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The Requeté (Spanish: [rekeˈte]; Catalan: Requetè, Basque: Errekete) was a Carlist organization, at times with paramilitary units, that operated between the mid-1900s and the early 1970s, though exact dates are not clear. The Requeté formula differed over the decades, and according to its changes the history of the movement falls into several phases: 1) heterogeneous youth organisation (mid-1900s to mid-1910s); 2) urban street-fighting squads (mid-1910s to early 1920s); 3) dormant structure with no particular direction (early 1920s to early 1930s); 4) paramilitary party militia (1931–1936); 5) army shock units (1936–1939); 6) party branch in-between youth and ex-combatant organisation (1940s–1950s); 7) internal "order of the faithful" (1960s). The Requeté played a major role in Spanish history in early months of the Civil War, when its units were critical for ensuring Nationalist advantage on some key frontline sections. It is not clear whether there is any Requeté network operational today. Background Apart from academic associations, until the end of the 19th century there were no youth organisations in Spain. They started to emerge in the early 1900s as branches of various political movements; in 1903, a first youth socialist group appeared in Bilbao and in 1906 Federación de Juventudes Socialistas staged its national congress. In 1904 the Basque nationalists set up Juventud Vasca. The same year in Barcelona the radical republicans founded Juventud Republicana, operating under a colloquial name of "jóvenes bárbaros"; in 1911 they formed Federación de Juventudes Radicales. In the early 1910s youth conservative Maurista groups started to emerge. At that time also non-political organizations began to appear; the first Boy Scouts group was recorded in 1911, in its Catalanized version as "Exploradores de Barcelona" born in 1912. Though in the early 20th century there were already various sporting, tourist, or other leisure associations operational in Spain, they were oriented towards young adult males and were not specifically intended to group minors. The first Carlist youth formations started to emerge in the early 1900s, but their origins are highly unclear. Groups named Batallones de la Juventud were recorded in Madrid (1902) and Barcelona (1903) when staging marches and parades, apparently intended to demonstrate prowess of Traditionalism and perhaps also to intimidate political enemies. Some scholars see these initiatives not as part of freshly born political mobilization among the urban youth, but rather as continuation of the old Carlist "tradition of direct action". They claim that "abortive resumption of violence at the turn of the century" – i.e. a series of minor disturbances, staged mostly in Catalonia in 1900 – as their important consequence produced loose "armed squads of Carlists", which engaged in petty urban violence during the following years. These gangs were easily suppressed by forces of order, yet their emergence demonstrated a new phenomenon: mostly urban Carlist militancy, independent of official movement structures and oriented towards street violence. It is not clear whether birth of Juventud Carlista, a party youth organisation, was supposed to take emerging violence under control or was rather an attempt to institutionalize and enhance the violent strategy. Its first branch was set up at unspecified time in Madrid; since 1903 the organization operated in Barcelona and proved particularly dynamic in the urban Catalan milieu. It soon turned out that Catalonia in general and Barcelona in particular by far outpaced other regions in terms of mobilization of Carlist youth. At that time the region was rapidly undergoing massive social transformation, turning from a mountainous rural area to a region dominated by the industrialized, urban coastal belt; profound social changes proved fertile soil for growth of new urban phenomena. Mushrooming and loosely-organized groups of Juventud engaged in military drills; they also got increasingly involved in street clashes with hit-squads related to Left-wing politics, especially the Radicals and the Anarchists. Emergence (1907) Exact origins of requeté organisation are not clear. In the early 1900s loose Carlist groups in Catalonia referred to themselves as "requeté", a name that dates back to the crack battalion of Navarre in the First Carlist War, distinguished by general Zumalacarregui for their gallantry. Also some correspondents of Traditionalist press used the term as their pen-name. It seems that first attempts to create a Carlism-flavored framework for juvenile and youth activities were related to the city of Manresa. In 1907 a local review Lo Mestre Titas was referred to as "portavoz del requeté escolar" and present-day scholars also consider it an unofficial mouthpiece of local juvenile Carlism. Historians often repeat a theory that the first organization named "Requeté" was set up in Manresa in 1907 by a 37-year-old publisher and propagandist Juan María Roma. The first press reference is dated 1908, it points to "Requeté Carlí de Manresa" and does not mention Roma. The principal objective of the organisation was defined as "fem propaganda", and called "joves carlins de Catalunya" to follow suit. Indeed, soon groupings from other locations like Sabadell or Girona notified setup of their own requeté branches. There is not a single case of provincial or regional Carlist juntas having been mentioned as involved in buildup of the requeté cells. It seems that their emergence was related to or inspired by Juventud Carlista; its members were at times referred as "older brothers" of "jovencitos" from requeté, requeté was approached as sort of preparatory stage for entry into Juventud and at times the organisation was named as "Requeté de la Juventud Carlista". Sporadically requete was explicitly referred as "organized under the Juventud auspices". Most geographical references to requeté were related either to Catalonia or Levante. Since 1910 there were notes related also to Madrid, since 1911 to Andalusia, Aragón, Galicia, Old Castile and Vascongadas, and since 1912 to Navarre and Canarias. However, in various parts of Spain local cells were perceived as emulation of "‘Requeté’ al estilo de Barcelona". A party document from somewhat later period claims that originally requeté was intended for older children and younger teenagers aged 12–16, who could not enlist to Juventudes; other notes specify the age limits as 8–15. Historians describe the organization of its constitutive phase as "pacífico y infantil", similar to later Pelayos of the 1930s rather than to a paramilitary organisation. Indeed, press from the era used to describe requeté members as "jovenes", "jovencitos", "chicos", "niños", "infantiles", "muchachos", or "chiquillos". Purpose and objectives of requeté were described vaguely as "mature, learn, and train to be a soldier of God", though growing in peace, but also "prepared for war".... Discover the Joaquin Arraras popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Joaquin Arraras books.