the national Carlist wartime executive, Junta Nacional de Guerra, or the Navarrese Junta Central Carlista de Guerra, but in the summer of 1936 the latter delegated him to Gabinete de Prensa of Junta de Defensa Nacional; in early 1937 he entered Delegación de Cuestiones Sociales set up by Junta Central. Some sources claim he was definitely withdrawn from the frontline in the rank of a captain in the first days of 1937 and indeed in January he was again in Pamplona. When pressure on unification started to mount Arellano again sided with Rodezno; by some scholars he is even considered co-leader of the Rodeznistas, pressing compliance and advocating the Carlist entry into a new partido unico. During charged meetings of February, March and April he enjoyed "voz cantante" when pushing the intransigent Fal into minority. Conscious of Carlist junior position within the coalition, he argued that sacrifice of the Requeté should not be wasted by allowing total Falangist predomination in a new monopolist state party. Even in case its program had little to do with Traditionalist ideario, he calculated that after the war Carlism would regain the lost ground. Apparently he did not realize the terms of forthcoming amalgamation; in the last-minute attempt as representative of Carlist labor structure Obra Nacional Corporativa Arellano was delegated to negotiate unification conditions. In April 1937 Arellano formed part of the pressure group which visited the regent-claimant and Fal in Saint-Jean-de-Luz and presented them with sort of an ultimatum, forcing Don Javier and his jefe delegado into silence. Viewed favorably in Franco headquarters, he was however not member of the close circle informed about the date of the forthcoming Unification Decree. The document nominated him into Secretariat, executive of the newly created Falange Española Tradicionalista; within this 10-member body Arellano was one of 4 Carlists nominated, becoming top dignitary of the just emergent Francoist regime. Early Francoism Though in the Carlist media Arellano was one of the faces of unification, he was amazed by declared terms of the process; immediately following Decreto de Unificación he travelled to Franco to voice his disgust. Bombarded with queries and protests from Carlists who found themselves marginalized in FET, after 3 months he and Rodezno ceased to take part in what they considered largely fictitious meetings of the Secretariat. Their relations with Don Javier remained extremely tense yet not broken; it was only after in November 1937 Arellano