José Antonio Primo de Rivera y Sáenz de Heredia, 1st Duke of Primo de Rivera, 3rd Marquess of Estella GE, often referred to simply as José Antonio, was a Spanish fascist politician who founded the Falange Española, later Falange Española de las JONS.

The Spanish coup of July 1936 was a nationalist and military uprising that was intended to overthrow the Spanish Second Republic but precipitated the Spanish Civil War; Nationalists fought against Republicans for control of Spain. The coup was organized for 18 July 1936, although it started the previous day in Spanish Morocco, and resulted in a split of the Spanish military and territorial control, rather than a prompt transfer of power. The resulting war, Western neutrality, and active Axis support ultimately led to the establishment of a nationalist regime under Francisco Franco, who became ruler of Spain as caudillo.