Spain under Franco

The Spanish Civil War officially ended on 1 April 1939, the day which Franco announced the end of hostilities. The nationalist army had won, and Franco was now undisputed leader of Spain with unlimited powers. The new State, which ruled Spain, had no political plans, and represented the interests of the clergy, the oligarchs, and the military. The following years were to be the darkest in the History of Spain, due to international isolation, massive repression, and poverty caused by the failed economic policies. However, in the end of the 50s, the economy started recovering thanks to the opening of the economy to foreign investment, and the breaking of international isolation, but the regime remained heavily authoritarian until Franco's death in 1975.

Genesis of the government during the Civil War (1936-1939)

The main anti-republican army officers held an informal meeting in September 1936, in which they choose Francisco Franco as chief of the State Government. This way, Franco became the leader of the nationalists, and the new state, with unlimited and absolute military and politic powers. The first measures taken by this provisional government, which ruled over the territories controlled by the nationalist side during the Civil War were the prohibition of all political parties and syndicates, the creation of a sole legal party called Falange Española Tradicionalista y de las JONS, the abolishment of the rights of strike, free speech and the revocal of the Autonomy Statutes.

Franco's Regime during the Second World War (1939-1945)

Unlike the Second Republic, Franco's rule was centralist, and Autonomous Regions had no privileges except for Navarre because it had provided crucial help for his side during the Civil War. The state administration was filled up by military officers during this period, and 67% of towns had military mayors. The legal bases of the regime were not completely written until 1969, this process took place slowly, consisting of a series of laws which were written during the years, and gave us an insight into the ideology of the regime. In 1940, the Vertical Syndicate was created. This syndicate would end corporate struggle, as it grouped together workers and bosses according to corporative principles. It was the only legal syndicate, and was under government control. During the Second World War, Spain remained neutral, but was heavily sympathetic of the axis powers, and even negotiated entry on the axis side, but it remained neutral after Hitler did not accept Franco's requests for entering the war, but he did send a special force called the División Azul to fight the USSR during Operation Barbarossa. Franco at first was sure of the success of the axis powers in winning the war, but after the Battle of Stalingrad, he ordered the return of the División Azul, and soon after he started dismissing pro-Nazi falangists from his government, including Ramón Serrano Suñer. He even broke diplomatic relationships with Japan soon before their defeat. In the social side, Spain was a divided country after the war. Franco had decided to cleanse all liberals, socialists, anarchists and communists from the map, so all opposition to the regime was dealt with harshly (executions and imprisonments). The catholic propaganda caused Spain to become a deeply conservative country, lacking freedom of cult and rights like divorce.

Isolation after the War (1945-1953)

After the war, the Allies founded the United Nations, in which Spain was not allowed to enter. A resolution condemning the Franco government was soon to come, which encouraged countries to remove their ambassadors in Spain, and established the bases for measures against Spain, if the government remained authoritarian. This was because the UN considered that the government in Spain was not the one the people wanted, and it had been established through a civil war with the help of Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany. Although these measures never took place, and the resolution just boosted support for the regime at home, but only 5 ambassadors remained in Spain, and the frontier with France was closed. In 1947, Franco set the basis for his successor in the Ley de Sucesión en la Jefatura del Estado, implying that his successor must be a man, of catholic origin. This Law also gave Franco the right to be Chief of the Spanish State for life. The economy of Spain during these years was disastrous. The falangists had attempted to introduce an autarquic economy in Spain, cutting imports, and organizing production and commercialization of several first order goods, even introducing rationing cards. This caused the economy to halt, industrial production to diminish, due to lack of raw materials, and massive inflation.

The breaking of the isolation (1953-1957)

The increased tensions between the USA and the USSR in the 1950s, caused the USA to look for new allies in Europe. Franco’s anticommunism was taken into account, and several treaties allowing opening of military bases in Spain were signed in 1953. The USA in return gave Spain economic aid, some as a donation, some to be returned. This soon turned into huge debts for Spain, and the State almost went bankrupt. The isolation was broken by signing a pact with the Vatican, and the joining into the UN.

The Spanish Miracle (1957-1967)

In 1957, the State faced bankruptcy, due to a heavy trade deficit in imports and exports, and external debt. Franco substituted most of his government for technocrats from Opus Dei. These ministers liberalized the economy, without touching the authoritarian character of the regime. Several stabilization plans, in which the economy was open to foreign investment, and tourism, modernized Spain, even though it still remained the second most backward country in West Europe, it brought a great amount of social change: increased middle classes, rural emigration and a change in the role of women. Emigrants sending in their wages from abroad also helped balance the imports and exports. During these years, the industrialization of Spain was completed, and the ‘black post-war years’ ended. These years the opposition to the regime also increased. A conference in Munich was held by all political parties opposed to Franco, except the Communist Party of Spain, which had gained heavy influence in university professors and students, as well as intellectuals. The Comisiones which were the base for the syndicate Comisiones Obreras were founded, and ETA was founded too during this time in the Basque Country. Some attempts at reform also took place thanks to people like Manuel Fraga, but the most important person after Franco at this time was Luis Carrero Blanco. These laws included some degree of press freedom (1966) and freedom of cult (1967). Lastly, in 1967, Juan Carlos de Borbón was named successor to Franco, in front of the Cortes.

Franco's Last Years (1967-1975)

In 1972, the world faced an economic crisis due to the increased crude oil prices. This crisis hit Spain badly, as it depended heavily on petrol for electricity and transport. This caused a new sprawl of strikes (still illegal at the time), Franco's declining health gave more power to Admiral Carrero Blanco, however, he was assassinated by ETA in 1973. Carlos Arias Navarro took over as President of the Government, first suggesting some reforms to the decaying regime, but he was pressurised by the bunker, which did not want any kind of reforms. In 1974 Franco fell ill, and Juan Carlos took over as Chief of State. Franco soon recovered, but fell ill once again, and after a long agony, died on 20 November 1975.