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A TIME OF WARS AND COMMON TOTALITARIAN PROJECTS After the coup detat and the beginning of the war in July of 1936, troops began to be mobilised. Ihus, from that moment on massive events to bid farewell to the soldiers who were marching to the battle front were commonplace. Even during the first rallies, traces of Nazi or fascist influence were not visible, except for the use of the Roman salute which, although it seemed to have already been internalised as an element of the new times, was still not the official salute of the new regime. Ihis can be seen, for example, in the expressions of support for the military mobilisation that took place in August 1936. At these rallies, traditional hymns, the bicolour flag and various religious symbols were the ingredients that, at first, united the population around the new authorities. There are no traces of symbols of the Falange® or of the Nazi-fascist regimes in these first organised demonstrations in support of the soldiers who were heading to the front. However, this aesthetic gradually changed, with the regime adopting all the symbolic paraphernalia of Nazi Germany and fascist Italy. This was evidenced, for example, in the tribute that commemorated the anniversary of the battle of Villarreal in November 1937. This had taken place in the months of November and December of 1936, in an attempt to demonstrate the military superiority of the Francoists over republicans and Basque nationalists’. The first anniversary of this battle gathered representatives of the troops who had fought there, including soldiers from North Africa, in the capital of Alava. The parade to pay tribute to the IV Brigade of Navarre and its leader, Camilo Alonso Vega, also included the presence of Germans and Italians. These, who by this time of the war walked through the city centre mingling with the local population, attended the parade as privileged observers. On Falange, the only legal party for the Francoist regime, there is an extensive bibliography. There is a good synthesis in: Sheelag Elwood: Historia de la Falange Española, Barcelona, Critica, 2001. Pensamiento Alavés, November 2, 1937.
