 
1984. 

Foard, Douglas 
Falangist: 
Caballero." 
Contemporary 
1975) : 3-18. 

W. "The Forgotten 
Ernesto Gimenez 

Journal of 
History 10 (January, 

Gimenez Caballero, Ernesto. Memorias 
de un dictador. Barcelona: 
Editorial Planeta, 1979. 

Gimenez Caballero, Ernesto. Espana 
nuestra, el libro de las juventudes 
espanolas. Madrid: Ediciones de la 
Vicesecretaria de Educaci6n 
Popular, 1943. 

Gimenez Caballero, Ernesto. Retratos 
espanoles. Barcelona: Editorial 
Planeta, 1985. 

Payne, Stanley G. The Franco Regime 
1936-1975. Madison: University of 
Wisconsin Press, 1987. 

Vicesecretaria de Educaci6n Popular. 
Fundamentos del nuevo estado. 
Madrid: Ediciones de la 
Vicesecretaria de Educaci6n 
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