National Falange

The National Falange^[1][4][5] (Spanish: Falange Nacional, FN) was a Chilean Christian political party that existed between 1935 and 1957. It was the basis of the Christian Democratic Party (PDC); still it is customary to use the expressions "Falange" and "Falangista" to refer to members and activities of the Christian Democrats and the same party, respectively.^{[citation needed]}

National Falange Falange Nacional
Founded	13 October 1935
Dissolved	28 July 1957
Split from	Conservative Party
Merged into	Christian Democratic Party
Headquarters	Santiago de Chile
Ideology	Catholic social teaching[1][2] Progressive Christianity[3]
Political position	Centre
Politics of Chile Political parties Elections

History

In 1935 a group of younger social-Christians split from the Conservative Party to form the National Falange. Despite its name this group was largely made up of progressive and reformist^[6] Catholics, and bore little resemblance to Spanish Falangism. In its early years it imitated elements of fascist movements with some of its members wearing uniforms and undergoing paramilitary training.^[7] With its progressive economic program (creating an alternative to capitalism, "redeeming" the proletariat) it was in open conflict with the Catholic high clergy^[8] who accused it of disrespecting the Church's leadership and siding with communists.^[9] Despite its aim to be a centrist alternative to the left and the right, and relatively great public attention, it never received more than 4 percent of the votes.^[8] Later it supported the administration of Juan Antonio Ríos (1942–46) and in 1957 merged with the Social Christian Conservative Party into the Christian Democratic Party.^[10] One of its former members, Eduardo Frei Montalva, became President of Chile in 1964. Other notable members include Radomiro Tomic and Bernardo Leighton.^[3]

Presidential candidates

The following is a list of the presidential candidates supported by the National Falange. (Information gathered from the Archive of Chilean Elections).

• 1942: Juan Antonio Ríos (won)
• 1946: Eduardo Cruz-Coke (lost)
• 1952: Pedro Alfonso (lost)