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Spain History - Rule of Franco (1939 - 1975)
With no opposition left to his leadership Franco immediately set
about ruthlessly removing from both army and political scene
any possible future opponents. The Law of "Political
Responsibilities" introduced in 1939 gave such wide powers to
his rule that in the first three months 250,000 people were
arrested. Thousands died before firing squads, tortured and languished for years in prisons. Most
intellectuals and artists
had to flee to other countries and it can be said that Spain
temporary lost its soul.
One winner was the Catholic Church and Pope Pius XII was quick to
congratulate Franco for his defence of "the ideals of faith and
Christian civilization". The Jesuits returned and once again
took over the education of students. Bishops took their place in
parliament and new laws were always made to be in step with Catholic
doctrine. Social standards overnight became ultra conservative to
the point that holding hands in public was banned. The Falangelist
party was not left out of the act and was considered as one with the
Catholic faith. It was a matter of pride for party members to appear
at Mass in their uniform and give the Fascist salute. Franco
instructed the party to create new Unions which combined workers and
management into one unit without any real power. The government
propaganda together with the press was also controlled by the party.
The Monarchists were in some ways were also winners from the Civil
War in that Spain started to return to a conservative controlled
social state. Monarchist values, if not views, were to return and
preparing for the eventual day when a king was once again to occupy
their throne. Alfonso XIII continued in his comfortable exile until
his death in Rome in 1941. His son Don Juan sought unsuccessfully
Monarchist support from within Spain. His main contender was Franco
who was not necessarily an anti-Monarchists but who was firmly of
the opinion that Spain needed nobody other than Francisco
Franco.
At the outbreak of the World
War II, Germany made overtures for Spain to join them but General
Franco proved to be elusive and kept his country neutral. Germany
planned on taking Gibraltar as the important door to the
Mediterranean by marching an army down through Spain. This was known
as Operation Felix and Franco remained firm stating that a German army
on Spanish soil would be resisted. This stand by Franco was to prove
a great asset when later the Anglo-American invasion of North Africa
(1942) used Gibraltar as its naval base. In 1941 Hitler
tried once more to enlist Franco's aid and for the last time when he
travelled to Hendaye
for a meeting. The General again proved so determined to keep Spain
from becoming actively involved that Hitler had to
instead accept an offering of troops and the supportive production
of the
Basque Iron Industry. Franco realised that Spain was in no
economic condition to be trapped into a costly war as it was still
trying to recover from the results of its own Civil War. History
records that Franco played all sides at once, assisting Jews to
escape from Nazi persecution and at the same time sending the crack
fighting Blue Division of 20,000 men to fight for Germany on the
Russian front, in particular Stalingrad.
At the end of the World War II,
Spain's situation was still economically strained and due to its
governing strong right wing politics it was left out in the cold by
the rest of democratically inclined Europe. In 1945 the newly formed
United Nations (known previously as the League of Nations), formally voted against Spanish membership. The
following year Franco closed Spanish borders to foreign powers and
concentrated in the consolidation of his power within his own
country.
Franco adopted a now typical policy of strong rulers by never
allowing people to become too close or persons in positions of power
to become too comfortable or too secure. General Muņoz Grandes of
the famed Blue Division only learnt he had been relieved of his post
as vice-president of the government when the official gazette was
delivered to his office. One of the few exceptions and one man to
influence Franco was Admiral Luis Carrero Blanco and was one of the
few earmarked as a possible successor. During his rule there were 19
major shakeups that in total affected over 120 different
ministers in his government - this is besides the changes made in
other political power points. He had only one rule and that was his,
and always ready to back him were his generals and the equally
important army of the Guarda Civil. Also, to establish control
administration was all channelled through Madrid which involved
considerable delays in any decision. Soon the country was to be by
necessity run on corruption as this became the only manner to
achieve the simplest things.
In 1953 General
Franco signed a treaty with the USA that in return for considerable
financial aid ($ 1.8 billion by 1965), the Americans had use of Spanish military
bases in their defence plans for dealing with "Cold War"
with Russia. The influx of dollars
was soon felt in the Spanish economy and subsequently brought about
a relaxation of the politically control of the Fascist inclined
organizations. Franco made peace with the Catholic Church for any past
wrong-doings by placing priests on the state payroll but at the same
time he negotiated with the Vatican that in return he had the right
to approve or negate any new Bishop. The economic boom
resulting from this badly needed money injection also helped to
prepare the path for the late 50s and 60s insurgence of the tourist industry.
This was to bring at the urban level a powerful exposure to other cultures
that began to slowly influence the
long established traditional way of thinking. Power slowly moved into the hands of a new breed of
youngish ambitious technocrats and when in 1955 Spain's application to United
Nations was accepted the doors of Spain were opened to foreign
interests. One sad note for Spain was in 1956 when France withdrew
its control on Morocco Franco was forced at accept that he had to
follow suit retaining just the ports of Ceuta and Melilla. They were
also to lose possession of the phosphate rich Spanish Sahara
in 1975.
The 1960's became the boom time for Spain with industry and commerce
finding international markets. In 1965 their shipbuilding industry
ranked sixth in the world and the foreign income from tourism was
put to good use improving rundown communications. Unfortunately,
rural workers now looked to earn decent wages by moving into urban
areas which resulted in agriculture being the first to suffer.
Not all Spaniards were prepared to accept the new Franco style
of control and demanded more liberty. The left fractions continued
with their active discontent whilst mainly waiting for Franco
to disappear from the political stage. As recorded throughout its
history the inhabitants of the Basque region maintained an attitude of
independence
from Madrid and when a group of
intellectuals in 1959 created a movement named ETA it gained much local
support. However, by 1967 this organization had passed into the hands of
a group of extremists who
adopted a terrorist policy. In 1973 they made a public showing of
the sincerity of their intentions by
dramatically killing Admiral Carrero Blanco who was at that time Franco's
most powerful aide and next in line for the leadership of Spain. ETA continues
with its same policy to this day and their acts
of killing have yet to be stopped although many efforts have been
made to find a solution acceptable on all sides.
In 1969 Franco made the announcement that the throne would one day be
occupied by a Bourbon, but not to the waiting in line Dom Juan, but
passing by him to his 31 year old son Juan Carlos. The Prince had
been born in Rome, educated in Spain, and then married in 1962 Princess
Sofia the sister of the future-king Constantine of Greece. By 1968
much to the chagrin of diehard monarchists Juan Carlos accepted the
throne in name but without any powers. For the next seven years he
appeared at all ceremonial occasions standing close to Franco
without expressing any thoughts and waiting for his moment.
By the mid 70s there were serious rumblings of rebellion with a plot
discovered amongst junior army officers, student unrest, strikes
amongst workers, and ETA terrorism. Also, Basque and Catalan young
priests wanted their flocks to enjoy more civil freedom in line with
the liberal Pope John XXIII. Many priests ended up in prison for
becoming involved and actively assisting the various rebel groups.
Apparently even the Bishop of Bilbao fell into disgrace with Franco
for publicly supporting the Basque language to be used as their
regional language. In June of 1973 Franco stepped to one side naming
Admiral Carrero as the future defender of "Francoism". ETA
responded on the 20th of December by blowing Carrero and his car
into the sky. In 1975 General Francisco Franco dies and Spain
holds its breath as Juan Carlos steps up to the throne.
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