The Conquest of the State

Ramiro Ledesma Ramos was a prominent Spanish political activist, writer, journalist, philosopher, revolutionist, and martyr. Greatly influential not just in the development of Spanish nationalism before the civil war, but also how it was expressed afterward under Franco’s government, he is known for designing the yoke-and-arrows symbol of the Falange Española (Spanish Phalanx), and well as being the chief architect of the ideological bridge between nationalism and syndicalism which made the success of the Falange possible. Bold and brash, Ledesma’s scathing writings in his short-lived newspaper La Conquista del Estado (The Conquest of the State) added fire to the already simmering cauldron of the Spanish Second Republic, advocating for radical solutions to the systematic problems plaguing the national political landscape. Despite being shut down by the Republic less than a year after the release of its first issue, La Conquista del Estado proved to be a seminal paper which contributed substantively to the development of Spanish nationalism and showcases the intellectual origins of Franco’s Spain.Antelope Hill Publishing is proud to present, for the first time in English, a selection of writings from the 23 issues of La Conquista del Estado. These are essential to understanding the early foundations Spain’s revolutionary right, and are sure to be appreciated by scholars and enthusiasts alike.