Carloctavismo (; the name appears also as carlosoctavismo, carlooctavismo, carlos-octavismo, carlo-octavismo, or octavismo) is a branch of Carlism, particularly active in the 1943–1953 period. In terms of dynastical allegiances it advanced the claim to the Spanish throne of Carlos Pio de Habsburgo-Lorena y de Borbón, styled as Carlos VIII, and his relatives. In terms of political line it collaborated very closely with Francoism.
Antecedents (1932–1943)
During a hundred years of its history Carlism was headed by six successive claimants with clear heritage rights; however, in the early 1930s it was evident that the dynasty would soon extinguish. The pretender, Don Alfonso Carlos, was 82 when assuming the claim in 1931 and had no issue. For the first time ever the Carlists were neither clear who would be their next king nor how the issue was to be tackled. Don Alfonso Carlos seemed leaning towards a compromise with the Alfonsists,shortly after assuming the claim in late October 1931, Don Alfonso Carlos wrote to the deposed Alfonso XIII: "yo no figuro más que como el puente" [between two dynasties], quoted after Francisco de las Heras y Borrero, Un pretendiente desconocido. Carlos de Habsburgo. El otro candidato de Franco, Madrid 2004, , p. 29 engineered though not sealed by his predecessor, Don Jaime.known as Pacto de Territet, see e.g. Eduardo Gonzales Calleja, El ex-Rey, in: Javier Moreno Luzón (ed.), Alfonso XIII: un político en el trono, Barcelona 2003, , p. 417 Such a perspective triggered protests; the dissenting Carlists claimed that a compromise with the liberal Borbón branch would be an insult to generations of their forefathers, who fought and died to topple the hated dynasty.some scholars claim that it was the Carlist leaders who balked at the agreement, see Gonzales Calleja 2003, p. 417, the others point to opposition among the rank-and-file, see José Carlos Clemente Muñoz, El carlismo en su prensa, 1931–1972, Madrid 1999, , p. 79
A Madrid JaimistaEduardo González Calleja, La prensa carlista y falangista durante la Segunda República y la Guerra Civil (1931–1937), [in:] El Argonauta Espanol 9 (2012), available here weekly El Cruzado Españolits first issue appeared on July 25, 1929; the periodical was set up by Circula Jaimista de Madrid, Manuel de Santa Cruz Alberto Ruiz de Galarreta, Apuntes y documentos para la historia del tradicionalismo español: 1939–1966, vol. 3, Seville 1979, p. 27. A Carlist circle under the same name and sharing the same vision was set up in Bilbao in the early 1930s, Santa Cruz 1979, p. 28 was since late 1931Jordi Canal, El carlismo. Dos siglos de contrarrevolución en España, Madrid 2000, , p. 306 among the most outspoken opponents of dynastical compromise. It advocated appointing an heir during Don Alfonso Carlos’ lifetime; initially the focus was on Renato de Borbón-Parma.Melchor Ferrer, Breve historia del legitimismo español, Madrid 1958, p. 43 Headed by an ex-combatant of the Third Carlist War Juan Pérez Najera, in February 1932 the group presented their cause in a letter to the claimant,and accompanied by a manifesto titled A todos los leales de la Tradición, Ferrer 1958 p. 113; it was signed by Pedro de Apodaca, Juan Pérez de Nájera, Antonio Redondo, Emilio Deán, Ramón Cómas, Rafael Hidalgo de Morillo, Juan Vicedo Calatayud, Bibiano Esteban, Jaime Martínez Rubio and Francisco A. Jiménez, Ferrer 1958, p. 43 who received them at a meeting in Toulousein June 1932 but refused to bow to any pressure.Heras y Borrero 2004, p. 35 The Cruzadistas, as they were already known,concise lecture on Cruzadistas and beginnings of carloctavismo–from the opposite viewpoint—in Jesús Pabón, La otra legitimidad, Madrid 1965, pp. 94–101 changed their strategy; though initially they seemed to rely on their king for nominating his heir,"designar a su debido secesor según los leyes y procedimientos tradicionales", El Cruzado Español 25.06.32 they began to call for a grand Carlist assembly, which would settle the issue.Heras y Borrero 2004, pp. 35–36 They did not propone any specific candidate openly and in a pamphlet by a mid-age military lawyer colonel Jesús Cora y Lira they merely laid out the basics of their reading of the succession law;Jesús de Cora y Lira, El futuro Caudillo de la Tradición Española – Estudio Jurídico, Histórico y Político, Madrid 1932 however, they were already in touch with the oldest daughter of the charismatic Carlist king Carlos VII, Doña Blanca, setting their sights on her youngest son, Barcelona-resident Carlos Pio, referred to as Don Carlos.though born in Austria as Karl Pius von Habsburg-Lothringen-Toskana, as a ten-year-old he settled with his parents in Barcelona and unlike his older brothers, demonstrated reactionary outlook and vivid interest in the Carlist cause. His oldest brother, Rainer, died with no issue in 1930; the further two, Leopold (later referred to as Don Leopoldo) and Anton (Don Antonio), lived outside Spain and shown no interest in Spanish affairs; the fourth one, Franz Josef (Don Francisco José), lived in Barcelona but did not seem interested in politics In 1933 the Cruzadistas suffered two major setbacks. Carlos Pio, following brief incarceration related to the Sanjurjo coup, moved from Spain to Vienna.the issue of Carlos Pio taking part in the Sanjurjo coup is not clear. Some scholars suspect that he was indeed involved, some suggest he fell victim to blind Republican vengeance, and some claim he was arrested somewhat accidentally. According to the latter theory, the crowd assaulted his car confusing crowned logo of the Real Automóvil Club with a monarchist emblem; Carlos Pio defended his property and the brawl soon escalated, leading to his arrest, Heras y Borrero 2004, pp. 61–62 Don Alfonso Carlos, tired of constant pressure, expulsed the Cruzadistas groupCanal 2000, p. 306 and in 1934during a personal meeting; in the mid-1930s both Don Alfonso Carlos and Don Carlos lived in Vienna convinced his grandnephew to acknowledge having no succession rights.which he did in a letter to the Carlist political leader Manuel Fal: "agradezco de todo corazón que [my supporters] hayan pensado en mí; pero debo declarar al mismo tiempo que no tengo derecho a esa sucesión", full text Melchor Ferrer, Historia del tradicionalismo español vol XXX, Sevilla 1979, p. 59; Don Carlos wrote also a document directed directly to the Cruzadistas, vol. XXX, p. 60 Nevertheless, the expulsed were now free to act; having formed a group with a challenging name Núcleo de la Lealtad,Ferrer 1979, vol. XXX, p. 70. Many authors from the onset, i.e. from the early 1931, refer to Cruzadistas and to Nucleo de la Lealtad, see e.g. Santa Cruz 1979 vol. 3, pp. 26–27 in early 1935 they staged a meeting in Zaragoza.it was presided by Lorenzo Sáenz y Fernández Cortina It was styled as a Magna Asamblea advocated earlier; though in private many Carlists might have sympathized with their goals, formally the gathering represented a minor offshoot grouping. It adopted a declaration that Doña Blanca was in position to transmit legitimate hereditary rights to her sons.Pabón 1965, p. 113, Martin Blinkhorn, Carlism and Crisis in Spain 1931–1939, Cambridge 2008, , p. 216. Some authors claim that the Cruzadistas went even further and declared Carlos Pio the legitimate heir, Canal 2000, p. 319. The text published in the press in 1935 as allegedly adopted by the assembly read that "nuestra inclinación hacia el Archiduque Don Carlos", Santa Cruz 1979, vol. 3, p. 29. Alfonso Carlos promptly disauthorised the gathering, Ferrer 1979, vol. XXX, pp. 58–59 She publicly distanced herself from the enterprise,Heras y Borrero 2004, p. 40 but her position changed when in January 1936 Don Alfonso Carlos eventually decided to sort the succession issue by appointing a distant relative, Javier de Borbón-Parma,Don Alfonso Carlos’ great-great-grandfather (king Carlos III) and Don Javier’s great-great-great-great-grandfather (Felipe I de Parma) were brothers a future regent. In May 1936 Doña Blanca issued a non-compatible statement declaring that after the death of her uncle, she would accept her hereditary rights to transmit them to her youngest son.Doña Blanca declared that she would accept "los derechos que me pertenecen a la corona de España, para transmitírlos a mi amado hijo Carlos, en quíen las circunstancias de los demás hermanos, designan como mi heredero", Heras y Borrero 2004, p. 44
When the Civil War broke out Cruzadistas were re-admitted to Comunión Tradicionalista.Ferrer 1979, vol. XXX, p. 37 Nevertheless, some Carlist requetés—nominally loyal to Don Alfonso Carlos and after his death in September 1936 to the regent Don Javier - referred to Carlos Pio as to the future king Carlos VIII and used his name as their battle cry.see Tercio de Nuestra Señora de Begoña, [in:] requetés.com website, available . Also a Carlist periodical La Fe concluded on 19.07.36 that if Don Javier were indeed to become a regent, the only option was to counter this and declare Carlos Pio the king, César Alcalá, Cruzadistas y carloctavistas: historia de una conspiración, Barcelona 2012, , pp. 192–194. Don Carlos sought permission of his granduncle to enlist to Carlist troops, but was explicitly banned from doing so; later approaches directly to Franco produced only polite refusal.Franco replied that would-be candidates to the throne "no deberían formar parte de unidades combatientes, pues, sin prejuzgar la solución dinastíca, entendia que deberian reservarse para la paz", José Luis Vila San Juan, Los Reyes Carlistas, Barcelona 1993, , p. 215 After 1937 Carlos Pio and the Cruzadistas alike refrained from political activity, with key issue on Carlist agenda having been defense of own identity against the Francoist pressure to amalgamate within a new state party. After the 1939 Nationalist victory the former Cruzadista supporters raised their voice again,in 1940 Jaime del Burgo and a number of Navarrese priests issued a statement to this respect, Heras y Borrero 2004, p. 52. The person indicated as the one who renewed the campaign was Ignacio Careaga, Santa Cruz 1979, vol. 2, p. 110 but in 1940 Doña Blanca declared loyalty to the regent and ignored her 1936 commitment.Santa Cruz 1979, vol. 5, pp. 109–115 However, instead of dying out the issue got reinvigorated.a new letter to Fal, demanding termination of the regency, nomination of the king, and suggesting Carlos Pio, was issued by Navarros headed by Lizarza in April 1941, Santa Cruz 1979, vol. 3, p. 49 At that time what looked like a typical dynastical dispute overlapped with political fragmentation of Carlism, triggered mostly by different views on policy towards Francoism. It soon became evident that many Carlists skeptical about intransigent opposition, mounted by Don Javier, started to look to Don Carlos as to a royal alternative.
Background: Spain in 1943