Rise to power
1. The government in Spain switched hands numerous times between 1931-6: a Republican Socialist coalition in 1931, the Right in 1933, a series of short-lived Radical-CEDA coalitions in 1935, and finally to the leftist Popular Front in 1936.
a. The Republican Socialists did not have the support of the wealthy classes or the Church, and ultimately the unity among the Left was broken by 1933.
i. Article 44 of the Republican Socialist constitution stated that property could be expropriated without compensation if necessary. Such measures angered the Right.
ii. Article 26 prohibited church schools and charities. Such measures angered the Church.
iii. The Republican Socialists were slow to introduce Socialism because it involved handing a third of the cultivated land in Spain over to the peasantry. This lost the support of the Left.
b. The government under the Right was harsh and caused the Left to unite against it.
i. Uprisings by the CNT (Confederacion Nacional del Trabajo) in Aragon, Rioja and Catalonia were crushed by the government.
ii. The Right lost the support of the Catalans and the Basques after revoking the increased autonomy in Catalonia.
iii. The coal miners’ strikes in Asturias in 1934 were suppressed by the army. There were 4 000 casualties.
c. Until the revolt of July 1936, Spain was ruled by weak minority Republican governments, first under Manuel Azana and then under Casares Quiroga.
2. The murder if Calvo Sotelo caused Franco to commit himself to the military coup of 18 July 1936.
a. Franco led the African army in Morocco on July 18.
i. He was firmly in control of Morocco and spread the revolt to garrison towns towards Spain by the afternoon of July 19.
3. Franco secured the aid of Mussolini and Hitler during the Spanish Civil War.
a. They gave planes to transport troops from Spanish Morocco to Spain.
b. Germany sent the Condor Legion of 5 000 troops, along with air force and specialist units.
c. Italy sent 70 000 soldiers.
4. Franco was appointed Chief of State and Commander-in-Chief by the military junta in September 1936.
a. Franco showed strong leadership and initiative from the beginning.
i. He commanded the ‘Army of Africa’ and organized aid from Italy and Germany.
5. The Left retaliated with mass violence in fear of the military which caused fear in the public and resulted conservatives in the public to increase support for Franco.
a. For example, 7 000 priests, nuns, and monks were murdered by armed squads formed by the revolutionary parties during the Civil War.
6. In April 1937 the Falange, the Carlists and the Alphonsine monarchists united to form the FET under the leadership of Franco.
a. This laid the foundation for a one-party system, which stayed in place until Franco’s death in 1975.
Consolidation of power
1. In August 1939 following the Civil War, a decree announcing that Franco had full governmental powers in times of crisis was passed.
a. Franco would have no legal need to consult his cabinet.
b. According to S.G. Payne, this made Franco’s government “a more direct dictatorship than those of the Soviet Union, Italy, or Germany”.
2. In Catalonia and Basque, Franco removed their regional autonomy and banned the official use of their languages.
3. His new regime comprised of five cabinet posts to the Falangists and five to the military.
a. Franco craftily balanced the various friendly forces in his regime.
4. Nationalists executed as much as 200 000 Republicans to eliminate any potential left-wing leadership between 1939 to 1943.
5. In 1939, universal franchise is outlawed, criticism is regarded as treason, and other political parties are outlawed.
6. The monarchy is reinstated in 1947 under the Law of Succession. Franco’s position as head of the state is confirmed.
Economy
1. A Charter of Labour was established in March 1938. It was announced as an “economic middle way between Liberal capitalism and Marxist materialism”.
a. Workers were promised things such as social security, holidays and limited working hours.
2. The new regime owed 400 million Reichsmarks to Germany and five billion lira to Italy.
3. Between 1950-73, a great economic boom helped the Spanish economy to grow significantly. It grew at a rate second only to Japan.
4. In the Franco Era (1939-75), following the civil war, Spain had many economic problems
a. Gold and foreign exchange reserves almost completely wiped out
b. War had reduced productive capacity of both industry and agriculture
5. For 10 years following the Civil War in 1939, economy remained in state of severe depression
6. Franco’s regime sought to provide for Spain by adopting policy of autarky
a. Reaction to international isolation
b. From 1939-1945, Spain feared Allied invasion of the peninsula and sought to avoid excessive reliance on foreign armaments
7. By early 1950s, GDP was less than 40% of the average of West European countries
8. Between 1953 and 1958, Spain’s GDP rose by about 5% per annum
Industry
1. From 1935 to 1939; industrial output decline by 35 per cent.
a. Agricultural output falls by 21 per cent
b. Spanish State pre-war gold reserves used by the Republic to finance the war
2. October 1939 Franco sets up 10-year plan to develop an autarkic Spanish State aimed at economic modernization, self-sufficiency and a reduction in imports and exports.
a. The Institutio Nacional de Industria created as a state investment and holding company to assist the development of key industries; shipbuilding, steel, chemical production. (copy of Italy’s IRI Istituto per la Ricostuzione)
3. Boom began around 1959-1973 (“The Spanish Miracle”)
4. Initiated by the reforms promoted by technocrats, who, with Franco’s approval, put policies in Spain which were developed by the International Monetary Fund
a. Policies took place in form of development plan
i. Had second highest growth rate in the world, behind Japan
ii. Become 9th largest economy in the world, after Canada
iii. Spain joined the industrialized world
5. Spain was opened as a tourist destination
a. The economic boom was marked by the end of the period of attempted autarky
b. Spanish per capita income reached 79% of western European average
6. Production on electricity went from 3.61 million megawatt-hours in 1940 to 90.82 million megawatt-hours in 1976
7. Period saw the establishment of a network of nuclear power stations to meet the growing demands for energy
8. Vast migration of agricultural workers into the cities
9. Automotive industry:
a. From 1958-1972, it grew at a rate of 21.7%
b. In 1946, there were 72 000 private cars in Spain
i. In 1966, there were 1 million
10. Growth rate of automotive industry unmatched by any country in the world
a. More than 794 000 cars were made between 1957 and 1973
b. First time many Spanish working class working families had at least one car
i. By the end of the growth period, many had two cars
Propaganda
1. From May 1939, children could only be christened with traditional Spanish names.
a. This was in an effort to create a ‘pure’ Spanish culture.
2. Nationalist media instructed to orchestrate a massive personality cult to emphasize the unique qualities of Franco as the ‘Caudillo’ or ‘Leader’
a. During the civil war, he quickly built a sycophantic entourage
i. Linked Franco to past war heroes such as El Cid and the catholic monarchs of Spain
b. There was genuine mass support for the Nationalists
i. Violence by the Republicans in church burnings and massacre of priests and nuns rallied half the country to support the Nationalist cause
3. Like Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany, the creation of a ‘pure’ Spanish culture was advocated
a. May 1938: children could only be christened with traditional Spanish names
- Spring 1939: Franco toured Spain and in each large city crowds composed of FET and members of the labour syndicates chanted ‘Franco, Franco, Franco’
- FET membership almost 1 million by 1942- aim was to ‘carry out the political indoctrination of the population’
- Youth movements never attracted more than 13 per cent of the total male population and 7 per cent of the female population between ages of 7 and 18
- Censorship was rigid
Education
1. Franco rewarded the Church for its support by restoring its influence in schools
a. The Church gave recognition of the regime and a blind eye to the harassment of the enemy, Cardinal Segura of Seville
2. Public education under Franco's rule made it mandatory for children to attend school from ages six to thirteen.
3. School attendance was not mandatory past primary school, so there were very few public secondary schools, another cause for decreased enrollment and low levels of education.
4. Little or nothing was done to improve the education system under Franco
5. Francoist regime established policies that were highly favorable to the Catholic Church, which was restored to its previous status as the official religion of Spain. In addition to receiving government subsidies, the church regained its dominant position in the education system
Women
1. During the Civil War, 580 000 woman worked in hospital and staffed canteens for the troops.
2. Without the husband’s approval (permiso marital), a wife was prohibited from almost all economic activities.
3. Marriages had to be performed under Roman Catholic law and regulations, which meant that all marriages in Spain had to be sanctioned by the church.
4. Devoted to a traditional role of women in society, through them residing in the family.
5. Until the 1970s, women could not have a bank account without the consent of a husband or a father.
6. Women could not become judges or testify in trial.
Role of the military
1. The military coup of July 18 1936 initiated the Spanish Civil War.
2. By the end of 1936, 50 per cent of Spain was controlled by the military.
3. Up to 500 000 were estimated to have died during the Spanish Civil War.
4. Half of Franco’s initial government in 1939 was made of cabinet members representing the military.
5. During the repressions of the republicans, there were mass executions by Nationalist militias. This persuaded Franco to centralize the process of repression and insist that all death sentences should be approved first by the military and then by him.
Use of force and secret police
1. In 1937, Franco launched a major offensive in Northern Spain and gained the most important industrial region of Spain. This was aided by the Portuguese who allowed ammo to be supplied through their routes.
2. In spring 1937, Franco and the Germans launched an offensive in Northern Spain, Germans air-raided Durango and Guernica. On June 19 Bilbao fell to Franco.
3. 1938 the Republican force tried launching an offensive against Franco only to fail in a battle of attrition. Thus Barcelona fell on January 26 1939
4. All opposition was ruthlessly dealt with; the nation had to endure the activities of a secret police force; all the aspects of politics that would have been taken for granted in Europe, such as fair elections and political opposition, were not tolerated in Franco’s Spain. Thus, In July 1947, a law was passed that made Franco head of state for life.
5. Franco's state became less violent, but during his rule non-government trade unions and all political opponents across the political spectrum were either suppressed or tightly controlled by all means including violent police repression.
Role of religion
1. In July 1937, the Spanish bishops signed a long letter of support urging the population to support Franco’s “civil-military movement”.
2. Franco’s new regime ultimately took control of existing Catholic political and social organizations such as the Catholic Trade Union Federation and the Catholic University Student Group.
3. In 1939, the Catholic Church was restored as the official religion of Spain.
4. Franco passed measures in support of the Church after coming to power: civil marriage was banned, divorce and abortion was made illegal and the church took complete control of the education system.
5. The Nuevo Estado becomes legitimized after it receives the support of the Catholic Church.
6. In March 1947, the Law of Succession was passed to announce that Spain was a “Catholic, social, and representative state which in keeping with her tradition, declares herself constituted into a kingdom”.
a. Drawing closer to the Church helped the Franco regime to become secure by 1950.
Anti-Semitism
1. Like Mussolini, Franco’s Fascism did not have anti-Semitism as an important part of its ideology
a. However, during the Civil War and the years of Hitler’s ascendancy (Rise to Power) to 1942, Franco (like Mussolini) adopted a vicious anti-Semitic rhetoric to please the Nazis
2. Jews feeling from occupied France were allowed to cross Spain into Portuguese ports
3. Franco intervened to give asylum to Sephardic Jews, originally from Spain, who lived in Greece and would otherwise have been murdered by the Nazis
4. Franco’s Fascism recognized Spain as a “nation” as opposed to a race, unlike Hitler’s Fascism
5. Anyone who opposed the Francoist regime, especially in the early years, faced a fate as brutal as anyone resisting the Nazis in Europe.
Foreign policy
1. Spain remained neutral throughout WWII but Franco sent a division of troops to fight alongside Germany on the Eastern Front.
a. Spain committed the Spanish Blue Division to combat communism within Europe. In October 1943, Franco recalls the Blue Division from the USSR convinced that the Axis Power would be defeated.
2. 1939: Spain withdraws from League of Nations
3. Spain and Germany signed a Treaty of Friendship in March 1939.
4. Spain signed the Anti-Cominterm Pact in April 1938.
5. During World War II, Spain supplied Hitler with monitoring services, war material and air bases.
6. The Blue Division of 47, 000 Falangist volunteers helped the invasion of the USSR, which repaid Hitler for his aid in the Spanish Civil war.
Ideology
1. Franco saw himself as Saviour of traditional Spain- a crusader rather than a fascist. He used Falange, Hitler and Mussolini to achieve his own purposes.
2. Under Franco Spain was a totalitarian state, but it was a traditional Catholic totalitarianism
a. Catholicism was dominant in educational and social life
3. Franco’s regime depended on upon:
a. Satisfaction of several pressure groups within the establishment
b. The exclusion of certain groups and interests
4. Franco’s regime was a right-wing authoritarian regime “flavoured with Fascist rhetoric but little more”. (Payne, The Franco Regime)
5. In Franco’s April 1937 speech, he declared: “Efficient governmental action, such as must be that of the new Spanish State, born, moreover under the sign of unity and the greatness of the Fatherland, demands that the individual and collective action of all Spaniards be subjugated to its common destiny.”
Cult of Personality
1. Starting in the Civil War, the Nationalists began a massive propaganda campaign that portrayed Franco as the Caudillo or “Leader”.
2. In the spring of 1939, Franco made a tour of Spain. In each large city, crowds of FET and members of the labour syndicates chanted “Franco, Franco, Franco”.
a. Common slogan after Jose Antonio’s death in 1937: "One State! One Country! One Chief! Franco! Franco! Franco!"
3. Images of Franco were displayed throughout Spain on posters designed under strict control to work as propaganda
a. Franco was very reclusive and appeared in public very little; his presence was maintained through posters displayed in the windows of homes and businesses throughout Spain
b. From an article found in the Salamanca daily “People gaze upon him…but only in photographs. He is a man who doesn’t appear in parades….He is felt, but not seen….Miracles evolve from his hours of hermitic solitude…and labour”
Historiography: Miriam Basilio, "Genealogies for a New State: Painting and Propaganda in Franco's Spain, 1936-1940," Discourse (Detroit, MI) 1522-5321 Fall 2002, v24 i3, p67(29)
4. Following the Spanish Civil War portraits of Franco which were commissioned to be painted by famous Spanish artists were used to create an image of power and military prowess
a. Franco was frequently depicted in the state party uniform and hunting attire to emphasize his strength and power as the embodiment of Spain’s newfound unity
b. fascist regime also censored all forms of media which depicted them in a negative way
5. Another source of propaganda used to create a cult of personality
a. pamphlets were distributed to citizens throughout Spain
b. One example of these pamphlets were those used to spread the idea of unification
i. Unification was the idea that Franco's superior leadership qualities led to the spontaneous and voluntary joining together of rebel factions during the rebellion
ii. The pamphlets used visual traditions and references to the factions fundamental beliefs
Historiography
1. Filipo Riberio de Meneses. Franco and the Spanish Civil War, 2001. The murder of 7 000 priests, nuns, and monks by armed squads formed by the revolutionary parties during the Civil War is described as “the worst massacre of Catholic clergy in history”.
2. P. Preston and A.L. Mackenzie, eds. The Republic Besieged, 1996. The Spanish Civil War was “an episode in a greater European civil war that ended in 1945”.
3. S.G. Payne. The Franco Regime, 1936-1975, 2000. Franco’s regime was “a more direct dictatorship than those of the Soviet Union, Italy, or Germany”.
Three Quotes
1. In 1939 Franco declared that “The war is over …but the enemy is not dead”.
2. Colonel Valentin Galarza, who was one of the leading figures in the abortive coup of 1932, described Franco’s enigmatic nature: “Franco is a man who declares himself, them retracts; draws himself near, then steps back…”
3. Fraser states in “The popular experience” that the Spanish Civil War had been “a popular war. Yet all the creative possibilities and instructs of the people in revolution were not allowed to develop.”
Other
4. Franco played a key role in the Spanish Civil War on the side of the nationalists.
a. He took a key decision to launch a major offensive in northern Spain and occupied important industrial areas by the spring of 1937.
b. With the aid of German air raids, Franco launched a second offensive in the north, giving the Nationalists control over north-west Spain.
i. Republicans were limited to the east, and their access to Atlantic ports was lost.
ii. By the end of 1937 the Republic lost 36 per cent of its industrial product and 60 per cent of its coal output.
c. The Nationalists took access to the Mediterranean in April 1938.
d. Nationalists withstood a Republic offensive, resulting in the occupation of Catalonia and fall of Barcelona in January 1939.
e. Ultimately Madrid surrendered in March 1939.
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