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Conservative Youth Groups in Spain, 1914-1939 
placed the group under even tighter controls.69 
The Carlist movement was another monarchist organization that sought to mobi-
lize youth to destroy the Republic and initiate an authoritarian monarchy.
With the fall 
of Primo de Rivera, the group soon began to regroup and reorganize its energies
toward 
effecting dramatic political change. One result of this reformulation was
the creation of a 
highly militarized section of young adherents. The movement's steadfast anti-Republican
position had already begun to attract elements who had originally affiliated
with Juventud 
de la Union Monirquica Nacional. Eventually the Carlists relaunched themselves
as the 
Carlist Traditionalist Communion in 1932.71' As part of the new movement,
the Carlists 
formed a student group called Agrupacin Escolar Tradicionalista (AET), which,
in part 
influenced by the rise of Hitler in Germany, became increasingly radicalized
over the course 
of the Republic.7' The formation of the student group represented the growing
importance 
of young people within Carlism during the Republic. Martin Blinkhorn characterized
the 
organization in Andalusia as a "youth movement" that played a significant
role in electing 
several young (in their 20s or 30s) deputies to the parliament. The strength
of Carlism in 
the south of the country and the growing importance of the younger generation
crystallized 
with the naming of Manuel Fal Conde (at age forty) head of the national movement
in May 
1934. The increasing role played by young people is also reflected in the
fact that while the 
movement as a whole gained members during the Republic, it was the youth
sections that 
saw the most dramatic growth.72 By early 1934 the movement boasted of having
700,000 
adherents and over 800 youth sections.73 Along with the AET the organization
founded the 
Juventud Espahola Tradicionalista and a group for children called Pelayos.
Members paid a 
special tithe to generate funds in support of the youth organizations. The
radicalization of 
the youth, and the entire movement, accelerated in the final years of the
Republic. Perhaps 
the most important effect was the development of the Carlist militia called
the Requeti, 
which recruited youths, especially those with military potential, from AET.
By 1935 special 
emphasis was placed on military training in order to be prepared for what
they saw as an 
inevitable rising against the Republic.74 During 1934-36 the AET worked closely
with the 
Fascist student group and contributed to the rising level of political violence,
especially in 
Madrid.71 
The start of the Civil War in July 1936 significantly changed the landscape
for conser- 
vative youth groups. Some, including the JAP, withered and died during the
war, while oth- 
ers prospered. Since the uprising had been planned and led by members of
the armed forces, 
the needs of the military overshadowed the desires of the conservative political
organizations 
and their youth groups. The effective mobilization and utilization of young
people quickly 
became a priority for the Nationalist regime. Soon many of the youth militias
organized by 
FE or the Carlists were placed under military command, and within a year
plans began to 
be made for the development of an organization that would indoctrinate young
people and 
encourage support for the new regime. Franco and the other leaders of the
uprising recog- 
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