This clandestine group was founded in late 1933 by Colonel Emilio Rodríguez Tarduchy [es] and soon linked up with the conspiracies of Juan Antonio Ansaldo.
[3] The executive council, apart from Barba Hernández, consisted of 6 other members: Emilio Rodríguez Tarduchy, Ricardo Rada Peral, Valentín Galarza Morante, Luis Arredondo Acuña, Rafael Sánchez Sacristán and Gumersindo de la Gándara Morella.
[3] It was late summer 1935 before Francisco Franco made direct contact with the group through his ally and UME member Valentín Galarza Morante.
[6] However the conspiring plot around Emilio Mola took over both two initiatives,[6] and by early 1936 the UME had placed itself at the disposal of the later and was a full participant in the nationalist coup plans.
[8] The group was closely associated with fascism and maintained a black list of leading republican officers and in the build-up to the war the top two names, Carlos Faraudo and José del Castillo, were both killed.